Regional water and wastewater systems are unlike other organizations and have unique needs.

We are maintaining infrastructure networks that stretch across multiple political jurisdictions and serving customers who are often spread out over rural, suburban and urban areas. Many regional water systems provide service to communities that have been historically unserved and underserved. All of this makes a unique hybrid and unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of collaboration for these systems in the past.

To support these unique water and wastewater systems, a group of regional utility executives came together in 2016 to establish ARWO, a not-for-profit trade association.

Led by an executive committee of utility managers, ARWO’s goal is not only to be the voice of regional water and wastewater systems, but also to create collaborative relationships between systems who at one point or another will face similar challenges.

As a leader of a one-of-a-kind organization, you are presented with different challenges. Your fellow ARWO members can serve as a resource to help you identify blind spots by speaking from experience and providing an expert opinion for your next project launch. Furthermore, ARWO members aim to share the secrets of their own successes. Ultimately, this can save your organization money & time, while giving you proven solutions you can confidently discuss with your Board.

ARWO is proud to be the only water association that serves regional water and wastewater systems that have populations between 10,000-100,000 people.

ARWO connects regional water and wastewater systems throughout the country by providing them with valuable industry knowledge. This powerful resource allows members to learn from the success stories of their peers, identify new growth opportunities for their utility, and provides access to industry experts that can offer feedback when new projects or challenging situations arise. Furthermore, this peer-to-peer networking provides opportunities in which you can connect your team with the team of another utility for additional training and/or collaboration.

We advocate before Congress and federal agencies on behalf of regional water and wastewater systems.

In addition to the collaboration and idea exchange feature, we’ll advocate on behalf of your system in front of Congress and federal agencies such as: USDA Rural Development, EPA, BOR, HUD, and other federal agencies. Our goal is to expand or enact supportive federal policies and infrastructure funding programs. Developing policies and programs that can strengthen members’ efforts to deliver services to underserved and unserved communities.