According to the United Nations Development Program, more than 1 billion people—about one in six—have no access to clean and safe drinking water while more than 2 billion lack access to adequate sanitation.

A beautiful historic house with a white picket fence sitting on the corner of the heart of downtown caught our attention. Shadowing the house was a huge stone water tower. The sign in front . . . “The Pump House.” We immediately went inside to check it out.

As our business continues to thrive in an otherwise struggling economy, the impact of our industry's products and services becomes obvious every time we drink a clean glass of water or fill a car's tank with fuel.

After the AWWA event last week, my family and I decided to spend an extra day in Atlanta and hit the White Water Adventure park. Maybe it was my three-day ACE '08 exposure to all things “pumps” and all things “water,” but while climbing the massive mountains that led to the peaks of the water slides, I found myself wondering . . . “What kind of pumps are getting all that water to the top?”