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RWA in e-Commerce Venture
Nationwide online venture measures consumers' water quality
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Business New Haven
3/19/2001
By: BNH
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New Haven's Regional Water Authority has launched a national Internet-based drinking-water service, known as AquaMD. How it works: By logging on to AquaMD.com, consumers can get a free online check-up to determine if their drinking water is safe. Consumers can also use AquaMD to compare water filters and water purification systems.
"There is a growing concern about water quality. People are starting to take a closer look at what is coming out of the faucet, " says RWA President David Silverstone. "People are also taking steps to learn about the quality and safety of their tap water from a number of sources, including the Internet. We believe that AquaMD is a one-stop source for individuals who care about the safety of their family's drinking water."
According to a 1999 report by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 27 million Americans were served by water systems that do not meet federal standards. An additional 15 million households get their drinking water from private wells.
Silverstone points to burgeoning sales of bottled water and water-treatment devices as evidence of the concerns many Americans have over the quality of their drinking water. For example, there are more than 11 million point-of-use-water treatment products sold annually.
At AquaMD.com, the RWA says, consumers can find out if their drinking water is safe, if there is something they should be concerned about, or everything is fine. For water systems outside the RWA's 12-town service area, the site links to EPA databases.
For well water users, AquaMD can diagnose specific symptoms and scan its database of thousands of potentially hazardous locations in the U.S. to make recommendations. For city water drinkers, AquaMD can diagnose specific symptoms and it will search its database of lab tests that water service providers report on an annual basis in order to make recommendations.
Consumers who desire water tests can order a group of tests or customized tests on the RWA site and send water samples to the utility for testing. Consumers can subsequently review their test results online.
If AquaMD finds that a user's drinking water is contaminated, it can recommend a water treatment system to purify it. However, the RWA does not endorse any specific water-treatment products.
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