Take Your Child to Work Day Teaches the Value of Water

During "Take Your Child to Work Day” children traditionally learn about the value of work and the value of education. At New Jersey American Water, children also learn about something very essential to their lives every day: the value of water.

On April 28, approximately 215 children headed out to eight different New Jersey American Water operating centers to work with their parents and to a world of discovery of exactly what mom and dad do and why they take pride in their work.

• Aside from the usual arts and crafts, children in New Jersey American Water’s Lakewood office participated in hands-on field work, learning how fire hydrants work, as well as backhoes, wastewater collection trucks, and other equipment used to deliver water service to the company’s customers.
• At the Delran Regional Water Treatment Plant, kids learned about the water cycle, then toured the plant and to see how water is drawn from a source, treated and distributed to homes and businesses.
• Take Your Child to Work Day at the company’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant in Tinton Falls featured children learning about leak detection and how to conserve water in their homes.
• In addition to a tour of New Jersey American Water’s Raritan Millstone Water Treatment Plant in Bridgewater, children visited the water quality laboratory to see how water is sampled and analyzed to ensure that it is potable.
• Children at the company’s Belle Mead office learned about meter reading and the effort that goes into restoring water service during main breaks.
• In the Plainfield office, children participated in environmental stewardship by planting trees and drawing a water-related mural that will be hung in the office.
• The environment was also discussed at the company’s Fire Road Operations Center in Egg Harbor Township, where children experimented with how plants grow in different environments by creating their own biodomes.
• At New Jersey American Water’s headquarters in Voorhees, children were given insight on how the company promotes a culture of safety for their parents, and what they can do to be safe in their daily activities.

"We hope that at the end of the Take Your Child to Work Day, our children gained a better understanding about how vital water is to our lives and what they can do to preserve this precious, natural resource, ” said Daniel Ranieri, New Jersey American Water’s internal communications manager, who organized the day.

New Jersey American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 2.5 million people. Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 15 million people in more than 30 states, as well as parts of Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

In 2011, American Water is celebrating its 125^th anniversary with a yearlong campaign to promote water efficiency and the importance of protecting water from source to tap. To learn more, visit www.amwater125.com.