A public water utility is owned by a government body. This doesn’t always mean they operate the water utility. There are times when the job is outsourced to a private water utility or another public water utility. There are also times when they may lease out the water utility. All you need to know is that the water utility is owned by a type of government.
The different types of public water utilities you may find are cities and special districts. When we are talking about a city that is literally what we mean. The City of Riverside in Riverside, California owns their water utility. In their case they own, operate, and bill for their water service. A special district sounds complex but what it really means is that they are not connected to any city. They may own the water utility that serves different residents in different cities. Eastern Municipal Water District is an example. They have residents in Canyon Lake, Hemet, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Perris, San Jacinto, and Temecula. The size of these cities and special districts will also vary based on how much service area and residents they have.
These public water utilities, like a private water utility, are a monopoly. Again, we don’t get to pick our provider of water when we move somewhere. We are stuck with whoever is there. There is good news when you have a public water utility though. The good news is you have a say in how they operate and what rate they set. These organizations are built to serve the community. Meaning if you don’t like something that is going on you should be able to get a hold of someone to voice your concern. You could email the public water utility or show up to the next board meeting and voice your displeasure. Feeling you need to push harder, wait until the meeting ends and speak with your Board of Director. In fact, you vote for a specific person to serve your needs as a resident of a public water utility. You don’t like the things that happen, maybe push for a change in leadership. Not saying you must but maybe you run for their seat to implement the changes you think your community needs. A public water utility will either have councilmembers or board of directors that are elected to serve the rate payers. This is very important to note when talking about public water utilities.
Last thing, everything you need to find on a public water utility should be available on their website. You want to see their financial report you can find it. You want to know about their human resources department you could search it. They are a public employer which means they must be significantly more transparent.