American Water Donates $400,000 in Lab Equipment to Saint Louis University’s WATER Institute

CAMDEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, recently donated approximately $400,000 in lab equipment to the WATER (Water Access, Technology, Environment and Resources) Institute at Saint Louis University in St, Louis, Missouri. The LC-QTOF lab equipment typically costs more than $400,000 and is used to examine compounds occurring in the environment at a molecular level.

“American Water is proud to support educational centers, like the WATER Institute. By donating this high-tech equipment, we are working collaboratively with our communities to advance real world water quality solutions that benefit efforts nationwide,” said Lauren Weinrich, Ph.D., Water Research and Development, American Water. “This partnership highlights the unique relationship that our American Water research team has with leading scientists in solving water challenges of primary importance to our customers and the drinking water industry.”

St. Louis University’s newly formed WATER Institute’s mission is to support the advancement of water innovation to serve humanity and primarily focuses on addressing water-related social justice issues locally and around the world, protecting aquatic ecosystems and improving infrastructure to secure water supplies and address key societal needs.

“Partnerships like the one with American Water are critical to building cutting-edge research capabilities and creating opportunities for our student and faculty researchers to excel and contribute to water research that will impact the world,” said Amanda Cox, Ph.D., director of the WATER Institute and associate professor of civil engineering. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with American Water and are honored that the company has been able to support our Institute above and beyond the donation of the LC-QTOF equipment.”

American Water’s longstanding partnership with the WATER Institute includes several employee scientists which serve as co-advisors, adjunct professors, and associated researchers at the Institute. Weinrich also serves as an Associated Investigator at the WATER Institute.

Recently, the company collaborated on a project building on knowledge gained from the “Sources and Fate of Taste and Odor Causing Compounds in the Missouri River” (Project #4683) joint research venture published in 2019 while expanding American Water’s taste and odor monitoring in treatment plants.

About American Water

With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to help make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.