In March of this year, COVID‐19 fundamentally changed how the water community did its work. AWWA captured this major shift through a series of four rapid‐response surveys. The surveys quantify what was anticipated, what actually occurred, and how water utilities adjusted along the way.

How to keep water flowing was top of mind for all utilities, which required taking steps to adjust work environments for nonfield and field employees. For nonfield employees, work‐from‐home policies were quickly put in place; for field employees, plans were needed to continue operations by employees who couldn't work from home.

What I find most impressive is how, in the span of about two weeks in March, these policies were implemented. Working from home for nonfield employees ramped up 50 percentage points between surveys 1 and 2. Similarly, operational plans for field employees grew 42 percentage points during this time. By mid‐June, both had begun to taper off, presumably reflecting better conditions.

As utilities were putting these plans in place, they were evaluating anticipated challenges. At the top was absenteeism, with 75% of utilities saying this was a concern (March 10–16). In reality, absenteeism was a challenge for a limited number of utilities, with an average of 8% reporting absenteeism as a challenge in surveys 2, 3, and 4. My sense is, this low percentage reflects the commitment of water utility employees to serving their community.

The challenge that proved to be a health and safety concern was maintaining a supply chain of personal protective equipment (PPE) for utility employees. Initially, in early March, this was an anticipated challenge for about a third of the utilities; by mid‐April it grew to more than half of the utilities struggling to receive PPE for their employees. By mid‐June the concern still existed for slightly more than a third of the utilities.

At the other end of the spectrum was the relatively uninterrupted supply chain for treatment chemicals. The initial estimate was that 44% of utilities were concerned about being able to receive them, but as time passed, the good news was that no more than 4% reported this as an actual challenge.

I was most impressed with the way utilities took steps to help customers struggling with paying for their water service. Early in the process and without any formal coordination or requirement to do so, more than 90% of utilities simultaneously suspended service shutoffs for nonpayment. Similarly, the percentage of utilities that suspended collection of late fees ranged between 60% and 70%.

As COVID‐19 conditions ease, utilities are getting ready to call their employees back to work. AWWA's fourth survey (administered June 8–15) showed that 55% of utilities had started doing this.

Reopening a utility office does not mean business as usual, however. Multiple considerations center on providing a safe work environment. For example, 70% of utilities are considering the ability to supply employees with masks and hand sanitizer. Two‐thirds are looking for guidance from local and state government officials. The need to ensure that employees can maintain sufficient physical distance in the office is a concern for 63% of utilities. And more than half of the utilities are considering how staff feel about returning to the office.

The list of things to do also includes having a plan if an employee tests positive for COVID‐19—more than 70% of utilities already have a plan. Then there's the looming question: Do we really have to return to an office? Well, 23% of utilities are making permanent changes in remote work policies and another 38% are considering it.

I hope these statistics have helped quantify and tell the positive story of how water utilities and their employees, despite anticipated challenges, have battled COVID‐19 to provide their communities with the world's most vital resource—water. I thank those who participated in the surveys for their time. The full surveys are available at awwa.org on our COVID‐19 resource page.

今年3月，COVID-19从根本上改变了水社区的工作方式。AWWA通过一系列四项快速响应调查来捕捉到这一重大转变。调查量化了预期的，实际发生的情况以及在此过程中如何调整水务设施。

如何保持水的流动是所有公用事业公司的首要任务，这要求采取措施调整非现场和现场员工的工作环境。对于非现场员工，迅速制定了在家工作的政策。对于现场员工，需要制定计划以使无法在家工作的员工继续运营。

我发现最令人印象深刻的是，在三月份的大约两周时间内，这些政策是如何实施的。在调查1和调查2之间，非现场员工的在家工作提高了50个百分点。与此类似，在此期间，现场员工的运营计划增长了42个百分点。到6月中旬，两者都开始逐渐减少，可能反映了更好的状况。

当公用事业将这些计划落实到位时，他们正在评估预期的挑战。缺勤率最高，有75％的公用事业公司表示这是一个问题（3月10日至16日）。实际上，旷工是少数公用事业的挑战，在调查2、3和4中，平均8％的旷工是一项挑战。我的感觉是，这一较低的百分比反映了自来水公司员工致力于服务的承诺。他们的社区。

事实证明，与健康和安全有关的挑战是为公用事业员工维护个人防护设备（PPE）的供应链。最初，在三月初，这对于大约三分之一的公用事业来说是一个预期的挑战。到4月中旬，它已超过一半的公用事业公司在努力为员工提供PPE。到6月中旬，仍有超过三分之一的公用事业机构担心。

另一方面，处理化学品的供应链相对不间断。最初的估计是，有44％的公用事业公司担心是否能够接受这些公用事业，但是随着时间的流逝，好消息是，只有不到4％的公用事业公司认为这是一项实际挑战。

公用事业采取措施帮助苦苦挣扎的水费客户留下深刻的印象。在此过程的早期，没有任何正式协调或要求这样做，超过90％的公用事业公司同时暂停了因未付款而关闭的服务。同样，暂停收取滞纳金的公用事业公司的百分比在60％至70％之间。

随着COVID-19情况的缓解，公用事业已经准备好叫他们的雇员重新上班。AWWA的第四次调查（于6月8日至15日进行）显示，有55％的公用事业公司已开始这样做。

但是，重新开放公用事业办公室并不意味着一切正常。提供安全的工作环境是多方面的考虑。例如，70％的公用事业公司正在考虑为员工提供口罩和洗手液的能力。三分之二的人正在寻求地方和州政府官员的指导。63％的公用事业公司都需要确保员工在办公室中保持足够的物理距离。超过一半的公用事业公司正在考虑员工对重返办公室的感觉。

要做的事情还包括如果员工的COVID-19测试为阳性，则要制定计划-超过70％的公用事业公司已经制定了计划。接下来是一个迫在眉睫的问题：我们真的必须回到办公室吗？好吧，有23％的公用事业公司正在对远程工作策略进行永久性更改，另有38％的公司正在考虑这样做。

我希望这些统计数据能够帮助量化和讲述关于尽管遇到了预期的挑战，水务公司及其员工如何与COVID-19斗争以向其社区提供世界上最重要的水源的正面故事。我感谢那些参与调查的人。完整的调查可在awwa.org的COVID-19资源页面上找到。