What does COWU mean in COUNCIL

The Council of Water Utilities (COWU) is an international organization that focuses on advancing the professional scope and effectiveness of water utilities in over 200 countries worldwide. COWU seeks to enhance the capacity of water utilities to safely and effectively deliver drinking water services to their customers by providing financial, technical, and human resources.

Members of COWU's network include a range of public-sector entities such as municipalities, regional organizations, state and federal governments, research institutions, laboratories, universities, water think tanks, and non-governmental organizations from around the world.

Examples of activities supported by COWU include capacity building efforts such as knowledge sharing through workshops and seminars, exchange programs for professionals and students focusing on urban water management issues, technical assistance in areas such as rural sanitation access, watershed protection initiatives, integrated water resource management planning, and innovative approaches to water conservation.

To leverage the collective expertise from within its broad membership base and foster meaningful dialogue between stakeholders in different countries/regions, COWU encourages collaboration through knowledge sharing initiatives such as workshops or seminars where practitioners discuss best practices in urban water management; peer exchange programs; education programs targeting relevant parties; dissemination courses; project support initiatives; or policy/regulation dialogues related to sustainable urban water management.

To ensure efficient delivery of drinking water services across its network members, COWU provides tools such as performance contracts which are customized based on a utility’s individual needs; assessment tools like GIS analysis or data analysis for measuring effectiveness; guidelines for peer learning visits; a city comparison tool which assesses different cities’ performance levels relative to one another based on selected indicators; or financial market assessments which explore opportunities for private investment in drinking water service projects.

Yes. Over the past 25 years since its inception in 1996, COWU has partnered with organizations around the world to provide technical assistance related to financing sustainable drinking water service projects, training international staff members, developing tailored strategies for managing municipal services across varying geographic climates or cultural circumstances specific to municipal partners’ needs.

To measure outcomes associated with its programming related to enhancing access and equity in drinking water service delivery mechanisms, COWU utilizes key performance indicators (KPIs). Such KPIs focus on customer satisfaction levels related to quality standards performance tracking (e.g., punctuality), consumer confidence surveys (regarding citizens’ trust levels in various aspects related to their utility provider), affordability metrics (for assessing whether consumers can reasonably afford their utilities according to their income level), user surveys/community engagement feedback forms regarding customer services levels offered by local utility providers etc.

In order to maximize impact associated with each project or initiative undertaken by it through collaborative action among all relevant stakeholders involved - both on national & international scales -COUW relies heavily on both public-private partnerships (PPPs) - which can take many forms including joint ventures between governmental bodies & private sector companies - as well as intra-government collaborations between municipal governments & other public authorities when pursuing new drinking service delivery models at an operational level.