Laura Vidal: Rural Water Always Finds a Way | Make Water Work 034

2026-05-14

85% of water systems in the United States operate with three or fewer employees. They manage treatment, distribution, compliance, reporting, and public communication — often while also handling parks, snow removal, and everything else a small community needs. They are rarely celebrated. And when everything is working, they are almost invisible. This episode is for them. Make Water Work is launching a new series dedicated entirely to rural water — the small systems, the circuit riders, the ass...

85% of water systems in the United States operate with three or fewer employees.

They manage treatment, distribution, compliance, reporting, and public communication — often while also handling parks, snow removal, and everything else a small community needs. They are rarely celebrated. And when everything is working, they are almost invisible.

This episode is for them.

Make Water Work is launching a new series dedicated entirely to rural water — the small systems, the circuit riders, the association staff, and the utility operators who make clean water happen for millions of Americans every day.

And there is no better person to kick it off than Laura Vidal, Association Partnership Director at 120 Water and a 17-year veteran of the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water.

In this episode, Isaac sits down with his new co-host to hear her story, understand how rural water associations actually work, and set the stage for the conversations ahead.

In this episode:

• How Laura went from an investment brokerage firm to 17 years in rural water

• What makes rural water utility professionals genuinely different from anyone else in the industry

• How the National Rural Water Association and state associations support small systems

• What circuit riders actually do and where that term comes from

• The real challenge of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions for systems with three or fewer employees

• Why rural water associations are the connective tissue between utilities, regulators, and solution providers

• What it looks like when utilities, associations, state agencies, and technology partners all work from the same data

• What's coming next in the Make Water Work Rural Water Series

These are the unsung heroes of the water industry. It's time to tell their stories.

Learn more about 120 Water: https://120water.com

#MakeWaterWork #RuralWater #WaterIndustry #DrinkingWater #WaterUtility #SmallSystems #WaterInnovation #SafeDrinkingWater #WaterPolicy #PublicHealth