NAWC's Living Water Award Presented to EPCOR's John Lulewicz

PHILADELPHIA – The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) named John Lulewicz, EPCOR’s Texas Water Operations Director, its 2023 NAWC Living Water Award recipient.

Presented at the NAWC Annual Water Summit in Atlanta, GA, the Living Water Award recognizes the regulated water industry professional who best demonstrates excellence in serving their community, colleagues, industry or environment.

John is being honored for the community values he brings to EPCOR every day. When he saw the need for skilled workers in the water and wastewater industry, he championed EPCOR to collaborate with the Skilled Trades Academy to train recent Texas high school graduates and created a pathway for people who wouldn’t have known about careers in this critical field. The program accepted 10 participants in 2023, providing training, mentorship, hands-on activities and the skill set needed to start a career in the industry.

“John leads by example. He’s the first to say, ‘I’ll do it’ and then get his team members involved. John does not need to be recognized or thanked for his efforts – he just does it because it’s the right thing to do. From fundraising to volunteering time to donating turkeys to a local food pantry or buying a meal for a table of veterans or police officers, John demonstrates every day what a NAWC Living Water Award recipient should be,” said EPCOR USA Human Resources Coordinator Laura Minder.

John is extremely involved in the community EPCOR serves. He’s helped increase employee engagement during EPCOR’s annual United Way fundraiser by organizing a cornhole tournament that entices employees to have fun and contribute. These tournaments have spread to more EPCOR locations and last year helped contribute a record-breaking $55,000 in employee donations.

From starting his career as a Water Operator over 15 years ago, to becoming the Operations Director of an ultramodern facility, his efforts inspire other EPCOR sites to be involved in the communities they serve, whether that’s creating more water industry opportunities or supporting communities in need.

The other 2023 Living Water Award nominees were:

Edward Reppucci – Aquarion Water Company – Senior Maintenance Mechanic
Martin Cross – Veolia – Plant Manager II
Kendra Rose – Corix Group of Companies – Health, Safety and Environment Director
Becky Dennis – Kiawah Island Utility – Operations Director
Chris Graziano – Veolia – Vice President/General Manager
Jesse Medina – Cal Water – Plant Manager II
Jim Mastrokalos – Veolia – Operations Senior Director

Learn more about John Lulewicz and all of the 2023 nominees here.