Illinois American Water announces winners of “Imagine a Day Without Water” Art Contest

[November 21, 2016]   BELLEVILLE - This fall, Illinois American Water invited 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classrooms within the Company’s service area to participate in an “Imagine a Day Without Water” art contest. The contest was held in conjunction with the Value of Water Coalition’s annual event to raise value of water service awareness.

“It’s hard to imagine even just one day without water. We need water to make our morning coffee, to cook family dinners, to fight fires, for public health and more. Even though water service is essential, the public often takes its value for granted,” said Bruce Hauk, president of Illinois American Water.

He continued, “We want to thank our local educators for taking time to talk to their students about the value of water service. Our team was impressed with the quality of art contest entries received from across Illinois.”

The art contest winners listed below earned a $100 donation for their classroom:

• Hayden Meis, 4th grader at St. Mary’s School in Pontiac
• Samora Baldwin, 3rd grader at Cairo Elementary School in Cairo
• Abigail Scales, 3rd grader at Central School in Lincoln
• Sophie Taylor, 4th grader at St. Peters Catholic School in South Beloit
• Zoe C. Higgins, 5th grader at Leal Elementary School in Urbana

• Bailey Punkay, 5th grader at St. John Lutheran School in Champaign
• Max Gorsage, 4th grader at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Godfrey
• Caito Nicholas, 5th grader at East Elementary School in Alton
• Chloe Hyatt, 4th grader at Mascoutah Elementary School in Mascoutah
• Shy Hoffman, 5th grader at Scott Elementary School at Scott Air Force Base
• Madison Cereno, 5th grader, St. Dominic School in Bolingbrook
• Jorge Mejia, 4th grader at Bernard J. Ward Elementary School in Bolingbrook
• Anthony Gullens, 5th grader at Northlawn Junior High School in Streator
• Lexie Dentino, 3rd grader at L.E. Starke Primary School in Pekin
• Jocelyn Schmidt, 3rd grader at St. Vincent de Paul School in Peoria
• Malyse Williams, 5th grader, Von Steuben Middle School in Peoria

About Illinois American Water

Illinois American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.2 million people. American Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in Belleville. Illinois American Water ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Water

Utilities in the Midwest" according to J.D. Power’s 2016 Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM.

American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. Marking its 130th anniversary this year, the company employs 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

[Karen L. Cotton
Manager, External Affairs
Illinois American Water]