LATHAM, N.Y. — Last week, May 18-24, was National Public Works Week, organized by the American Public Works Association (APWA). Since 1960, APWA has sponsored Public Works Week, with its more than 28,000 members in the U.S. and Canada taking part to energize and educate the public on the important contribution of public works in their daily lives.
This year’s theme was "Building for Today, Planning for Tomorrow," referencing both the day to day aspect of public works and the sustainable practices that ensure quality of life for future generations.
Water Technology caught up with Peter King, executive director of APWA and the Canadian Public Works Association, during Public Works Week to discuss how the week-long event has grown since 1960, what this year's week represents and the goals APWA hopes to achieve going forward into the coming year.
"Oftentimes, people in public works are really the unsung heros of the community," said King. "They are often not recognized for what they do on a day to day basis in making sure that there's clean water and the traffic is flowing and the potholes are filled and planning goes on. And they're really not recognized unless something goes wrong and that water main bursts, and they're in there trying to make sure that things go smoothly."
Listen to the rest of our conversation with King on our podcast page, here: https://www.watertechonline.com/podcasts.
