如果没有强大、积极的公共关系，州饮用水项目就无法继续运作。教育公众有关水传播疾病应该是国家的工作，而不是无知或信息贫乏的第三方。在饮用水管理局设有公共关系办公室的州，饮用水管理人员应设法安排一名人员花大量时间编写通讯、信息手册和新闻文章。在其他州，应向几名饮用水工作人员分配公关任务。这些努力应该针对公用事业、消费者、公共利益团体、媒体，最重要的是州议员。 行之有效的公关工具包括消费者教育手册、时事通讯、与新闻媒体的会议、发布执法行动和好人名单，以及为学校开发教育套餐。

State drinking water programs can no longer afford to operate without a strong, positive public relations presence. It should be the job of the state, not uninformed or poorly informed third parties to educate the public about waterborne diseases. In states where the drinking water agency has a public relations office, drinking water administrators should attempt to get a person assigned to devote a significant portion of time to developing newsletters, informational brochures, and news articles. In other states, several drinking water staff members should be assigned public relations tasks. The efforts should target utilities, consumers, public interest groups, the media, and most importantly state legislators. Tried and true PR tools include consumer education brochures, newsletters, meetings with the news media, publication of enforcement actions and good guys listings, and development of educational packages for schools.