Bay Area Water Works Association

What Bay Area Water Works Association does

Bay Area Water Works Association (BAWWA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit professional membership association serving water works professionals and water industry providers across the San Francisco Bay Area. Its core offering is a membership program priced at $25 annually that grants access to quarterly general membership meetings, exclusive facility tours of water treatment plants and related infrastructure, an annual golf tournament, summer socials, a job board, a directory advertising marketplace, and a quarterly newsletter. BAWWA convenes members around technical education (e.g., tours of the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center, EBMUD facilities, City of Vallejo's Fleming Hill plant, ACWD's RD1 Fish Passage Facility) and social programming, while operating a long-standing fundraising partnership with Water for People that has generated annual auction proceeds ranging roughly $1,500 to $3,505 between 2015 and 2020, with cumulative giving exceeding $11,000 by 2017.

BAWWA's revenue model combines low-friction recurring membership dues with transaction-based event fees (golf tournaments at $150-$180 per person, socials at $20-$65, movie nights at $15-$65) and one-time directory advertising placements starting at $30. Optional pass-through contributions to Water for People are collected alongside membership purchases. There is no software product, proprietary platform, or technology stack underpinning the association beyond a standard Squarespace-hosted website and email newsletter distribution, and the organization operates without disclosed paid headcount or institutional investment. Its go-to-market is community-led: members and member utilities recruit peers through word-of-mouth, hosting facility tours that double as member acquisition channels.

Strategically, BAWWA has incrementally broadened its event formats (adding distillery, brewery, and stadium tours alongside traditional plant tours) and deepened its Water for People fundraising franchise, but it has remained strictly regional with no evidence of geographic expansion beyond the Bay Area.

Name

Bay Area Water Works Association

Legal name

The Bay Area Water Works Association

Website

https://bawwa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bay Area Water Works Association (BAWWA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit membership association serving water works professionals and industry providers in the San Francisco Bay Area with $25 annual memberships, quarterly meetings, facility tours, social events, and Water for People fundraising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Industry Professional Trade Association

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Marine & Freshwater Conservation (BPAGAGAE)

Keywords

• Water industry association
• Professional membership organization
• Water utility networking
• Industry trade association
• Water works professionals

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees collected from water works professionals and industry providers. Standard and retired membership options available.
2. Directory Advertising: Members can purchase directory ads in various sizes formats (Business Card, Quarter Page, Half Page) to promote their businesses to the BAWWA community.
3. Event Fees: Registration fees for golf tournaments, summer socials, general meetings, and Water for People events. Golf tournaments typically $150-$180 per person, social events $30-$65.
4. Water for People Contributions: Optional contributions added to membership purchases to support Water for People nonprofit mission.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bay Area Water Works Association (BAWWA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional membership organization that serves water works professionals and industry providers in the San Francisco Bay Area. It offers annual memberships ($25/year), quarterly general membership meetings, exclusive facility tours of water treatment plants and infrastructure, an annual golf tournament, summer social events, a job board, a member directory with advertising, and Water for People fundraising events.

Product overview

Bay Area Water Works Association (BAWWA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional membership organization serving water works professionals and industry providers in the Bay Area. BAWWA's offerings include membership services, quarterly general membership meetings (February, May, August, November), annual golf tournaments, summer social events, facility tours of water treatment plants and related infrastructure, Water for People fundraising events, a job board, newsletter archive, and directory advertising opportunities. The association facilitates networking, education, and philanthropy related to water industry issues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Standard Membership
• Retired Membership
• Directory Advertising
• General Membership Meetings
• Garry Lee Memorial Golf Tournament
• Summer Social
• Water for People Fundraising Events
• Water Treatment Facility Tours Exclusive member-access tours of operational water infrastructure and facilities in the Bay Area, including tours of the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center, the Fleming Hill Water Treatment Plant, the ACWD RD1 Fish Passage Facility, the Orinda Water Treatment Plant, the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and the Searsville Dam.
• Job Board Online job board listing water industry positions posted by member water utilities, including Alameda County Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, and Brown & Caldwell, used for recruitment access by water industry employers.

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Water For PeoplecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding partnership supporting Water For People's mission to provide safe drinking water and sanitation in developing countries. BAWWA hosts annual Water for People auctions and fundraising events, having raised over $11,000 in 2017 alone and continuing annual support through movie nights, mixers, and auction events.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• California Water Environment Association: California's Water Environment Federation member association serving wastewater and water quality professionals across the state. Highly comparable as a state/regional professional membership body with events, networking, and advocacy in the same water sector.
• National Association of Water Companies: Trade association representing regulated water and wastewater utilities, with policy advocacy and member services. Comparable as a membership-based water industry association but focused on investor-owned utilities rather than BAWWA's public-sector membership.
• American Water Resources Association: Multi-disciplinary professional association for water resources professionals, providing conferences, publications, and networking. Comparable in mission and structure (professional membership society in the water sector) though more research/academic in orientation.
• California-Nevada Section AWWA: Regional section of AWWA serving California and Nevada water professionals with conferences, events, and training. Directly comparable as a sub-regional water professional membership body within the same geography, potentially overlapping with BAWWA's Bay Area territory.

Others

• Water Research Foundation: A nonprofit research organization that funds and publishes applied water utility research for its subscriber utilities. Comparable as a water-sector nonprofit serving similar utility members, but focused on research dissemination rather than networking and social programming.
• Water Utility Climate Alliance: Coalition of large U.S. water utilities focused on climate adaptation. Comparable as a membership-based organization serving water utilities in the western U.S., but focused on climate policy coordination rather than professional networking and events.

Broad incumbents

• Water Environment Federation: International water quality professional organization with member associations across U.S. states. Comparable in serving water professionals via membership, conferences, and education, but operates globally rather than at a single regional level.
• American Water Works Association: The largest national professional association for water professionals, providing education, certification, conferences, and advocacy. Directly comparable mission (advancing the water profession) but operates nationally and at much larger scale than BAWWA's regional focus.

Emerging players

• ASCE Environmental & Water Resources Institute: A technical institute within ASCE focused on environmental and water resources engineering, hosting conferences and publications. Comparable in serving water professionals with technical programming, but operates as an institute within a broader civil engineering society.

Regional players

• Pacific Northwest Water Quality Association: Regional water quality association serving Pacific Northwest utilities and professionals. Comparable in mission (regional water industry networking, education, advocacy) but operates in a different geographic market than BAWWA.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bayareawaterworksassociation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bay-area-water-works-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bay Area Water Works Association