Imagine waking up one morning and finding that there’s no water coming from your faucet. No coffee. No shower. No breakfast dishes washed. Your morning routine – gone.
A recent El Paso Water feature posed that very question: What would a day without water look like? For local business owners, the answer was almost unimaginable. For many, it would mean closing their doors.
“It would be disastrous, devastating,” said Gabriel Montoya, founder of DeadBeach Brewery. “Everything we do, we do because of our water.”
From breweries to coffee shops, water is the first and most essential ingredient. Local entrepreneurs consistently emphasize how much they rely on high-quality tap water to deliver the products their customers love.
At Podium Shop, co-owner Ephraim Viva put it simply: “Water is probably the most important of the utilities. Without water, we just could not function.”
Beyond small businesses, tap water fuels every part of our economy — restaurants, health care, schools, manufacturing, hospitality, and even the military missions at Fort Bliss.
Clean, reliable water is essential to local businesses like Desert Rose in El Paso, where every espresso cup depends on it. Photo by El Paso Water.
Clean, reliable, and locally managed
Behind every drop of water that reaches a home or business stands a team of experts ensuring its safety and reliability. EPWater’s International Water Quality Laboratory collects more than 45,000 samples and conducts over 370,000 tests each year to ensure water meets strict state and federal standards.
That rigorous oversight means every sip of tap water –at home or at your favorite restaurant—is safe. It also gives businesses confidence that their products will taste right, their processes will stay consistent and their equipment will remain protected.
When we talk about the value of water, we are not just talking about what shows up on your bill. The true value lies in what water makes possible: economic vitality, public health and a thriving community.
A national report by The Value of Water Campaign notes that the United States faces a significant funding gap for maintaining and upgrading aging water infrastructure – much of it buried and out of sight. Continued investment is essential to ensure that safe, clean water keeps flowing for generations to come.
“Investing in water is not just a cost to bear- it is a tangible opportunity to promote economic growth, support good jobs, and strengthen communities,” the report says.
In a desert community like El Paso, every drop counts. Our commitment to conservation and smart water planning has made us a national model for water reuse, drought preparedness and sustainable growth.
In the end, tap water is not just a convenience – it’s a lifeline. And the cost of keeping it clean, reliable and flowing is an investment worth making every single day.
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The El Paso Matters Podcast
To go deeper on the most important news stories affecting El Paso, Texas, El Paso Matters reporter Diego Mendoza-Moyers and guests dive into topics relating to the Borderland from politics and economics to education, healthcare and the environment.
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