Water Systems as Plaintiffs

Key Takeaways Over the past two decades, water systems have recovered billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements through lawsuits against polluters and used these recoveries to fund remediation. In most situations in which defective products are responsible for contaminating drinking water supplies, the supplier will need to bring its own lawsuit against the responsible parties to achieve monetary recovery. When a manufacturer has information about its products’ risks and fails to act on it in a responsible way, that manufacturer has been negligent and is responsible for any harm that results. Though concerns about entering into litigation are understandable, many water suppliers have found it well worth the risk to hold polluters accountable.