When the call comes at 2 a.m., utilities and infrastructure owners need a team that has been there before.

Water Contamination Events

PFC/PFAS advisories, lead service line failures, treatment process upsets. We have managed contamination responses for utilities serving tens of thousands of customers — including a named case where customer confidence remained high despite national media coverage.

Boil-Water Notices

Rapid, plain-language customer notification across digital, print, and broadcast channels. We develop the messaging, the FAQ, and the media response simultaneously — so your customers hear from you first.

Water Main Breaks

Major pipeline failures that flood homes or disrupt service require coordinated public communication before social media fills the vacuum. We have managed communications for breaks that flooded 13 homes while maintaining public trust.

Chemical and Wastewater Spills

Spills trigger regulatory notification, media inquiries, and community concern simultaneously. We coordinate the communication timeline across all three audiences so your response is consistent and defensible.

Ammonia and Treatment Plant Incidents

Treatment plant incidents carry both public safety and regulatory dimensions. We have guided communications through ammonia leaks at water treatment facilities, managing both the immediate public information need and the longer-term narrative.

Service Outages

Extended outages erode trust faster than almost any other incident. We develop customer communication protocols that set realistic expectations, provide regular updates, and restore confidence when service is restored.

Pipeline Failures

Large-diameter transmission main failures require coordinated communication with elected officials, regulators, affected property owners, and the general public — often simultaneously and on a timeline measured in hours.

Drought Response

Mandatory restrictions and curtailment orders require public education, stakeholder alignment, and media management. We help utilities communicate the necessity and fairness of restrictions before resentment builds.

Workplace Fatalities

An employee or contractor death requires immediate, carefully worded communication to staff, families, regulators, and the public. We have developed communications in response to employee deaths and understand the legal, human, and reputational dimensions.

Wildfire and Storm Response

Natural disasters that affect infrastructure operations require real-time public communication while your team is managing the operational response. We handle the communications so your operators can focus on the system.

Water Quality Activism

When organized opposition — including national figures — amplifies community concerns about treatment processes or water quality, we develop the information architecture and media strategy to restore public understanding.

Regulatory and Enforcement Actions

Consent orders, enforcement actions, and regulatory scrutiny require a communications posture that is transparent without being legally damaging. We help you communicate what you can, when you can, in a way that builds rather than erodes trust.

Case Study

Security Water District: PFC Contamination Response

In January 2016, Security Water District — serving 19,000 customers south of Colorado Springs — learned from the news media that it was among 94 water supply sources exceeding the EPA's PFC provisional health advisory. Significant national coverage alarmed customers immediately.

Sigler was retained to develop a communications and outreach strategy. We helped Security Water adopt a transparent communications posture — providing clear, consistent information to customers and media while the District implemented interim solutions. Deliverables included bill stuffers, fact sheets, maps, website content, and a sustained social media program.

The outcome: Security Water implemented interim strategies in record time to get 100 percent of its customers on PFC-free surface water. Customer concern was high — but it was not directed at the District. Regulatory agencies lauded the way Security Water handled the situation. Customer confidence remained high.

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Our Team

Practitioners who have been inside utilities, not just advising them.

Our crisis communications team includes practitioners with firsthand, in-house experience at municipal water utilities — managing communications for pipeline breaks, ammonia leaks, boil-water advisories, chemical and wastewater spills, service outages, and workplace fatalities. This is not a service description. It is a track record.

Our team includes a FEMA Advanced Public Information Officer and practitioners trained under the National Incident Management System (NIMS) — the same framework your emergency operations team uses. We are also featured as a case study in AWWA's Risk Communication Guide for Water Utilities.

What makes Sigler different from a general crisis PR firm?

We specialize in utilities, water districts, and infrastructure owners — the organizations that operate essential services under public scrutiny. Our team includes practitioners who have spent careers inside municipal water utilities, not just advising them from the outside. That means we understand your regulatory environment, your customer relationships, and the specific communication dynamics of a public agency under pressure. A general crisis PR firm will learn your industry during your crisis. We already know it.

How quickly can Sigler respond to an active crisis?

For clients with a retainer or preparedness relationship in place, we can have a communications lead engaged within hours. For new clients in an active crisis, we prioritize same-day response. The first call is always about understanding the situation, not about paperwork. We can begin drafting customer notifications, media statements, and internal communications while the engagement terms are being finalized.

Do you work with water utilities specifically?

Yes. Water and wastewater utilities represent a significant portion of our crisis communications practice. Our team includes practitioners with firsthand, in-house experience at municipal and wholesale water utilities — including managing communications for major capital programs, water quality crises, and long-term stakeholder engagement initiatives for utilities serving millions of customers. We are also featured in AWWA's Risk Communication Guide for Water Utilities.

What does crisis preparedness look like before an incident happens?

Preparedness work typically includes a crisis communications audit, development of scenario-specific messaging guides and holding statements, a media response protocol, a stakeholder notification matrix, and tabletop exercise facilitation. The goal is that when an incident occurs, your team is not starting from zero — you have approved language, clear decision trees, and a communications partner who already knows your organization.

Can you handle media relations during a crisis?

Yes. Media relations is a core component of crisis communications. We develop media statements, manage reporter inquiries, prepare spokespersons for on-camera and on-record interviews, and monitor coverage in real time. We have relationships with local and national media across the markets where our clients operate, and we understand how to communicate technical utility information in terms that reporters and the public can understand.

Do you work with energy companies and pipeline operators as well as water utilities?

Yes. Our crisis communications practice extends to energy infrastructure, pipeline operators, and other regulated industries. The communication dynamics — regulatory notification, community concern, media pressure, and the need for transparent but legally careful messaging — are similar across infrastructure sectors. We have worked with energy companies, environmental remediation projects, and corporate clients facing reputational crises.

What is the difference between crisis communications and issues management?

Crisis communications addresses an acute, time-sensitive incident — a spill, a contamination event, a workplace fatality — where the immediate priority is accurate, rapid public communication. Issues management addresses slower-moving threats: organized opposition, regulatory scrutiny, community distrust, or reputational erosion that builds over months or years. We practice both, and the two often overlap. A poorly managed issue can become a crisis; a well-managed crisis can prevent a long-term issue.