Webster defines “perseverance” as “the holding to a course of action, belief, or purpose without giving way; steadfastness.”
Perseverance traditionally pays off. If one sticks with something long enough…something good will come of it.
No better example of perseverance “paying off” can be found than in the efforts of the WQA task force which culminated recently in new minimum property standards being promulgated by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
While these new HUD standards mean thousands of prospective homeowners no longer will be denied Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing, their adoption has also opened up a new market for the water quality improvement industry.
What it all boils down to is that individual home water treatment units are now permitted to provide an acceptable supply of water from individual wells on properties financed with HUD/FHA insured mortgages. Prior to the adoption of these new regulations, HUD did not recognize home water treatment devices as a means of achieving acceptable water quality.
No one was happier or more pleased than Jack Lorenzen of Lincoln, NE, WQA vice-president, when the new regulations received the HUD signature since he spearheaded the four-year fight with the help of other task force committee members Donna Cirolia, then WQA Director of Government Affairs; Irene Trippett of Eugene, OR; Bea Rudd of Cody WY; and Keith Brown of Newbury, OH.
It was Lorenzen who helped gain the interest of U.S. Congressman Douglas Bereuter of Nebraska in sponsoring a provision in the Housing Law to permit the use of home water treatment units in FHA-financed homes.
Like anything that is worth fighting for, the four-year effort of the task force experienced peaks and valleys. The initial regulations as drafted by HUD only permitted home water units that treated all the water entering the house, not just the kitchen tap.
WQA and its task force argued that the regulations should only specify water treated at a single faucet unless a contaminant was found that posed a significant health threat. Due to the perseverance of the task force, HUD did change its regulations to reflect a single tap solution.
The key word here is perseverance. Without the perseverance of the WQA and its task force, these revisions would more than likely have died a slow death on some official’s desk.
Water treatment dealers across the country owe a great deal to Congressman Bereuter and Jack Lorenzen and his fellow task force members for their dedication to the POU industry. It is ongoing efforts like these that will ensure a healthy future for the water quality improvement industry, not only in 1991 but in the years to come.