In only very recent years, use of the Internet as an electronic commercial medium for implementing communications, sales, and marketing strategies has become an accepted and expected practice among businesses operating in competitive markets. While many other historically non-competitive industries, like utilities, have researched or established a presence on the web, only a few have moved beyond the standard "billboard" type information presentation that typified many initial forays onto the Internet. As businesses and private citizens alike become more familiar and comfortable with use of the Internet as a research tool for securing information vital to support their own operations or personal lifestyle, water utilities may learn from the experiences of "competitive" companies that have discovered the Internet as a virtually boundless tool for interacting with their publics.