This chapter explores public engagement with drinking water systems and organizations. We review existing participatory processes, including public notification of drinking water quality and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) violations, public notice and comment on rulemaking, public participation in meetings and hearings, and citizen lawsuits. We compare these mechanisms and their limitations. We then turn to Australia where water utilities have experimented with deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) to improve service delivery. We discuss opportunities for more deliberative forms of public engagement and explain how they may help communities address complex challenges facing the drinking water sector, including aging infrastructure, nonpoint source pollution, climate change, and low public trust. We conclude with recommendations for how regulatory agencies and water utilities could better engage the public to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water, and in doing so help bridge regulatory gaps that continue to put the nation’s drinking water at risk.