| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252"?> |
<!-- XBRL Document Created with Wdesk from Workiva --> |
<!-- Copyright 2022 Workiva --> |
<!-- r:76ac1288-890d-4405-a35c-9370e99c6621,g:48101c59-037e-45e4-8f2a-3b284f594c29 --> |
<link:linkbase xmlns:link="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xbrldt="http://xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase http://www.xbrl.org/2003/xbrl-linkbase-2003-12-31.xsd"> |
| <link:arcroleRef arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/all" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#all"/> |
| <link:arcroleRef arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/hypercube-dimension" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#hypercube-dimension"/> |
| <link:arcroleRef arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/dimension-default" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#dimension-default"/> |
| <link:arcroleRef arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/dimension-domain" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#dimension-domain"/> |
| <link:arcroleRef arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/domain-member" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#domain-member"/> |
| <link:roleRef roleURI="http://amwater.com/role/DocumentandEntityInformationDocument" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="awk-20220817.xsd#DocumentandEntityInformationDocument"/> |
| <link:definitionLink xlink:role="http://amwater.com/role/DocumentandEntityInformationDocument" xlink:type="extended" id="i36a7648217f14a8e971e70cfc01a66b2_DocumentandEntityInformationDocument"> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_DocumentInformationLineItems_31ef45c2-dd8d-424e-9998-f2079ac18035" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_DocumentInformationLineItems"/> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate_2d3d1327-5fb4-48b5-b380-fa11da28795a" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate"/> |
| | <link:definitionArc xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/domain-member" xlink:from="loc_dei_DocumentInformationLineItems_31ef45c2-dd8d-424e-9998-f2079ac18035" xlink:to="loc_dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate_2d3d1327-5fb4-48b5-b380-fa11da28795a" xlink:type="arc" order="0"/> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_EntityRegistrantName_df30f2b7-69c5-4a5e-b744-1beea6c9833f" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_EntityRegistrantName"/> |
| | <link:definitionArc xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/domain-member" xlink:from="loc_dei_DocumentInformationLineItems_31ef45c2-dd8d-424e-9998-f2079ac18035" xlink:to="loc_dei_EntityRegistrantName_df30f2b7-69c5-4a5e-b744-1beea6c9833f" xlink:type="arc" order="1"/> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_DocumentInformationTable_c8030a1d-fba4-4ffb-af79-b6718116dba9" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_DocumentInformationTable"/> |
| | <link:definitionArc xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/all" xlink:from="loc_dei_DocumentInformationLineItems_31ef45c2-dd8d-424e-9998-f2079ac18035" xlink:to="loc_dei_DocumentInformationTable_c8030a1d-fba4-4ffb-af79-b6718116dba9" xlink:type="arc" order="1" xbrldt:closed="true" xbrldt:contextElement="segment"/> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_DocumentInformationDocumentAxis_5b75faaa-591c-446f-9b3a-0adbfa1e269c" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_DocumentInformationDocumentAxis"/> |
| | <link:definitionArc xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/hypercube-dimension" xlink:from="loc_dei_DocumentInformationTable_c8030a1d-fba4-4ffb-af79-b6718116dba9" xlink:to="loc_dei_DocumentInformationDocumentAxis_5b75faaa-591c-446f-9b3a-0adbfa1e269c" xlink:type="arc" order="1"/> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_DocumentDomain_5b75faaa-591c-446f-9b3a-0adbfa1e269c_default" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_DocumentDomain"/> |
| | <link:definitionArc xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/dimension-default" xlink:from="loc_dei_DocumentInformationDocumentAxis_5b75faaa-591c-446f-9b3a-0adbfa1e269c" xlink:to="loc_dei_DocumentDomain_5b75faaa-591c-446f-9b3a-0adbfa1e269c_default" xlink:type="arc" order="1"/> |
| | <link:loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="loc_dei_DocumentDomain_6e7712dd-6d9c-4bcf-8613-65e613cc5cf2" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/dei/2021q4/dei-2021q4.xsd#dei_DocumentDomain"/> |
| | <link:definitionArc xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/dimension-domain" xlink:from="loc_dei_DocumentInformationDocumentAxis_5b75faaa-591c-446f-9b3a-0adbfa1e269c" xlink:to="loc_dei_DocumentDomain_6e7712dd-6d9c-4bcf-8613-65e613cc5cf2" xlink:type="arc" order="1"/> |
| | </link:definitionLink> |
| </link:linkbase> |