For the fourth year in a row, our Water Treatment Plant has received the prestigious North Carolina Area Wide Optimization Award. The NC Division of Water Resources has included Greenville Utilities among the 57 out of 149 water treatment plants in the state honored for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2018. The award recognition is a state effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities.

In 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed new regulations to reduce the risk of biological contamination. EPA then partnered with states to form the Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP). This program introduced more stringent water quality goals and helps water systems meet those goals. North Carolina has participated in AWOP since 2000 and is one of 23 states to participate.

Award Background and Challenges
The focus of the AWOP award is turbidity removal, a key test of drinking water quality. Turbidity is a measure of cloudiness of water caused by individual particles that can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Eliminating particles lessens the amount of chemicals needed to process water, which reduces byproducts in the water. The Tar River has high turbidity because its water comes from tributaries that run through swamps.

It is difficult for water treatment plants in the eastern part of the state to achieve the AWOP turbidity goals. Most of the winning plants are from the western part of the state, while GUC is the only water treatment plant honoree out of the Washington region. With 28 counties in the coastal plain area, GUC joined Cape Fear Public Utility Authority as the two water systems in this area to be recognized.

“Every year our Water Treatment Plant staff outdo the previous year’s numbers for these AWOP goals, and every year I’m amazed and really proud of them,” said Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Julius Patrick. “We have our challenges in this region that the staff overcame again, except this time they had the additional challenge of Hurricane Florence.”

Clif Whitfield with the NC Department of Environmental Quality - Washington Regional Public Water Supply Section, presented the award recently during a celebration luncheon at the Plant.

“AWOP is all about gathering data, analyzing it, and making operational decisions to go above and beyond what’s required,” said Clif. “You’re very fortunate to be where you’re at and to have developed and fostered a culture of excellence at GUC. Four years in a row is quite an accomplishment. This a very real, public health benefit. I commend you for what you’re doing.”

Congratulations to our Water Treatment Plant staff for working hard to obtain this award four years in a row!