For the seventh year in a row, our Water Treatment Plant has received the prestigious North Carolina Area Wide Optimization Award. Of the 149 water treatment plants in the state, the NC Division of Water Resources has included Greenville Utilities among the 66 honored for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2021. The award 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. The 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 29 states involved in the program.  

AWOP 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 harmful microbial growth. Eliminating particles lessens the amount of chemicals needed to process water, which reduces byproducts in the water. While all drinking water systems must meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, these systems met performance goals that are significantly more stringent. 

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 due to the high number of particles typically found in the source waters in the east. Most of the winning plants are from the western part of the state, while GUC is one of only two honorees out of the Washington region. With 28 counties making up the coastal plain area, GUC was one of only nine water systems in this area to be recognized.  

“I credit the award to our Water Treatment Plant staff who treated over 5 billion gallons of water last year to ensure that we produce the highest quality of water," said Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Julius Patrick.  

Congratulations to our Water Treatment Plant staff for working hard to obtain this award!