RALEIGH – North Carolina officials announced Thursday that 35 water systems are being honored for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards.
The 35 systems received the N.C. Area Wide Optimization Award from the state N.C. Division of Water Resources’ Public Water Supply section. The awards are part of the N.C. Area Wide Optimization program, which is an effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities.
Awards are given to water systems each year that demonstrate outstanding turbidity and microbial removal, two factors important in determining the drinking water quality. While all systems have to meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, these systems met performance goals that are significantly more stringent.
Microbes are microscopic particles that occur naturally, but can potentially contain bacteria harmful to drink. Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness in the water and can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality.
Award winners for 2011 include:
- Burnsville
- Woodfin Sanitary Water and Sewer
- Weaverville
- Morganton
- Lenoir
- Newton
- Longview
- Andrews
- Two Rivers Utilities
- Robbinsville - Tallulah Water Treatment Plant
- Robbinsville - Rock Creek Water Treatment Plant
- Waynesville
- Maggie Valley Sanitary District
- Mooresville
- Lincolnton
- Lincoln County Water Treatment Plant
- Marion
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility - Vest Plant
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility - Franklin Plant
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility - Lee S. Duke Plant
- Salisbury-Rowan
- Broad River Water Authority
- Boone
- Wilkesboro
- Louisburg
- Mount Airy-Spencer Water Treatment Plant
- Elkin
- Pilot Mountain
- Henderson-Kerr Lake Regional Water
- Fayetteville Public Works Commission
- Harnett County Department of Public Utilities
- Sanford
- Hamlet Water System
- Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority-Wilmington
- Neuse Regional Water and Sewer Authority
