Citizens Energy Group’s White River North and T.W. Moses Water Treatment Plants are the most recent facilities to receive Directors Awards from the Partnership for Safe Water.
The Partnership for Safe Water is a voluntary effort between six drinking water organizations and more than 300 water utilities. The goal of the Partnership is to provide a new measure of public health protection to millions by encouraging utilities to voluntarily improve performance beyond current regulatory requirements.
To be considered for the Directors Award, utilities must submit a comprehensive self-assessment of the facility’s performance and operations. This assessment is reviewed by a team of utility optimization experts from the Partnership’s Program Effectiveness Assessment Committee to ensure an effective and unbiased evaluation.
Award-winning utilities demonstrate an outstanding commitment to delivering superior quality drinking water to customers. Citizens has previously received Directors Awards for the White River Water Treatment Plant, Fall Creek Water Treatment Plant, and the Distribution System.
“Citizens is incredibly pleased that two additional water treatment plants were recently recognized with Directors Awards,” said Jeff Willman, Vice President, Water Operations. “This is a testament to the hard work and time our employees dedicate not only to meeting the Partnership’s water quality optimization goals and operational requirements, but also to implementing improvements identified during the self-assessment journey. It is through recognition such as the Directors Award that Citizens’ commitment to continuous improvement really shines through.”
Citizens also recently received recognition from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) through its Peak Performance Awards Program.
Both the Belmont and Southport Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plants have reached and maintained Platinum status for several years. Platinum is the highest-level honor in the NACWA’s Peak Performance Awards Program, recognizing wastewater and stormwater facilities that have been 100 percent compliant with permits over a minimum of five consecutive years.
Belmont was honored for seven years, and Southport for 16 years, for 100 percent compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, which limits the amount of pollutants discharged into receiving waterways.
“These awards are the result of teamwork,” said Tim Blagsvedt, Director, Wastewater Collection. “It takes all of us – Collections, Operations, and Maintenance staff – to keep the systems running and the plants operating in tip-top shape. I appreciate the hard work and dedication of all our employees.”