For the thirteenth consecutive year, staff at the Broad River Water Treatment Plant (WTP) earned awards from the North Carolina Division of Water Resources as part of the North Carolina Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP).
AWOP is an effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities. Awards are given each year to water systems that demonstrate outstanding turbidity removal, a key test of drinking water quality.
Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of water caused by individual particles that can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. While all drinking water systems are required to meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, these systems meet performance goals that are significantly more stringent.
This award points both to the superior operation of the facility and the capability of the staff. BRWA completed a $7 million modernization project on the WTP in 2011 that improved the hydraulic capacity and implemented modern technology and treatment processes.