Kentucky Water Treatment Plants Exceed Quality Standards
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 24, 2019) – The Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Division of Water has recognized 37 surface water treatment plants in Kentucky for meeting the goals of Kentucky’s Area-Wide Optimization Program (AWOP), for 2018.
AWOP is a multi-state initiative administered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose of AWOP is to encourage drinking water systems to voluntarily achieve optimization goals that are more stringent than current regulations. Twenty-six states, including Kentucky, participate in AWOP. All of Kentucky’s public water systems are encouraged to participate in AWOP in order to provide the highest quality drinking water to their customers.
AWOP promotes improving the operation of existing facilities rather than implementing costly capital improvements. In doing so, the program provides tools and approaches for drinking water systems to meet water quality optimization goals and provide an increased and sustainable level of public health protection to consumers. In particular, the program emphasizes the reduction of turbidity and disinfection by-products through the drinking water treatment process. Turbidity, or cloudiness, is a measurement of particles in water including soil, algae, bacteria, viruses and other substances. Disinfection by-products are formed when chlorine, which is used for disinfection, reacts with organic material found in the source water.
Participating systems that meet the high standards of AWOP receive certificates in recognition of their accomplishments. “Together, these 37 drinking water treatment plants serve nearly one million Kentuckians,” said Jackie Logsdon, the Kentucky AWOP Coordinator. “This achievement demonstrates a high level of commitment to public health protection. The drinking water operators deserve our recognition and appreciation for optimizing operations and performance, allowing them to exceed requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
Two water treatment plants received an AWOP Champion Award. This award takes into account the high level of turbidity optimization achieved, as well as the system’s overall compliance record for the previous three years. Glasgow Water Company was awarded the 2018 Champion Award for a large drinking water treatment plant (designed to produce 3 million or more gallons of water a day). Burkesville Water Works received the 2018 Champion Award for a small drinking water treatment plant (designed to treat less than 3 million gallons of water a day).
Fourteen AWOP drinking water systems received special recognition for achieving the AWOP turbidity goals 100 percent of the time in 2018. These include Barbourville Water and Electric, Bullock Pen Water District, Cave Run Regional Water Commission, Glasgow Water Company – Plant A, Jackson County Water Association, Jamestown Municipal Water Works, Laurel County Water District No. 2, Lawrenceburg Water and Sewer Department, Liberty Water Works, London Utility Commission, Louisa Water Department, Rattlesnake Ridge Water District, Western Fleming Water District, and Wood Creek Water District.
The following drinking water systems also received a certificate for meeting the AWOP turbidity criteria in 2018:
- Barbourville Water and Electric
- Bullock Pen Water District
- Burkesville Water Works
- Cave Run Regional Water Commission
- Central City Water and Sewer
- Century Aluminum
- Cynthiana Municipal Water Works
- Franklin Water Works
- Glasgow Water Company – Plants A and B
- Hardin County Water District No. 2 – Plants A and B
- Hodgenville Water Works
- Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority
- Jackson County Water Association
- Jackson Municipal Water Works
- Jamestown Municipal Water Works
- Kentucky American Water – Plants B and C
- Kentucky State Penitentiary
- Laurel County Water District No. 2
- Lawrenceburg Water and Sewer Department
- Leitchfield Water Works
- Liberty Water Works
- Logan Todd Regional Water Commission
- London Utility Commission
- Louisa Water Department
- Madisonville Light and Water
- McCreary County Water District – Plant B
- Monroe County Water District
- Morehead State University
- Ohio County Water District
- Rattlesnake Ridge Water District
- Stanford Water Works
- Versailles Water System
- Western Fleming Water District
- Wood Creek Water District
