N.C. honors 66 facilities with Area Wide Optimization awards

The North Carolina Division of Water Resources awarded the N.C. Area Wide Optimization award to 66 water treatment plants for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2021.

The division says that the awards are given each year to water systems that demonstrate outstanding turbidity removal, a key test of drinking water quality. While all drinking water systems must meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, these systems met performance goals that are significantly more stringent than state and federal standards. In 2021, nearly 2.8 million North Carolina residents were served by these award-winning plants.

The state also recognized 16 facilities with the Gold Star, which is an award for systems that received the N.C. Area Wide Optimization Award for 10 years or more consecutively:

• Broad River Water Authority Water Treatment Plant
• Cape Fear Public Utility – Wilmington – Sweeney Water Treatment Plant
• Cary/Apex Water Treatment Plant
• City of Cherryville Water Treatment Plant
• City of Eden - Robert A. Harris Water Treatment Plant
• City of Lincolnton Water Treatment Plant
• City of Marion Water Treatment Plant
• City of Newton Water Treatment Plant
• City of Waynesville - Allens Creek Water Treatment Plant
• Harnett County Water Treatment Plant
• Kerr Lake Regional Water System
• Maggie Valley Sanitary District Water Treatment Plant
• Town of Boone Water Treatment Plant
• Town of Burnsville Water Treatment Plant
• Town of Weaverville - Ivy River Water Treatment Plant
• Town of Wilkesboro Water Filtration Plant

The other 50 award-winning facilities can be found at the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s website.