BRYN MAWR, PA, Nov. 20, 2008 -- Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. (Aqua) officials were joined by representatives of the Pennsylvania Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as they signed the Partnership for Safe Water -- a voluntary cooperative effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the AWWA and other drinking water organizations, representing more than 200 surface water utilities throughout the United States.
The ceremony took place this morning at the company's Crum Creek Water Treatment Plant in Springfield, Delaware County, where Aqua President Karl Kyriss was presented with eight certificates acknowledging the company's membership -- one for each of Aqua's southeastern Pennsylvania surface water treatment plants, which provide water to approximately 1.2 million residents. Two additional plants -- the Roaring Creek Treatment Plant in Elysburg (Shamokin area) and the Shenango Treatment Plant in Sharon -- are also enrolled in the Partnership.
"We are pleased to join the Partnership for Safe Water," said Kyriss. "The parameters of the program are in line with the best practices Aqua employs relative to water quality. We've invested tens of millions of dollars in our treatment facilities and consistently strive to outperform regulatory standards. Our in-house state-certified laboratory tests for many more constituents than what is required by regulations, which is consistent with the spirit of the Partnership."
"Aqua has a great reputation in the industry for water quality," said AWWA Pennsylvania Section Executive Director Don Hershey who spoke at the ceremony. "We are looking forward to their membership in the program. With a customer base of 1.4 million people, Aqua brings a significant scope to the program, which includes a total of 5.8 million people in Pennsylvania."
According to its Web site, the goal of the program is to "…provide a new measure of safety to millions of Americans by implementing prevention programs where legislation or regulation does not exist. The preventative measures are based around optimizing treatment plant performance and thus increasing protection against microbial contamination in America's drinking water supply."
With Aqua's membership, Pennsylvania will have a total of 104 filter plants that serve 5.8 million people enrolled in the Partnership program, and represent 25 percent of the national membership of more than 400 plants that serve 85 million people.
Aqua Pennsylvania serves approximately 1.4 million people in 26 counties throughout Pennsylvania.
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