A recent report from the national American Water Works Association shows drinking water systems that participate in the Partnership for Safe Water improve the quality of the water they produce.

The Partnership for Safe Water Program is a voluntary effort involving rigorous self-assessment procedures, known as Phase III, that are specifically geared toward identifying and correcting weaknesses in plant operation, design and administration. Correcting these weaknesses helps prevent waterborne disease outbreaks from organisms like Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

The partnership program is a key part of DEP’s compliance assurance efforts and has demonstrated real outcomes for partnership members and their customers.

According to the report from AWWA, a review of annual turbidity data submitted by partnership plants from throughout the country showed that after completion of the Phase III self-assessment process, partnership filter plants realized a 60 percent improvement in the drinking water they produced.

Approximately 100 of Pennsylvania’s surface water filtration plants are enrolled in the partnership program. Forty-six filter plants that together serve 3.6 million Pennsylvanians have completed the Phase III self-assessment process.

For more information, visit the Partnership for Safe Water webpage or contact Kevin Anderson at 717-772-4018, send e-mail to: keanderson@state.pa.us .

5/2/2008