The Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) Water Treatment Plant was among 66 water treatment plants, and one of just six east of Interstate 95, honored by the N.C. Division of Water Resources for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2021. The division’s Public Water Supply section awarded GUC with the prestigious N.C. Area Wide Optimization Program Award (AWOP), a state effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities.
The annual award is given each year to water systems that demonstrate outstanding turbidity removal, a key test of drinking water quality. Turbidity is a measure of cloudiness or haziness of water caused by particles that can interfere with disinfection and make it easy for microbial growth, including harmful bacteria and viruses. While all drinking water systems must meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, these systems met performance goals that are significantly more stringent.
It is difficult for water treatment plants in the eastern part of the state to achieve the AWOP turbidity goals due to the high number of particles typically found in the source waters in the east. Most of the winning plants are from the western part of the state, while GUC is one of only nine water systems to be recognized in the 28 counties making up the coastal plain area. GUC is one of only two honorees out of the Washington region to be recognized.
“I credit the award to our Water Treatment Plant staff who treated over 5 billion gallons of water last year to ensure that we produce the highest quality of water," said GUC’s Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Julius Patrick.
This is the seventh consecutive year GUC has received the award. For more information about GUC’s water quality, visit guc.com.