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Frankfort, Ky. (May 11, 2015) — Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet has recognized 33 surface water treatment plants in Kentucky for meeting the goals of Kentucky’s Area-Wide Optimization Program (AWOP). The purpose of AWOP is to encourage drinking water plants and distributors to surpass state and federal goals and standards. Twenty states, including Kentucky, participate in AWOP initiatives. AWOP provides tools and approaches for drinking water systems to meet water quality optimization goals and provides an increased and sustainable level of public health protection to consumers. The program also focuses on improving the operation of existing facilities without making capital improvements. In particular, the program is focused on lowering turbidity in drinking water. Turbidity, or cloudiness, is a measurement of particles in water including soil, algae, bacteria, viruses and other substances. Participating systems, which meet the high standards of AWOP, receive certificates in honor of their additional accomplishments. “Together, these 33 plants serve more than 1.5 million Kentuckians,” said Brian Chitti, supervisor of the Compliance and Technical Assistance Section. “Water Treatment Plant staff deserve our recognition and appreciation for their daily efforts to exceed the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.” Two water treatment plants received an AWOP Champion Award. This award takes into account the level of optimization achieved, as well as the system’s overall compliance record for the previous three years. Logan-Todd Regional Water Commission was awarded the Champion Award for a large drinking water treatment plant (designed to produce 3 million or more gallons of water a day). Leitchfield Water Works received the Champion Award for a small drinking water treatment plant (designed to treat less than 3 million gallons of water a day). Thirteen AWOP drinking water systems received special recognition, with a gold seal on their certificate, for achieving the AWOP goals 100 percent of the time in 2014. These include Barbourville Water and Electric, Burkesville Water Works, Crittenden-Livingston County Water District, Hartford Municipal Water Works, Jackson County Water Association, Jamestown Municipal Water System, Laurel County Water District No. 2, Liberty Water Works, McCreary County Water District B, Nicholasville Water Department, Pineville Water Service, Rattlesnake Ridge Water District and Williamsburg Water Department. The following drinking water systems received certificates for meeting the AWOP criteria:  Barbourville Water and Electric  Burkesville Water Works  Cave Run Regional Water Commission  Columbia-Adair Regional Water Commission  Crittenden-Livingston County Water District  Franklin Water Works  Glasgow Water Co. – Plants A and B  Green River Valley Water District  Greensburg Water Works  Hardin County Water District No. 1  Hardin County Water District No. 2 – Plants A and B  Hartford Municipal Water Works  Jackson County Water Association  Jackson Municipal Water Works  Jamestown Municipal Water Works  Kentucky American Water – Plants B and C  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  Louisville Water Co. – Plant A  Madisonville Light and Water  McCreary County Water District – Plant B  Nicholasville Water Department  Pineville Water Service  Rattlesnake Ridge Water District  Williamsburg Water Department  Wood Creek Water District For additional information about AWOP visit http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/pws/optimization/index.cfm or contact Brian Chitti at [email protected] or 502-564-3410.