The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) this week issued its annual water quality report to customers in south central Connecticut. This annual “report card” quantifies the quality of drinking water provided to the water utility’s customers during 2018.
“We are happy to report to our consumers that the RWA’s water continues to meet or is better than all state and federal standards for safe drinking water,” said Larry Bingaman,the RWA’s president and CEO, in a statement.
The RWA uses what it calls a “multi-barrier” approach to managing water quality. This approach focuses on watershed and aquifer management to safeguard the quality of drinking water sources, treatment of the water prior to consumption, maintenance of the distribution system that delivers water to the tap, and monitoring water quality to ensure quality standards are maintained.
In 2018, the RWA collected more than 10,000 water samples and conducted in excess of 110,000 tests, according to the utility. The RWA collects water samples before the water is treated, during the treatment process and in the distribution system. Water quality samples are tested at the RWA’s laboratory in New Haven. The utility says it uses advanced technology that can test water samples for minute traces of contaminants and reports that its water meets the highest quality standards.
Among the highlights of the 2018 report:
• In 2018 the RWA says it devoted approximately $444 million to building and maintaining the region’s water system, from installing and cleaning hundreds of miles of water mains to updating filtration systems.
• As part of its land-management and source-protection programs, the utility in 2018 invested in excess of $300,000 to acquire more than 43 acres of property in the region.
• All of the RWA’s treatment plant operators maintain a Class IV Water Treatment Operator Certification, the highest standard in the state.
The RWA sources its waters from 10 active reservoirs and three aquifers. These source waters are located within the 27,000 acres of watershed land that the RWA owns in south central Connecticut. Environmental technicians carefully monitor and manage these lands and all activity that occurs on or around them. This environmental stewardship promotes a healthy ecosystem that helps naturally filter the RWA’s water. As a result, less work needs to be done at the RWA’s treatment plants to further purify the water, allowing the RWA to provide its customers with a high-quality product that is as pure as possible.
The RWA is a nonprofit corporation that delivers water and services to some 430,000 people in 15 municipalities in greater New Haven. Its service area defines an (approximate) semi-circle extending from Milford to Cheshire to Branford.
Contact Michael Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
