Partnership for Safe Water Conference
Remarks Remarks of Jim Westrick to the New England Water Works
Association
118th Annual Conference in Presenting the Excellence in Water
Treatment Award
to the Champlain Water District, September 20, 1999
Good morning. I'm Jim Westrick, Chief of the Technical Support Center of
the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water of EPA. I serve as EPA's
representative on the Partnership for Safe Water Steering Committee and have
been involved with the Partnership since its inception. I'm delighted to be
here this morning.
The Partnership for Safe Water was formed in 1995 partly in response to the
Milwaukee Cryptosproidiosis outbreak. Representatives of the drinking water
community joined with EPA to construct a program which would result in
voluntary improvement in the performance of surface water treatment plants.
This would not only improve protection from Cryptosporidium and other
microorganisms but also allow water systems to demonstrate that they have the
will and ability to bring about improved protection without regulatory
pressure.
The backbone of the Partnership is the completion of a self-assessment,
where plant personnel assess their performance history, their plant capability,
ask themselves and answer some hard questions about operations and management
and start down on a path toward treatment optimization. This process requires a
lot of hard work, soul searching and diligent application of best practices. We
now have 59 plants whose personnel have gone through this process to the
satisfaction of their peers and have received what we call Phase III
recognition, the Director's Certificate. We take our hats off to the
operators and administrators of those 59 plants who have demonstrated their
commitment to public health protection by making changes to bring about
performance improvement.
The ultimate recognition offered by the Partnership for Safe Water is the
Phase IV recognition, the Excellence in Water Treatment Award. This award is to
be made only to the elite surface water treatment plants of this country. These
are plants which are operating at optimum levels of performance and have the
demonstrated capability to do so in the face of any challenge. They are meeting
stringent performance goals and have taken the steps necessary to minimize the
exposure of their customers to Cryptosporidium. These are people who recognize
their responsibility as protectors of public health and think first of that
obligation in their pursuit of excellence.
The Peter L. Jacob Water Treatment Facility of the Champlain Water District
is a leader in this country in producing high quality water. The staff and
management are forward thinking, proactive and committed the goals and
objectives of the Partnership. They have used the tools provided by the
Partnership together with their own considerable skills and initiative to push
the quality of their already high quality product to unprecedented levels. They
have demonstrated the tenacity, initiative and commitment to public health
protection that exemplifies the spirit of the Partnership.
It is my pleasure to recognize the Champlain Water District as the first
utility in the United States to receive the Excellence in Water Treatment Award
from the Partnership for Safe Water.
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