State honors R.B. Simms and Landrum Water Treatment Facilities
September 19, 2024
Small number of water utilities across South Carolina receive recognition by Area-Wide Optimization Program
The Landrum and R.B. Simms Water Treatment Facilities received the South Carolina Area-Wide Optimization Excellence Award for calendar year 2023, during South Carolina Department of Environmental Services’ (SCDES) annual Surface Water Treatment Meeting recently held in Columbia, SC.
“We appreciate the honor recently given to both of our drinking water treatment plants by SCDES,” said Ken Tuck, Spartanburg Water’s Director of Drinking Water Services. “This recognition shows what we hope the public can see every day: our commitment at all of our facilities to provide safe drinking water that more than meets the current standards.”
SCDES initiated the SC Area-Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) in 1997. AWOP is an effort to optimize the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities. The goal of the program is to optimize particle removal and disinfection at all filtration plants to maximize public health protection through appropriate treatment techniques. The Area-Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) provides tools and approaches for drinking water systems to meet water quality optimization goals and provide an increased – and sustainable – level of public health protection to their consumers. The optimization program depends on collaborative relationships and mutual respect between and among regulators and water systems, and it enhances the skills of everyone involved.
AWOP was originally focused on microbial contaminants, but has expanded to include a disinfectant byproducts component. The optimization goals of AWOP are more stringent than drinking water standards, and Spartanburg Water System (SWS) continues to consistently meet these goals. This achievement also shows the optimization of SWS drinking water treatment facilities and the capabilities of Watershed Management, Above Ground Maintenance, and Drinking Water Treatment staff to provide water quality that exceeds regulatory requirements.
About Spartanburg Water
Spartanburg Water, an industry leading utility, is comprised of Spartanburg Water System and Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District. It serves a population of about 200,000 within Spartanburg County, as well as others in parts of Greenville, Union and Cherokee counties. With the help of its dedicated team of more than 300 employees, each day it produces an average of 25 million gallons of drinking water and cleans 14 million gallons of reclaimed water for its customers and community. For more information on Spartanburg Water’s water quality efforts, visit us at spartanburgwater.org.
About SCDES
The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) is the state regulatory agency charged with promoting and protecting the state’s public health and its land, air, coastal resources and water quality as authorized by federal and state law.
