ReWa honors dedicated employees on World Water Day

GREENVILLE, SC – Renewable Water Resources would like to extend a sincere thank you to all its 198 employees for their efforts in keeping Upstate waterways clean as part of a celebration of World Water Day.

“ReWa’s mission is to protect our waterways here in the Upstate,” said Graham Rich, the agency’s executive director. “We could not do that without the incredible group of people who work around the clock to uphold that mission.”

“The importance of clean water has been underscored in the past few months by the contamination tragedy in Michigan and the massive need for water in California,” Rich said. “That is what makes ReWa’s mission so important. Staff members at ReWa and other public utilities work diligently to make sure our waterways are supplemented with clean water every day.”

ReWa continually strives to make the community a better place to live and that is why it has undertaken several initiatives aimed at promoting clean water in our community. These initiatives include:

• Project Rx: A River Remedy is a local collaboration of community organizations united to help keep our rivers and residents safe from unused medications. Founded in 2010, Project Rx pulled together multiple community resources to hold take-back events semi-annually. As a safe alternative to flushing unwanted medications down the drain, or leaving them at home within the reach of the wrong hands, this program allowed Upstate residents to bring prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, vitamins and supplements for a free and safe disposal, the perfect remedy for our community. In 2016, the events will be replaced with a long-term solution that includes a permanent drop box located at the Greenville Health System Memorial Campus. To read more about this campaign and the many partnerships that make it a success, visit www.ariverremedy.org.
• Be Freshwater Friendly is a campaign to help educate the Upstate on how small changes in our day-to-day actions can have a great impact in our local rivers, lakes and streams. For example, many people don’t realize that storm water isn’t treated; it flows directly to our rivers, lakes and streams. When you wash your car at home, your driveway becomes a flowing source of soap, scum, and oily grit. The runoff water flows down the street along the curb directly into storm drains. Be Freshwater Friendly has seven focuses that are aimed at educating the community. The Be Freshwater Friendly website offers tips on how to make small changes to our daily actions that can have a big impact on water quality. Resources such as this help us protect aquatic wildlife, provide clean water for drinking and recreational use, and preserve our watershed for the long-term. To learn more, visit www.befreshwaterfriendly.org.
• ReWa started the Pipe Patrol campaign to raise awareness about the hazards of pouring fats, oils & grease (FOG) down the drain. The problems that result from FOG can harm your home, your local environment and your sewer bill. Preventing FOG-related problems will prevent the number of sewer pipe blockages and resulting overflows, reduce the required maintenance and expense of FOG-lined pipes, and protect our community from sewer overflows. To read more about this initiative, visit www.pipepatrol.org.
• Since 1998, ReWa has held its annual Reedy River Sweep, a volunteer event for ReWa employees to give back to the environment.
• The Wildlife and Industry Together (W.A.I.T.) Program is designed to give corporate landowners and their employees a framework for integrating wildlife habitat needs into corporate land management decisions.
• In 1998, ReWa initiated the W.A.I.T. Program at its WRRF. The program is a natural extension to ReWa’s mission of providing the community with a cleaner environment.
• Established a multitude of partnerships in with other organizations in our area to ensure the preservation of our most valuable natural resource: clean water. To learn more about our partnerships, visit www.rewaonline.org/about/in-the-community/partnerships/.

World Water Day is an international observance and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference. ReWa also welcomes groups to tour its facilities; interested parties can contact [email protected]. Visit www.rewaonline.org for more information about the utility.

“Water is our most vital resource and everyone must play a part in protecting it,” Rich said.

Renewable Water Resources (ReWa)
ReWa’s goal is to promote a cleaner environment, and to protect the public health and water quality of the Upstate waterways, while providing and developing the necessary sewer infrastructure for the growing economy. ReWa serves more than 400,000 industrial, commercial and residential customers in Greenville County and parts of Anderson, Spartanburg, Pickens and Laurens Counties.