ONGOING PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
At Pennsylvania American Water, source water protection is one of several important parts of our overall approach to provide clean, safe water for our customers. Below are some highlights for these initiatives.
Source Water Protection Planning
We have partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and our local communities to develop and implement approved source water protection plans for many of our water supplies. For more information about how you can get involved in ongoing source water protection efforts, contact us here.
Source Water Assessment
American Water is using a new and innovative method to compile contaminant information for our drinking water sources. This consists of a Geographic Information System (GIS) map-based tool called WaterSuite that collects information about potential sources of contamination from various data sources and pulls it into a single contaminant information database for a defined area of interest. The information can be updated on a regular basis to include the latest information available and has dynamic search and reporting capabilities.
Source Water Monitoring
We have developed a source water monitoring program that uses continuous water quality indicator monitoring to optimize treatment operations and identify the presence of potential contaminants. The monitoring equipment is located at our surface water treatment facility intakes. These devices are not intended to identify specific contaminants, but rather to alert water systems of a potential change in water quality, spurring further investigative testing.
Contingency Plans
Water utilities can develop strategies to understand and manage risks to source water supplies, but no water utility can prevent the occurrence of chemical releases, power outages or natural disasters. That is why it is important to have emergency response plans in order to help facilities respond to a wide variety of potential emergency situations. We have emergency response plans in place, which are protected from public disclosure by bioterrorism laws put in place for the safety and security of water systems nationwide.
Our emergency alert system, CodeRED, is a high-speed mass notification system to keep customers informed about water-related emergencies. Customers receive notifications through automated phone calls, text and e-mail. Alerts sent through the CodeRED system are available on the “Alert Notifications” page on our website, along with a map of the impacted area. To ensure that we can contact you quickly in an emergency, log on to our web self service portal (www.amwater.com/myaccount) and confirm or update your contact information. For more information about CodeRED notifications and how to update your contact information, click here.
Public Outreach and Education
Our source water protection program includes an outreach component to educate the community about their sources of drinking water and things that everyone can do to protect and improve them. We use various outreach methods including:
Water Quality Reports
Environmental Grant Program
Customer communications
Community service projects
Employee engagement
Plant tours and events
School programs
Protect Our Watersheds contest
Water Learning Center
For more information about our community involvement programs, click here.