Clearest Drinking Water

Tim Dustrude photo

>> Update – the time has been moved up to 11:00 for this award presentation <<

Town to receive Department of Health award for top water quality in the state

The Town of Friday Harbor is receiving top honors for providing some of the clearest drinking water in the state for three consecutive years.

The Washington State Department of Health presents the Treatment Optimization Program (TOP) Award to water operators that meet significantly higher water quality standards than those set by the government.

Steve Deem of the Washington State DOH will present the award at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, 2016, at Town Hall. The Town is one of only eleven systems in the state to receive this year’s award.

The Town’s water department voluntarily participates in the stringent DOH program which challenges operators to exceed the minimum legal standards for three consecutive years. According to Town Public Works Director Wayne Haefele, the DOH has set an extremely difficult goal.

“It requires that water systems make the TOP goal a priority in everything we do and every decision we make,” said Haefele. TOP Award winners must maintain extreme water clarity, known as low “turbidity”, while simultaneously complying with every other measurement of water quality without exception for three consecutive years. Turbidity is considered one of the most dependable tests for confirming the removal of potential pathogenic organism from water.

The DOH created the Treatment Optimization Program in response to a 1992 waterborne disease outbreak in Milwaukee, WI that killed 100 and sickened a significant percentage of the population.

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