Manchester Water Works Drinking Water Judged 'New England's Best'
Manchester Water Works' drinking water was judged "New England's Best" at a special taste-testing competition at the recent annual conference of the New England Water Works Association, the region's largest, not-for-profit organization of water works professionals.
A panel of independent, international judges sampled drinking water from utilities throughout New England that had no violations of state or federal safe drinking water standards during the previous year.
These judges included Gary Sullivan, senior section services representative of the international American Water Works Association; Jerry Stevens, general manager of the West Des Moines (Iowa) Water Works and president-elect of the American Water Works Association; and Babtunde Ogunsanwo, professor at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria.
Manchester Water Works will compete against utilities from North America for the title of "Best of the Best" drinking water next June in Washington, D.C., at the annual conference of the American Water Works Association, the world's largest organization of water works professionals.
Manchester Water Works serves 160,000 residential, industrial, and commercial consumers in the city as well as the surrounding communities of Auburn, Bedford, Derry, Goffstown, Hooksett, and Londonderry.
In 2006, the Manchester Water Works treatment plant underwent an extensive $30M renovation program, which replaced the existing disinfection and filtration system with a more advanced ozone and carbon treatment process.
Ozone is known to improve the aesthetics of drinking water while providing disinfection at the same time.
Because it is used in place of chlorine, MWW water now contains less than one-tenth of national safe drinking water standards for disinfection by-products.
The 2006 renovation program also increased the treatment plant's capacity from 40 million to 50 million gallons.
Over the years, Manchester Water Works has continually reinvested in rehabilitating and upgrading its infrastructure (water mains, pumping stations, etc.), avoiding large capital outlays for such necessary improvements. In so doing Manchester Water Works has also been able to keep it's water rates amongst the lowest in New England.
Shortly after the original Manchester Water Works treatment plant was activated in 1974, the project was named one of the top ten engineering achievements in the country by the National Society of Professional Engineers and was selected as a finalist in the national Engineering Excellence Awards competition sponsored by the American Council of Engineering Companies.
The Manchester Water Works Board of Water Commissioners includes Theodore L. Gatsas, mayor ex-officio; Louis C. D'Allesandro, president; Dylan R. Cruess, clerk; William A. Beaton; Bernard G. Garrity, Jr.; Phillip Sapienza; and Paul G. Lessard. The Manchester Water Works staff also includes Thomas Bowen, Director, and Robert Beaurivage, Assistant Director.
SOURCE: Manchester Water