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The original item was published from 8/2/2019 4:34:00 PM to 11/1/2019 12:00:06 AM.
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City of Lincolnton News Updates
Posted on: May 21, 2019[ARCHIVED] Lincolnton water named tops in the state!
Lincolnton is one of six water systems statewide named "Gold Star" winners for meeting the AWOA criteria for over 10 consecutive years.
Local Water Systems Honored for Water Quality
City water system named "Gold Star" winner for achieving criteria for over 10 years
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Wayne Howard
Staff Writer
Lincolnton's Water System has been honored with the North Carolina Division of Water Resources with a "Gold Star" designation, one of only six systems in the state to receive the honor, reserved for those systems who have received the NC Area Wide Optimization Award for 10 consecutive years. Like Lincolnton, Newton has received the "Gold Star" designation for well over a decade. Others named "Gold Star" systems this year were Andrews, Weaverville, Marion and the Henderson-Kerr Lake Regional Water Authority.
Awards are given each year to water systems that demonstrate outstanding turbidity removal, a key test of drinking water quality. Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness or haziness of water caused by individual particles that can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Microbes are microscopic particles that occur naturally but can include harmful bacteria and viruses.While all drinking water systems must meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, there were 57 systems statewide that met performance goals significantly more stringent than state and federal standards. The awards, announced this week, were based on testing during 2018. In 2018, nearly 3 million North Carolina residents were served by these award-winning plants.
The Lincoln County water system was among those who were named Area Wide Optimization Award winners. The County system has achieved that designation for several years, but unlike Lincolnton, has not yet achieved it for over a decade.
The number of systems in the state receiving the Area Wide Optimization Award for 2018 was 57--down from the 69 for 2017. Others in our area who were designated AWOA winners included Cherryville, Cleveland County, and Mt. Holly (which also supplies water to Stanley). Dallas and Hickory made the list last year, but not this year.
City Manager Steve Zickefoose credits Lincolnton's "Gold Star" designation to the outstanding work by Water Resource Director Robert Pearson and his staff at the Lincolnton Water Plant. "They've achieved the AWOA designation for at least 15 years," he told us, "and we're not only happy that Lincolnton residents can enjoy good water thanks to their efforts, but we now sell water to the County so many county residents are also getting water from the Lincolnton Water Treatment Plant." |