Oak Creek Water Utility Wins Prestigious EPA Award

The Oak Creek Water and Sewer Utility has announced it is the first and only utility in the state to receive a special safe water award from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The utility received a "15-year Directors Award" as part of the EPA's Partnership for Safe Water Treatment Operations Program. Only 11 utilities in the United States achieved the recognition, according to an Oak Creek Water Utility news release.

"Participating in this program over the past 15 years assures consumers as well as local, state, and federal officials that we are on the leading edge of providing the safest, cleanest drinking water possible at reasonable rates," Utility General Manager Mike Sullivan said. "The award symbolizes the contributions of all utility employees who seek more effective, efficient ways to produce high quality water."

A director's award is earned by a water treatment plant that has completed the third phase of the partnership program. Utilities must work through an arduous self-assessment and identify factors which may have limited the performance of the treatment plant and take steps to address those factors, according to the news release.