Water that comes out of Aqua Pennsylvania’s Bristol Water Treatment Plant has been rated the best in the state.
At Pennsylvania American Water Works Association’s annual state conference, a competition was held (yes, this is real) to compare the taste of water from systems across the state. Bristol Borough’s water came in first and will compete in a national competition in June.
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The Bristol Water Treatment Plant that draws from the Delaware River has been located along the river along Radcliffe Street for 130 years, but the current facility was constructed in 1953. Aqua, then called Pennsylvania Suburban Water, purchased the site for more than $25 million from the borough in 1996 and undertook a major upgrade to the 11-million-gallon-per-day plant. The facility provides drinking water to more than 30,000 residents in all of Bristol Borough and parts of Bensalem and Bristol Township.
A major plant overhaul in 1999 has been credited with helping the company succeed in the recent contest, according to Aqua Vice President of Production Curt Steffy.
“Following those upgrades, the plant enrolled in the AWWA Partnership for Safe Drinking Water program, which is a national volunteer initiative developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, AWWA and other water organizations,” said Steffy. “The Partnership members are committed to producing water that outperforms federal drinking water regulations. All of our Pennsylvania surface water plants are in the program and the Bristol plant is currently in the process of completing the requirements for Phase III of the program, which will be done by year-end.”
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Another benefit has been a chlorine dioxide treatment system has has been installed to enhance the plant’s chlorine residual.
“Although the new disinfection treatment technique made a difference in performance, the plant operators were crucial, playing an equal and key role in making the win possible. You can have great technology, but if your production staff, your plant operators, and treatment team don’t know how to manage that technology, the potential benefits of the treatment will not be realized,” Steffy added.
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