The Chester Water Authority recently completed the fourth and final phase of the Partnership for Safe Water (PfSW) Treatment Program, a voluntary effort to provide safe drinking water. Phase IV is also known as “Excellence in Water Treatment.” Presently, the water treatment plant provides drinking water to over 200,000 people in parts of Chester and Delaware Counties.

Chester Water Authority is only the second water treatment plant to complete Phase IV of the PfSW in Pennsylvania. So far, only 12 water treatment plants in the United States have reached Phase IV status. Phase IV is the highest phase and includes a rigorous assessment to determine conformance with PfSW performance goals. A third-party team of utility peers reviews the finished water data and determines if optimized performance has been achieved. Chester Water Authority will receive the “Excellence in Water Treatment Award” from the PfSW at the AWWA National Conference in Denver, Colorado on June 12, 2013.

The PfSW is made up of the Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Pennsylvania Section American Water Works Association and several other drinking water organizations. Its goal is to implement preventative measures that are based on optimizing treatment plant performance. There are four phases to the PfSW.

Chester Water Authority was the third municipal authority formed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a regional authority that provides drinking water to over 200,000 people in parts of Chester and Delaware Counties. The Authority’s facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River to the Delaware River. The Octoraro Treatment Plant has the capacity to treat 60 million gallons of finished water per day.