Lancaster County Communities Receive EPA Award

Dec. 19, 2012
Warwick Township & Lititz Borough in Lancaster County, Pa., were awarded for protecting drinking water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored two Lancaster County, Pa. communities for protecting sources of drinking water used by more than 20,000 people. EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin presented the agency’s 2012 regional Source Water Protection Award to the Warwick Township Municipal Authority and the Borough of Lititz at a ceremony at the Warwick Municipal Office.

“Protecting the sources of our drinking water benefits public health, our environment and our economic well-being as well as our quality of life,” said Garvin. “Warwick and Lititz have shown the way for more than a decade of working with farmers and others in taking responsible steps protecting drinking water supplies.”

The Source Water Protection Award recognizes organizations and communities that take extraordinary steps to protect drinking water sources in EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

Warwick and Lititz were recognized for their joint Wellhead Protection Program to protect groundwater sources from contamination. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) nominated the communities for the award.

“DEP is proud to nominate Warwick Township and Lititz Borough for their approach of working with local farmers,” DEP South-central Regional Director Lynn Langer said. “They have set the bar high for protecting drinking water, and hopefully other communities will follow their example.”

“We know that in order to protect our sensitive water supply we need to use many different approaches,” said Dan Zimmerman, Warwick Township Manager.

The communities created a steering committee of local stakeholders to guide their steps, supported state-of-the-art farming techniques and plans, sponsored public education activities, completed watershed improvement projects and developed protective land use planning strategies and emergency water supply plans.

These steps are designed to deal with high levels of nutrient pollution in the heavily agricultural area. More than 30% of the public water systems in Lancaster County have nitrate removal systems installed to assure that water provided to customers meets health-based standards.

The communities reported a steady decline in raw water nitrate concentrations for their drinking water sources, reducing treatment requirements and expenses.

The upgrade of the Lititz Sewer Authority’s wastewater treatment plant is helping to protect local waters and the Chesapeake Bay by significantly reducing nitrogen and phosphorus discharges to Lititz Run. The plant’s technology is also producing dried biosolids that are being used by local farmers as a slow release fertilizer as part of their nutrient management program.

Warwick and Lititz are the first Source Water Protection Award winners in Pennsylvania since 2009.

Source: EPA

Sponsored Recommendations

Blower Package Integration

March 20, 2024
See how an integrated blower package can save you time, money, and energy, in a wastewater treatment system. With package integration, you have a completely integrated blower ...

Strut Comparison Chart

March 12, 2024
Conduit support systems are an integral part of construction infrastructure. Compare steel, aluminum and fiberglass strut support systems.

Energy Efficient System Design for WWTPs

Feb. 7, 2024
System splitting with adaptive control reduces electrical, maintenance, and initial investment costs.

Blower Isentropic Efficiency Explained

Feb. 7, 2024
Learn more about isentropic efficiency and specific performance as they relate to blowers.