The Washington State Department of Health recently awarded the City of Pasco the prestigious “Gold Certificate of Achievement” for achieving 10 years of stringent water quality standards.
The Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water began its Treatment Optimization Program (TOP) in 2001 in an effort to improve the performance of surface water treatment facilities, such as Pasco’s. The purpose of this voluntary program is to maximize public health protection provided by surface water systems.
Participants in the program commit themselves to working toward meeting treatment goals for particle removal and disinfection that are more stringent than current requirements. Because turbidity (the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid) is a readily measured indicator of treatment plant performance, TOP tracks finished water turbidity for all conventional and direct filtration plants in Washington.
For the calendar years 2001 through 2010, Pasco’s finished water turbidity was 0.10 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit) or less for at least 95 percent of the time, which meets or exceeds TOP's turbidity goal.
According to Denise Clifford, Director of the Office of Drinking Water, “Achieving consistent high drinking water quality like this is the mark of a highly dedicated and skilled water department staff.”
To receive this award a plant must also meet other stringent criteria related to public health protection. The City of Pasco’s water system is one of only four systems in the state, and the only one in eastern Washington, to receive the Gold Certificate of Achievement out of the 64 eligible to participate in TOP.
The City of Pasco strives to continue improving the quality of community life in Pasco.