On Thursday, the Division of Water Resources' Public Water Supply section handed out kudos to 35 local water systems for going above and behond state and federal drinking water standards.

 

The awards are part of the N.C. Area Wide Optimization program, which is an effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities, according to a news release from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

 

Awards are given to water systems each year that demonstrate outstanding turbidity and microbial removal, two factors important in determining the drinking water quality," according to DENR. The 35 systems met more stringent goals.

 

The 2011 winning localities are:

 

• Burnsville

 

• Woodfin Sanitary Water and Sewer

 

• Weaverville

 

• Morganton

 

• Lenoir

 

• Newton

 

• Longview 

 

• Andrews

 

• Two Rivers Utilities 

 

• Robbinsville - Tallulah Water Treatment Plant 

 

• Robbinsville - Rock Creek Water Treatment Plant 

 

• Waynesville

 

• Maggie Valley Sanitary District 

 

• Mooresville

 

• Lincolnton

 

• Lincoln County Water Treatment Plant

 

• Marion 

 

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility - Vest Plant 

 

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility - Franklin Plant 

 

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility - Lee S. Duke Plant 

 

• Salisbury-Rowan 

 

• Broad River Water Authority 

 

• Boone

 

• Wilkesboro

 

• Louisburg

 

• Mount Airy-Spencer Water Treatment Plant

 

• Elkin

 

• Pilot Mountain 

 

• Henderson-Kerr Lake Regional Water 

 

• Fayetteville Public Works Commission

 

• Harnett County Department of Public Utilities 

 

• Sanford

 

• Hamlet Water System

 

• Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority-Wilmington