Partners in PAPartnership for Safe Water Update

Volume 9 • Issue 2

975146

Tel: 717-774-8870Fax: 717-774-0288

e-mail: paawwa@paawwa.orgwww.paawwa.org

1309 Bridge St., Lower LevelNew Cumberland, PA 17070

The Partnership for Safe Water Mixer was celebrated at the PA AWWA60th Annual Conference held in Valley Forge and almost 50 par-ticipates dedicated to optimizing filter plant performance were onhand to celebrate with PA two more PA utilities and the Partnershipprogram success. The Municipal Authority of the Township ofRobinson, along with PA American - Clarion Plant was presented theprestigious Partnership for Safe Water Phase III Crystal Water DropAward for successfully completing the Self-Assessment and PeerReview phase of the partnership program, a phase, which consists ofidentifying factors that limit treatment plant performances.

Robinson is located in the Southwest District, Allegheny County andprovides drinking water to approximately 12,000 people, while theClarion plant is located in Northwest District, Clarion County andprovides drinking water to approximately 10,000 people.Congratulations on your accomplishment.

(L - R): Ed Ford, Operator Robinson Twp. Municipal Authority,Diane Cox, PfSW Coordinator, Larry Lambo, PA AmericanManager Field Operations and Kate O'Neill, NW & SW PfSWRepresentative.

(L- R): Kevin Anderson, PA DEP Water Program Specialist, Ed Ford, RobinsonOperator, Diane Cox, PfSW Coordinator, Larry Lambo, PA American ManagerField Operations, Kate O'Neill, NW 7 SW PfSW Preventative, and Glenda DunnAWWA National Speaker.

The SPOTLIGHT is on:The Municipal Authority of the Township of Robinson

PA American - Clarion Plant

Congratulations to:

Municipal Authority of the Township of Robinson

Pennsylvania American Water –Clarion Plant

PartnersinPA_0608:PartnersinPA Newsletter 6/26/08 3:55 PM Page 1

Update Your Partnership Info

Send any changes to yourPartnership contact information toDebby Qualls at dqualls@awwa.org.If we don’t have the correctinformation you may miss out onupcoming program improvements.Be sure to include current e-mailaddress if available.

NOTICEIf you receive a Notice ofViolation you should contactNational PfSW within a few daysand explain the situation. Inaddition, all participating plantsmust include a statement ofconformance with regulations intheir annual report.

www.paawwa.org

Please Note the Following:

Annual ReportsOverdue,

E-mail immediately!

NO more floppy discs. NO more CDs and NO DVD’S.Annual report data must besent to us via e-mail. ThePartnership Steering Committeeapproved this policy to speedcommunication and reduce cost.

Annual report data must be sentto dqualls@awwa.org using thecurrent PfSW software version 4.1.

The Partnership for Safe Water (PfSW)program advocates a continuous self-assessment approach to the operation andadministration of drinking water treatmentfacilities. This approach was nothing newto the Jersey Shore Joint Water Authority(JSJWA) when they joined the PfSW in 1999as they had been actively following acontinuous improvement course since theAuthority’s formation in 1984.

Water suppliers must “keep moving, keep making progress,” says Mike Zellers,the original and current Manager of theJSJWA. It is an attitude that has beenrelentlessly followed by Mike and his stafffor over twenty years, resulting in facility improvements that include: areconstructed dam on the system’s mainraw water source (Larry’s Creek); numerousnew raw, process and distribution lines; athoroughly refurbished sedimentationbasin; two new potable water storagetanks; and many significant building and process improvements to the 1914treatment plant that the JSJWA operateson an around-the-clock basis.

Mike explains that these improvementswere initiated and completed on a prioritybasis by “identifying the weak points andthe strong points of the system” and then“working to eliminate the weak points.”This self-assessment based process wassuccessful in solving previous distributionsystem pressure problems, improvingtreatment process effectiveness, anddeveloping back-up facilities and StandardOperating Procedures to quickly andeffectively counter events such as floodsand rising raw water turbidities.

Although the Jersey Shore Joint WaterAuthority’s continuous improvementphilosophy was well established prior tojoining the Partnership for Safe Water, theparticipation in the Partnership programoffered the Authority a means to “avoidcomplacency and maintain highstandards,” according to Mike. Affirmationof these high standards came in 2004when the JSJWA’s Partnership for SafeWater’s Phase III self-assessment reportwas submitted and approved. TheAuthority’s high standards are also evidentin their finished water turbidities that areconsistently less than 0.03 NTUs.

Talking about the facilities that he operatesand maintains, JSJWA water plant OperatorJeff Musser says that he feels a respon-sibility to “pass on something good,” tofuture generations, not something that“needs fixed.” Authority Manager MikeZellers echoes those sentiments when heinstructs his operators to maintain thefacilities of the JSJWA “not only for thecurrent community” but also for thecommunity’s “children’s children.” Basedon the JSJWA’s past and current sense ofmission, future Jersey Shore areagenerations will indeed be grateful for theforesight and dedication of their ancestors.

The Jersey Shore Joint Water Authority’sstaff is comprised of Mike Zellers, JeffMusser, Sam Musser, Tom Hartranft, RobKrider, Tim Cohick, Dave Cohick, DanHillyard and Judy Cohick. The Authority,which is governed by an eight-memberBoard, serves Jersey Shore Borough,Salladasburg Borough and portions ofMifflin, Porter, Piatt, Nippenose, Anthonyand Pine Creek Townships.

Jersey Shore Joint Water Authority (JSJWA)

The dam on Larrys Creek. This dam wasoriginally constructed from wood. The JSJWAreplaced the wood with concrete in 1988.

The Larry's Creek Water Treatment Plant. Originallybuilt in 1914. the plant has been exceptionally wellmaintained and updated

(L to R): Operator Jeff Musser and Manager Mike Zellers

PartnersinPA_0608:PartnersinPA Newsletter 6/26/08 3:55 PM Page 2