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RWA Issues Annual Water Quality Report
May 01, 2024NEW HAVEN, Conn. — May 1, 2024 — The Regional Water Authority (RWA) has issued its 2023 Annual Water Quality Report and is in the process of mailing it to customers.
“We take immense pride in our ability to provide RWA consumers with a dependable supply of safe and affordable drinking water,” said RWA President & CEO Larry Bingaman. “Throughout 2023, RWA tap water met or was better than the standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The effort and commitment made by our employees to ensure the water we deliver to our consumers is the highest-quality and most dependable and economical life-sustaining resource is demonstrated throughout the report.”
The document, which is available in English and Spanish on the RWA’s website (link), provides information about the RWA’s multi-layered approach to providing high-quality water and related services.
This starts with the management and protection of the three aquifers, 10 active reservoirs and nearly 28,000 acres of watershed land the RWA oversees. It includes water filtration and treatment, as well as maintenance of the 1,700-mile-long distribution system that delivers water to nearly 117,000 customers’ homes and businesses. In 2023, the RWA invested more than $42 million into building and supporting its water system infrastructure.
The RWA’s state-certified laboratory oversees a state-of-the-art testing program to monitor water quality on an ongoing basis. The RWA tests for more than 100 contaminants, including lead, organic compounds, radon and so-called “forever” chemicals, also known as PFAS. In 2023, the RWA collected more than 8,000 water samples and conducted over 63,000 tests to ensure that high-quality water reached consumers’ taps.
In observance of Drinking Water Week, which starts Sunday, May 5, the RWA encourages consumers to do their part to maintain the quality of the water that we all rely on. Here are a few steps anyone can take:
- Properly dispose of household hazardous waste, including used pharmaceutical products. Visit com/hazwaste to learn if your community participates in HazWaste Central, the RWA’s permanent collection facility located at its 90 Sargent Drive headquarters, which is scheduled to open for the 2024 season on May 18.
- Pick up after yourself and others. Discarded or forgotten trash and other waste may contain contaminants that can find their way into streams, runoff and storm drains – and ultimately, into the water supply we all use. Pick up your pet’s waste, too.
- Consider using natural fertilizers and other yard and garden products, especially near stream beds and water sources.
- Report illegal dumping to your local police.
For additional information, including previous years’ water quality reports, as well as expanded test results, visit rwater.com/water-quality/water-quality-reports/.
