Fifth Annual U.S. Water Prize Winners Announced

April 20, 2015

Achievements

The U.S. Water Alliance (USWA; Washington, D.C.) former president Ben Grumbles (left) and interim president G. Tracy Mehan III (right) stand with the winners of the U.S. Water Prize including, from left, John Radtke, water sustainability manager of The Coca-Cola Co. (Atlanta); Halla Razak, director of Public Utilities for the City of San Diego; Jessica Fox, techinical director of the Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, Calif.); and Bruce Karas, vice president of Environment and Sustainability for Coca-Cola. Photo courtesy of Chris Flynn.

The U.S. Water Alliance (USWA; Washington, D.C.) former president Ben Grumbles (left) and interim president G. Tracy Mehan III (right) stand with the winners of the U.S. Water Prize including, from left, John Radtke, water sustainability manager of The Coca-Cola Co. (Atlanta); Halla Razak, director of Public Utilities for the City of San Diego; Jessica Fox, techinical director of the Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, Calif.); and Bruce Karas, vice president of Environment and Sustainability for Coca-Cola. Photo courtesy of Chris Flynn.

The U.S. Water Alliance (USWA; Washington, D.C.) announced the winners of the 5th annual U.S. Water Prize that honors organizations with strategies promoting the value of water as well as the power of innovating and integrating for water sustainability. The winners, selected to represent the municipal, nonprofit, and business sectors, were the City of San Diego Public Utilities Department, Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, Calif.), and The Coca-Cola Co. (Atlanta).

The City of San Diego Public Utilities Department was selected for its Water Purification Demonstration Project, designed to augment reservoirs. The project findings are helping utilities develop standards for potable reuse across the U.S. The utility’s efforts have enabled the city to move forward with Pure Water San Diego, a 20-year water reuse program to supply 314,000 m3/d (83 mgd) of drinking water locally by 2035, according to the USWA news release.

The Electric Power Research Institute was selected for its part in the collaboration of power companies, farmers, state and federal agencies, and environmental interests in establishing an interstate water-quality trading project. “The Ohio River Basin Trading Project has built a comprehensive, scientifically based approach for designing and developing markets for nutrient-reduction credits to reduce nutrient loads in Ohio River Basin waters and improve regional water quality,” according to the news release.

The Coca-Cola Co. was selected for working actively on its goal to be water neutral by 2020 by safely returning to communities and nature an amount of water equal to what it uses in its finished beverages. Coca-Cola has replenished more than 60% of its total beverage volume in North America, the news release says.

, , , , , , , , , ,

Comments are closed.