Water Partners: Water Systems Helping Water Systems Award

Criteria

For a public water system to be recognized in the Water Partners: Water Systems Helping Water Systems category, pick one of the following subcategories below and meet at least one of the criteria in that subcategory:

• Mentoring
  • Provided free advice and guidance to another public water system to solve questions about a specific operations, management or other issue. 
  • "Adopted" another public water system, staff, or management to help them deal with a particular situation or problem.
  • Other - example: Let junior water system staff from another system use your water system and plant for training.
• Emergency response
  • Assisted another public water system with problems related to a natural disaster or other  emergency. 
  • Participated in mutual aid program and provided either equipment or personnel in response for assistance. 
  • Other
• Operations, training and equipment
  • Helped another public water system by operating their system or sharing keys, etc. to cover for each other when needed. 
  • Shared trips to, or updates from training events, or provided training to another public water system. (Provide name or topic and date of training.)
  • Worked with other water systems to share equipment or buy chemicals in bulk or to submit samples. (Explain what was shared and how it helped each water system.)
  • Other
• Consolidations and mergers
  • On your own accord, provided service to a struggling neighbor. 
  • Consolidated customers of another water system either though purchase, physical merger or interconnect. 
  • Shared funding to build a mutually beneficial project. 
  • Other

The PWS has not received this award previously for the currently proposed subcategory and the documentation used to support the subcategory may not be more than 18 months old.

How can my PWS become eligible for this award?

You may already be partnering with your neighbors and qualify for this award! You may know another water system that has gone out of their way to help their neighbors and other public water systems. You may be partnering in ways we did not think of - that is why we included "other" as an option.

Review the criteria, and if you think your system or another one you know of may qualify complete an application for this award now. Choose a subcategory and one criterion under that subcategory, and submit supporting documentation, including the name and contact information for the other system.

If you apply under the subcategory of mentoring, we will contact your public water system. For any questions about this award, please contact our Emergency Preparedness and Response Functions staff and speak to the Public Drinking Water Awards Recognition Program manager.