At the South Carolina Rural Water Association’s 42nd Annual Conference, Powdersville Water (PW) was recently awarded System of the Year for State in 2018. The System of the Year Award is given each year to one SC utility that has demonstrated excellence in operations, maintenance and customer service. “This award is much deserved this year. We have worked hard for several years to implement new technology and programs that have made us very competitive in a time where our system is growing faster than any other time in history, “explained Dyke Spencer, Powdersville Water’s Executive Director.
“I’m extremely proud of the staff at Powdersville Water”, said Board Chairman Jimmy Williams. “It’s speaks volumes that they can earn an award like this while keeping up with the extreme demands put on them every day.”
Powdersville Water is a special purpose district that serves a population of approximately 35,000 people and has over 13,500 water connections. Its service area extends from northern Pickens County south along the Saluda River and I-85 into a large section of northeastern Anderson County. Over the last five years, PW has added over 1,600 water connections for new homes and businesses and has invested close to $8 million in water infrastructure improvements just to keep up with the growth. In 2018, PW was awarded the Directors Award from AWWA for the third consecutive year for successfully maintaining its compliance with the requirements of the Partnership for Safe Drinking Water Distribution System Optimization (DSO) program. As of the date of the award, only 21 systems in the country have received this award and only 171 utilities nationwide are participating in this stringent program. DSO is sponsored by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is a voluntary continuous improvement program that uses optimization methods to improve water distribution systems.