Award Winning Utilities Department

The City of Lynchburg Utilities Department has earned the Virginia Department of Health's (VDH) prestigious Excellence in Waterworks Operations and, for the second year in a row, the Excellence in Waterworks Performance awards.

Each year, the VDH Office of Drinking Water Recognition Program rewards water systems that have demonstrated excellence in performance and operations and for the treatment and distribution of drinking water to the public. Excellence in performance and operations involve settling and achieving goals well beyond the established regulations and making a commitment to customer satisfaction. VDH will announce the winners and present the awards at noon on May 8, 2008 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center as part of National Drinking Water Week.

The VDH regulates approximately 1310 community waterworks which serve about 6 million Virginians. Of those, approximately only 5% receive the Excellence in Waterworks Performance, and only about 1/2% receive the Excellence in Waterworks Operations. The City of Lynchburg specifically was recognized for recent and ongoing upgrades to both water filtration plants, major improvements and renovations to the distribution system, system redundancy, providing technical assistance and testing for the surrounding communities of Amherst and Campbell by performing e-coliform tests on raw water sources, and generally doing an excellent job in providing safe, reliable water to Lynchburg and surrounding communities.

"I am very pleased and excited for the City of Lynchburg to be recognized by the Virginia Department of Health as one of the few outstanding water systems in the State. It demonstrates our commitment to the citizens of Lynchburg to provide safe, reliable, drinking water that is of exceptional quality." said Tim Mitchell, Director of Utilities.

The City of Lynchburg provides water service to over 22,000 accounts, serving nearly 70,000 people in the City as well as providing wholesale water to the counties of Amherst, Bedford, and Campbell.

Timothy A. Mitchell, P.E.