American Water Awarded Project With O’Brien & Gere To Study and Recommend New Decontamination Procedures for Water Infrastructure

American Water is pleased to announce it has partnered with O’Brien & Gere, an engineering and environmental consulting firm, on the American Water Works Association Research Foundation’s (AwwaRF) project on “Standard Operating Procedures for Decontamination of Water Infrastructure.” The principal investigator, O’Brien & Gere, sub-contracted with American Water, the largest water resources company in North America, to measure adsorption of various contaminants to different types of water pipe and to evaluate procedures for contaminant removal.

“This important research is part of American Water’s efforts to continue improving water utility industry procedures as it relates to potential security concerns,” stated Mark W. LeChevallier, Ph.D., American Water’s Chief Scientist of Innovation and Technology. “We are pleased to partner with O’Brien & Gere on this project, offering our combined expertise to better protect drinking water supplies.”

The two-year study will be conducted at American Water’s Quality Control and Research Laboratory in Belleville, Illinois. The laboratory, which is staffed by chemists, microbiologists, and other water quality professionals, is certified to perform a variety of water quality analyses with advanced scientific and diagnostic technology.

“The goal for this American Water Works Association Research Foundation project is to develop an operating procedures guide for decontaminating water infrastructure. Having a standardized guide will significantly improve the ability of water utilities to respond to and mitigate any contamination event,” stated principal investigator Gregory J. Welter, PE, DEE, O’Brien & Gere.

About American Water: With a history of over 100 years, American Water provides high quality water, wastewater, and other related services. As part of RWE Thames Water, the Americas Region serves 20 million customers in 29 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Chile. RWE Thames Water is the water division of multi-utility RWE and is the third largest water and wastewater services company in the world. It serves almost 70 million people in over 20 countries. Additional information can be found on the Internet at www.amwater.com .

American Water and RWE Thames Water, through their combined expertise, continue the tradition of providing customers with superior quality service while gaining access to new technologies, research and development, and global experience in service, customer satisfaction and security.

About O’Brien & Gere: O’Brien & Gere provides services to both public and private water agencies for every engineering and environmental aspect of water supply, transmission, treatment and distribution. The company, founded in 1945, provides engineering planning and design, construction, design/build, analytical and contract operations services to industrial, municipal and federal clients.

About AwwaRF: The AwwaRF is a member-supported, international, nonprofit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies, and other professionals to provide safe and affordable drinking water to consumers.