AWOP is a national program whose goal is to maximize public health protection through optimization of existing conventional surface water treatment utilities.

The Area Wide Optimization Program was developed by EPA's Technical Support Center as a non-regulatory, voluntary approach to microbial control using optimization tools to focus on operational changes to improve drinking water quality. The program sets goals that go beyond the regulatory requirements for conventional surface water treatment plants for settled water, filtered water, and disinfection. Over the last 10 years, AWOP states have found that most surface water treatment plants can meet the goals without major capital expenditures. Research has shown that meeting the optimization goals can provide up to an additional log of removal and provide expanded public health protection benefits.

The Iowa DNR Water Supply Section joined the EPA Region 6 Multi-State AWOP Network in May of 2006. Iowa feels the AWOP program can help maximize public health protection through optimizing existing water treatment plant utilities throughout the State. Since joining AWOP, the IDNR Water Supply Section has collected one year of turbidity and other data from 30 surface water treatment plants in Iowa. This data is used to prioritize the 30 surface water treatment plants relative to public health risk using a point-based structure called a Status Component,(*.pdf). Each year the Status Component will be updated and the prioritized list of treatment plants will change. It is recommended that surface water treatment plants utilize the Electronic Turbidity Report (see downloads) in order to submit their turbidity data to the IDNR. The goal is to optimize each water treatment plant, so that they meet AWOP's adopted goals, therefore, leading to increased public health protection in Iowa.

Downloads:

• Area-Wide Optimization Program Goals,*.pdf
• Electronic Turbidity Report,*.xls
• Optimization Assessment Software,*.xls
• Optimization Assessment Software for Direct Filtration Systems,*.xls

For additional information nationally see the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) (off-site) web site under Program Areas.

If you have any questions or comments about AWOP and how it affects your system, please contact one of the AWOP team members above.