The results are in and it is official – the five Great Lakes and the fish that live within them are the real winners! The first ever competition between water utilities to reduce mercury, and other energy-related pollution emissions, using innovative technology developed with prior Fund support wrapped up last month and the following awards were announced:

Water Utility Emissions Champion, $20,000 prize 
City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Water Utility Green Champion, $10,000 Prize 
City of Bayfield, Bayfield, Wisconsin

Best Pilot Project
Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), Detroit, Michigan

Technical Leader 
City of Highland Park, Highland Park, Illinois

Carbon Reduction Leader 
Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA), North Syracuse, New York

Each participating water utility was an outstanding competitor that worked tirelessly for one year to reduce emissions. By making small shifts in the timing of pumping and filter washing, the five utilities combined had mercury savings equivalent to removing 3,000 homes from the electrical grid for one month. Or looking at it a different way, it was the same as removing mercury from 52,000 pounds of fish. And all five utilities did this while maintaining the same high quality of service! Clearly, this was a small pilot with an outsized impact.

To find out more, please visit the competition website and Facebook page.

www.awwa.org/competition

https://www.facebook.com/WaterUtilityEnergyChallenge/

–Shannon Donley, Project Implementation Manager