EWG Rates Providence Drinking Water No. 2 Nationally
Environmental Working Group (EWG) rated Providence Water the second safest, based on its latest survey of American cities.
The non-profit organization was founded in 1993 and is based in Washington D.C.
'We are proud that our efforts are being validated,' said Pamela Marchand, General Manager at Providence Water. 'This ranking recognizes that great drinking water is the result of hard work.'
To continue these efforts, Providence Water kicked off a $39.5-million reconstruction project in November 2009 at the Philip J. Holton Water Treatment Plant in Scituate, R.I. This plant is New England’s largest conventional sand filtration water treatment plant, which serves nearly 60 percent of all Rhode Islanders. This multi-year effort, led by Maguire Group with O’Brien & Gere as a subcontractor, will replace all 18 filter beds at the plant with modern, multimedia filters to further enhance drinking water quality. The newly designed filters also potentially increase the plant’s treatment capability to 180 million gallons per day (mgd), up from its current 144 mgd.
Other improvements include the construction of protective building enclosures over the new filters, new filter underdrains and piping, valving and metering, and a complete upgrade of the plant’s process-control and instrumentation systems.
A joint venture between both firms is currently providing program and construction management services to Providence Water for its extensive Lead Service Replacement Program for four Providence area municipalities – a total of 27,000 service replacements.
The initial replacement contract was for a three-year project duration that was recently extended to a fourth year. Providence Water recently received the 2009 Program Management of the Year Award from the New England chapter of the Construction Management Association of America for these program efforts. The JV Team is also providing program and construction management services for a $4.5-million water main replacement/rehabilitation project, and a $10-million water main replacement program funded by stimulus funds.
Maguire is a full-service, nationally recognized architectural, engineering, planning, and construction management organization. O'Brien & Gere is an employee-owned engineering and project delivery company with 850 scientists, engineers, construction, and operation personnel located in 30 offices across the United States.