Congratulations to the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) for being one of the recipients of the 2015 Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence! Awards are granted each year by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and highlight the best in environmental innovation and expertise throughout the Commonwealth.

The PWD is being honored for its Delaware Valley Early Warning System (EWS). The Delaware Valley Early Warning System is an integrated monitoring, communication, and notification system used to provide advanced warning of water quality events to water suppliers and industrial intake operators in the Schuylkill and Delaware river watersheds. Initially deployed in 2004, the EWS has grown to include over 300 users in 50 different organizations within the EWS coverage area. The EWS alerts users of spills and other potential contamination events, utilizes web-based tools for determining proper event response, and coordinates a strong partnership between water users and emergency responders in the Schuylkill and Delaware river watersheds. To learn more, please click here.

DRBC is one of many EWS partners and currently serves as the "banker" for handling the annual administrative/user fees. Its headquarters is frequently used as a meeting venue for the partners.

For a complete list of 2015 award recipients, please click here.