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Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has received the Water Research Foundation’s 2024 Subscriber Impact Award, recognizing CFPUA’s contributions to research on effectively treating drinking water for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is the leading research organization for the water sector. CFPUA has been a WRF member since the utility was created in 2008 with the merger of the water and wastewater services of the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County. City and County staff who subsequently joined CFPUA have participated in WRF projects as far back as 1986.

WRF’s Subscriber Impact Award honors member utilities that have made notable improvements to their water treatment, delivery, and management processes through the application of WRF research. CFPUA has contributed to 13 WRF projects, 13 Project Advisory Committees, and is currently involved in two WRF research projects.

CFPUA is the first water utility in North Carolina to receive WRF’s Subscriber Impact Award and is one of two 2024 recipients of the award, along with the Great Lakes Water Authority of Detroit, Michigan.

The award was presented Tuesday, June 11, at the American Water Works Association’s 2024 Annual Conference and Expo in Anaheim, California.

Projects for which CFPUA was honored include a first-of-its-kind pilot study begun in 2017 at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant to evaluate treatment technologies to remove PFAS from drinking water. The results of this study were used in the design of new deep-bed Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filters at the Sweeney Plant.

These GAC filters have been effectively treating CFPUA’s drinking water for PFAS, including GenX, since coming online in 2022.

“Participation in research leading to practical solutions that benefit our customers and help overcome challenges facing the water industry has long been a focus of staff at CFPUA, so it is particularly gratifying to see that work recognized with the Subscriber Impact Award,” CFPUA Deputy Executive Director Carel Vandermeyden said.

Learn more about WRF’s Subscriber Impact Award at this link.

(Left to right) CFPUA Water Resources Manager Ben Kearns, Deputy Executive Director Carel Vandermeyden, and Executive Director Kenneth Waldroup accept the Water Research Foundation’s 2024 Subscriber Impact Award.