GRU exceeding expectations with water

As Gainesville Regional Utilities begins its new fiscal year and budget cycle, the water department continues its commitment to providing our community with clean, safe, great-tasting drinking water that’s always on tap.

We take great pride in meeting local, state and federal drinking water standards and doing it in a way that emphasizes public health, safety and the environment. In the coming year, we will continue to meet or exceed our goals and your expectations. We pledge to:

• Provide more than 8 billion gallons of high-quality drinking water to over 200,000 people in our community, including businesses, hospitals and the University of Florida. Go Gators!

• Continuously maintain a pressurized water system to serve our customers and provide water for fire protection.

• Respond to customers and incidents affecting our water system 24/7/365.

• Conduct over 200,000 water quality tests at our treatment plant to ensure GRU drinking water meets the highest standards.

• Conduct an additional 2,500-plus tests in the water distribution system, including in homes and businesses, to ensure GRU drinking water meets the highest standards.

• Promptly (typically within 24 hours) respond to requests from customers who have a question or concern about our water.

• Continuously meet all federal, state and local drinking water standards.

• Efficiently operate our facilities and manage our work to reduce expenses.

• Respond with “all hands on deck” during major storms to once again keep our water continuously in service.

• Continue promoting water conservation through public education and outreach, extending our water supply and protecting the environment.

• Proactively replace more than 500 water service lines, targeting areas where the vast majority of water leaks occur.

• Proactively replace more than five miles of galvanized steel pipe, reducing low-pressure issues in our water system and improving reliability.

• Upgrade security measures at facilities to provide our water supply with another layer of protection.

• Replace and install new fire hydrants while partnering with the Gainesville and Alachua County fire departments to provide water for fire protection throughout our community.

• Complete an electric system upgrade at our water plant by replacing much of the original electric equipment installed and continuously in use since the early 1970s.

• Replace major pumping equipment at the water plant to ensure continuous availability of water.

• Replace or repair water meters to ensure accurate measurement of water usage.

• Outfit our staff with the right tools, equipment, materials, methods and training to continue making customer and employee safety our cultural norm.

• Ensure that all new piping added to our system meets our standards to ensure long-term reliability and safety.

GRU is the primary provider of drinking water in our community. We consider it an honor to take on this responsibility and to continuously win the confidence of our customers.

For more information about GRU drinking water, please view our annual Water Quality Report at gru.com/waterquality. Also, please never hesitate to call us at 352-334-2711 with any questions regarding our water.

Tony Cunningham is GRU water and wastewater officer.