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), according to a news release.

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

CFPUA has been a member of WRF, a water research organization, 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. 

"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," the release stated. "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, according to the release.

Projects for which CFPUA was honored include a pilot study begun in 2017 at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant to evaluate treatment technologies to remove PFAS from drinking water, the release stated. The results of the study were used in the design of 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," according to the release.