For Immediate Release – May 12, 2008

AUSTIN - The Austin Water Utility (AWU) is sponsoring a Free Swim Day at Barton Springs Pool Saturday, May 17th to celebrate the completion of a major project of the Austin Clean Water Program. A ribbon-cutting with city staff, as well as city officials, including Council Member Mike Martinez, will be held from 10:30 to 11 a.m.

Completion of the Barton Creek Lift Station Decommissioning project eliminates the environmental threat of wastewater overflows posed by the deteriorated wet well of the aging lift station located under the parking lot near Barton Springs Pool. The extra details built into the project provide an extra measure of security for protection of the nearby salamander population and the springs. All parking spaces taken up by the project are now available again to the public.

The decommissioning project was part of the Austin Clean Water Program (ACWP). Created in November 2001 to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the main goal of the ACWP is to eliminate Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) from the wastewater collection system before June 2009. Achieving this goal translates to 100 projects to repair, replace or retrofit all wastewater lines to prevent SSOs. Projects are going on all over Austin, and the completion of the Barton Creek Lift Station Decommissioning project signifies Austin Water has achieved a major milestone and now the utility is only one year away from completing all ACWP projects.

AWU has been working with people from various City of Austin departments to complete ACWP projects including Parks and Recreation, Public Works, and Watershed Protection and Development Review. People from these departments have worked with numerous neighborhood associations and the community to see this project through to the end.

The Austin Water Utility serves more than 850,000 residential and commercial customers and draws from the Colorado River into three water treatment plants that have a rated combined maximum capacity of 310 million gallons per day and a storage capacity of 167 million gallons. The utility has two wastewater treatment plants: the South Austin Regional and Walnut Creek.

AWU goes above and beyond the Environmental Protection Agency's protocols for safe drinking water, and it supplies some of the nation's cleanest and best tasting water. Forbes.com recently ranked Austin #2 in the nation for providing the cleanest drinking water on tap.

Media Contact:
Sarah Fusco, Public Affairs Office
Email to: Sarah.Fusco@ci.austin.tx.us
City of Austin Water Utility
(512) 972-0150; pgr.(512) 802-8956