FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              Connecticut Department of Public Health

May 6, 2013                                                               Contact: William Gerrish

                                                                                   (860) 509-7270

Hartford – In celebration of Connecticut Drinking Water Week, the Department of Public Health (DPH) Drinking Water Section will recognize Robert J. Longo of the Bristol Water Department for his outstanding contributions to the health and safety of the state’s drinking water.

Mr. Longo, the Superintendent of Bristol Water Department, will receive the Certified Operator Public Health Drinking Water Merit Award. This award is granted to a certified public water system operator who exemplifies exceptional work practices on the job and contributions to the health and safety of drinking water. While at the Bristol Water Department, Mr. Longo has taken on a number of important issues including responding to emergencies, system rehabilitation and improvements, and resolving elevated lead levels at customer taps.

Mr. Longo will be honored at a ceremony at the Bristol Water Department on May 8^th. He has been with the Bristol Water Department for seven years, and is a resident of Newington where he lives with his wife, Romana, and two children.

DPH is also recognizing Wesley Winterbottom, a faculty member at Gateway Community College, with the Educational Public Health Drinking Water Merit Award for his superior contributions to educating personnel in the drinking water field. Mr. Winterbottom will be honored at a ceremony at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on May 7^th.

In recognition of National Drinking Water Week, Governor Dannel P. Malloy has proclaimed May 5 through 11 Connecticut Drinking Water Week, encouraging residents to recognize drinking water as a precious public health resource and to help protect our source waters from pollution, to practice water conservation, and to become involved in regional and local drinking water issues.

The DPH Drinking Water Section is responsible for the administration of state and federal drinking water regulations and is dedicated to assuring the quality and adequacy of the state’s public drinking water sources. DPH provides technical assistance, education and regulatory enforcement to over 2,500 public drinking water systems, which provide drinking water to approximately 2.9 million Connecticut residents and visitors on a daily basis.

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