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Charlotte Water: Award-Winning Utility

Charlotte Water is proud to be an award-winning utility. Below is a list of the awards we have won in recent years.

NACWA Peak Performance Awards
The Peak Performance Awards recognizes NACWA member agency facilities for excellence in permit compliance. The Platinum Award recognizes 100% compliance with permits over a consecutive five-year period.

McAlpine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
McDowell Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
Ashe & Oxford Glen Wastewater Treatment

NACWA Peak Performance  Platinum Award

  • McDowell Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2008-2011, and 2017-2021)
  • McAlpine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2012-2021)
  • Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2009-2012, 2020, 2021)
  • Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2020, 2021)
  • Oxford Glen Wastewater Treatment Plant (2021)

NACWA Peak Performance Gold Award

  • McDowell Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2002, 2 004-2007, and 2013-2016)
  • McAlpine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2002-2003, 2006 and 2008-2011)
  • Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2005-2008, 2014 and 2016-2018)
  • Irwin Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2002, 2009, 2012, 2017, and 2021)
  • Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2016-2018)
  • Ashe Plantation Wastewater Treatment Plant (2021)

NACWA Peak Performance Silver Award

  • McDowell Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2000-2001, 2003 and 2012)
  • McAlpine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (1999-2001, 2004-2005 and 2007)
  • Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (2002, 2004, 2013 and 2015)
  • Irwin Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (1999, 2003-2004, 2008, 2010-2011, and 2014-2016, 2018)
  • Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (1999-2001, 2003-2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015)

Utility of the Future Today (2017 – 2020, 2022)
This program recognizes utilities that exhibit sustainability and resilience in the communities they serve.

NC One Water Disaster Preparedness Award (2022)

Charlotte Water Security & Preparedness Team

ACEC Engineering Excellence Award (2022)

  • Awarded to the Irwin Creek Tributaries Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project
ACEC Engineering Excellence Award

Partnership for Safe Water Treatment Program (2018)
5-Year Directors Award (Phase III)
The Partnership’s award-winning utilities demonstrate an outstanding commitment to delivering superior quality drinking water to customers.  Utilities that subscribe to the Partnership are dedicated to providing high-quality water to customers, even beyond regulatory requirements.

  • Franklin Water Treatment Plant

NC AWWA-WEA Collection System of the Year (2018)

NC DENR Area-Wide Optimization Program (2018)

  • Franklin Water Treatment Plant
  • Vest Water Treatment Plant
  • Lee Dukes Water Treatment Plant
News, What's Going On?

Award-Winning Utility: Utility of the Future Today

We’re honored to be recognized by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) as a Utility of the Future Today! This is Charlotte Water’s fifth time receiving this recognition, and we are one of 34 utilities being recognized in 2022. This program recognizes utilities that exhibit sustainability and resilience in the communities they serve.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, October 11, Charlotte Water Director Angela Charles received the award during the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) ceremony. 

“Charlotte Water’s organizational culture is one of sustainability both now and for the future, embracing innovation, inspiration, and leadership in our community,” said Charles. “We will continue to follow our Charlotte Water Vision: To be a leading water utility recognized for excellence and dedicated to our people, community, region, and environment.”

The Utility of the Future Today Recognition Program seeks to reach deeply into the water sector to form and motivate a community of like-minded water utilities engaged in advancing resource efficiency and recovery, developing proactive relationships with stakeholders, and establishing resilient, sustainable, and livable communities. The Recognition Program, through the aggregation and sharing of utility advancements and experiences, will enable participants across a broad continuum of capacities and capabilities to learn from each other and continually grow and sustain their efforts to be, and continually advance the concept of, the Utility of the Future. (www.wef.org)

We are so proud of the great work our utility has accomplished this year, and we will continue our hard work to be an award-winning utility in 2023.

For more information about our awards, please visit the awards page on our website, and to learn more about WEF and the Utility of the Future Today award, visit their website here.

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Angela Charles Selected as 2022 WEF Fellow

Image of Angela Charles, Charlotte Water Director

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) has selected Angela Charles as a member of the class of 2022 WEF Fellows. Angela is one of 14 distinguished members in the 2022 class.

This prestigious designation honors members’ contributions to the water sector as well as their professional achievements and stature. WEF Fellows are recognized in various areas of expertise including design, education, operations, regulation, research, utility management, and leadership.

The WEF Fellows were honored at WEFTEC 2022 during the WEF Awards and Presidential Celebration Ceremony on Tuesday, October 11.

Angela Charles is the Director of Charlotte Water, and has been in the water industry since 1988. 

“Angela is a valuable leader in Charlotte Water. She has been instrumental in affecting change and improving processes for nearly 1 million customers throughout Charlotte and Mecklenburg County,” said City Manager Marcus D. Jones.   

As director, Angela is responsible for the regional, countywide water treatment and distribution, wastewater treatment and collection, utilities planning, and the City’s stormwater system, along with management activities. She leads a staff of approximately 1,200 employees, and Charlotte Water maintains more than 9,000 miles of pipelines and over 300,000 water connections countywide. 

Angela holds a Master of Public Administration degree from UNC Charlotte and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University. She was the 2017 chair of the North Carolina American Water Works Association and North Carolina Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA) and is a Grade A water distribution operator. Angela has served on many committees including the WEF Collection Systems Committee and has received many water industry awards, including the WEF Collections Systems Award, the Warren G. Fuller Award, and the prestigious Arthur Sidney Bedell Award. 

News, What's Going On?

Award-Winning Utility: A Look Back at 2020

This year has been a challenging year for all of us, in more ways than one. Even in the face of many challenges, we continued with our hard work and day-to-day operations and continued to be an award-winning utility.

As the year comes to a close, we take a moment to look back and recognize our utility and our staff for their hard work during this uncertain year. This year many award ceremonies were held virtually, including NCAWA, which held their 50th anniversary awards ceremony and recognized our utility during this conference.

McAlpine Wastewater Treatment Plant, Platinum Peak Performance Award winner (photo taken in 2019)
McDowell Wastewater Treatment Plant, Platinum Peak Performance Award winner (photo taken in 2019)

NC AWWA-WEA Awards

  • Platinum Peak Performance Award: McAlpine Wastewater Treatment Plant and McDowell Wastewater Treatment Plant
  • Gold Peak Performance Award: Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, Oxford Glen Wastewater Treatment Plant
  • Silver Peak Performance Award: Irwin Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, Ashe Plantation Wastewater Treatment Plant
  • Charlotte Water Deputy Director, Ron Hargrove: George Warren Fuller Award
  • Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Supervisor, Billy Allen: Arthur Sidney Bedell Award

NC AWWA-WEA Virtual Operations Challenge & Awards

  • Women of Wastewater (represented by Muriel Steele and Trinh Nguyen): 2nd place in Division 2
  • Weir#1 (represented by Will Rice and Matthew Carter): 5th place in Division 3

Charlotte Water was also recognized as a Utility of the Future Today for the fourth year in a row. This program recognizes utilities that exhibit sustainability and resilience in the communities they serve, and this year’s recognition focused largely on partnering and engagement. We were one of 65 utilities recognized this year and one of three utilities recognized for the fourth year in a row.

We are so proud of the great work our utility has accomplished this year, and we will continue our hard work to be an award-winning utility in 2021.


For more information about our awards, please visit the awards page on our website.