HALIFAX – Keith Swanson, Halifax Water Superintendent, was recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Drinking Water Program for outstanding performance in 2019.
The Halifax water system achieved one of the top compliance scores in the Medium and Large Community System category of the 2020 Public Water System Awards Program.
“MassDEP realizes that it is no easy task to keep up with the ever-evolving federal and state drinking water regulations. Your compliance efforts have not gone unnoticed,” the letter accompanying the certificate stated.
Swanson, who has been Halifax’s Water Superintendent for the past seven years, told The Express that his job has many facets, with a major portion of his time devoted to testing and communicating those results to the state and federal government by monthly and annual reports to ensure that Halifax’s water is safe and healthy to drink.
“We check for asbestos, chlorine, haloacetic acids, inorganics, lead and copper, nitrate, nitrite, manganese, perchlorate, radium 226-228, plus much more,” Swanson said.
Halifax water is pumped from four wells, Swanson told us, and what is not used in the system on its way to the tank is stored in the tall blue tank behind the Town Hall.
Swanson also takes care of the filtration plant on Plymouth Street where the water is filtered, the Ph adjusted, and disinfected, before going on to the faucet or water tank.
He has been a member of the Water Department for 26 years, serving as its superintendent for the past seven years.