We are pleased to announce that the Montevina Water Treatment Facility has been recognized by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) with their Innovation award in the water category. NARUC is a non-profit organization representing commissioners across the country who regulate vital utility services like water, electricity, and telecommunications. They strive to improve the regulation of public utility services to better serve the people that use them.

The purpose of the NARUC Innovation Award is to recognize innovation in the public utility sector, especially innovation that improves services to utility customers. We are very excited that the Montevina Water Treatment Facility in Los Gatos was selected to receive this award. Montevina received major upgrades last year and was reopened May 23rd, 2018. The upgrades to the treatment plant include the implementation of inge GmbH’s ultrafiltration technology, which uses tiny fibers with a semipermeable membrane to remove particulates, bacteria, and viruses from the water. The pores of the ultrafiltration fibers are 20 nanometers, about 1/5 the diameter of a human hair. The Montevina Water Treatment Facility features the largest example of this ultrafiltration technology in the U.S.

While the science behind Montevina’s water treatment innovation is fun, the truly great thing about this facility is that it increases our ability to serve our customers with safe, high-quality water for years to come. One of Montevina’s upgrades includes increased stormwater treatment capacity. The treatment facility can serve up to 300,000 people during the winter months and 100,000 people during summer months, helping us to continue serving our 1 million customers, no matter the season. Montevina takes stormwater from the Santa Cruz Mountains and turns it into clean, healthy water that we can deliver with pride to our customers.

Thank you, NARUC, for this prestigious award, and thank you to our customers! We look forward to many more years of innovation and service ahead.