RELEASING OFFICER | ||
Thomas M. Patton, Public Information Officer
Kingsport Police Department Professional Standards Unit |
RELEASING OFFICER | ||
Thomas M. Patton, Public Information Officer
Kingsport Police Department Professional Standards Unit
|
Not only do the Kingsport water divisions receive excellence awards, but they also go above and beyond to ensure that Kingsport water meets or exceeds all drinking water standards. Your drinking water is regulated not just by the city, but also by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Environmental protection Agency (EPA).
The City of Kingsport’s water comes from the South Fork Holston River. The goal is to protect our water from containments and with the help of the state, decrease the vulnerability of our water source to potential contamination.
On a regular basis, the Kingsport Water Department monitors for over 80 regulated contaminants to make sure your drinking water is safe. All the water that is tested is found to contain few contaminants, of which are found to be at the lowest possible levels. This is a sign that our water and wastewater plants are functioning efficiently and successfully.
The Kingsport water departments are proud to report that Kingsport’s water meets or surpasses all EPA and state health regulations. For more information on Kingsport’s water or to learn more about the water department, please call 423-229-9470.
Water and Wastewater Collection Division Wins Excellence Award
The City of Kingsport Water and Wastewater Collection Division was presented with the Excellence in Water Distribution Operations Award from the American Water Works Association. The award is given to recognize distribution staff across the Kentucky/Tennessee region for their exceptional performance in meeting all Federal Drinking Water Standards and overall initiative to excel at the business of producing safe water for customers.
The City of Kingsport is placed in a category of distribution systems that have over 33,000 customers. There are approximately 473 registered public water systems in Tennessee so receiving this award is quite an honor.
AWWA is the authoritative resource for knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of water in North America and beyond. AWWA is the largest organization of water professionals in the world. AWWA advances public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of the water community. Through our collective strength we become better stewards of water for the greatest good of the people and the environment.
Congrats to the Water & Wastewater Collection Division!
Wastewater Treatment Plant Wins Operational Excellence Award
The City of Kingsport Wastewater Treatment Plant received the KY/TN Water Environment Association (WEA) Operational Excellence Award. This award is presented to wastewater treatment facilities who have achieved permit compliance during the previous calendar year by having no more than one violation of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The Kingsport Wastewater Treatment Plant had zero violations for 2015.
A wastewater treatment plant is a place where the biological processes that must happen require numerous decisions that must be made on a daily basis to make the good bacteria and organisms happy and operating efficiently.
There are nearly 4,000 opportunities to incur a NPDES permit violation at any given time. Compliance of 100 percent does not happen without significate effort and considerable knowledge of the processes.
Congrats to the Wastewater Treatment Plant!
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San Antonio, TX, August 16, 2016
The Kingsport Fire Department (KFD) received its fourth consecutive designation as an Accredited Agency. Chief Craig Dye and Assistant Chief Scott Boyd presented the Kingsport Fire Department’s submission and received the results of the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) review at Fire Rescue International in San Antonio, TX. The hearing culminated a year long process by the Kingsport Fire Department’s Accreditation Team.
The CFAI confers Accredited Agency status for a period of five years, during which an agency must submit four Annual Compliance Reports to demonstrate their continued compliance with core performance indicators and report on progress in executing their plans for improvement. The Commission determines if the reports are acceptable and the agency may retain its accredited status. At the end of the fifth year, an Accredited Agency must seek reaccreditation and successfully complete the peer review process to remain accredited.
Early in 2016, Kingsport Fire Department’s (KFD) Accreditation Committee and members of the Board of Mayor and Alderman met with a Fire Service Peer Assessment Team for review and recommendations toward the KFD’s Accreditation with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).
The Peer Assessment Team consisted of Chief Mike Stallings, Rock Mount (NC) Fire Department (retired), Chief Matt Knott, Rockford (IL) Fire Department, Chief Andrew Ansley, Monroe (NC) Fire Department and Chief Josh Smith, Statesville (NC) Fire Department.
In 2001, Kingsport Fire Department was one of the first 40 Fire Departments in the world to obtain the Commission on Fire Accreditation International designation. In 2006 and 2011 the KFD again awarded the designation. Currently the Kingsport Fire Department is one of only four fire departments in the state of Tennessee and was one of the first 40 in the world recognized as an Accredited Agency through the Center for Public Safety Excellence Commission’s Fire Accreditation International. Brentwood (TN) Fire & Rescue, City of Maryville (TN) Fire Department, and the City of Alcoa Fire Department are the only other agencies in Tennessee to achieve this designation.
Special thanks to the Kingsport Fire Department’s (KFD) Accreditation Committee Members for their hard work:
Chief Craig Dye
Assistant Chief Scott Boyd
Deputy Chief David Chase
Deputy Chief Darrell Hayes
Deputy Chief Jim Everhart
Fire Marshal Robert Sluss
Senior Captain Joel Jones
Captain Max Bear
Captain Jessie Bishop
Captain Chris Lowe
Captain David Mitchell
Captain Ben Wexler
Assistant Fire Marshal Chris Vandagriff
Public Education Officer Barry Brickey
Executive Secretary Alison Shaffer
Center for Public Safety Excellence Mission:
The mission of the Center for Public Safety Excellence is “To lead the fire and emergency service to excellence through the continuous quality improvement process of accreditation, credentialing, and education.”
Accreditation
Accreditation is a comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model that enables organizations to examine past, current, and future service levels and internal performance and compare them to industry best practices. This process leads to improved service delivery.
CPSE’s Accreditation Program, administered by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) allows fire and emergency service agencies to compare their performance to industry best practices in order to:
- Determine community risk and safety needs and develop community-specific Standards of Cover.
- Evaluate the performance of the department.
- Establish a method for achieving continuous organizational improvement.
Local government executives face increasing pressure to “do more with less” and justify their expenditures by demonstrating a direct link to improved or expanded services. Particularly for emergency services, local officials need criteria to assess professional performance and efficiency. The CFAI accreditation process provides a well-defined, internationally-recognized benchmark system to measure the quality of fire and emergency services.
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