ISO 14001 Certification
Protecting and improving the environment—particularly our water resources—is an important part of our mission.
In order to effectively manage the impact of our services on the environment, we subscribed to a voluntary standard created by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO.
A key part of an Environmental Management System is identifying and then managing the impacts our operations have on the environment. These impacts are called aspects, and they include everything from the disposal of paper waste to the proper use of water treatment chemicals.
While we manage many environmental aspects, some have a greater potential for substantially impacting the environment, and these are called significant aspects.
We evaluate our environmental aspects annually. This helps ensure we have adequate control methods to prevent adverse impacts to the environment.
Our current environmental aspects are listed below. For more information about our environmental aspects or our EMS program contact the Executive Office at (843) 727-6856 or info@charlestoncpw.com.
• Liquid Chemical Receiving, Storage, and Usage
• Permitted Discharges to Water Ways (NPDES)
• Wastewater Collection System Integrity
• Conveyance of Wastewater through the Collection System
• WWTP Storm Water Outfalls
• Wastewater Source Water
• WWTP Influent Pumping
• Solids Dewatering and Disposal
Wastewater effluent is primarily regulated by the federal Clean Water Act and the South Carolina Pollution Control Act, which prohibit the discharge of any pollutant into a body of water without a permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act and the South Carolina Safe Drinking Water Act regulate the quality of tap water and control pollution of groundwater sources. We not only meet all regulations set forth by these laws and regulations, but in many cases we exceed the set standards.
In order to effectively manage the impact of our services on the environment, we subscribed to a voluntary standard created by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO.
About ISO 14001
In 1999, we became the first public water or wastewater utility in the nation to become certified under the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management. This certification requires the implementation of an Environmental Management System, or EMS, which is a set of standards that provide a framework for how to identify and control environmental impacts, both positive and negative.
Our commitment to ISO 14001 ensures that our customers receive safe and reliable water and sewer services. The focus of ISO 14001 is to ensure that all processes related to the environment are identified, managed, and reviewed on a routine basis.
Email us for more info about our EMS program.
Benefits
Our EMS provides a framework for managing everything from standard operating procedures to record-keeping.Implementation of the ISO 14001 standard helps:
- Prevent pollution and improves the environment.
- Demonstrates compliance with current and future statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Minimizes operations that adversely affect the environment.
- Increases cost effectiveness and competitiveness.
- Promotes technological advances.
- Affirms our commitment to environmental protection to our stakeholders.
Objectives of our commitment:
- Treatment and distribution of high quality drinking water.
- Collection, transportation, and treatment of wastewater.
- Provide for an abundant water supply for our customers and fire protection.
- Communication of the impact our activities, products and services on the environment to our associates, contractors working for us, and our customers.
- Compliance with applicable federal, state, local laws, regulations, statutes and other environmentally related requirements to which we subscribe.
- Continual environmental improvement and prevention of pollution.
- Documentation of required elements of our EMS Program.
Environmental Aspects
While we manage many environmental aspects, some have a greater potential for substantially impacting the environment, and these are called significant aspects.
We evaluate our environmental aspects annually. This helps ensure we have adequate control methods to prevent adverse impacts to the environment.
Our current environmental aspects are listed below. For more information about our environmental aspects or our EMS program contact the Executive Office at (843) 727-6856 or info@charlestoncpw.com.
2023 Significant Environmental Aspects
• Diesel Fuel Storage and Distribution Piping• Liquid Chemical Receiving, Storage, and Usage
• Permitted Discharges to Water Ways (NPDES)
• Wastewater Collection System Integrity
• Conveyance of Wastewater through the Collection System
• WWTP Storm Water Outfalls
• Wastewater Source Water
• WWTP Influent Pumping
• Solids Dewatering and Disposal
Compliance Obligations
To ensure water quality and environmental protection, we must comply with federal, state, and local laws. In addition to these requirements, we subscribe to a number of voluntary standards and practices to provide service of a higher quality than required by law. We adhere to these compliance obligations and keep track of them through our Environmental Management System (EMS).Wastewater effluent is primarily regulated by the federal Clean Water Act and the South Carolina Pollution Control Act, which prohibit the discharge of any pollutant into a body of water without a permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act and the South Carolina Safe Drinking Water Act regulate the quality of tap water and control pollution of groundwater sources. We not only meet all regulations set forth by these laws and regulations, but in many cases we exceed the set standards.