RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ), a leading business research publication for the environmental industry, has awarded RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, with a 2020 Business Achievement Award for Project Merit based on significant innovation and solutions to addressing drinking water quality concerns. RTI is being recognized for its exceptional science-based, door-to-door solution to a longstanding problem – drinking water quality at the tap.
One of RTI’s key focus areas in the environmental health field is expanding science-based solutions for identifying and mitigating lead in drinking and cooking water. RTI’s approach is unique in that the process is convenient, yet objective. The Clean Water for U.S. Kids program supports participants with an online enrollment and reporting portal, test kit shipment, an on-site laboratory, and training and communication throughout the process. Each participant is trained as a citizen scientist who learns how to collect and ship water samples, and based on results, what actions can be taken to improve drinking water quality at every tap.
“Our vision is clean drinking water for U.S. kids - in child care, school, and at home,” said Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, senior environmental health scientist and program director at RTI. “With the development and implementation of our Clean Water for U.S. Kids program, we provide an innovative yet feasible way to test water, understand results, empower communities, and advance our effort to improve water quality at the tap every place families learn, live, and play.”
RTI’s program is continuing to expand to other regions across the U.S and the program is committed to supporting utilities, schools, and child care centers to assure compliance with revised federal Lead and Copper Rule testing requirements. In 2020, the program was also awarded the Harvard Roy Award for Environmental Partnerships in recognition of the Clean Water for Carolina Kids program.
“We are proud to be recognized by EBJ for our work in the industry and are committed to continuing the advancement of clean water across the U.S.,” said Keith E. Levine, senior director of the Center for Analytical Sciences at RTI. “We plan to expand our program to support centers and schools in meeting updated federal guidelines.”
Annually, the EBJ Business Achievement Awards recognize business performance in metrics like revenue growth, M&A, exceptional projects, technology development and deployment in the field, advances in information and digital technology, along with COVID-19 resilience and response metrics, for the first time this year.
2020 was the 50th Anniversary of the Environmental Industry as a collection of 13 increasingly integrated segments in a $401-billion industry in the U.S.
The 2020 EBJ awards will be presented at a virtual Zoom ceremony on Feb. 11 and 12, 2021 and is open to the entire environmental industry community.
To register for the event visit: https://ebionline.org/business-achievement-awards/
To learn more about RTI’s Clean Water for U.S. Kids program visit: https://www.cleanwaterforuskids.org/ and https://www.rti.org/impact/detecting-lead-drinking-water-north-carolina-childcare-centers-and-schools
About The Environmental Business Journal
The Environmental Business Journal has provided strategic business intelligence and market forecasts to the environmental industry since 1988, and focuses on 13 business segments, including environmental testing, water & wastewater, air pollution control, environmental consulting & engineering, hazardous waste, remediation, instrumentation, pollution control equipment, waste management, resource recovery, and solid waste management.
