Awards & Recognition

Check out our award-winning facilities
and employees!

2024 Area Wide Optimization Program Award

The LCA Water Filtration Plant team received the Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) Award for the 17th year in a row! The award is presented to participants that meet the stringent American Water Works Association Partnership program’s water quality standards. Meeting these standards, which are higher than those of the state Department of Environmental Protection or the federal Environmental Protection Agency, is just one demonstration of our commitment to providing customers with clean, high-quality drinking water.

“Receiving the AWOP award for the 17th year in a row exemplifies the dedication of the operations team, who work diligently 365 days a year,” according to Andrew Moore, Director of Plant Operations. “Achieving the requirements of this award is no easy task and requires constant plant monitoring, attention to detail, and commitment to optimizing water quality.  This consistent recognition highlights the team’s expertise and vital role in ensuring safe, reliable drinking water for the community.”

Excellence in Financial Reporting Award

Lehigh County Authority and our Chief Financial Officer Edward Klein received the award for Excellence in Financial Reporting, presented by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada. Our team has won this award, which recognizes Klein and LCA for our comprehensive annual financial report, every year since 1984!

“It is an honor for our team to receive this prestigious award for financial reporting,” Klein says. “We are proud of our team’s daily work and transparency in our financial reporting, but especially proud of their work on our award-winning annual financial report for 2022.”

2023 Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association Awards:

  • Communications Award
  • J.E. “Ted” Kuhn Award – 50 years of service presented to retired Board of Directors member
    Richard H. Bohner

Chief Financial Officer, Edward Klein, and the Accounting Team were honored in June 2023 with an award for Excellence in Financial Reporting, presented by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

The award recognizes the LCA 2021 annual comprehensive financial report.

The GFOA Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.

George Warren Fuller Award

Our CEO, Liesel Gross, was recognized in May with the prestigious George Warren Fuller Award at The Pennsylvania Section of the American Water Works Association’s spring conference.

The Fuller Award is presented annually in each AWWA section to a member selected for distinguished service in the water supply field. The award commemorates the career of George Warren Fuller, a celebrated American water and wastewater systems engineer from 1890 to 1934 whose achievements included designing and building the first modern water filtration plant and first chlorination system for disinfecting a U.S. drinking water supply.

Liesel gives her time and talents to the water sector at the local, state, and national levels, contributing in many ways to support the industry. 

In the photo, Liesel poses with Joe Jacangelo, left, immediate Past President of AWWA, and David LaFrance, Chief Executive Officer of AWWA.

The Partnership for Safe Water (PSW) recognizes utilities that demonstrate “outstanding commitment to delivering superior quality drinking water to customers and are dedicated to providing high-quality water, even beyond regulatory requirements.”

Our Water Filtration Plant and staff were honored in August 2022 for 15 years of continuously optimizing treatment plant and distribution system operation and performance.