Brookhaven’s public drinking water system has earned a perfect score from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

In the inspection conducted on July 16, the City scored three perfect ratings of 5.0 on technical, managerial, and financial aspects of the water system. These garnered the City a perfect 5.0 rating.

“I’m proud to say we’ve got extremely strong infrastructure here in Brookhaven, that we can be proud of. A perfect score on that state inspection is a big deal, and we got it,” Xifos told the Board of Aldermen and Mayor Joe Cox Tuesday night.

“Yes, that is a big deal. Congratulations on the 5 out of 5,” said Mayor Cox.

 

Scoring

Five criteria must be met for the water system to pass each of the three assessments.

The Technical Capacity Assessment asks such questions as: Are there any significant deficiencies? Is the treatment process functioning properly? Is all equipment properly maintained? Does the water system keep records of any problems, and perform tests regularly? Can the system provide water during power outages?

The Managerial Capacity Assessment asks such questions as: Were all required records maintained in a logical and orderly manner? Are policies and procedures formally adopted and available for review? Have there been any violations? Does the system have an effective cross connection control program?

The Financial Capacity Assessment asks such questions as: Has the water system raised water rates in the past 5 years according to state regulations? Are water rates routinely reviewed and adjusted as appropriate? Is there an official cut-off policy? Are the latest budgets and audit reports available?

In each of these assessments, the City’s water system received perfect scores.

Xifos was understandably happy with the results.

“It’s a perfect score and that’s hard to attain!” he said. “Proud of our guys!”

 

A full copy of the MSDH’s report is available here.