Illinois American Water Encourages Customers to Participate in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27, 2019

BELLEVILLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Illinois American Water encourages customers to participate in the Drug
Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this
coming Saturday, April 27, 2019. Residents are encouraged to drop off
their unwanted medications at approved collection sites so they can be
incinerated, which is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
recommended approach for pharmaceutical disposal. Flushing medications
down the toilet and throwing them in the trash are discouraged.

Participating Illinois collection sites can be located here – https://tinyurl.com/y6pv6lz6.

“Experience shows that the most effective and cost-efficient way to
ensure high-quality drinking water is to keep our source waters clean.
This event is a great opportunity for residents to securely drop off any
unused or expired medications, helping to prevent flushing of drugs
where they could eventually end up in our waterways,” said Randy
Pankiewicz, Illinois American Water Director of Water Quality and
Environmental Compliance.

Pankiewicz added, “It’s important for us to keep these items out of
landfills and water supplies as well as the hands of those who may
misuse or abuse them. Through these efforts we can help protect our
water and community.”

Illinois residents unable to participate Saturday are encouraged to use
their community pharmaceutical disposal programs to properly dispose of
their unwanted medications. Through partnership and collaboration with
local pharmacies, environmental stewards, police departments and
government officials, Illinois American Water has helped to implement
permanent pharmaceutical disposal programs across the state. These
programs are located in Alton, Bartonville, Belleville, Caseyville,
Champaign, Chillicothe, Collinsville, Columbia, Dixon, East Alton,
Edwardsville, Fairmont, Freeburg, Glen Carbon, Madison, Maryville, Mt.
Carroll, Mt. Vernon, O’Fallon, Orland Hills, Pekin, Peoria, Peoria
Heights, Pontiac, Red Bud, South Beloit, Sterling, Streator, Urbana and
Waterloo.

The pharmaceutical disposal programs were created through a model
developed by Pontiac Township High School students and their teacher
Paul Ritter. The program, P2D2, has been recognized as a model for all
pharmaceutical disposal programs. Through P2D2’s efforts, millions of
pounds of unwanted medications have been collected and disposed of
properly. To learn more about P2D2 please visit https://p2d2program.wordpress.com.

About Illinois American Water – Illinois American Water, a
subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned
water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water
and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.3 million people. American
Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality
control and research laboratory in Belleville. With a history dating
back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically
diverse U.S. publicly-traded water and wastewater utility company. The
company employs more than 7,100 dedicated professionals who provide
regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related
services to over 14 million people in 45 states and Ontario, Canada.
American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water
services to our customers to make sure we keep their lives flowing. For
more information, visit amwater.com
and follow American Water on Twitter,
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Contacts

Karen Cotton
309.566.4126
[email protected]