Press Releases

NPWA Hydrant Contest Winner Completes Painting with “Marshall the Dalmatian” Design

Lansdale, Pa- July 17, 2025 –On July 3, NPWA welcomed Gannon Wright and his family to their Operations Center to paint a fire hydrant, for which he submitted his winning design to their hydrant design contest held in May for Drinking Water Week.

Gannon painted the “Marshall” hydrant, a character from the popular Nickelodeon show, Paw Patrol, as his parents and several NPWA staff looked on. The hydrant will proudly be on display in front of NPWA’s Operations Center, located at 300 Forty Foot Road in Towamencin. A sign with his name will also accompany the hydrant, which will remain there until a new winner is announced during next year’s contest.

This year’s contest was held during the first full week of May in honor of National Drinking Water Week, for students in grades Kindergarten through fifth to design a fire hydrant. Gannon, a third-grader at the time of the contest, submitted his design, which was among almost 70 entries received. NPWA staff voted his design the winner on Friday, May 9.

“Our annual fire hydrant contest is a creative way to engage the community, but it also serves a deeper purpose — to highlight the essential role water infrastructure plays in public safety,” said Anthony Bellitto, Jr., executive director of NPWA. “This year’s winning design, inspired by Marshall from Paw Patrol, is a thoughtful tribute to the connection between first responders and the water systems they rely on. As always, thank you to all of the participants for their thoughtful and creative designs, which we look forward to seeing each year.”

National Drinking Water Week is an initiative of the American Water Works Association, which occurs during the first full week in May each year to recognize the vital role water plays in our daily lives. For more information, please visit www.awwa.org.

(Anthony J. Bellitto, Jr., executive director of NPWA, and Gannon Wright with completed hydrant.)

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 About North Penn Water Authority

Established in 1965, North Penn Water Authority (NPWA) is a municipally owned, nonprofit Authority with a dedicated, professional workforce committed to providing the community with a safe, reliable, and economical water supply.  Water supplied to their customers comes from a surface water supply that is treated at the state of the art Forest Park Water Treatment Plant (FPWTP). To provide the highest quality water, the Authority has in place a main replacement program and performs annual flushing of its more than 595 miles of water main which serves more than 36,000 customers.  NPWA also owns and maintains all fire hydrants in the service area to ensure hydrants are in working order in case of fire emergencies. NPWA employees, many of whom are NPWA customers themselves, take pride in being able to provide this service to the community. For more information, please visit npwa.org or call 215-855-3617.