The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) protects public health and the environment by supplying clean drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is a New York City agency of nearly 6,000 employees that manages and conserves the City’s water supply; distributes more than one billion gallons of clean drinking water each day to nine million New Yorkers and collects wastewater through a vast underground network of pipes, regulators, and pumping stations; and treats the 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater that New Yorkers produce each day in a way that protects the quality of New York Harbor. To achieve these mandates, DEP oversees one of the largest capital construction programs in the region. As the City agency responsible for New York City's environment, DEP also regulates air quality, hazardous waste, and critical quality of life issues, including noise. On October 31, 2017 at the Amsterdam International Water Week 2017 in the Netherlands, Commissioner Vincent Sapienza, accepted the offer for membership into the Leading Utilities of the World network and received a 'Golden Tap' award for utility performance, representing the achievement of the highest level of utility service.