2007 AMWA Award Winners

Seven public drinking water utilities were honored with AMWA's  top utility achievement awards  at the Association’s 2007 Annual Meeting in Seattle.

The 2007 Platinum Award for Sustained Competitiveness Achievement, recognizing long-standing excellence in utility operations and management, was awarded to:


 “This year’s Platinum Award winner has a long track record of exceptional performance, balancing its business goals with the interests of customers, government, employees and regulators,” said AMWA President Mark Premo, General Manager of Anchorage Water & Wastewater Utility. “Tacoma Water has exhibited excellence in efficiency, cost of operation and quality of service in an environment where work processes have been reengineered, customer satisfaction evaluated and strong bond ratings proactively pursued.”

Six systems earned Gold Awards for Competitiveness Achievement, recognizing their accomplishments in applying competitive business strategies to meet the expectations of drinking water consumers and municipal leaders:


“AMWA’s Gold Award-winning water systems are pacesetters in the drinking water industry and are meeting competitive goals for efficiency, cost of operations and quality of service,” Premo noted.  “They foster sustainability through forward-looking plans to maintain their infrastructure and ensure future water supplies,” he said.

Platinum Award Winner

At Tacoma Water, competitiveness strategies are supported by planning efforts.  The operations and maintenance budget and capital spending plan are reviewed by a team of managers from all sections who consider consistency with the utility’s priority of needs identified in its business plan and financial impacts from its financial model.  The utility also implements strategic planning programs within the operating sections, emphasizing its commitment to providing the highest quality water in the most efficient manner possible.

Gold Award Winners

Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority built two water reclamation facilities and one high quality water treatment plant in recent years, all brought online on time and within budget.  The utility recently celebrated one million hours without a lost-time work accident, and its dedication to safety has overflowed to all areas of operations.  Employee participation in design teams on safety, employee morale, warehouse operations, GIS and human resources all contributed to the success of its competitiveness programs. 

In 1996, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities became the first public utility to compete with the private sector and successfully win the bid for operations and maintenance of one of its water treatment plants and one of its wastewater treatment plants. To encourage and acknowledge the employee commitment and creativity that is required for successful competition and optimization, the utility has a gainsharing policy that in recent years netted the utility’s ratepayers an estimated $7 million in cost reduction.

In spite of peak summer demands that are more than five times winter demands, Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District has accomplished substantial efficiency improvements in staff
size, organization, cost effectiveness of municipal and industrial water supply, reductions in per capita water use for increased efficiencies, and improvements in planned maintenance work.  The utility also has established agreements with related agencies to develop creative and cost-effective water supplies, groundwater cleanup projects, water supply and capacity sharing, and water conservation campaigns. 

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities completed improvement initiatives including automation, a maintenance management system and laboratory information management system, a water distribution facility maintenance and Geographic Information System, a Kronos data collection system, bar code meter data entry system and a new Utility Vac System. The water system has rigorous guidelines for maintaining its bond ratings and has ongoing master planning and infrastructure replacement programs.

Madison Water Utility conducted a competitive assessment in which every employee had an opportunity to participate in a facilitated self-assessment of the organization and to identify opportunities for improvement.  The utility then embarked on a strategic plan to make improvements within six key business strategies, involving design teams made up of employees throughout the organization. Actively involved in all areas of conservation of resources from their new "green" office building, to materials recycling, to providing safe, quality water, the water system is also replacing its lead service lines to improve service to its customers.

Since 2004, the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority has undergone a radical renovation process which includes: de-privatization; a renovated relationship with its union; the first rate increase in 20 years; reorganization of operations and maintenance and first time implementation of an integrated preventive maintenance program; the adoption of technology as the main administrative tool; implementation of an aggressive $2.2 billion five-year Capital Improvement Plan; finalization of compliance agreements with regulatory agencies; issuance of bonds for the first time in 20 years; and a radical modification in client servicing.