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Memphis Light Gas & Water Division

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Memphis Light Gas & Water Division (MLGW)
  • Serves over 900,000 people.
  • Ten water treatment plants and a 3,400-mile distribution system.
Achievement Highlights: Initiated a full-scale assessment and benchmarking study. Developed benchmarks compiled in a Benchmarking Equivalency Number Index. Employee-driven process teams measured performance and made recommendations. O&M costs per water customer dropped by $3 since 1998. Preventable instances such as main breaks and complaints have been significantly reduced since the mid-1990s. Customer satisfaction is at an all-time high; rated the top utility in the Southeast for Customer Satisfaction by JD Power and Associates. In spite of expanding service areas and rate reductions, no new employees were hired and overhead is spread across more customers. Improvements at MLGW are driven by employee-led Quality Circles. Employees take part in a corporate gain-sharing program with payouts of $500 to $1,500 per employee on an annual basis based on corporate performance.

Broward County Office of Environmental Services

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Broward County Office of Environmental Services (OES)
  • Service area includes 58,000 accounts and serves a population of 263,000.
  • Combined treatment capacity of 53mgd.
  • Staffed with 380 full-time employees.
  • Current operating budget excluding debt service is $59,785,820.
Achievement Highlights: Broward County OES in 1996 initiated a program to evaluate its competitive stature, develop and implement an aggressive program for change which was to include an over-all reduction in annual operating costs of no less than $6 million dollars annually by the year 2000. By the end of FY 2000, the annual operating budget had been reduced by nearly $10 million dollars. Some of the more significant savings programs were: - Fiscal Operations "revenue enhancement program"..............................................$ 900,000 - Chemical cost savings......................................................................................................135,000 - Electrical savings................................................................................................................800,000 - New bill printing system..................................................................................................... 54,000 - In house LAB services...................................................................................................... 300,000 - Grants for capital projects................................................................................................ 750,000 - 100 positions eliminated through attrition..................................................................4,500,000

Chesterfield Utilities

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Chesterfield Utilities, Virginia
  • Service population of 260,321.
  • Budget for fiscal year 2001 was $53,382,900.
  • Employs 250 people.
  • Controls 20 water storage tanks and 30 pump stations, and manages more than 2,900 miles of water and wastewater lines.
  • Operates a 12 mgd water treatment plant and purchases water from the City of Richmond and the Appomattox River Water Authority.
Achievement Highlights: Chesterfield Utilities is guided by the principles of Chesterfield County's Total Quality Initiative (TQI) which was formally implemented in 1992. TQI employs strategic planning, a team approach to problem solving, staff training, process management, performance-based measurement, and rewards and recognition to achieve continuous improvement in efficiency and customer service. The department has developed an annual performance plan based on metric benchmarking. An annual report, which evaluates performance relative to the plan, is developed and provided to all employees. To improve process efficiency and customer service through employee input, staff members are provided training to give them the knowledge to seek out improvements and make recommendations. Employees are rewarded based on their efforts and the results of their recommendations. Chesterfield Utilities has established an excellent bond rating and a reputation for low rates. A rate setting model incorporates the operating and capital improvement budgets over a ten-year period as well as a debt coverage ratio and cash surplus to be maintained. The department's bond rating has risen from A in 1985 to a AA rating. A rate stabilization reserve fund was established in 1995 for replacement of water and wastewater infrastructure and an anticipated 10% increase in user charges over four years to provide the funding. This fund will allow replacement with no additional impact on user charges.

City of Columbus Division of Water

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
City of Columbus Division of Water, Ohio Achievement Highlights: Aware of the growing competitive challenge within the water utility environment, the Division followed a proactive course to ascertain its competitive position: Eighty-four employees representing all sections of the Division participated in a two-day "Thinking, Getting & Staying Competitive" workshop which resulted in a total of 245 individual recommendations to increase competitiveness. Employees concluded that existing practices placed the Division at a competitive disadvantage of approximately $15 million per year. To close the gap, the Division eliminated all uneconomical take-home vehicles; began work on several classification merge projects; combined similar work sections, monitored electrical usage through bill review and demand monitoring equipment; and reviewed and amended the purchasing process. Future goals include a thorough study of and reduction in overtime, and continued progress in organizational restructuring and process improvement.

Columbus Water Works

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Columbus Water Works (CWW), Georgia
  • Provides water and wastewater treatment services to a population of about 250,000 in the 221 square mile Columbus service area and via wholesale accounts.
  • 205 full-time employees.
  • Source of water is the Chattahoochee River.
  • Operates a water treatment facility rated at 90 mgd.
  • Annual budget is $34.7 million of which $20 million is for operation and improvement of the system and $14 million is to retire debt.
Achievement Highlights: CWW has developed a plan for continuous improvement, which increased automation throughout the organization, and implemented an effective information acquisition, storage and retrieval system. The total staff was reduced over a four-year period from 250 to 205 with an annual operating budget reduction of $1 million. Automation of all treatment plants is complete with only two staff needed to monitor four plants and 39 pump stations. The ratio of 1.5 employees per 1000 customers for full water and wastewater service is among the lowest in the industry. These results have been achieved while receiving over 40 local, state, regional and national awards and maintaining water and sewer rates below most other systems in the regions. A Data Warehouse has been created to connect to a Human Resource System (OPTIMUM), Laboratory Information System (LIMS), Computerized Managed Maintenance System (CMMS), Customer Information system (CIS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Financial System (ORCOM) so that information is readily available to all employees. An Interactive Voice Response System (IVR) has been installed to facilitate customers accessing their billing records. All of these have allowed the staff to provide more service with less time. A centralized maintenance management system was established to maximize equipment and line reliability and longevity, minimize failure and downtime, increase equipment efficiency, and replace/rehabilitate equipment and lines when it is cost effective. An atmosphere where innovation and creativity has flourished. Open discussion and examination of all work processes is encouraged. The results -- which have produced significant cost savings and increased customer service — speak for themselves.

Contra Costa Water District

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Contra Costa Water District, California
  • Provides water to approximately 430,000 people in Contra Costa County.
  • Over $1.05 billion in assets, including a 100,000 acre foot reservoir, two regional water treatment facilities with a combined capacity of 115 mgd and a 1,000 miles of distribution piping and facilities.
  • 320 employees.
  • Annual budget of $169.9 million.
Achievement Highlights: In Contra Costa Water District's efforts to continuously strive for improvement and stay competitive, the District has developed a Mission Statement and a set of goals to be achieved through over 300 annual milestones such as: The Engineering Department benchmarking practices include: decreased turn-around time for Engineering Support requests; increased accuracy of project cost estimates; and reduced number of change orders due to reduction in design errors. Engineering administrative costs for capital projects were reduced from 45 percent of total project cost to less than 40 percent. A Supervisors Academy was established to provide District supervisors with the tools and training they require to serve as excellent supervisors. A Skills Training Program was also established for clerical /maintenance employees. The new Multi-Skilled Equipment Operator classification was recently created to allow employees the ability to operate a wide rage of equipment which provides for increased effectiveness, efficiency, the development of enhanced job skills, while it provides a cost savings to the District. The Finance Department has implemented a customer survey program, demonstrating a customer service approval rating of 83 percent, and a procurement card program has reduced the cost of processing transactions under $500 by 65 percent. A new Financial & Customer Service System is being implemented and has the potential to provide customer service programs and customer billing service for other agencies. The Finance Department is researching point of use and customer specific devises as well as bottled water and service line maintenance to provide consumers with total customer care.

Boston Water and Sewer Commission

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Boston Water and Sewer Commission
  • 550 employees.
  • Serves a daily population of approximately 1 million.
  • Maintains a 1,096-mile water distribution system.
  • Total annual budget is approximately $211 million.
Achievement Highlights: Continually searching for ways to maintain its competitiveness in the industry through the implementation of competitive strategies, including those to improve its financial status, customer satisfaction, labor management, system management and information technology. The Commission was the first water utility in the United States to implement the concept of downsizing meters. In addition, the current manual meter reading system will be replaced with a Fixed Radio Meter Reading System. Knowledge and understanding of funding resources resulted in subsidized loans and grants that greatly reduced the financial impact to rate-payers and assisted the Commission in maintaining stable water and sewer rates for seven years. The Commission's 2001 bond ratings are as follows:
  • Moody's Investor Services: AA3
  • Standard and Poor's: AA-
  • Fitch: AA-
A new facility at one location will increase operating efficiency and improve service delivered to customers. Commission has a strong program to encourage employees to obtain certifications, cross train and enhance their education. By the year 2010, all water mains in the city over 100 years old will be replaced or rehabilitated. To maintain its Management Information System the Commission has implemented a Geographic Information System (GIS), coupled with a new Work Order Management System, to facilitate the sharing of data and ultimately improve communication, efficiency, and eliminate work redundancy.

Kansas City Water Services Department

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Kansas City, Missouri Water Services Department (WSD)
  • 240 mgd water supply capacity with 2,300 miles of water mains.
  • Service population is over 600,000 within the Kansas City metropolitan area.
  • Annual budget is $166 million.
  • Employment of 970 associates.
Achievement Highlights: In 1994, the WSD began its competitiveness strategy with a total quality management program entitled Associates Creating Excellence (ACE), which: Provided the means by which associates were empowered to make process improvements, which resulted in cost savings of $1.4 million. Chartered 38 process improvement teams. Created a culture change that served as a fundamental building block to the organizational development and change that resulted from the subsequent Competitive 2001 Program and the current competitive and efficiency improvements underway through the Kansas City Government Optimization (KC-GO) Initiative. In 1997, the Competitive 2001 Program (C2P) was launched as a result of competitiveness assessments of WSD's Water Supply, Wastewater Treatment and Line Maintenance Divisions which revealed a 19 percent competitive gap. Goals were to transition from reactive to proactive maintenance, decrease maintenance costs and increase reliability of equipment, realize greater customer and associate satisfaction while becoming competitive with all public and private operations. Six self-directed work teams (SDWTs) in the Water Supply Division improved productivity and efficiency in the treatment process, communications, and cross-training among operations and maintenance associates. Empowerment of the labor work force through SDWTs improved water quality, reduced overtime and improved working relations between labor and management. Through the pilot of an O & M high performance work team (HPWT), the Wastewater Treatment Division reorganized its workforce into a HPWT structure, eliminating three reporting layers. As of July 2000, the WSD's competitive efforts were integrated into the City's KC-GO Initiative, a strategy for becoming more competitive and efficient in the delivery of government services across all City departments. WSD was selected as the "first" major operating Department to undergo competitive review and business plan development because of its organizational readiness. The utility is currently involved in a large-scale competitive business planning process with 51 workgroups consisting of both labor and management working within 11 functional areas to identify continuous improvements that will result in additional cost savings, revenue enhancements and best business practices.

Portland Bureau of Water Works

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Portland Bureau of Water Works, Oregon
  • Provides water to nearly 800,000 (450,000 of whom are Portland residents; the balance of 350,000 are served via wholesale contractors).
  • Two water sources---a surface system and a groundwater system.
  • 545 employees and an annual fund budget of $145 million.
Achievement Highlights: The agency has focused on developing a culture of continuous improvement since the early '90s, including: Strategic labor-management leadership approach with extensive employee involvement in systematic business process reengineering. Redesign of system operation (implementation of a SCADA system), fountain maintenance, grounds maintenance, customer service, mains flushing, emergency response, payroll and purchasing, stores operation and inventory management, concrete delivery and placement and laboratory management. Flattening of the organization with increased span of control and reduced mid-management ranks. Results have been evidenced by a revenue bond rating of Aa1 and a general obligation bond rating of Aaa; customer satisfaction ratings above 90%; rate increases below inflation, even as the capital improvement plan has been nearly doubled; and extremely competitive bills for customers based on local and national data.

Tacoma Water

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Tacoma Water stands ready to meet unexpected and expected changes in the economy, the climate, competition and regulation. The utility's primary resource is its staff of committed employees who are trained to think strategically, to use current process improvement tools, to innovate and to respond quickly to meet utility needs and exceed customer expectations. Employee teams can be assembled quickly to address issues and produce workable, cost-effective and timely solutions. One long-standing team, for example, identifies infrastructure replacement needs. Another more recent team has produced thoughtful recommendations to address a more immediate challenge, a budget shortfall resulting from a drought in the Northwest and the related downturn in business activity. Tacoma Water's new business plan and continuing progress on its second regional water supply project also add to the utility's ability to remain competitive. Tacoma Water is proud of its role as a leader in the community, the region and the water utility industry.

Tampa Water Department

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Tampa Water Department serves a customer population of almost 500,000 through 120,000 connections in a 211 square mile service area. Its primary water resource is the Hillsborough River Reservoir Basin located adjacent to the historic Hillsborough River Water Treatment Plant and Dam. Tampa Water is proud of the department's tradition of innovation and continuous improvement with the simultaneous objectives of delivering unquestionable water quality, sound financial performance and customer satisfaction that is considered "best in class" for the industry. Beginning in 1996 with a comprehensive competitive assessment and a strategic re-evaluation of the objectives of the department's Water Quality Master Plan, Tampa Water launched its Water Quality 2000 initiative in the Production Operations Division. This initiative included re-engineering O&M processes and a series of facility upgrades to ensure superior water quality, cost containment and process flexibility and reliability into the 21st century. Workforce reductions (achieved without layoffs) with simultaneous improvement in productivity and job satisfaction were achieved through training, skills based compensation and automation projects. Water quality initiatives include rehabilitation of the existing filter galleries with new under-drains, the addition of air scour, activated carbon filter media and a 20 MGD production augmentation facility employing Actiflo and ozone disinfection technologies.

Tualatin Valley Water District

2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Located in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, Tualatin Valley Water District provides full water service to parts of three cities and unincorporated Washington County. The District is recognized for its competitive service and uses that competitive edge to obtain contracts to provide service to other agencies. In 2000, the City of Sherwood, the fastest growing city in Oregon during the '90s, selected the District to be its water operator and manager. In 2001, the Valley View Water District also selected the District for its O&M. Through a competitive bidding process in 2000 the city of Beaverton, Oregon chose the District to provide meter reading service. Meter reading services were reengineered, and a productivity meter reading pay program was established. Merit based pay for performance is applied to all District employees, who are not rewarded for longevity but for contributions they make to the organization each year. This resulted in a highly skilled workforce with a turnover rate just over 4 percent, with half of that due to retirements. The District's competitive pay program, strong financial position, low employee turnover and low ratio of employees per capita make it highly competitive in the water service industry.