Award Winners
Coachella Valley Water District
2019 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Coachella Valley Water District focuses on water quality protection through its community-available, state-certified laboratory. And water system consolidation helps ensure delivery of safe drinking water. The utility’s infrastructure reliability exceeds industry standards through an aggressive preventative maintenance program, and a new asset management program is improving capital management. Financial viability and security remain exceptional through prudent rate setting, consideration of water affordability, and maintaining capital assets. The utility addresses community sustainability through watershed protection, energy efficiency programs, and a focus on disadvantaged community infrastructure. Water resource sustainability is carefully managed through a diverse water supply portfolio and water supply projects.
Columbus Water Works
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Columbus Water Works addresses impacts to its major drinking water source, the Chattahoochee River, through source water assessment, water quality monitoring with real-time notification, a watershed protection plan, and a Creek Walker program to ensure proper functioning of sanitary sewer infrastructure. The utility’s water conservation and efficiency plan addresses water loss auditing and reporting, water loss control, water metering, and rate-making policies. Its new environmental lab building features LED lighting and motion sensors detection, water-saving plumbing fixtures, and reflective roofing. Its fats, oil and grease recycling program provides an alternative energy source through two methane-fueled generators at its wastewater plant. The utility was also awarded an AMWA sustainability award in 2014.
DuPage Water Commission
2019 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
DuPage Water Commission has paid off all debt and has fully funded its pension obligations in the period since its founding in 1992. The utility’s assets are in the early stages of their useful life and are proactively maintained. The Commission earned a AAA bond rating, fully funded its five-year capital plan with a budgeted CIP of $30M and established a long-term capital reserve. It created a water conservation and protection program and has participated in over 75 events promoting water sustainability. A three-year operator trainee program was initiated for trades along with a college engineer internship program for engineering students.
Fort Wayne City Utilities
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Fort Wayne City Utilities is committed to the efficient, cost effective, and environmentally responsible use of energy. Its combined heat and power system at the wastewater treatment plant takes methane produced during the treatment process to power the plant, reducing electricity purchased. On-going interaction with customers helps ensure its products, service levels, operations, and financial plans reflect a balance between the desires of customers, the utilities’ obligation to fulfill regulatory requirements, and the responsibility for stewardship. Partnering with Riverfront Fort Wayne, the utilities promote plant tours so customers can understand the human-made water cycle.
Newport News Waterworks
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Newport News Waterworks has owned significant portions of its watersheds since its founding in 1889. This ownership, supplemented with regulatory controls, structural improvements, inspections, water quality monitoring, and forest management, provides robust source water protection. Waterworks has adopted a solid and cohesive asset management program framework using mobile devices for asset condition assessment, procuring best-in-class asset management software, and prioritizing risk-based capital planning. The utility’s sustainability mission rests on providing high quality drinking water, preserving grandfathered water rights and watershed sovereignty, embracing new technology, capitalizing on data-rich analytics, supporting a talented workforce, and providing strong executive transformational leadership.
Orange County Water District
2019 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Orange County Water District is an international leader in water reuse and groundwater management and is home to the Groundwater Replenishment System – the world’s largest advanced water purification project for potable reuse. The District was the first to use reverse osmosis to purify wastewater to drinking water quality. It created the largest constructed wetlands in the West to help purify Santa Ana River waters and for greater water yield while protecting endangered species. Sound planning and investment, high standards for water reliability, exceptional water quality, environmental stewardship, strong financial management, and transparency are the District’s hallmarks and standards.
Phoenix Water
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Phoenix Water’s successes include acquisition of water resources to meet demand 100 years into the future. Energy consumption has been reduced by adoption of electronic processes such as electronic work order systems, automated meter reading, and an automatic vehicle locator system, which have increased efficiency, reduced miles driven, and improved customer service. Extensive community outreach and education efforts surrounding conservation and pollution prevention have resulted in a 27 percent decrease in water usage over the last 20 years. Some 140 million gallons of wastewater per day is reused to irrigate crops, rehabilitate wetlands, produce electricity, and recharge groundwater.
Raleigh Water
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Raleigh Water addresses sustainable environmental management by taking a multi-faceted approach to long-term water resource requirements, including demand management, long-range planning, source water protection, and a hydrologic-based water shortage response system. The utility also provides services to increase energy efficiency, conservation, and alternative energy sources through initiatives like the Anaerobic Digestion Bioenergy Recovery Project. Its customer assistance program supports customers in need of financial assistance, and its watershed protection program directly engages stakeholders through sponsorship of community groups and regional planning organizations. Significant financial management progress was made by implementing a departmental multi-year business plan and utility management system.
San Antonio Water System
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) diversified water portfolio consists of 16 water projects from eight different sources, including its brackish groundwater desalination plant. Its strong credit rating provides flexibility to plan for its community’s future in a fiscally responsible way. Robust conservation efforts proactively engage customers, and since 1993 the gallons per capita per day for its service area has declined 28 percent while still absorbing new customers. SAWS was among the first water systems in the nation to provide bill payment assistance to vulnerable customers, and its Affordability Discount Program offers direct financial assistance to more than 30,000 households.
Spartanburg Water
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Spartanburg Water’s sustainable business model utilizes long-term planning for future needs and a five-year financial plan to assure that daily operational needs and required debt service are met, assets are properly managed and maintained, and infrastructure replacement needs are considered. The utility cooperates with federal and state agencies and a local university to find environmentally safe solutions for annual algae problems in its lakes and reservoirs. Energy efficiency is achieved with hydroelectric generators to offset power costs and implementation of small-scale solar installations at water tanks to power SCADA instrumentation. Community programs include an employee day of service and Pontoon Classroom. The utility earned its first AMWA sustainability award in 2014.
Suffolk County Water Authority
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Suffolk County Water Authority instituted a new tiered-rate structure that incentivizes customers to use water judiciously. Water Wise programs offer free one-on-one consultations to develop customized conservation plans and financial incentives for the purchase of water-saving devices. The Authority’s education center has hosted hundreds of visitors since opening in 2017, its schools program has reached tens of thousands of young students, and its WaterTalk program brings water professionals into local town halls and libraries across the region. Strong partnerships with local environmental and planning groups allow the Authority to offer substantive sustainability programs and sustainability messaging all over Long Island.
WaterOne
2019 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
WaterOne’s strong financial performance is exemplified by its AAA bond rating and stabilizing conservative fiscal practices, policies, and planning. This includes a 40-year master plan, robust operating and rate stabilization reserves, and smoothed rate adjustments reflecting both affordability and the true cost of water. The utility is driving water policy and resource management as a leader behind efforts like the Kansas 50-year Vision for Water Sustainability. WaterOne invests in forward-looking facilities, including its state-of-the-art water quality laboratory and Wolcott Treatment Plant as well as its ozone treatment facility (under construction), advanced metering infrastructure, and a future hydropower plant.