Award Winners
Kansas City Board of Public Utilities
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Kansas City Board of Public Utilities has implemented improvement initiatives including: valve, hydrant and customer leak detection programs; water treatment plant filter upgrades; water distribution facility maintenance and Geographic Information System; a water main and fire hydrant replacement project; a new four-million gallon water reservoir; and a Maximo asset work order management program. The utility develops programs to ensure training and understanding of work processes and standards throughout the organization. It works continually to improve its services to the community and measures overall customer satisfaction by reviewing data from customer satisfaction studies, customer inquiry reports, a cost-of-service study and AEGIS risk assessment.
KC Water
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
KC Water has capitalized on challenges to establish an evidence-based, data-driven utility in all aspects, including infrastructure rehabilitation, maintenance, operational and customer-service programs. Achievements include: new infrastructure rehabilitation based on increased customer satisfaction as measured by customer surveys; improved main replacement protocols based on business risk exposure; and significant automation of many business processes. Careful management of debt coverage requirements to support long-term infrastructure investment has improved financial results. Forward-thinking processes have been implanted throughout administrative functions including customer service operations, employee training and staff development and long-range organizational planning.
Louisville Water Company
2016 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
Louisville Water Company adopted the Effective Utility Management performance benchmarking framework and also makes use of a 20-year facilities plan, a five-year capital improvement plan, and both five- and ten-year financial projections. Its asset management program is focused on transmission main assessments, lead service replacements, water main and fire hydrant rehabilitation and replacements, and water storage tank inspections and restoration. Its customer outreach with the pure tap program serves tap water at hundreds of events and includes an education and social media campaign, drinking water fountain signage and partnerships with local businesses that serve tap water.
Mesa Water
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
To conserve finite resources, Mesa Water decreased its dependence on non-renewable groundwater supplies from over 70 percent in 1984, to around 10 percent today. The utility recharges approximately 8,000 acre-feet of effluent a year and achieves close to 100 percent reuse of reclaimed water. Its technology initiatives include Cityworks computerized maintenance management software and asset management system, and its mobile dispatch utilizes geolocation to ensure responsive dispatch to emergencies and complaints. Mesa Water maintains an Aa2 bond rating from Moody’s and developed a 20-year forecast model to anticipate revenues and expenses and prepare reserves for smoothing potential future rate increases.
Montgomery County Environmental Services
2016 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Montgomery County Environmental Services provides high quality water, wastewater, solid waste and recycling service to citizens in Southwest Ohio. Its innovative “block and index” energy purchasing strategy has allowed the utility, since 2013, to reduce energy costs by 15 percent. Leadership development is addressed through a cross-department Executive Steering Team and a Managers Bookclub for middle management, which provides training in team building, effective communication and understanding personal strengths and weaknesses. The department also opened a state-of-the-art Environmental Learning Center, constructed with sustainable building materials and designed to educate citizens about utility services, waste reduction, recycling and water conservation.
Phoenix Water
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Phoenix Water’s executive management team gathered supervisors, managers and field employees into cross-divisional teams based on the Attributes of Effective Utility Management to develop goals to drive and measure performance. Progress was reported over 40 targets. For example, the percentage of calls answered within two minutes went from a low of around 30 percent a year ago, to 98 percent today. To prevent the catastrophic failure of pre-stressed concrete cylinder transmission pipelines, the utility set a goal of inspecting 32 miles of critical water mains in three years. It is currently poised to complete a cumulative total of over 55 miles of inspections.
San Antonio Water System
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
San Antonio Water System (SAWS) integrated infrastructure, employees and rates by combining with a large utility, BexarMet. This multi-year process demonstrated the ability to merge the assets, liabilities, rights, duties and obligations of a substandard utility with the high expectations of SAWS while successfully providing seamless service to customers. The utility constantly forecasts with sophisticated models to anticipate conditions affecting revenue, such as climate, population growth and supply. Strategies include refinancing debt, reducing O&M expenditures, developing alternative water supplies, and increasing education and outreach to support conservation. With more than 11,000 miles of pipe, condition and repair is consistently monitored and tracked.
San Diego County Water Authority
2016 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
San Diego County Water Authority’s sustainability mindset saves ratepayers money, reduces the environmental impacts of projects and operations, conserves energy and water, and helps the agency thrive in a changing climate. A central goal is ensuring that existing and planned facilities are built and operated to minimize effects on the environment and to mitigate any unavoidable impacts. In 2014, the Authority adopted its first Climate Action Plan and completed the San Vicente Dam Raise, a key element of the agency’s long-term strategy for providing sustainable water supplies in dry years. In 2015, the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant started delivering drought-proof water to San Diego County.
Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans
2016 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
In recent years, the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) coordinated a massive rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure with the city’s Department of Public Works, accelerating the timeframe of recovery and saving taxpayers millions of dollars of unnecessary duplicative efforts. A $2.1 billion Hurricane Katrina FEMA settlement was negotiated and the funds used to construct the Southeast Louisiana (SELA) drainage program to prevent street flooding in parts of the city previously damaged by heavy rains. The utility is also constructing a Water Hammer to mitigate boil water advisories and is replacing 124 miles of water lines. S&WB has produced seven green infrastructure projects and is planning a green roof for its main office downtown.
Suffolk County Water Authority
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Suffolk County Water Authority’s Strategic Plan 2025 incorporates mobile workforce technology, development of a 24-hour customer service operation, development of new treatment methods for emerging contaminants, creation of an Employee Development Center to foster employee growth and substantial infrastructure investment. The utility organized the Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection to preserve the aquifer that provides all of Long Island’s drinking water. It also expanded testing to 398 chemicals – 249 more than required by regulators. Its environmentally friendly vehicle fleet and infrastructure include 26 compressed natural gas-fueled vehicles and a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station. Construction on a CNG-compliant repair facility is underway.
Tacoma Water
2016 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Tacoma Water has made significant progress in becoming a more effective organization through planning, analysis and developing strong stakeholder relationships. Understanding risk through data and analysis is an important dimension of the enhanced planning and decision making at Tacoma Water, which will position it well to adapt to future conditions and opportunities. The utility’s main accomplishments include: strategic planning and use of balanced scorecard to measure execution; completion of construction and startup of its filtration plant; significant natural resource enhancements and habitat work in the Green River Watershed; GIS implementation; asset management program development; and adoption of a decision-making framework for budget development.
The City of San Diego Public Utilities Department
2016 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award
The City of San Diego Public Utilities Department (PUD) maintains numerous award-winning community outreach, education and conservation programs and is proud of its water rate assistance program for low-income residents. The utility has implemented energy and carbon management strategies, including resource recovery, to ensure optimal energy usage, storage and production levels. It is implementing a multi-year Pure Water San Diego Program that uses proven technology to clean recycled wastewater to produce sustainable, high-quality water. Its rate structures utilize industry-recognized rate-making practices to cover cost of services and maintain a balance between long term debt, asset values, O&M expenditures, and revenues and expenses.