Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance recognizes member water systems that exhibit high levels of performance in the areas of product quality, customer satisfaction, employee and leadership development, operational optimization, financial viability, community sustainability, enterprise resiliency, infrastructure strategy and performance, stakeholder understanding and support, and water resource sustainability. These are the ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Utilities identified in 2007 by a blue ribbon panel of water and wastewater utility executives.
Any AMWA member utility that has never won a Gold Award is eligible to apply for the Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance.
- Example Gold Award-Winning Application
Recent Award Winners
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.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
For 70 years, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has successfully acquired and delivered high quality water supplies to Southern California. Recent years have seen a growth of external competition and political realities within California that threatened to change or reduce the utility's role. In late 1998 and into early 1999, the challenges and demands issued by the state legislature, member agencies and the public in general led Metropolitan's Board of Directors to recruit a new executive management team. The team would not only provide solutions to existing issues, but also positive direction and leadership for the organization into the next century. A plan to restructure Metropolitan was presented to the Board and approved in July 1999. This district-wide reorganization was necessary to become more responsive, accountable and transparent to Metropolitan's customers and the public in general. Moving forward with a strategy for appropriate and manageable change, management began reorganizing staff and analyzing business practices with a new vision in mind &endash; to reduce unnecessary organizational layers, eliminate inefficient business practices, increase competitiveness and meet the demands of customers while maintaining stable water rates. The past two years have produced substantial changes in not only how Metropolitan is viewed, but also how it will operate more effectively in the future. Accomplishments to date include: $144 million in operations, maintenance and capital savings, 188 fewer employees since April 1999, four new bargaining unit contracts, elimination of 150 consultant contracts, and improved relationships with customers.
Onondaga County Water Authority
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA), N.Y.
- Serves more than 350,000 people in four Central New York counties.
- 110 employees operate and maintain 1,438 miles of water main.
- Operates a 20-mgd water filtration plant and monitors delivery of water from City of Syracuse and the Metropolitan Water Board.
- Annual operation and maintenance budget for 2000 was $14,169,690 and the capital budget totaled an additional $8.9 million.
Orange County Water Division
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Orange County Water Division constantly monitors the effectiveness of programs and processes it established to meet citizens' needs and develops new techniques to ensure that future needs are met. The Water Division's mission is to provide customers with safe and reliable water services by continually improving facilities, work processes and the capabilities of employees. The Water Division's competitiveness strategy includes a variety of initiatives. As the population of Orange County continues to grow, more water facilities have been built to provide adequate service. A state-of-the-art laboratory was completed in 1998 at the Eastern Regional Water Supply Facility that allows staff to work in a central location to perform all necessary testing. Maintenance of equipment and training of personnel are top priorities in the Water Division. Public education for community groups and in public schools continues to expand as innovative programs, such as "Touring the Water Facts," are developed.
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department (PBCWUD), Florida
- Provides water services to 400,000 residents.
- Also provides retail and wholesale services to several cities and towns.
- Operates four state-of-the-art water treatment plants (72 mgd total), two wastewater treatment plants (54 mgd total), 1500 miles of pipelines, 650 wastewater pump stations and 8 wellfields.
- Has 416 employees, an annual operating budget of $57,000,000 and a $240,000,000/seven-year capital improvement program.
Philadelphia Water Department
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Philadelphia Water Department (PWD)
- Approximately 2,100 employees.
- Operates three water plants treating an average of approximately 300 million gallons of river water each day and maintains approximately 3,300 miles of water mains.
- Supplies drinking water to 1.5 million retail customers in the City of Philadelphia and another 150,000 residents of Lower Bucks County.
- Annual operating budget of approximately $427,527,000.
Phoenix Water Services Department
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Phoenix Water Services Department
- Serves 345,000 water accounts and 1.3 million people.
- Operates five water treatment plants with a combined capacity of about 630 mgd.
- Annual operating budget of about $205 million and a five-year capital improvement budget of about $1.5 billion.
Portland (Maine) Water District
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Portland Water District, Maine
- Provides water, wastewater and environmental services to 10 communities.
- Serves approximately 46,000 customer accounts, or 171,000 people, with its 190 employees.
- Manages $215 million in assets operating over approximately 140 square miles.
- Has an annual operating budget of $28.9 million and a $10 million capital improvement budget.
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.
Saint Paul Regional Water Services
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) has focused its efforts in three areas. The first is water quality. Although the utility has access to abundant sources, SPRWS never takes water quality for granted and is committed to protecting the supply, improving treatment and ensuring delivery. Second is customer service. SPRWS regularly seeks feedback through the use of surveys, which help the utility clarify policies and enhance customer service. SPRWS continues to expand its customer base by entering into wholesale, retail and acquisition partnerships with suburban communities. The utility also has emphasized cost effectiveness by managing performance. Appropriately deployed technology and other improvements are directly linked to reduced cost and improved efficiency. Over the past five years, SPRWS has managed to increase revenue-funded capital improvements by five percent annually while holding increases in operating expenses to 1.4 percent per year and rate increases well below inflation. SPRWS recognizes that a public utility can benefit from adopting tools and practices utilized by the private sector. The utility's excellent reputation as a publicly owned organization provides additional leverage for these tools, bringing SPRWS even closer to its goal of becoming the leading regional water service provider.
Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities began its efforts to achieve continuous improvement and gain competitive advantage in 1992 when it embraced the philosophy and tools of total quality management. Since then, through extensive employee involvement, many processes have been improved and newer, more efficient and effective ones implemented. The department invested in SCADA technology to control a complex water distribution system, with only two employees monitoring the system. Water treatment plants combined operation and maintenance functions, and by using SCADA and particle counters, operators consistently maintain a 0.1 NTU finished water quality. Recognizing the need to continuously learn, the department implemented a leadership development program, which is open to any interested employee. A recently empowered Education Advisory Committee makes recommendations for technology, equipment, water industry and cross-training opportunities to improve employee communication, teamwork and job knowledge skills. The department partners with other government agencies, organizations and citizens to maintain superior source water quality while managing a watershed within the most-used national forest in the United States. A proactive watershed protection program helps keep the cost of water treatment down and reduces health risks by controlling pollution at the water supply source.
Seattle Public Utilities
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)
- Serves a population of 1.3 million people in the greater Seattle metropolitan area.
- 1,300 employees and a budget of $462 million for 2001.
- Water system includes the Tolt and Cedar River watersheds and a small aquifer, as well as approximately 176 miles of supply mains and 460 millions gallons of storage capacity in transmission and distribution reservoirs, supporting nearly 150 mgd average water use.