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
Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
In 1996, the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works undertook a competitiveness assessment that determined a need for change in order to compete with the best of private utilities. In an effort to avoid privatization, a program was put into place to change work practices and move to a team-based culture called EXCEL for Excellence in Cost Effective Leadership. EXCEL is led by a steering team of labor and management representatives whose goal is to achieve environmentally sound water and wastewater service with rate stability. A pilot project showed that a team-based culture could improve productivity and work practices, allowing effective operation with a reduced staff. Since1999, staff reduction through attrition and energy savings have saved the Bureau $3.1 million, reducing the competitive gap from 19 percent to 10 percent. The supervisory ratio increased from 1:9 to 1:13 through a Bureau-wide reorganization and attrition. Currently, employees are undergoing an extensive training program to develop multiple skills in the fields of mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and operations as part of a flexible workforce program that increases efficiency and productivity.
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.
- Moody's Investor Services: AA3
- Standard and Poor's: AA-
- Fitch: AA-
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.
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.
Chicago Department of Water
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The Chicago Department of Water (CDOW) owns and operates the world's two largest purification plants, 12 pumping stations, 4,323 miles of mains, 47 miles of finished water tunnels and over 47,000 hydrants. CDOW purifies and distributes more than one billion gallons of water daily to over 5 million people. CDOW has earned an AA+ bond rating while maintaining the third lowest water rates in the nation. The department shortened its water main replacement cycle by 16 years and implemented a SCADA system for six of its pumping stations, reducing costs by $30 million. In addition, electricity costs are being lowered through a cooperative bulk purchase; a new billing and collection system was implemented to improve collections management; response time to water quality inquiries was reduced by almost 70 percent; over 23,000 engineering drawings were computer-archived; and the department received the GFOA Financial Accounting Award. CDOW is embarking on a department-wide review starting with a thorough analysis of water treatment, billing and collection, and procurement processes. The department will compare these with other utilities to maximize operational efficiencies without negative impact to employee morale. With a five-year, $620 million infrastructure investment, including 50 miles of annual main replacement, CDOW will continue to be competitive and maintain the high level of service its customers expect.
City of Akron Public Utilities Bureau
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
In 1998, when its water rates were among the highest in the state, the City of Akron Public Utilities Bureau recognized the need to stabilize rates by changing the way it operated its utilities. A Blue Ribbon Commission evaluated work practices and produced a report that served as a catalyst for Akron to change the way it does business. EMA Inc., hired to perform an analysis of the Public Utilities Bureau (PUB), found a competitive gap of $10 million in annual controllable O&M costs. This led to selection of the Leading Change Team (LCT), a steering team consisting of a cross-section of the work force, including management and labor, with representatives from each division. The LCT commissioned six major core design teams, plus several smaller work teams to encourage the team concept. Notices were posted publicly to allow all interested employees the opportunity to apply. As a result of the Blue Ribbon Committee report, EMA assessment and employee design teams, Akron achieved $4.6 million accumulated savings in controllable O&M costs over the last two years. The city's PUB is becoming highly trained, flexible and efficient, using best business practices to be competitive and supplying citizens with quality services at stable rates.
City of Albuquerque's Water Utility
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
Faced with significant operating challenges and opportunities, the City of Albuquerque's Water Utility is undertaking a major change initiative to become more competitive. Groundwater supply and quality issues triggered the need for water conservation and construction/operation of a new surface water treatment plant. The effects of water conservation in turn resulted in declining revenues per customer, and the new surface water plant will add to the operations and maintenance burden of the utility. Potential regionalization of water services in the Rio Grande Valley presents an opportunity to expand the service area of the water utility with a resulting increase in revenue. However, prior to expansion, the utility must be able to provide a high-quality product at a competitive price. Albuquerque's change initiative includes the Albuquerque Water Operations and Management System (AWOMS), which merges integrated information from a new Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA). These systems work in concert with retooled O&M practices to produce a competitive and highly efficient water utility. Currently, the utility is mid-way through a five-year optimization project to apply these new technologies and practices to yield bottom-line results for its customers.
City of Atlanta Department of Water
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
From the early 1990s, the City of Atlanta Department of Water has made significant efforts to improve operating efficiency and reduce costs, while providing excellent service to customers. Staff positions were reduced from 863 in 1993 to 480 at the end of 1998. A one-stop call center, initiated in 1997, has vastly improved customer service. Aging steam powered pump stations are being replaced with new electric powered facilities, and a new $42 million, 200 MGD pump station for the downtown area will be on line by the end of 2001. Energy incentives with the electrical utility and new operating patterns have saved over $1 million annually in energy costs. Back-up electric power generation projects, totaling $22 million, will be completed by the end of 2001 for the two major treatment plants and all the most critical pump stations, ensuring operational reliability. Atlanta is also promoting water conservation education by providing a summer xeriscape program to customers. In 1999, Atlanta entered a 20-year contract with a private firm, United Water Services Atlanta, to manage water system O&M. The agreement will save the city $20 million annually and $400 million over the term of the contract. The Atlanta Water Department continues to maintain a small staff to oversee and manage the firm's performance and to manage the capital improvements program, an aggressive five-year plan with more than $502 million in facility and distribution improvements.
City of Austin Water and Wastewater Utility
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The population in counties served by the City of Austin Water and Wastewater Utility increased more than 40 percent in the last decade, with a corresponding 36 percent explosion in average water demand. The challenge has been to meet both this increased need and higher customer expectations through a strategy of continuous process improvement and a customer satisfaction philosophy. Using benchmarking, competitiveness assessments and employee involvement, the Utility systematically created and implemented systems, processes and programs to increase efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness. Major accomplishments include: accommodating the increased demand for products and services with fewer employees; increasing the capacity for water production and delivery; stabilizing water service rates over the planning horizon; upgrading the Utility's bond rating to an A+; winning the Greater Austin Quality Council's Significant Merit in Quality award for two years; and, becoming a model for other utilities for the treatment plant operator and mechanic cross-training program, which resulted in a 20 percent reduction in operators. Not only has customer satisfaction with water quality increased by 22 percent, but internal customer (utility employee) satisfaction also increased by 11 percent, with labor and management successfully partnering to resolve mutual issues.
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.
City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
The City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department provides water to a service population of approximately 315,000 customers. While experiencing a period of large growth, Raleigh remains committed to providing quality services at an affordable cost to its citizens. With only two rate increases during the past 12 years, current utility rates are the second lowest in the state and among the lowest in the region. Two new two-million-gallon elevated storage tanks, a new five-million-gallon clearwell and a new ozone generator top the list of recent improvements to the system. A proposed new water treatment plant is in the design phase to accommodate additional growth. Raleigh currently maintains bond rates of Aa1 from Moody's, AAA from Fitch and AAA from Standard and Poor's, the first water and sewer utility in the U.S. to achieve AAA ratings from Fitch and S&P. Utility employees continue to be a vital part of the improvement process. A SIP (Service Improvement Program) Committee develops programs to improve service to both internal and external customers. Work Order Process Teams study ways to improve various work processes and increase efficiency.
City of St. Louis Water Division
2001 Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance
For the City of St. Louis Water Division, competitiveness improvements begin and continue with staffing levels. The improvement process started in 1996 when each section manager was charged with evaluating the number of positions needed to perform critical functions. The resulting reduction of 8.7 percent of staff was realized through re-thinking work processes and utilizing technology advances, without any layoffs. Completion of a touch-read meter reading system, with an on-going migration to an automated meter reading system (AMR), more than doubled the productivity of meter readers. With the final installation of the AMR system, the meter reading force will be reduced to one individual. As a water utility in a city with fixed boundaries, the Water Division determined to use its excess capacity to become a regional water supplier. Using its Howard Bend Plant on the Missouri River as the source, it successfully negotiated to supply three wholesale customers in neighboring St. Charles County. An aggressive capital improvement program was initiated. A completely new reservoir (two tanks) was built within the historic exterior of the previous reservoir, retaining the character of the neighborhood. Also, a new pre-sedimentation and softening basin was added at the Chain of Rocks Plant on the Mississippi River to ensure compliance with future quality regulations. Conventional and innovative technologies are being utilized to upgrade the distribution infrastructure.