Awards given to outstanding water systems

The Washington, D.C.-based Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) has announced the first winners of its Gold Award for Competitive Achievement. The award recognizes water systems that have reduced costs, improved productivity and increased consumer satisfaction.

The recipients are:

• the Broward County (Fla.) Office of Environmental Services. In 1996, the agency initiated a program to reduce annual operating costs by at least $6 million, and by the end of 2000 the budget had been reduced by nearly $10 million.

• the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. It has become the first water utility in the United States to downsize meters.

• the Chesterfield County (Va.) Utilities Department. It has instituted a rate stabilization reserve fund for the replacement of water and wastewater infrastructure with no additional impact on customer rates.

• the Columbus (Ohio) Division of Water. It developed a two-day workshop for employees, which resulted in 245 recommendations to increase competitiveness. The division also has eliminated all uneconomical take-home vehicles, combined similar work sections, and reviewed and amended the purchasing process.

• Columbus (Ga.) Water Works. It has reduced its staff from 250 to 205 people over a four-year period and has reduced its annual operating budget by $1 million.

• the Contra Costa County (Calif.) Water District. It has established a mission statement, a set of goals, a Supervisors Academy and a skills training program for its employees.

• the Kansas City (Mo.) Water Services Department. It has created a total quality management program, Associates Creating Excellence, which led to the development of 38 process improvement teams.

• the Las Vegas Valley Water District. It implemented an employee awards program to recognize leadership and excellence.

• Little Rock (Ark.) Municipal Water Works. The utility formed an employee task group to look at the job functions that can be performed by multiple job classifications. Many of the work processes have been reengineered.

• the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. It has improved water quality with a series of projects involving watershed protection, primary and residual disinfection, corrosion control and the removal of open distribution storage.

• the Memphis (Tenn.) Light, Gas and Water Division. The division has developed benchmarks that are compiled in a Benchmarking Equivalency Number Index. The division also has implemented employee process teams to measure work performance.

• the Onondaga County (N.Y.) Water Authority. The utility has increased maintenance of its system and improved services to its customers through automation in customer service, distribution operations and water treatment.

• the Palm Beach County (Fla.) Water Utilities Department. It has developed a Productivity Assessment and Enhancement Program. The program has increased worker productivity 60 percent, with each employee now serving an average of 425 customers, up from 265 customers.

• the Philadelphia Water Department. It moved from quarterly to monthly billing and has launched the largest automatic meter reading project of any U.S. water utility.

• the Phoenix Water Services Department. It has implemented a Multi-skill Worker Program that calls for workers to expand their capabilities to include operations and maintenance skills. The department also set a new pay scale to reward employees bringing greater skills to the job.

• the Portland (Maine) Water District. The district has adopted a three-year competitiveness strategy to reduce the Operations and Maintenance budget, invest in technology, encourage employees to become multi-skilled and accomplish all objectives without employee layoffs.

• the Portland (Ore.) Bureau of Water Works. It has implemented a strategic labor-management leadership approach to process reengineering.

• Seattle Public Utilities. It has created a utility call center that answers inquiries related to water, solid waste, drainage, wastewater and electrical services provided by the water system.

• the Spartanburg (S.C.) Water System. It has developed a program called Pursuing Excellence, which encompasses initiatives to ensure high levels of safety, regulatory compliance, resource conservation, customer service and competitiveness.

• the Topeka (Kan.) Water, Division of Public Works. It has developed capital projects that consider financial restraints and meet customer needs.