Revisiting the Steps to Effective Utility Management: Part I
In 2008, six major water and waste water associations joined with the EPA to develop and issue a primer to address the challenges faced by water and waste water utilities in an effort to create building blocks to improve performance. Since some time has passed, EGP PLLC wants to remind you of the "Ten Attributes of Effectively-Managed Water Sector Utilities" and their value to your utility, as well as the keys for using these attributes. Reviewing these for their relevance and related importance to your utility is the first step.
- Product Quality — Making sure the water produced is potable, treated effluent and processes residuals consistent with regulatory and reliability requirements as well as customer, public health and ecological needs.
- Customer Satisfaction — Making sure your utility’s is providing reliable, timely, and affordable customer service.
- Employee and Leadership Development — Making sure your utilities’ workforce is competent and well trained while ensuring their professional development is met.
- Operational Optimization — Making sure that performance improvements are timely, on-going and cost effective while ensuring that resource use and loss is minimized and awareness of information and operational developments allow the utility to anticipate and properly implement improvements.
- Financial Viability — Making sure your utility understands its full life cycle cost by balancing financial results and establishing rates adequate to cover costs and plan for the future.
- Infrastructure Stability — Making sure the condition of your utility’s critical infrastructure is maintained and the associated costs are kept at the lowest level possible while assuring repair, rehabilitation and replacement efforts are done so there is minimal customer disruption.
- Operation Resiliency — Making sure your utility’s staff works seamlessly with leaders to anticipate and effectively manage problems as well as managing risk consistent with industry standards and the utilities goals.
- Community Sustainability — Making sure your utility is aware of the long term impacts its daily decisions make on the future of the community; especially pollution prevention, watershed and source water protection
- Water Resource Adequacy — Making sure water is available for current and future consumption and replenishment through long term analysis, conservation and public education.
- Stakeholder Understanding and Support — Making sure there is adequate understanding and support from community and regulatory groups for service levels, rates, budgets, capital improvement programs and risk management decisions.
Keep in mind that even a rural utility can adapt some, if not all, of these attributes. In our next newsletter, we’ll explore the five “Keys to Management Success” as well as the five step assessment process and creating a resource toolbox for your utility. As always, EGP PLLC is available for your water and waste water utility’s financial audit and consulting needs.
Adapted from “Effective Utility Management: A Primer for Water and Waste water Utilities” issued June 2008
At EGP PLLC, our personnel have a 20 year history of providing professional services to municipal water and sewer departments. We believe that we have more experience with municipal water and sewer departments than any other firm in the state and would like to provide our expertise to your company. Our firm continues to meet all educational requirements to perform governmental audits, including Single Audits under A133.
