March 2008

A Return to the Winners Circle

Each of these award winners achieved success via creative solutions tailored to overcome specific challenges.

Even with the pressures of increased population growth, some cities in the US are holding the use of their water steady, sometimes even decreasing it. Conservation is the key, but cities have found other ways to manage their water issues, like keeping the public informed on the daily water level of a local aquifer (reported along with the daily temperature). Other steps include securing sound financing, encouraging proactive repairs, and addressing infrastructure problems in a timely manner to forestall a potential day of reckoning.

The bottom line is that for each of these award-winners in water efficiency or conservation, there are as many creative ways of overcoming challenges as there are different geographical settings. What ties all of these winners together is the effort they have exerted to achieve their water resource management goals.

Efficient Financial Decisions
Long Beach, CA, has one of the lowest per capita water-use rates in the state, but this achievement is due to more than just conservation, according to Ryan Alsop, director of government and public affairs for the Long Beach Water Department (LBWD). “The number of gallons of water used by our residents is 121 gallons per person per day, while the state averages over 200 gallons per person per day, and LA County averages some 200 gallons per person per day. We have achieved this low water use through very good communication [and] education, and a good conservation program.

LBWD promotes effective communication by providing a live person to answer customer calls. “When a caller phones in, no matter what question they may be asking, they always speak with a real human being at the other end, not a recorded message. This is not typical for a utility,” says Alsop.

LBWD also maintains a user-friendly Web site that can be easily reached at www.lbwater.org. In 2006, the Web site qualified for top honors from the League of Communications, by winning that organizations platinum award.

On this site, customers can find the latest press releases on everything from imminent water supply shortages and actions to take, to rate increases or desalination efforts in the area. In addition, the press releases link to an extensive array of topics—each with thorough explanations of the items mentioned—thereby empowering customers to take care of their water-related issues before they become major problems. Under “water conservation,” customers can find information about water conscious landscaping and the LBWD's Native Plant Demonstration Garden.

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) has recognized the excellence of LBWD for 20 consecutive years. In 2006, the department won both the Gold award for competitiveness and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

“That award shows we’ve been proactive in seeking new business opportunities, looking at Desal and conjunctive use with research and development, as well as being the first in southern California to use Proposition 13 money to do those things and to actually get one of those projects off the ground,” says Alsop.

This fiscal success has allowed LBWD to provide its customers with some of the lowest sewer rates in the US. Additionally, the department boasts one of the most competitive water rates in California as compared to other large cities in the state.

“The bottom line is we haven’t had to do some of the rate increases that others have had to do,” adds Alsop. “It’s mainly because we have made maintaining our distribution system a priority.” 

Efficient Landscapes
Central Florida’s Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) has reduced the per-day consumption from 90 million gallons per day to 80 mega gallons per day. OUC was also recently awarded the Gold AMWA award, which was earned in part, because of OUC’s five-tiered conservation rate structure. This rate structure promotes conservation by billing on a sliding scale: the more water used, the higher the rate.

OUC’s five-tiered rate structure works as follows: the first block, or tier, includes usage up to 3,000 gallons; the second tier extends usage another 1,000 gallons to a 4,000-gallon total; the third tier includes the next 12,000 gallons; and the fourth tier extends usage to the next 11,000 gallons. Everything over 30,000 gallons—the fifth tier—is billed at the top rate. Prices for water use in the different tiers range from 63 cents to five dollars per thousand gallons. A customer using 35,000 gallons pays the equivalent of 94% more per thousand gallons than one using the utility’s 12,000-gallon monthly average.

In tandem with the tier system, Orlando began a public education campaign to encourage customers to use water more efficiently. Those initiatives included television commercials and print advertising.

“The combination of the tiered-rate structure, and helping customers understand that they could conserve and still be able to do the things they needed to do with water, helped this initiative succeed,” says Sheridan Becht, OUC spokesperson. “There was a strong need for education. Since that time, the water management districts, particularly the St. Johns River district—one of the two we fall under—went strongly into an informational
campaign.”

Nearly half of the area’s water is used for irrigation, so OUC has made an effort to help customers understand how to effectively use their irrigation systems, including how many times per week they need to water, and related issues. At the same time, the municipally owned electric and water utility conducts free home energy and water efficiency audits for its customers.

“This [audit] could include checking for toilet leaks or looking at the sprinkler system to make sure everything is at its optimal setting,” says Becht. “We’ve always had that conservation element, but now the broader one is certainly our public information efforts.”

This region of Central Florida has several large industries, including large hospitals, the Universal Orlando Resort, and numerous other hotels and resorts that are notable water users. While commercial customers pay a flat rate for domestic consumption, a four-tiered system applies for irrigation meters based on the area under irrigation.

Using a mobile irrigation lab, OUC measures water consumption at some of the commercial facilities with more visible irrigation demands. This mobile irrigation lab demonstrates how large customers can reduce consumption by simply changing how often they irrigate and where their sprinklers point. The auditors also suggest different styles of landscaping in certain areas.

Auditors also visit individual homeowners, who, Becht says, often don’t understand how to water properly. “They tend to over-water; there again, the combination of letting them realize the true impact of their behavior on their water costs through a tiered water rate and then showing them what they can do, worked very well together.”

OUC also promotes landscaping with drought-tolerant plants and native species. “Some of the more popular non-native plants are not always the best when it comes to saving water on irrigation,” he adds.

Keeping an Eye on Things
In Jacksonville, FL, the JEA’s Water System won the AMWA Platinum Award for sustained competitiveness achievement in 2006. No small achievement, since the utility supplies water to its customers through a complicated system that extracts water from 150 artesian wells tapped from the Floridian Aquifer, one of the world’s most productive aquifers. JEA distributes water to its customers through an elaborate setup that includes 44 water treatment plants, 3,480 miles of water lines, and over 2,500 miles of collection lines. For JEA, however, the success of this water delivery system lies in its TargetSmart and Metrix programs. By using the TargetSmart methodology, JEA determined that 40% of the water and wastewater work tickets were due to problems located at the customer’s meter or water service. Additionally, the Metrix program keeps an eye on solving system defects. This might include measuring the number of defects involved with a particular process, as well as what should be done to evaluate that process in order to make improvements.

“We are measuring the outcome of the use of our products, and how many defects may be present, as well as those things someone can do to make improvements,” says Suzanne Goss, government relations specialist with JEA. “There are areas within the company where we measure that, and have continued that process for years.”

Eventually, a “water troubleshooter” position was established in order to provide an additional level of personnel able to respond to tickets in a timely manner (24 hours per day), and make the necessary repairs without reassigning the tickets to other crews.

In an effort to enhance the quality of water delivered to its customers, JEA installed six water quality monitors at key locations within the distribution system. The water quality monitors supply real-time information on the status of the distribution system through a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The parameters that are monitored include turbidity, acidity, chlorine residual, conductivity water temperature, and pressure.

Currently, there are over 75 devices reporting real-time information via the SCADA network. These pressure monitors are used for troubleshooting possible main breaks, inadequate water main design, and unreported valve closures in the distribution system. The goal of using these pressure-monitoring devices is to become aware of a distribution problem before the customer generates a complaint. By proactively monitoring the distribution system, JEA knows if reliable and stable pressure is being provided to their customers. The sensors also provide data for planning purposes, on areas where the infrastructure has deteriorated or not kept pace with development.

In the event a customer has a continual problem with water pressure or quality, JEA has also developed a portable pressure-monitoring station that uses cell phone technology to gather real-time customer service information. Real-time information on water pressure and chlorine residual is gathered and analyzed by the SCADA system in order to bring the customer’s complaint to a satisfactory resolution.

JEA has experienced a variety of successes as a result of this SCADA system. For example, between 1997 and 2005, the instance of road cave-ins due to water pipes collapsing was reduced by 83%. JEA also invested $1.8 billion in infrastructure improvements for the water and sewer systems, including $300 million spent on acquiring smaller, private water and sewer systems that dotted JEA’s overall territory. Purchasing these utilities afforded lower rates for the affected customers and improved the quality of service.

JEA systematically mines data using geographic information and computerized outage management systems. The data is trended to proactively identify capital projects that will minimize customer complaints and repeat maintenance tickets. For example, a report of poor water pressure from the customer could trigger a water main replacement project or water service renewals for the entire cul-de-sac.

When infrastructure improvements or repairs are called for, JEA pulls from a variety of sources. JEA utilizes a combination of outside contractors and its own forces to complete capital replacement projects. Both open cut and trenchless technology are utilized. A horizontal directional drill (HDD) contractor can perform emergency replacement of water and sewer force mains in the event of a critical failure, or can be utilized for planned work when the cost of open cut is not competitive. JEA also has an internal crew that specializes in HDD projects.

Contracts are in place for sewer pipe bursting and cured in place pipe (CIPP) for capital replacement of sewer pipe that meets certain criteria for trenchless rehabilitation. Typically, one or two manhole-to-manhole segments are released to the contractor following analysis of closed circuit television (CCTV) tape. CCTV is utilized for each report of cave-in, stoppage, or overflow. JEA also has a crew that can perform sewer lateral pipe bursting.

JEA has also implemented modifications to its fleet. Larger backhoes have been replaced with smaller rubber-track mini-excavators. The mini-excavator can be utilized in easements where space is limited, and on customer properties that in the past have required hand digging. A recently completed efficiency study standardized water maintenance vehicles to reduce safety hazards, and reduce the time required to find materials in storage bins.

In the past, JEA staffed heavy maintenance water distribution repair crews with six workers per crew. Over the past few years, these crews have been split up into three, two-worker crews. This change has improved coverage by making additional crews available for emergencies. If required, the three crews can be assembled into a six-worker crew on short notice in order to respond to larger jobs.

Improvement Through Input
The City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department participates in the North Carolina Urban Water Consortium, a group that has been established as a resource to provide the information and tools needed to manage water and sewer utilities across North Carolina. This group recently performed a rate study comparing rates from several comparable utilities across the state.

The department also participates in the AWWA QualServe Water and Wastewater Utilities Benchmarking program, and will begin participation in the new UNC School of Government Benchmarking program this fall. In addition to many other accolades, the department won the AMWA 2006 Platinum Award for sustained competitiveness
achievement.

Raleigh continuously searches for innovative ways to maintain competitiveness in improving service to customers and employees. Personnel are encouraged to participate in training to achieve higher certification levels; those earning the highest certification levels are rewarded with increased compensation.

The department is proactive in developing and fostering creativity. Employees are encouraged to submit ideas and suggestions for various programs or services that can be offered to customers. Many participate in the city’s Gain-Sharing Program, which provides monetary awards or vacation days, to employees or employee work teams who submit suggestions demonstrating ways the city can reduce work time, reduce costs, improve work methods, or improve quality of services to customers. Of the city’s ten award winners in fiscal year 2005, six were department employees or employee work teams. These employees earned a total of $18,837, and an extra vacation day for their creative and innovative ideas.

One opportunity available to employees of the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department is their annual WaterFest, in which they are encouraged to participate. Each division is responsible for the selection of a water-related activity. All design and construction is carried out by staff, and information disseminated to the public is based on the employees’ ideas. The steering committee consists of employees from all levels of classification, and all members are volunteers. This event affords employees the opportunity to interact with the public in an informal, yet educational, setting.

The department also produces and distributes an annual Water Quality report and an annual Wastewater Collection and Treatment System report. All of the design, artwork, and written materials are prepared and maintained in-house by department employees. Additionally, the city has undertaken a project to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) at its wastewater plant, and join the National Biosolids Partnership, making the biosolids land application program at the plant an accredited model program.

Multiple Awards
San Antonio, TX, has won numerous water efficiency awards, including the President’s Environmental Excellence Award from the National Association of Environmental Professionals, in 2004. The city does an all-encompassing approach to water conservation and efficiency, according to Eddie Wilcut, manager for the San Antonio Conservation Department. They look at all aspects of the issue across the residential and commercial sectors, targeting each water use without leaving anyone out of the equation.

San Antonio has a citizens committee assembled as a sounding board on water conservation issues. The community conservation committee is composed of citizens who are part of the business and residential community, homeowners’ associations, nonprofit organizations, and school districts. They are able to assemble conservation programs that are linked through direct community involvement.

“We’ll expend roughly seven million dollars on water conservation this year,” notes Wilcut. “Our goal is to reduce water consumption by 1 gallon per person, per day, every year. This equates to 550 million gallons of water we need to conserve this year. Our goal is to reach 116 gallons per person, per day by 2016 … currently, consumption stands per customer at 136 gpd [gallons per day].”

San Antonio actually uses less water now than 20 years ago, despite having a larger population. “Conservation is the cheapest source of additional water,” says Wilcut. “This is one way to sustain growth with essentially the same amount of water without building additional infrastructure. We are targeting our per capita consumption, which continues to drop—even here in a very fast-growing area.”

San Antonio is located in a drought-prone area. Even though the city experienced unusually high rainfall in the summer of 2007, the preceding summer was one of the driest on record. As a result, the citizens of San Antonio keep a wary eye on their water resources. Each morning’s weather newscast, for example, contains an aquifer reading report. This report is measured in feet above sea level and uses a pressure reading taken at an indicator well in San Antonio.

Everyone knows that when the reading reaches 650 feet above sea level the city goes into mandatory conservation measures. “People are very in tune to the Edwards Aquifer levels and what those mean,” adds Wilcut. “Most visitors would see that aquifer reading and not know what it is. But, the majority of our citizens are attuned to that figure, vital to the city and the farming community west of here.”

The aquifer provides spring flow to major rivers in the area, two of which are habitats to a variety of plant and aquatic animal endangered species. Further stress is placed on these species when springs reach a certain point. Therefore, habitat protection is another major driver behind the support for protection of the Edwards Aquifer.

San Antonio is committed to aiding its citizens in conserving their water resources. One way the city helped was by replacing 20,000 high-flow city toilets with high-efficiency, dual-flush Australian-made toilets. In order to make the change as effective as possible, each public school, college, university, apartment, and restaurant in the area was systematically targeted in this effort.

“Our numerous awards are a testimony to, not only the staff, but, to the community,” says Wilcut. “If they weren’t behind the programs, we wouldn’t be so effective in what we’re doing in water efficiency and conservation. We’ve been involved in this quite a while and have learned from mistakes. It always amazes me when we hear from other utilities. Ultimately, they make the same mistakes we made years ago. You always want to guide them, but, at last, they’re going to have to learn in the same way we did.”

Where Water Abounds
In the 1970s, the city of Green Bay, WI, made the decision to encourage municipal agencies to employ “quality circles.” A Japanese concept, quality circles involve deriving employee input in order to make changes based on suggestions by the very people who understand how to best do their jobs.

“If you can receive a good, open-minded answer to a question from someone doing a particular job, that is an excellent resource,” says Bill Nabak, general manager with Green Bay Water Utility.

That concept had evolved to include agencies in other municipalities, in order to understand the methodology of their success and how that methodology can be duplicated. For example, the city looked at pumping costs of a fellow water utility to determine a more efficient way to manage their water resources.

“We know we have to pump some 30 miles, while Milwaukee does not,” explains Nabak. “Milwaukee is closer to Lake Michigan, [but] we still see that they’re doing an excellent job of keeping costs down, so we try to find out why this is so. Are they using variable speed motor where we’re using constant speed? Maybe they’re using a different gadget. In the end, we just try to figure out why they may be better than we are.”

Overall, Green Bay looks at some 50 categories of data from other utilities and picks out the most successful projects for further study. After the data is evaluated, whatever ideas are generated, or solutions suggested, will be incorporated into the city’s plan of attack. In 2006, Green Bay saw its conservation policies pay off when the Green Bay Water Utility received the AMWA Platinum Award for sustained competitiveness
achievement.

“It’s a great way to learn,” says Nabak. “Everything doesn’t have to be an invention.”

Nabak feels that, although the Great Lakes region provides one of the world’s largest freshwater sources, the day is coming when taxes and restrictions will have to be placed on water use.

“We have a responsibility to preserve the Great Lakes resource and take it very seriously,” he says.

Green Bay has also decided to switch to automated meter reading to save on labor costs and increase overall efficiency.

“We used to have four-and-a-half positions, which did nothing all-year-round except read meters,” adds Nabak. “When our program is fully implemented, we’ll have a part-time person who double-checks things for us. That’s four positions we’ve eliminated, and at great savings. We now have less people in our workforce today than we did 20 years ago and we have a whole slew of programs, which, though somewhat labor-intensive, we’ve been able to take on as tasks for those [workers] freed up from meter-reading. We also are serving two neighboring communities, which we did not cover 20 years ago.”

Their top 10 customers use 45% of their water. Green Bay approaches these customers in an effort to help them know where they will save in their water use.

“Conservation is literally money in their pocket as long as they can keep production the same,” says Nabak. “But, we need to know for our plans that we’re not overbuilding and are able to better judge where we’re going. If they’ve been cutting down on their usage, we need to know that. There aren’t that many resources out there to go around. We’ve got to use them the best we can.

“We have a cross-connection program for every business and every household in the community. In that program, we go in and inspect, and make sure their piping is proper. We have a valve and hydrant maintenance program, as well, and operate all those things a couple of times a year. So, we’ve been able to reallocate our labor to allow us to provide better services, more services to our customers, with less workforce, and costs minimized.”