BEST OF 2015
AS WE GET set to ring in the New Year , let ’ s take a look back at the strategies implemented by some of the world ’ s most successful energy companies in 2015 . organization is striving to improve every day with a range of changes that will move the city of Pittsburgh into a greener future while improving the operational efficiency at PWSA itself .
The Success Story of the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority With new management , PWSA has evolved into one of the most efficient water utilities in the country .
The Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority ( PWSA ), founded in 1984 , was born to manage a $ 200 million capital improvement program intended to overhaul the city ’ s aging water treatment and distribution infrastructure .
Not only was some the equipment getting run down , but more strict water quality requirements mandated by both the state and federal governments necessitated an intelligent restructuring of a system that , at the time , supplied water to tens of thousands .
Today , that system , upgraded several times over , supplies fresh water to more than 86,000 people throughout the city of Pittsburgh .
But PWSA ’ s story isn ’ t over yet — the
The Operational Efficiencies There was a time when PWSA lagged behind in the race to enter the 21st century . Problems like long call wait times and poorly optimized finances plagued the department which had for so long served as a beacon to the rest of the nation .
That changed in 2012 when the PWSA Board of Directors authorized an agreement with Veolia Water North America — since renamed Veolia Environment — that would allow the private entity to take a degree of control at PWSA while trimming fat from the budget and improving the department .
Along with the agreement , Veolia instated interim Executive Director Jim Good , a Veolia employee , to right the ship .
“ I gave the hallelujah amen sermon ,” Good told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2013 . “ I told them that we were there to work with the employees as their partners .
8 December 2015