Service Authority Wins AMWA Sustainability Award

The Prince William County Service Authority is proud to announce that it has won the 2015 Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) Sustainable Water Utility Management Award.

The Service Authority was one of 12 utilities nationwide to receive this distinction, which recognizes a utility’s commitment to managing innovative and successful efforts in economic, social and environmental endeavors. The Service Authority’s track record of excellent financial and operational management, sustainable environmental practices, comprehensive educational outreach and world-class customer service were all reasons for being selected for this honor, said General Manager Dean Dickey.

“This award really measures the strength of an organization, one that can operate at a high level all the time,” said Dickey, who accepted the award on Monday in Savannah, Ga. “This is not an award for doing something great in a single year.”

As part of its AMWA application, the Service Authority highlighted a number of accomplishments it has garnered over the last several years including an abandoned call rate of less than two percent in its Customer Service Department and a 99.999 percent water service reliability rate. The 99.999 percent, or “five 9’s”, translates into out-of-service time of just six minutes per customer, per year.

“Our customers want reliable service, so each minute of customer outage is precious to us,” said Operations & Maintenance Division Director Don Pannell.

The utility’s dedication to preserving the environment was also evident in the application, including its decommissioning of a water reclamation facility, wetland construction and enhanced pretreatment programs that put it among the top performers in the industry when it comes to sanitary sewer overflows per 100 miles (only 0.5).

“The Service Authority strives to conduct its business to protect human health and the environment in a responsible and cost effective manner,” Environmental Services and Water Reclamation Division Director Evelyn Mahieu said.

Along with the AMWA recognition, the Service Authority has garnered a number of state and national awards in 2015 including ones related to safety, environmental compliance, graphic and web design as well as community outreach.