Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Portland Oregonian
Copyright (c) The Oregonian 2002
Monday, September 9, 2002
SOUTHWEST ZONER
EFFICIENCY ELEVATES CLEAN WATER SERVICES' REPUTATION
LAURA GUNDERSON - The Oregonian
Summary: Thrifty ways of doing things and involving employees
draw notice from other agencies nationwide
People from across the country can't wait to see Washington
County's wastewater.
During the past year, officials from sewer and sanitation
agencies from Virginia Beach, Va., to King County, Wash., have lined
up to take a look at Clean Water Services.
The utility, which cleans wastewater and manages stormwater for
more than 447,000 urban residents, has become a darling of the
industry. A recent overhaul led to $56 million in savings and
replaced a traditional salary structure with one that pays its 268
employees based on performance.
"If an agency gets a reputation, they get a lot more attention,"
said Don Theiler, manager of the wastewater treatment division for
King County, which serves the Seattle area.
Theiler and others from King County will visit Clean Water
Services next month to learn how the 32-year-old organization runs
an award-winning system with less money and fewer employees.
They will hear how Clean Water Services saved $200,000 by using
fewer chemicals to remove phosphorus, took advantage of a strong
credit rating to refinance debts to free $250,000 annually in
interest payments and renegotiated contracts that in one case led to
$75,000 in savings.
To slice more than 22 percent from their work force, the agency's
leaders offered early retirement options and left the jobs unfilled.
They also asked employees to list the most and least important
aspects of their job. Where they could, agency leaders erased more
positions.
Special team for improvement
More than 20 employees whose jobs were eliminated were promised
three years on a special team to manage new construction and
improvement projects. After three years, they received training and
new jobs, or they left.
"Clean Water Services has been able to accomplish some of these
efficiencies without too much unhappiness and disruption in their
organization," Theiler said. "Often, it is very difficult to make so
many changes."
When others say they would like to do what his organization has
done, Clean Water Services' general manager, Bill Gaffi, jokes that
he first asks how they like walking on red-hot coals.
"Work like this turns an organization inside out, and it's not
always an entirely pleasant project," Gaffi said.
Gaffi began re-evaluating his organization five years ago as he
watched private companies do the same job faster and cheaper.
He remembers hearing an auditor's praise that Clean Water
Services was in the top 10 percent for efficiency but that it could
make small improvements to reduce operations by another $4 million.
He thought the utility could do better.
Gaffi and his managers met and broke employees into groups to
refigure how they did business. Ultimately, that work trimmed 71
jobs, consolidated eight facilities into six, cut the vehicle fleet
by 38, contracted out fleet maintenance and handed several
operations once done by people to computers.
After lengthy negotiations with its employees' union, Clean Water
Services flushed traditional salaries based on employees' time on
the job with annual "step" and cost-of-living increases. A new
system compensates employees based on agreed-upon job goals and how
they get along with co-workers.
Bonus checks for employees
A bonus system rewards employees across the agency in strong
financial years when operating costs are kept down. Although 98
percent of the savings pass to customers through reduced bills, 2
percent will be given to employees, who will receive bonuses of as
much as $4,000 starting next year.
Many employees will receive their first bonus checks of $2,200
this month based on what they have done in previous years.
Changes at Clean Water Services helped scale back what would have
been annual operation budget increases of nearly 7 percent.
Customers' bills did increase last month, but Gaffi said it was only
the second increase in seven years and equaled $1.25 for the average
customer.
Gaffi said Clean Water Services' energy bill has increased by $1
million in the past two years, an expense that would have resulted
in charges to customers if not for the changes.
Many wastewater and sewer operations nationwide -- and other
public agencies -- have used parts of what Clean Water Services has
done, from its job consolidation and pay based on performance to a
priority to maintain equipment. What is unique, and what others want
to learn, is how to put them all together.
"When I ask the Environmental Protection Agency who should I be
talking to, who is the most innovative, Clean Water Services is one
of the three they mentioned," said Greg Schaner, director of
government affairs for the Association for Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies in Washington, D.C., a trade organization for wastewater
treatment issues.
Laura Gunderson: 503-294-5958;
lauragunderson@news.oregonian.com