GM's Corner

November-December 2011

As we approach winter there are a number of important items that I believe will be helpful to you during the coming season.

But first, it is my pleasure to share with you two significant achievements. First, in our latest bond sale, WSSC was awarded a AAA rating from all three bond rating agencies. This is independent confirmation that our financial practices are strong.

Second, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), an organization of the largest publicly owned drinking water systems in the United States, recently awarded WSSC the Platinum Award for Utility Excellence, its highest award. Only eight other water utilities were so honored. The Platinum Award recognizes “the extraordinary performance of water agencies where management vision and employee commitment produces ample supplies of clean, safe drinking water.

In a statement about WSSC, AMWA wrote, “Sustainability is clearly demonstrated in issues related to water supply, green and efficient acquisition of energy, reduction of greenhouse gas and community outreach and education.” Moreover, it said the Potomac Water Filtration Plant has the largest active UV disinfection system in the country.

In naming the Platinum Award winners, AMWA noted that the “communities served by these award winners should be proud of the accomplishments of their forward-thinking, exceptionally well-managed public utilities.” I give our dedicated employees here at WSSC all of the credit.

AMWA also noted that WSSC is one of the first utilities to have its own smart phone “app“ which provides customers the ability to pay their bills, receive alerts and report problems from their smart phones.

WSSC Mobile has also won two W³ Silver Awards as an outstanding web application. Since it allows you to report service problems and breaks, as we approach winter you might want to consider downloading it. The WSSC system has been averaging around 1,900 breaks a year and we don’t expect this winter to be any different. Over 2K people have downloaded it so far.

We are taking a number of steps to be ready for the coming season of increased water main breaks. These include storing extra supplies for pipe replacement and repair, assigning additional persons to skeleton shifts to beef up depot staffing where needed; and rotating staff from the non-emergency call center to the emergency call center.

There are also steps you can take to keep your pipes in your home from freezing. For more information, go to our Winter Prep page.

Thanksgiving is gone but Christmas is coming. It’s a time for feasts and special moments shared with family and friends. It is also a time to remind everyone of the need to properly dispose of fats, oils and grease from all of that cooking.

We encourage everyone to “Can the Grease” year-round because cooking oil and grease is responsible for about 60 percent of sewer pipe overflows in the WSSC service area. Fats, oils and grease discarded down the drain can also lead to costly basement back-ups that damage your home and the environment. Cooled grease should be put into a can (a soup can works great) and thrown out with the regular trash.

And as I enter my third year at WSSC, I am proud of what we have accomplished. Our soon to be released Biennial Report, “The Proof is in Performance,” will detail the great strides made thus far. It will be accompanied by a Performance Report that will present metrics to demonstrate how we have done, and more importantly set the bar for what we will do in the future.

Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us at WSSC.

Sincerely,

Jerry N. Johnson
General Manager/CEO