The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) has hired Veolia Water North America to provide interim executive management services, leading 270 public employees in the delivery of efficient water and wastewater services to more than 300,000 people in the greater Pittsburgh, Penn., area.
A team of water and wastewater experts from Veolia will help PWSA improve the utility’s customer service and performance levels by conducting in-depth diagnostics of current operations, developing specific recommendations for improvement and supporting PWSA employees in implementing initiatives aimed at reaching new performance metrics.
Dan Deasy, PWSA chair, said, “Our agreement is unique in that via a peer-to-peer relationship it leverages Veolia’s worldwide knowledge of utility best practices with that of local public sector knowledge of the Pittsburgh system. The agreement also includes performance- based incentives that will reward Veolia for achieving exceptional results.”
The PWSA Board of Directors unanimously selected Veolia Water North America based on a proposal that delivers an innovative approach to managing the system, provides measurable results to customers and demonstrates an ability to quickly and easily collaborate with existing employees.
Veolia Water executive Jim Good will lead the effort as PWSA’s interim executive director, supported by PWSA managers and employees, along with Veolia Water specialists in water and wastewater technologies and system management. The Veolia team will work collaboratively with PWSA employees and be accountable to PWSA’s Board of Directors. Veolia Water also hopes to enhance PWSA worker safety.
Veolia Water’s Peer Performance Solution enables municipal water utilities to benchmark against other leading utilities while preserving public governance and a public workforce that benefits from specialized private-sector expertise.
During this time, PWSA and Veolia will work together to implement agreed upon initiatives to improve service, measured through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), as well as items that will provide services more efficiently or enhance revenues.
