Member Spotlight

After a decade of meaningful impacts to local communities, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) landmark Social Impact Partnership (SIP) program was codified into local ordinance recently with unanimous support from the SFPUC Commission, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Mayor London Breed.

In the summer of 2023, the Western Monmouth Utilities Authority (WMUA) embarked on an inspiring journey that not only enriched young minds but also illuminated a path to a brighter, more environmentally conscious future.

LOTT Clean Water Alliance provides wastewater management services for approximately 120,000 people in Thurston County, Washington. Since 1994, LOTT’s Budd Inlet Treatment Plant has employed biological nutrient removal (BNR) to protect water quality in Budd Inlet, where most treated water is discharged. LOTT is recognized as an industry leader in progressive treatment approaches that meet the most stringent discharge limits in the Puget Sound region.

In 2019, the City of Tacoma Environmental Services (ES) launched an art campaign to educate and inspire the community about stormwater. Stormwater flows directly into local waterways from streets, sidewalks, and other outdoor areas. This stormwater can bring toxic pollutants into the Puget Sound and then the Pacific Ocean. The campaign, with the catchy slogan, “If It Hits the Ground, It Hits the Sound,” uses visual, meaningful local art pieces to communicate the impacts of stormwater pollution.

Orange County Utilities in Florida developed the H2O Pipeline Classroom to Career Program as a vocational initiative designed to train high school seniors to become Class C water or wastewater treatment operators. As the water sector experiences a workforce shortage that is only expected to worsen in the coming years, the H2O Pipeline Program provides a way to develop workers who are equipped and committed to providing essential water and wastewater services for their community.

For Arlington, Virginia residents who wonder what happens to wastewater once it leaves their home, they now know it goes to the County’s Water Pollution Control Plant, which treats 23 million gallons of wastewater daily. The Water Pollution Control Bureau (WPCB) plays a pivotal role in Arlington County’s path toward sustainability and their work embodies the philosophy that, “wastewater is not waste.”

Dedicated to being an innovative regional utility for safe, clean waterways, Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (Louisville MSD) provides three key services - wastewater treatment, stormwater/drainage management, and flood protection - to the nearly 619,000 Louisville residents as well as the surrounding region.

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has found a fun and innovative way to educate children and adults about the importance of being sewer smart.

WSSC Water is among the nation’s largest water and wastewater utilities, serving 1.9 million residents in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland. The bi-county utility is not only committed to providing safe and reliable drinking water to its customers while protecting the environment, but it is also dedicated to educating local schools on the vital role of water and wastewater utilities.

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is one of many partners working together with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the University of Missouri-Columbia, to provide public health authorities with a valuable tool for monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks throughout Missouri.