The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) has recently received several awards including a Gold Excellence in Management Recognition award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).
The Excellence in Management Recognition Program recognizes public clean water that have implemented and sustained, successful programs that address the range of management challenges faced by public clean water utilities in today’s competitive environment. NACWA is committed to clean water and a healthy environment and strives to help ensure that member agencies have the tools they need to meet these objectives. MSD fulfills this commitment to clean water through its significant efforts over the past several years to maximize efficiency during an era of rising costs and ever expanding water quality challenges.
“The Metropolitan Sewer District truly embodies the spirit of the Excellence in Management Recognition Program. It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase the achievements and commitment of this utility and those of our nation to America’s Waters,” Ken Kirk, NACWA’s Chief Executive Officer.
Also, MSD’s wastewater treatment plants have been awarded Gold, Silver and Platinum Peak Performance Awards. The Peak Performance Awards Program, presented by NACWA, recognizes public treatment facilities for their outstanding compliance records with their National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, granted by the Missouri Department of Natural Resource (MDNR), in the 2014 calendar year.
The Lower Meramec and Fenton wastewater treatment plants received Platinum Awards for maintaining a perfect compliance record for seven consecutive years. Gold Awards went to Missouri River and Coldwater treatment plants for achieving 100 percent compliance with their NPDES permit for an entire calendar year. The District’s Lemay, Bissell, and Grand Glaize treatment plants were presented Silver Awards recognizing facilities that have received no more than five NPDES permit violations per calendar year.
MSD was also chosen to be a Silver Level winner in Innovation and Silver Level winner in Program Management by the Water Environment Federation National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards Program. This is the first time MSD applied for this award that recognizes high-performing, regulated Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System programs.
The Finance Department of MSD received the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation award for the 28th consecutive year and the Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 27th consecutive year. The Popular Annual Financial Report was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award for the third year in a row.
In addition to the recent awards, MSD, a consultant, and a manufacturer teamed up to develop an innovative solution to give new life to an old aeration blower at the Lemay Wastewater Treatment Plant. The improvement resulted in an estimated $75k/yr savings and greatly enhanced operational control and reliability. Treatment Plant Operator magazine published an article on the enhancement, which can be found here.
“I am extremely proud of our staff for executing numerous, innovative, and cost-cutting measures, resulting in Excellence in Management Recognition,” stated Brian Hoelscher, executive director of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. “I am also happy to announce that all seven of the District’s plants have received Peak Performance Awards for calendar year 2014. The winning streak for the Distinguished Budget Presentation is unprecedented. As well as the honor of receiving the Silver Level in Innovation and Program Management on our first attempt, shows the level of commitment from our staff to provide the best quality product and service in all areas of MSD. Congratulations to all of our staff, including those recognized in Treatment Plant Operator magazine, for these great achievements!”
For more information on MSD’s water quality efforts, visit our website at www.stlmsd.com.