Effective Utility Management

What Is Effective Utility Management?

The American Water Works Association and the USEPA partnered with nine other association groups within the water and wastewater industries to establish attributes of effectively managed utilities and develop tools to help facilitate effective utility management. 

EUM AttributesConceived in 2008, the program is based on assessing, measuring, and monitoring utility performance across 10 attributes of effectively managed utilities. The 10 attributes were revised by a steering committee convened in 2015 to reflect the changes and new challenges that had emerged in the water industry since the original formation.

The 10 attributes are the goals driving the future vision of MWRD. In 2014, MWRD assigned an importance factor to each of the 10 attributes consistent with its perceived impact on helping the Department deliver on its Mission Statement. The Department then proceeded to establish target performance metrics for each of the 10 attributes and conducted a self-assessment across all water divisions to benchmark the Department’s current performance level. This initial evaluation became the baseline for assessing future performance and change, whether positive or negative, in each of these areas. 

Our Goals

The ten attributes of Effective Utility Management (EUM) represent the explicit goals of MWRD and therein define the specific areas of focus in which we plan and execute. Every initiative, every action, every decision, and every dollar expended is explicitly targeted at achieving one or more of our goals for the express benefit of our community. The EUM attributes, are:  

  • Product Quality (PQ)  Implementation of EUM Cycle
  • Customer Satisfaction (CS) 
  • Employee and Leadership Development (ELD) 
  • Operational Optimization (OO)  
  • Financial Viability (FV)  
  • Enterprise Resiliency (ER)  
  • Infrastructure Strategy and Performance (ISP)  
  • Community Sustainability (CSU)
  • Water Resource Sustainability (WRS)  
  • Stakeholder Understanding and Support (SUS) 

Our Keys To Success

Our success hinges upon leadership at every level; and as leaders looking forward, our consistent willingness to operate as a team organization. Our progress in pursuit of our goals will be measurable so that we stay on the right track and adjustments can be made if necessary. The keys to success are: 

  • Leadership 
  • Strategic Planning 
  • Organizational Approaches 
  • Measurement 
  • Continual Improvement