The Accreditation program is currently under development by AWWA. Accreditation will
become a voluntary, nation-wide program for all utilities, regardless of size. It is a form of
verification of the application of best practice standards for delivering high quality services and
not an attempt to by-pass the regulatory compliance. It should result in
less reporting requirements and less regulatory oversight, and an improvement of customer
satisfaction with the water suppliers. It will provide a tool for primacy agencies to be used in
evaluation of utilities with the real needs for oversight and assistance. It will result in a change
of attitude from seeking compliance with existing regulations to seeking the best strategies to
best protect the public health.
Accreditation has been named a high priority effort of the AWWA. The Accreditation Policy
Committee provides links to the Councils and Committees of AWWA, as well as the
Government Affairs office of AWWA. Accreditation Program is set up independently of the
existing quality improvement programs such as QualServe or Partnership for Safe Water. The
existing utility quality improvement programs may be used by utilities in preparation for the
accreditation as they contain the necessary tools, but these programs are not required for
accreditation.
There are three program components that will be developed through individual efforts and will start at the same time. The first is
Policy and Procedures, developed by a consultant to AWWA, experienced in
accreditation in other branches of industry.
The second is Accreditation Standards, to be developed by groups of AWWA volunteers, experts in
respective fields, and edited by a Standards committee. The first components to be
developed are: distribution system operation and management, source water management
and protection, and water treatment plant operation and management. After piloting the
implementation of these standards at both large and small systems, other areas of
accreditation will be developed and will include: conservation, customer relations,
business, financing, and planning, as well as wastewater treatment, wastewater collection,
biosolids handling and management, water reclamation.
Finally, the third program component is Benefits and Incentives, to be developed by a consultant to AWWA and will include:
financial incentives (lower interest rates on bonds/grants, lower insurance
premiums);
regulatory benefits (less oversight from primacy agencies); and,
social and political benefits (public confidence, recognition, and credibility). Once the accreditation program components are proposed in a draft form and representatives of
regulatory agencies and professional organizations are briefed about the process, a stakeholder
process that will be facilitated by a professional firm will be initiated. The stakeholders will provide
feedback, express concerns, indicate individual issues, and participate in building the program.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
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| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 7 |
