Okatie, SC (October 17, 2011) – Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority (BJWSA) has been honored by The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) with its top utility management award, the “Platinum Award”. The award was announced on Octobe r 17 at AMWA’s annual meeting. The Platinum Award is given in recognition of public drinking water sy stems that exhibit high levels of performance across many industry categories. BJWSA is one of nine utilities nationally to receive this award in 2011. “We are honored to have been selected for this award, ” said Ken Griffin, BJWSA’s General Manager. “It reflects our commitment to maintaining high quality utility services while planning for the future and ensuring a financially stable organization.” BJWSA’s selection for the award was based on severa l Authority-wide factors. Among these are BJWSA’s capital improvement program, the significant savings brought from debt-restructuring efforts, and the success of the military utility consolidation project. T he Authority was also recognized for sound planning found in its Integrated Water Resources Management Plan, which focuses on demand management, source water protection and an increase in the use of reclaimed effluent water. The AMWA criteria for selecting award recipients include product quality, customer satisfaction, employee and leadership development, operational optimization, financ ial viability, infrastructure stability, operational resiliency, community sustainability, water resource adequacy, and stakeholder understanding and support. For more information about AMWA and the Platinum Award, please visit http://www.amwa.net/cs/ ceo_resources/awards .
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