Moving Toward Sustainability

Jim Newton, P.E., DEE

Course Outline

This two hour course provides valuable information for those individuals who participate in the operations and management of water and wastewater utilities, both public and private.  Completion of this course will provide the student the necessary information and testing to meet the continuing education requirements in order to renew their licenses.  It was designed by an instructor who has developed and implemented numerous similar training courses. 

This course requires the completion of a multiple-choice quiz at its conclusion in order to obtain the necessary certification.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Understand how the utilities can promote sustainability;
• Understand the challenges and opportunities of sustainability;
• Understand the ten attributes to an effective utility;
• Understand how the attributes relate to each other;
• Understand the three levels of business;
• Understand that level 1 is providing adequate, fundamental services;
• Understand that level 2 is optimizing operations and services;
• Understand that level 3 is transforming operations and services for the future;
• Understand the level 1- 3 elements of utility business planning;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of product quality and operational optimization;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of customer satisfaction and stakeholder understanding and support;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of employee and leadership development;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of financial viability;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of infrastructure sustainability;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of operational resiliency;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of water resource adequacy;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of community sustainability;
• Understand the level 1 – 3 elements of performance measurement and continual improvement; and
• Understand the other parts of the effective utility management program.

Intended Audience

The intended audience for this course is any professional who is involved in the operation and management of water and wastewater utilities, both publicly owned and privately owned.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendees of this course will understand the basic concepts of the effective utility and how sustainability plays a role in day to day operations.

Course Introduction

Sustainable water and wastewater services are critical to providing the American public with clean and safe water and helping ensure the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the communities these utilities serve.  Many utilities across the country face tremendous challenges, such as aging infrastructure, climate changes, population growth and competing resource priorities within the communities they serve.

As more and more utilities assume leadership roles related to community sustainability, resource recovery and conservation, sustainable economic development and climate change, they must concurrently focus on long-term sustainability and brining about meaningful change in their organizations and communities.

This course looks at these issues and provides some insight and guidance based on the effective utility management concept.

Course Content

This course is based upon the following book:

In this course, you are required to study the US EPA publication, “Moving Toward Sustainability: Sustainable and Effective Practices for creating Your Water Utility Roadmap” provided as a pdf document as a part of this course.  .

Moving Toward Sustainability

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Summary

This course discusses how to build a sustainability roadmap using the ten attributes for an effective utility management program.

Related Links

For additional information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

U.S Environmental Protection Agency

US EPA Effective Utility Management

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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