Prichard Water and Sewer Partners with Severn Trent Services
The Water Works and Sewer board of Prichard, Ala., has agreed to a five-year public-private partnership with Severn Trent Services that began on Dec. 1.
Under the agreement, Severn Trent is responsible for the complete operation, maintenance and management of the city's water and wastewater facilities, collection and distribution systems, meter reading, billing and customer service functions. The five-year contract was awarded to Severn Trent following a competitive bid process that concluded in September.
Prior to entering into an initial partnership with Severn Trent in 2007 for operation of the city’s wastewater facility, the board was operating under a strict consent order from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and experiencing significant operational challenges.
Operation and performance improvements already in place include:
- Reducing solids inventory
- Improving discharge quality
- Introducing an asset management program
- Identifying capital improvement projects, and
- Installing a comprehensive computerized maintenance management that schedules predictive and preventive maintenance.
The utility serves roughly 11,500 water customers -- 8,000 of whom also receive sewer service -- in Prichard and Chickasaw.