Article about Palm Bay Utilities World-class Environmental Management System in January 2009 AWWA journal highlighting the benefits of instituting ISO 14001 under Jason Yarborough, Palm Bay Utilities Director. The environmental management system was used by the utility department as a continuous improvement tool that resulted in recurring annual savings of over $1M.

1. B Y J U L I E M . L E M O N S ,
J A S O N Y A R B O R O U G H ,
A N D D A N R O B E R T S
n today’s society, the phrase
“going green” is often overused
and underestimated. Many indi-
viduals, corporations, and gov-
ernment agencies are beginning to realize
the need for conserving and effectively
managing their environmental resources,
but few realize the benefits that can result
from stewardship at its best.
In Palm Bay, Fla., the Palm Bay Utilities
Department (PBUD) is creating a culture
that promotes environmental aware-
ness and stewardship throughout its
daily operations—from the
departmental recycling program
to environmentally friendly pur-
chasing and increased plant
efficiency. PBUD has incorpo-
rated these and other “green”
initiatives by successfully imple-
menting its environmental man-
agement system (EMS) called
GreenWay, and the department is
now seeing improved performance
and significant reductions in energy con-
sumption and costs.
PBUD has 118 employees who pro-
vide service to more than 106,000 citi-
zens. The city operates two utility cam-
puses that include three water treatment
plants capable of providing up to 15.5
mgd. The PBUD also operates a waste-
water treatment plant and a water recla-
mation plant; the combined treatment
capacity for these two facilities is 5.2
mgd. Currently, the department is
designing a new water reclamation plant
to expand the city’s supply of reclaimed
water for irrigation use. The new plant
will incorporate environmentally friend-
ly technologies to treat 1 mgd.
In January 2007, the department
began incorporating environmental man-
agement standards into its policies and
procedures. The framework used to
develop the EMS centered around an
18-part comprehensive program based
on the total quality management model
known as “plan, do, check, act”
(PDCA). The PDCA model proposes that
organizations evaluate, analyze, and
change processes when improvement is
needed. During an 18-month period, the
department engaged personnel in revis-
ing standard operating procedures and
policies; implementing environmental,
health, and safety training; and increas-
ing overall employee awareness of the
EMS. On Aug. 4, 2008, PBUD became
the first utility in Florida to have its
water and wastewater treatment facilities
concurrently registered under the ISO
14001:2004 standard, Environmental
Management Systems. Early in the EMS
development process, departmental man-
agers saw the benefits of having the man-
agement system permeate the entire
organization and sought to include every
division, including the department’s
state-certified laboratory, in the third-
party audit for ISO 14001 certification.
This designation means that PBUD was
Never Underestimate the
Power of an Environmental
Management System
I
The logo developed for the
Palm Bay Utilities
Department’s environmental
management system is an
effective reminder of the
management programs in
place throughout the
department.
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2. also the first organization of its type in the nation to
achieve ISO 14001 certification for its entire department
immediately following the initial audit.
DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE EMS
More and more utilities are beginning to implement
environmental management systems, and with good rea-
son. An effective and practical management system pro-
vides a standard for employees to follow and provides
measurable results that can be used to gauge where
improvements are needed within an organization.
Regular third-party audits also encourage certified orga-
nizations to stay on their toes and continually incorpo-
rate improvements into their existing processes and
EMS programs. Having an EMS in place is clearly a
notable accomplishment that can enhance an organiza-
tion’s image. However, an EMS is only worthwhile if
employees embrace it and put it to practical use. Written
policies and procedures are good to have, but they will
not do any good in a book on a shelf.
Having an EMS staff member who is dedicated to
coordinating the EMS program and to training staff is
crucial to effectively equipping personnel with the
knowledge they need. The involvement of key staff in
development of the EMS was central to PBUD’s success-
ful audit and certification. A core team made up of the
organization’s senior management, the EMS coordina-
tor, and the utilities management analyst was estab-
lished to determine which areas and programs within
the department would benefit most from the EMS. The
core team also set goals and an aggressive timeline
to help achieve necessary milestones and in turn
meet ISO 14001 standards.
In addition, an implementation team comprising
27 employees from different divisions, levels, and
backgrounds was given the task of disseminating infor-
mation and training other employees on the EMS. This
team showed great enthusiasm in the development pro-
cess and understood the importance of effectively com-
municating this information to employees. Prior to the
department’s audit, internal communication among
divisions notably improved, and enhancements in this
area continue to be made.
PBUD was assisted in developing its EMS by staff at
the University of Florida’s (Gainesville) Training
Research and Education for Environmental
Occupations (TREEO) Center. Douglas Dean of Matrix
Compliance Services Inc., in Gainesville, and an adjunct
instructor with TREEO provided ISO 14001:2004
awareness training and internal auditor training to the
core and implementation teams. Dean provided an inde-
pendent compliance evaluation and initial internal
audits of all department divisions. He commented on
PBUD’s ISO certification saying, “This is the most com-
prehensive EMS effort within a utility that I’ve wit-
nessed. The city of Palm Bay should be proud of its
achievement of obtaining ISO 14001 certification.”
Dean has been involved in more than 25 EMS projects
nationwide as part of US Environmental Protection
Agency and Water Environment Federation initiatives.
current
Dan Mahoney and Stephen
Walbert (left to right) are
plant operators at the
South Regional Utilities
Campus reverse osmosis
treatment facility. Enhanced
plant efficiency has
provided a substantial
savings in the department’s
energy costs.
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3. One significant develop-
ment that resulted from
GreenWay has been the
improvements made to the
department’s environmental,
health, and safety program. The Environmental,
Health, and Safety Committee meets once a month to
discuss specific topics in a roundtable setting. Topics
such as lock-out electrical safe work practices, chemical
handling, and ladder safety have been covered at recent
meetings. These meetings provide an open forum for
personnel to voice concerns, make suggestions, and
provide solutions to the safety issues that employees
face every day. The committee is made up of nine
employees who represent each division.
A resounding sentiment heard from PBUD’s employ-
ees is that the EMS and ISO certification process has
heightened their awareness of the organization’s effect
on the environment and on energy consumption. Neal
Cormany from NSF–International Strategic
Registrations performed the organization’s third-party
audit and noted that employee awareness was a key
strength of the program. “PBUD has done an excellent
job of implementing an EMS with excellent employee
awareness, standard operating procedures, and records
retention,” he said.
BENEFITS OF AN EMS
PBUD understands that its role in the community is
vital to the well-being of the public and more specifical-
ly its customer base of almost 30,000. GreenWay is
helping to ensure that the utility is making every effort
to protect the environment and minimize any harmful
effects it may have on the world around it.
During development of GreenWay, the department
identified three significant aspects to focus on—energy
use, production and handling of biosolids, and employ-
ee awareness of environmental, health, and safety
issues. “ISO 14001 is based on the concept of better
regulatory compliance, pollution prevention, and con-
tinual improvement. The EMS we have in place now
will enable us to anticipate changes and increase our
overall efficiency,” said Jason Yarborough, director of
Palm Bay Utilities.
The department’s environmental management pro-
grams address plant efficiency, procurement of envi-
ronmentally friendly products, implementation of a
computerized maintenance management system, infil-
tration and inflow elimination, a department-wide
recycling program, and construction of a belt filter
press to more effectively dispose of biosolids. “We are
striving to be a world-class utility focused on being
better stewards of our resources. Doing everything we
can to minimize the effects we have on the environ-
ment shows that we are committed to being an effi-
cient organization that is sensitive to our environ-
ment,” explained Yarborough.
Having a strong EMS in place translates to im-
proved efficiency and cost savings for the organiza-
tion, and these benefits will positively affect the utili-
ties’ customers. In the 18 months leading up to the
department’s ISO certification, PBUD embraced the
Six Sigma breakthrough strategy and the design,
measure, analyze, improve, control cycle for analyz-
ing and improving processes. Using Six Sigma meth-
odology, the department conducted an efficiency
study for its water treatment plants. Study results
provided numerous cost-saving initiatives that have
been implemented.
Each facility displays a banner or flag
to demonstrate its ISO 14001
certification and its commitment to
pollution prevention, better
compliance, and continual
improvement.
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4. Some recommendations from the study were quite
simple, such as turning off lights, regulating heating and
cooling, and making service routes more efficient. More
significant recommendations included reducing operat-
ing hours, installing variable-frequency drives to effi-
ciently and effectively operate water treatment process-
es, and tracking each plant’s electrical and chemical
costs per 1,000 gal of water produced. By trending and
tracking this information, PBUD has graphed each
plant’s water production compared with electrical
power, thus establishing optimum production rates for
its three water treatment plants. These initiatives are on
target to provide an estimated savings of 9.5% in annu-
al energy costs for the department’s water treatment
plants this year. By allowing each plant to run at its
most efficient capacity, operating costs have been
reduced, and the department is now able to provide
more stable rates, ultimately benefiting the customer.
Other expenses such as treatment chemical and labor
costs are also being reduced by increased efficiencies
realized through incremental and controlled improve-
ments of the department’s processes. PBUD is planning
a similar study to address energy reduction for its
wastewater treatment operations.
In addition to improved performance and cost savings,
an effective EMS has benefited PBUD through increased
awareness among employees, enhanced emergency plans,
improved training and safety programs, enhanced out-
reach to vendors and contractors, better standard operat-
ing procedures, and strengthened credibility in the com-
munity. GreenWay has been a positive improvement for
PBUD. The time and energy invested during the planning
and implementation
phases have improved
communication and
organization, creating a
more efficient work
environment. Employees
have embraced the “go green” attitude by demonstrating
their genuine concern for the environment and their
desire to create solutions to help reduce the organiza-
tion’s environmental impact.
An effective EMS should not be underestimated—it
can increase productivity, reduce energy consumption
and costs, and enhance a utility's reputation with the
public. By becoming ISO 14001:2004 certified, the
PBUD is letting the citizens of Palm Bay know it’s seri-
ous about its commitment to the environment, its cus-
tomers, and the community.
—Julie M. Lemons, outreach coordinator for PBUD,
provides marketing, public relations, and outreach sup-
port for the department. She can be contacted at
lemonj@palmbayflorida.org. Jason Yarborough is the
utilities director for PBUD, and Dan Roberts is the
assistant utilities director and environmental
management representative for PBUD.
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The environmental management
system (EMS) core team included
(left to right) Doug Dean,
University of Florida’s Training
Research and Education for
Environmental Occupations
Center; Jason Yarborough, utilities
director; Lori Bockelman, business
operations division manager;
Bob Hinkel, distribution and
collections division manager;
Jen Ferreira, EMS coordinator;
George Cook, plant operations
division manager; Katie Fought,
engineering division manager;
and Dan Roberts, assistant utilities
director and environmental
management representative.
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