City of Fort Lauderdale wins 2013 FWEA Wastewater Collection System of the Year Award

City of Fort Lauderdale wins 2013 FWEA Wastewater Collection System of the Year Award

Second Distribution & Collection Award won by City within 12-month period

By Monique Diamiano

     FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The City of Fort Lauderdale was recently named the winner of the Florida Water Environment Association’s (FWEA) 2013 Wastewater Collection System of the Year Award. The City was selected from among other statewide public and private utilities for its exceptional efforts and significant accomplishments in fostering excellence in the management, operation, and maintenance of its wastewater collection system, as well as for providing adequate resources and adopting outstanding best practices across the wastewater industry.

The City was specifically selected as the winner of this award for its innovative problem solving and emergency response capabilities following the failure of a 54-inch wastewater force main, which served approximately 230,000 customers and was located near a heavily traveled shopping center. This was the largest pipe failure ever recorded in the City’s history, and in less than 24 hours staff was able to assess and isolate the broken force main, redirect the wastewater flow to a new, parallel 54-inch force main, perform ongoing clean up of the area, minimize property damage and business interruption, coordinate with regulatory agencies, and limit the overall disruption to 10 parking spaces.

The FWEA award is the second one the City has received within the past 12 months for the stellar performance of its utility professionals and the maintenance and operation of its distribution and collection system.

In October 2012, the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association named Fort Lauderdale as the winner of its Division 5 Water Distribution System Award for the second consecutive year, making it the third time in four years the City received top honors from the organization.

For more information, please contact the 24-hour Customer Service Center at (954) 828-8000 or online at www.fortlauderdale.gov/customerservice.

For more information about the FWEA or the Wastewater Collection System of the Year Award, please visit http://www.fwea.org/awards.php.