RESTON, VA, Jan. 29, 2008 -- Certification body BSI Management Systems awarded ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 certificates to the Santa Clara Valley Water District in a ceremony held Jan. 29, in San Jose, CA. Santa Clara Valley is believed to be the first water district in the nation to earn both certifications.
"ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are two of the most recognized management systems standards in the world," said Pat C. Arace, Vice President of Sales Western Region for BSI Management Systems, who presented the certificates. "Santa Clara Valley Water District has taken its organization to the next level by not only implementing these Quality and Environmental Systems, but undergoing and successfully passing an in-depth, third-party assessment performed by BSI."
The water district has demonstrated a high level of internal collaboration and team effort to put this in place, Arace continued. They have taken a holistic approach to managing their business by integrating their systems under one set of processes and procedures which provided an enhanced business focus, improves internal communications, reduces duplication and ultimately reduces costs.
As its mission, the water district enhances its community through watershed stewardship and comprehensive management of water resources. The water district is one of the largest water agencies in California, and it embarked on the ISO journey to make the organization more efficient through a consistent process-oriented approach.
"This is an extremely important milestone," commented Mary Ann Ruiz, the water district's Strategic Development Manager. "Having ongoing management systems in place will help all the different divisions to achieve our common goals of focusing on the products we deliver and helping to have a sustainable city."
"ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification is a huge accomplishment for the water district and reflects our continued commitment to make a positive contribution to the community we live and serve. Both quality and environmental stewardship are important in all that we do, including providing water, flood protection and protecting the environment of Santa Clara County," said water district board of directors chair Rosemary Kamei. "Becoming certified to both ISO standards provides our customers and partners with even more assurances about the quality of our products and customer service."
"The water district board of directors and the employees are committed to quality and environmental stewardship and this successful certification is part of an agency-wide team effort that we are proud of," said the water district CEO Olga Martin Steele.
BSI Management Systems is one of the world's largest certification bodies, with over 60,000 certified locations and clients in more than 100 countries.
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