Oklahoma City's wastewater management program, managed by USFilter Operating Services, was recently singled out by the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPPP) for its innovation and efficiency when it received the NCPPP 2001 Public-Private Partnership Award. Over the course of a 17-year partnership, Oklahoma City and USFilter have provided substantial cost savings and quality service for over one million metropolitan area citizens.
The NCPPP, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, evaluated public-private partnerships of all shapes and sizes across the United States. Entries for the awards were judged on originality, quality, implementation and financial performance.
"Although I don't believe privatizing is always the answer for improving city services, our longstanding partnership with USFilter has proven to be an unqualified success," said James Couch, city manager, City of Oklahoma City. "By building state-of-the-art treatment plants with municipal revenue bonds and privatizing the operations, we were able to comply with the most stringent regulations and still keep our rates very reasonable."
The relationship between Oklahoma City and USFilter is one of the nation's largest and longest-standing public-private partnerships. Beginning in 1984, the partnership called for USFilter to operate a portion of the city's largest wastewater treatment facility. Today, USFilter is responsible for all four city wastewater treatment facilities, which together are capable of processing 101 million gallons of wastewater per day.