Click here to enlarge image"Boyertown was considering spending nearly $500,000 for capital improvements we thought were needed," Spaide said. "This is where the expertise of professional wastewater managers has been most helpful. The typical borough or township manager doesn't have a degree in chemistry or environmental engineering. We're business people hired to run a municipality."
Subsequently, Severn Trent recommended removing trickling filters and multimedia filters from service because the system was achieving regulatory compliance without them. In fact, the Borough has saved $60,000 annually by eliminating the filters, yet has improved discharge quality. Drinking water treatment also was optimized by changes in chemical treatment, automation, and employee development and training.
"Most small- to mid-sized municipalities just can't match the resources of a company the size of Severn Trent," Spaide said. "Their training programs – particularly safety training – are beyond what we as a small municipality can provide for ourselves."
The cost savings provided by the Borough's partnership have been an eye-opener for Spaide. But the Borough's results go far beyond just money. In 2002, the Boyertown wastewater facility was awarded the Eastern Pennsylvania Water Pollution Control Operators Association Plant Safety Award. In 2003, the facility earned the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association's Facility Safety Award. And the water treatment plant received a commendation from the Department of Environmental Protection for meeting all maximum contaminant level, monitoring, and treatment technique performance requirements for calendar year 1997.
According to Marc DesAutels, area manager for Severn Trent Services and the supervisor of the Boyertown facilities, public/private partnerships are increasing in number because "they work."
"The results are undeniable," DesAutels said. "And unlike privatization, which involves the sale or transfer of ownership of public assets to the private sector, the public partner remains in charge in the public/private partnership. The municipality owns the assets, controls the management of the assets, and establishes the user rates.
"In Boyertown, Severn Trent retained the staff that was in place and simply implemented new management methods and technology."
"The best thing about our partnership with Severn Trent," Spaide said, "is that I know our facilities are operating at optimum performance levels. I just don't think we could have done that by ourselves."