Robert Pugh, the new general manager for the West Travis County Public Utility Agency, brings about 30 years of engineering and utility industry experience across the Midwest, splitting his time between the private and public sectors.

“Utility operations are all similar,” he said. “In Kansas, we had a board of directors similar to what’s in place here. Even on the private side, the utilities have the same basic functions and management operations.”

Pugh, who started as the agency’s general manager in August, said there would be some adjustments in working for the WTCPUA, including learning different policies and procedures regarding Texas laws and city ordinances. However, the position’s purpose and goal will stay the same as before, he said.

“Ultimately, I would like this utility to be the leading water/wastewater utility in terms of operational excellence, cost effectiveness, customer service and environmental compliance,” Pugh said.

He outlined four major challenges currently facing the WTCPUA and some of his possible solutions.

The challenge of operating in a zero-discharge-area

Pugh said WTCPUA operates in a zero-discharge area, meaning it cannot discharge treated effluent into a receiving stream, limiting its options of disposing treated effluent to land applications at various locations that use the water for irrigation.

“Land is expensive, and because the WTCPUA doesn’t own land, they are required [by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] to find someone else who is willing to take and use the treated effluent,” Pugh said. “That adds complexity and cost to the wastewater treatment operation, and that need to apply effluent is a constraint as far as our capacity.”

Despite being in a zero-discharge area, in May the WTCPUA had two controlled treated effluent spills, something Pugh said he believes it can avoid in the future with proper management.

Pugh said the WTCPUA is in the process of developing a beneficial reuse program to convert treated effluent into potable, or drinkable, water through reverse osmosis.

“The program is in the preliminary stages, and is still three years away,” he said. “That’s a great common treatment process that’s highly effective and removes all contaminants in the water.”

Customer billing concerns

“Since my first day here I’ve been getting complaints about billing—at least one a day,” Pugh said. “If a customer has a question about their water bill and questions the volume used or the dollar amount, there are ways we can assist.”

Last year, when concerns about high water bills were posed, WTCPUA implemented a meter-testing program, and most meters—about 98 percent—tested within specifications, Pugh said. For meters that are inaccurate or out of specification, the WTCPUA will replace the meter and apply a credit to the customer’s future bill, he said.

The WTCPUA should be consistent in communicating its policies, explaining its rate structure and educating the public about how to manage water consumption, Pugh said. Explaining the cost of running the utility and what that process entails will help limit customer complaints, he said.

Legal issues

The WTCPUA is currently in litigation on several fronts, and Pugh said his advice to the WTCPUA board of trustees is to negotiate the best settlements they can on the lawsuits.

“[Lawsuits] are time-consuming and costly,” he said. “We’ll try to solve those as quickly and amicably as we can so we can put them behind us and move forward.”

Meeting the current compliance agreement

The WTCPUA is currently working to complete a wastewater compliance agreement, which is required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to affirm the agency will stay in compliance with wastewater guidelines.

“We filed our 11th quarterly report in September and have one more to do,” he said. “Hopefully, assuming everything goes well as far as compliance, we’ll be done with the compliance agreement in December.”