Department Mission
Deliver high quality, reliable drinking water, wastewater, storm and surface water, and solid waste services in a manner that is environmentally responsible and cost competitive.
Department Vision
Our customers enjoy livable communities and a healthy and sustainable environment through high quality utility services.
Department Core Values
The following Core Values are the essential and enduring principles that guide our individual actions, our interactions and our decision-making in Utilities:
- Commitment to Employees: We value all employees and their contributions and treat each other with caring and respect.
- Diversity: We value diversity in our community and our workforce and are inclusive in our business practices.
- Exceptional Public Service: We deliver outstanding service to the customer.
- Innovation: We encourage and reward ideas and solutions.
- Integrity: We are trustworthy, truthful and ethical.
- Safety: We value the safety of our workforce and community.
- Stewardship: We preserve and enhance the community’s environmental, financial, human and physical resources.
Metric 1: Percent of days per year in compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations
The City of Bellevue monitors ongoing compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations.
How was this calculated?
Compliance dates, changes in regulations and the number of reported days out of compliance are tracked by Water Quality staff and reported to the Regulatory Compliance Supervisor.
Data:
Why is this important?
This measure is an important indicator of drinking water quality and the performance of Water Quality staff. The city works closely with water providers and the Washington State Department of Health to deliver water to Bellevue's customers at an exceptional level of quality that meets the Safe Drinking Water Act standards. The goal for this measure is 100%, and anything less than full compliance requires Bellevue's management staff to take immediate action. The City of Bellevue has consistently met the 100% target for this measure since the city started tracking it in 2010 and is on track to meet the same goal for 2023.
What are the next steps?
To continue to achieve the city's goal of 100% compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations, while continuing to monitor current and proposed regulatory monitoring requirements, procedures and upcoming dates, and provide redundancy by having multiple staff monitoring the performance of the water distribution system.
Contact Name: Don McQuilliams, Utilities Manager, Operations & Maintenance
Contact Email: utilitiesperformance@bellevuewa.gov
Metric 2: Unplanned water service interruptions per 1,000 customer accounts
Bellevue Utilities measures the reliability of its water services by the number of unplanned water service interruptions per 1,000 water accounts. Unplanned service interruptions are those performed under emergency conditions where prior customer notice is impossible or impractical. Unplanned service interruptions usually occur when the city experiences severe water main breaks where there is potential for unsafe conditions or significant property damage.
How was this calculated?
The number of unplanned water service interruptions is divided by the number of water accounts, then multiplied by 1,000.
Data:
Why is this important?
The number represents the integrity of the water system. A lower number indicates the utility is actively investing in replacing aging water mains and other infrastructure through our Capital Investment Plan. The city's goal is to have no more than three unplanned water interruptions per 1,000 accounts each year and a quarterly goal of 0.75 interruptions. The city has consistently met this goal since 2010 when it was first tracked, and met the goal again in 2022 with 2.8 interruptions per 1,000 accounts.
What are the next steps?
Bellevue Utilities is committed to ensuring system reliability and minimizing the impact of unplanned water service interruptions. Staff continues to monitor and track this measure, and employ industry best practices, asset management, and aggressive capital investment in replacing aged infrastructure, and careful mitigation strategies. In addition, staff perform an assessment that balances risk mitigation strategies to provide advance notice to impacted customers when possible.
Contact Name: Tony Marcum, Utilities Operations Supervisor, Operations & Maintenance
Contact Email: utilitiesperformance@bellevuewa.gov
Metric 3: Wastewater overflow events per 100 miles of pipe
A sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is a sewage overflow that originates from, or is caused by, city-owned assets resulting in sewage leaving the intended vessel (the “wastewater collection system”). This means the system failed to contain flows.
How was this calculated?
For this calculation, the number of reported sanitary sewer overflows is divided by the miles of wastewater main (pipe), then multiplied by 100.
Data:
Why is this important?
This measure is an important indicator of the effectiveness of the operation and maintenance of the wastewater collection system. A low number of SSOs indicate a higher functioning wastewater collection system, better repair practices, more effective cleaning and remote television viewing activities. A low number also decreases the potential for enforcement actions by regulatory agencies. The city's goal is to have 4 or less overflows per 100 miles of pipe each year, which has been consistently met for the last 5 years.
What are the next steps?
Bellevue Utilities remains committed to managing wastewater overflows. To this end, staff will continue to monitor and track this measure to proactively reduce SSOs. Staff will also continue to conduct preventive maintenance programs, Capital Investment Plan projects to rehabilitate and replace aging infrastructure, and effective SSO response procedures to reduce the impact of sewer main backups and the volume of overflows. In addition, Bellevue is implementing a system-wide asset management plan that will direct limited resources toward the highest priority mains for rehabilitation or replacement. This effort is expected to reduce the number of SSOs.
Contact Name: Tony Marcum, Utilities Operations Supervisor, Operations & Maintenance
Contact Email: utilitiesperformance@bellevuewa.gov
Metric 4: Structural flooding occurrences for storms less than a 100-year storm event
One of the city's major goals is to mitigate flooding damage to buildings and other structures. Since it would not be feasible to eliminate all risks from any potential storm, the 2015 Storm and Surface Water Plan established the 100-year event as an attainable level of service. This means that the city strives to minimize damage from events expected to occur more frequently than every 100 years. A 100-year storm event does not mean it only happens once every hundred years but rather, there is a 1 in 100 chance of occurring within any given year.
How was this calculated?
First, staff uses local rainfall data and standard hydrologic formulas to estimate the rainfall amount for a 100-year storm (inches of rain per 24 hours). Next, staff reviews the locations and dates of any known structural flooding. As long as rain gauge data indicates that the rain intensity did not exceed a 100-year event, then each flooding occurrence is counted as part of this performance measure.
Data:
Why is this important?
This is important because flooding impacts the community through property damage, safety risks, and other problems. Structural flooding is defined as flooding of living areas, garages, or constructed outbuildings. The city has a target goal of no more than 5 occurrences annually, which has been met consistently since 2015 and again in the most recent year, 2022, with 2 recorded occurrences.
What are the next steps?
Utilities staff perform ongoing maintenance on the storm system to reduce flooding and maintain good drainage. Staff are also designing and building projects to reduce flood risks in several parts of the city.
Contact Name: Linda De Boldt, Utilities Assistant Director, Engineering
Contact Email: utilitiesperformance@bellevuewa.gov
Metric 5: Customer satisfaction with Solid Waste services
This metric represents the percent of customer survey questions with a minimum satisfaction score (80%) achieved by Republic Services, the city's contractor for garbage, recycling, and compost collection services. Per the city’s solid waste contract, the performance target for Republic Services is to achieve the minimum customer satisfaction score on all survey questions.
How was this calculated?
Bellevue Utilities hires a public opinion research firm to conduct an annual statistically valid survey to assess satisfaction with its collection contractor’s core services and to inform the development of city outreach and education strategies. The customer survey questions cover the following areas of solid waste services for both single-family and multi-family/commercial sectors: overall satisfaction, collection crew, telephone courtesy, helpfulness of customer service, response time following a request for a new container, and response time following a missed collection.
Data:
Why is this important?
The city outsources solid waste collection services to Republic Services. This metric measures the customer satisfaction with the services provided. Measuring customer satisfaction helps the city determine whether Republic Services is meeting its expectations for exceptional customer service. Per contract requirements, Republic Services must achieve an overall customer satisfaction score of 80% or higher in each area surveyed, or it may be subject to performance fees. Thus, it is the city's goal to have 100% of surveyed areas meet this requirement. Republic Services has not met this goal in three out of the last eight years, including in 2022.
What are the next steps?
The city will continue to monitor Republic Services’ performance and work with the contractor to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. For areas in the survey under the minimum satisfaction score, the city works with Republic Services to implement an action plan for improvement.
Contact Name: Jon Gire, Solid Waste Program Manager
Contact Email: utilitiesperformance@bellevuewa.gov
Metric 6: Customer satisfaction with the Bellevue Utilities Department
This metric represents the percent of Bellevue residents who report being satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of Utilities services.
How was this calculated?
The data for this metric comes from the city's most recent Performance Measures Survey. This is a statistically-valid survey that assesses community opinion of city services. The percentage rating was calculated by taking the absolute value of survey respondents who reported being satisfied or very satisfied with Utilities services.
Data:
Note: 2020 data was collected by the 2021 Performance Measures Survey and is the most current data available. Survey results collected in a given year reflect the conditions of the previous year and are dated accordingly. Also, the Survey switched to a biennial cadence after 2021. At the time of publication, the 2023 Survey is in the field. Thus, 2022 data is coming soon.
Why is this important?
Bellevue Utilities takes customer satisfaction very seriously and tracks progress through an annual customer satisfaction survey, with a goal of 85% customer satisfaction which Bellevue has met or exceeded most years. Staff will continually work to improve the quality of the city's services to meet residents’ needs and expectations and use the results of this survey and other feedback channels to guide Bellevue's efforts.
What are the next steps?
The most important factor in maintaining and improving service quality is protecting the city's infrastructure. To ensure uninterrupted services now and in the future, Bellevue Utilities will continue making invisible but vital investments to repair and replace assets. The city also understands storm water and stream habitats are very important to residents, thus staff is putting substantial resources and effort into these areas.
Contact Name: Lucy Liu, Utilities Director
Contact Email: utilitiesperformance@bellevuewa.gov