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MSD Exhibit No. MSD 3F
2023 Wastewater Rate Change Proceeding
BRET A. BERTHOLD
Direct Testimony
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
March 24, 2023
Table of Contents
Page
Witness Background and Experience ........................................................................................... 1
Wastewater Operations Services ................................................................................................... 2
Direct Testimony of Bret A. Berthold, MSD March 24, 2023
2023 Wastewater Rate Proceeding 1 MSD Exhibit No. MSD 3F
Witness Background and Experience 1
Q1. Please state your name, business address, and telephone number. 2
A. Bret Berthold, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555, (314) 768-6356, 3
bberthold@stlmsd.com 4
Q2. What is your occupation? 5
A. I am the Director of Operations for The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District or 6
MSD). 7
Q3. How long have you been associated with the District? 8
A. I have been with the District continuously since April 2009. 9
Q4. What is your professional experience? 10
A. I have spent the last 13+ years working in the wastewater industry. I came to the District 11
in 2009 as the Division Manager at the Bissell Wastewater Treatment Plant, became an 12
Assistant Director of Operations in 2011, and became Director of Operations in 2018. Prior 13
to working for the District, I held a number of progressively responsible positions within 14
the private business sector in the St. Louis area. I started as a Project Engineer for the 15
Barry-Wehmiller Company, and my last position before coming to MSD was 16
Manufacturing Manager for the Spectrum Brands Company. 17
Q5. What is your educational background? 18
A. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of 19
Missouri-Rolla (Missouri University of Science & Technology). I also have a Master’s 20
degree in Business Administration from Webster University in St. Louis. 21
Q6. Are you registered as a Professional Engineer? 22
A. Yes. I am a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Missouri. 23
Direct Testimony of Bret A. Berthold, MSD March 24, 2023
2023 Wastewater Rate Proceeding 2 MSD Exhibit No. MSD 3F
Wastewater Operations Services 1
Q7. What makes up the wastewater services within the District? 2
A. Wastewater services are comprised of the effective collection, transport, and treatment of 3
wastewater within the District. This requires the operation and maintenance of over 6,300 4
miles of sanitary and combined sewers, over 270 pump stations, and 7 wastewater 5
treatment plants. 6
Q8. What is the purpose of the District’s wastewater operations and maintenance (O&M) 7
program? 8
A. To maintain the wastewater system in a proactive and efficient manner that meets all State 9
and Federal regulatory requirements and minimizes disruptions to customers. 10
Q9. What approach does the District take for its wastewater O&M program? 11
A. The District’s wastewater O&M program takes an Asset Management approach. Utilities 12
throughout the world are faced with the challenge of how best to manage their existing 13
asset stock to provide satisfactory customer service with limited funds. Asset Management 14
is a maintenance management process that guides the acquisition, use, and disposal of 15
infrastructure assets to optimize service delivery and minimize costs over the asset’s entire 16
life. What that means is with limited funds you focus your efforts on meeting wastewater 17
service level goals such as regulatory requirements and customer service goals. To do this, 18
the District has to understand the condition of its infrastructure and prioritize maintenance 19
efforts on those assets that pose the greatest risk to District goals. 20
Q10. What are the key components of the wastewater O&M Program? 21
A. Within the collection system and pump stations groups, the O&M program is focused 22
around the requirements of the Capacity Management, Operations, and Maintenance 23
Direct Testimony of Bret A. Berthold, MSD March 24, 2023
2023 Wastewater Rate Proceeding 3 MSD Exhibit No. MSD 3F
(CMOM) program within the Consent Decree (CD). Within the collection system this 1
requires proactive cleaning, inspecting, and rehabbing of pipe to assure adequate capacity. 2
Pump stations and force mains are regularly inspected and maintained with the inspection 3
frequency being based on the criticality of the asset. In the treatment plants, asset 4
management consists of performing equipment maintenance and repairs based on 5
criticality to assure permit and regulatory issues are met. 6
Q11. Are the District’s O&M programs impacted by State and Federal requirements? 7
A. Yes. Federal and State requirements make O&M mandatory. The CMOM program 8
required by the Consent Decree requires that minimum maintenance and performance 9
standards be met in the collection system and pump stations, or penalties may be incurred. 10
Proper O&M within the plants is required to meet the obligations outlined in each 11
wastewater treatment plant permit. 12
Q12. Does the District measure its performance in providing wastewater services? 13
A. Yes, it does. The District employs a number of measures and surveys to assure its programs 14
are effective. These measures range from high level goals that are aligned around the 15
District’s strategic plan, down to tactical and crew level goals that assure levels of 16
wastewater service are being met. Examples of high-level measures include: percent 17
regulatory compliance; basement backups per thousand homes; percent on-time customer 18
response; and overall customer satisfaction. Tactical goals include measures such as miles 19
of pipe cleaned and number of inspections. 20
Q13. Can you provide any supporting documentation that the District’s wastewater 21
services are being operated efficiently and making the best use of ratepayer monies? 22
A. Yes. In recent years the District has made significant strides in improving its measured 23
Direct Testimony of Bret A. Berthold, MSD March 24, 2023
2023 Wastewater Rate Proceeding 4 MSD Exhibit No. MSD 3F
wastewater service levels, and this has been reflected positively in system performance, 1
customer survey responses, and awards. Some measures worth noting include record high 2
levels of customer satisfaction, exceeding 80% overall in 2022 customer surveys. All 3
seven of the District’s treatment plants regularly receive awards from the National 4
Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) for plant permit compliance. CMOM 5
activities have resulted in a downward trend in basement backups. Backups are down 70% 6
from historic levels. Additionally, dry weather overflows are down 50% over historic 7
levels. While these are all strong performance indicators, efficiency is important to the 8
District as well. The District benchmarks its performance and efficiency against other 9
agencies. Included in Appendix 8.3.1 of the Wastewater Rate Change Proposal are some 10
key performance indicators included in the 2021 American Water Works Association 11
(AWWA) wastewater utility benchmarking survey. These performance indicators include 12
areas such as employee metrics, regulatory compliance, facility utilization, collection 13
system maintenance, and customer calls. Appendix 8.3.1 includes the performance metric 14
and its definition; the industry min, max, medium, average, or percentile. The right-hand 15
columns show the District’s performance along with an explanation of the significance. In 16
general, these metrics show that the District operates with significantly fewer employees 17
than is typical, yet maintenance, energy efficiency, and facility utilization are measurably 18
better than most utilities. 19
Q14. Does this conclude your prepared direct testimony in this matter? 20
A. Yes, it does. 21