Environmental Management System
The department has been developing its EMS since 2007 in order to sustain a more effective environmental compliance program while identifying ways to reduce environmental impacts associated with treating wastewater and providing safe drinking water and reliable power.
The Columbus Department of Public Utilities Self-Declares Conformance to ISO 14001:2015 The Department of Public Utilities has long been dedicated to providing safe drinking water, sewer services and reliable power while also being committed to strong environmental stewardship. In 2014 the department achieved initial certification and later recertified to the International Organization of Standards (ISO) 14001: 2015 standard through an independent third party certification process, validating that commitment. In late 2020 the department moved to EMS Self-Declaration which simply means that its EMS continues to be operated and maintained in accordance to the ISO 14001 standard. Senior management oversight and program audits conducted by qualified external and internal auditors ensure ongoing conformance to the standard.
ISO 14001:2015 is an internationally known voluntary standard for ensuring that all processes related to the environment are identified, managed and reviewed on a routine basis through an environmental management system (EMS) and is the gold standard for entities that value environmental stewardship. The standard requires that the department identify all of its activities that may have an effect on the environment, adopt criteria in which to score these activities, and develop management programs to eliminate or minimize these impacts. Other requirements include effective document control, training and emergency preparedness programs that address environmental items. Environmental improvements are included in our department's Annual Report, or for greater detail, view the Annual Report Environmental Improvements Addendum.