WSSC Water’s General Manager and CEO Kishia L. Powell, who took the helm in January 2023 after leadership roles in Atlanta, Baltimore and Jackson and service as Chief Operating Officer at DC Water, described how the utility is building a modern, digitally enabled organization. Under its Smart Water strategy, digital transformation is being integrated with asset management, affordability efforts and customer engagement, with the goal of improving service while supporting the workforce that delivers it.
Powell said her approach is shaped by lessons from challenging moments, such as an advanced metering rollout earlier in her career and responding to a major water main break at night. Those experiences reinforced that digital transformation is about more than technology; it depends on people, processes and preparedness. She emphasized that each investment must have a clear purpose, supported by change management and training from the outset, to improve the customer experience and enhance safety and efficiency for employees.
To ensure technology serves as an enabler rather than an isolated initiative, WSSC Water asked its CIO to produce a digital transformation roadmap for the entire organization. The plan focuses on aligning people, processes, data and technology to address business challenges, strengthen decision-making and deliver sustained improvements. By embedding digital practices across departments, the utility aims to generate durable, organization-wide benefits.
WSSC Water recently launched an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) pilot. While customer features such as monthly billing, leak alerts, accurate reads and greater transparency are central, Powell noted broader operational value. Smart metering can provide near real-time consumption data, support more responsive customer service and strengthen system planning, while helping reduce non-revenue water and operating costs.
A key workforce outcome of AMI is improved safety. By sharply reducing manual meter reading, the utility can limit employee exposure to hazards in the field, ranging from aggressive animals to confrontational situations. At the same time, the transition creates opportunities for team members to upskill and advance into new roles as the utility’s digital capabilities expand.
Beyond metering, WSSC Water is helping develop artificial intelligence tools for water resource recovery facilities. Powell expects AI to accelerate informed decision-making, predict and prevent operational issues, and optimize treatment processes. She also highlighted wider applications, including developing training materials and supporting human resources tasks, while underscoring the need for guardrails, strong data governance and continued human oversight to ensure responsible use.
As digital connectivity grows, the utility balances innovation with cybersecurity and data stewardship. Powell pointed to the importance of trusted data, clear governance, defined use cases and employee training to adopt new technologies securely and effectively. The objective is to advance capabilities without compromising customer trust.
WSSC Water has expanded its water quality laboratory, bringing PFAS testing in-house. According to Powell, the move is designed to reduce costs and shorten turnaround times from weeks to hours, improving responsiveness to emerging water quality issues and informing timely treatment adjustments. The added capacity also positions the utility to offer testing services to peer utilities, creating opportunities for non-rate revenue that can support affordability.
Customer expectations are increasingly shaped by the best experiences in banking, retail, healthcare and travel. Reflecting that, WSSC Water has adopted a cloud-first strategy to modernize systems and create more seamless interactions, from bill payment and usage insights to issue reporting and timely notifications. Powell said the utility will continue to look beyond the water sector for ideas and practices that can elevate the customer experience.
Organizational change remains a central pillar. Through Operation True North, WSSC Water is redesigning processes, strengthening procedures and investing in training to empower employees, pairing those steps with targeted technology to unlock lasting improvements in service quality. Powell also stressed the importance of technology partnerships aligned to the utility’s strategic plan, mission and operational realities, favoring collaborators who engage throughout a project’s lifecycle over one-size-fits-all offerings.
Looking to 2030, Powell said success would mean a human-centered digital foundation that links people, data and systems. With an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning platform and a Digital Twin, WSSC Water expects greater visibility, stronger decisions and more proactive infrastructure management. The overarching aim is to enable employees to perform at their best and deliver excellent service, offering a model other utilities can adapt to drive sustained, transformative change.
