Sometimes a little light reading leads to unexpected benefits. For Newark resident Binh Dao, reading Union Sanitary District’s (USD) “Customer Focus” newsletter led to him winning the District’s “Win Free Sewer Service For A Year” contest, and a rebate in his holiday mail.
The contest was a feature in the eighth annual issue of USD’s “Customer Focus” newsletter, which was delivered to all residents and businesses in the Tri-City area in October 2013. The newsletter is published to inform the District’s customers about the utility and the services it provides. It can be read online on USD’s “Links and Glossary” page at www.unionsanitary.ca.gov
The most recent issue explained the journey of treated wastewater after it leaves the District’s plant in Union City, and highlighted the thousands of tests performed in its state-certified laboratory to ensure that USD’s treated effluent is clean enough to be released to the San Francisco Bay. Additional articles explained the responsibilities of USD’s Board of Directors and the District’s role as a steward of public assets and protector of public health. Newsletter readers were encouraged to visit USD’s website and complete an online survey that entered them into the contest. A computer program randomly chose Dao’s entry number as the winner.
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Dao, who works as an electronics technician at Themis Computer in Fremont, enjoyed learning about USD’s treatment processes. “Wastewater treatment is real science; I didn’t know much about it before reading the newsletter,” he commented. He was pleased to discover that USD offers tours of its Alvarado Treatment Plant in Union City, and plans to visit soon to learn more about the District.
Dao and his wife, Ngo Kimanh, have lived in Newark for about ten years. They received a check to offset the residential sewer service charge of $337.76 that was billed along with their property tax this year. Dao confessed that he “already had the winnings spent” on holiday shopping and home improvement projects.
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Union Sanitary District operates a 30 million gallon per day wastewater treatment facility in Union City and provides collection, treatment and disposal services to the Tri-City area. For more information about USD’s “Customer Focus” newsletter and contest, contact Michelle Powell at (510) 477-7634 or visit the District’s website at www.unionsanitary.ca.gov.
