Page 8 - Sept/Oct 2015 Vol.33 No.3
P. 8
First Utility district of Knox County By Hillary Tune
A Proactive Approach Using technology to stay
on top of sewer line repairs
Clean water and sanitary sewer service Pat Spangler, FUD director of capacity management operations and management, and Brad Brummett, FUD
are often taken for granted by the general operations project manager, oversee the program that proactively seeks out minor issues in sewer lines
public. that need to be repaired so those issues don’t turn into a larger problem down the road. The program has
significantly reduced leaks in the district’s sewer lines.
But for the employees at First Utility
District (FUD) of Knox County, Tennes- Left: Two FUD employees lower a camera into a
see, every one of the 13,299 manholes in sewer so it can relay back video of the line’s condi-
their coverage area reminds them of one tion. Above: A FUD employee watches video of a
of their indispensable roles: taking care of sewer line being transmitted to him by a robot; he
the waste water pumped through approxi- is looking for any issues that may need repair or
mately 600 miles of sewer lines. maintenance.
While the district is responsible for both facility handling one million or more gal- Environment and Conservation saying
providing drinking water and collecting lons per day have a generator set. Should what occurred, and take samples for sedi-
wastewater, it is FUD’s success with the a pump stop working or even not be ment and pathogens.
sewer rehabilitation program that makes working up to par, heavy rains or other di-
general manager Bruce Giles beam. sasters could cause backups and overflows “One of the things that all large waste-
with devastating results. water systems strive for is to ensure that
He also credits FUD’s board with fiscal we don’t have sewer overflows during an
savvy. The district has spent about $9 “With summertime storms, or storms in outage, because it can take us to another
million on sewer rehabilitation so far, and general, we need our pump stations to stay level in terms of violating the Clean Water
is budgeting $45 million for the program in service, or we will have sewers overflow- Act,” Giles says.
over the next five years— and that’s in ing,” says Pat Spangler, director of capacity
cash. This responsible planning—both in management operations and maintenance. A few years ago, the district experienced
the financial sense and with the intensive “When we get these heavy rains, at some 70 or more sanitary sewer overflows a
rehabilitation program—has resulted in of our bigger stations it is critical that we year. So far this year, the district’s sewer
lower fees for customers, Giles says. are not out of service for any length of overflows tally just eight.
time, especially during off hours, at night.”
“Proof is in the numbers, and I believe For the past five years, the FUD waste-
we have the best program in East Tennes- A sewer overflow in the Fort Loudoun water plant has earned the Operator
see,” he says. Reservoir means that FUD has to file a Excellence Award for the State of Tennes-
report with the Tennessee Department of see. The award stems from operational ef-
The district’s proactive approach to ficiencies and no violations of the district’s
maintaining and rehabilitating the sewer
lines also involves fixing manholes and re-
placing the system’s most crucial element,
pump stations.
“We’ve been replacing a pump sta-
tion every year,” Giles says. “Thirty or 40
years ago, nobody thought about this,” he
adds, noting that the district has grown
from the small area of 3,000 people that it
first served, to a much larger area serving
100,000 residents.
Since 1974, the plant has upgraded its
capacity from one million gallons per day
to 18 million gallons per day to meet the
growing demand for more capacity.
FUD is based in West Knoxville, the
fastest growing portion of the Knoxville
metropolitan area. As part of its planning
process, the district is taking anticipated
future growth into consideration.
To serve the growing number of house-
holds and businesses, FUD has taken the
necessary steps to employ critical backup
measures. Every major system within
the district has backup power, and the
Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation recommends that any
8 TPW September/October 2015
A Proactive Approach Using technology to stay
on top of sewer line repairs
Clean water and sanitary sewer service Pat Spangler, FUD director of capacity management operations and management, and Brad Brummett, FUD
are often taken for granted by the general operations project manager, oversee the program that proactively seeks out minor issues in sewer lines
public. that need to be repaired so those issues don’t turn into a larger problem down the road. The program has
significantly reduced leaks in the district’s sewer lines.
But for the employees at First Utility
District (FUD) of Knox County, Tennes- Left: Two FUD employees lower a camera into a
see, every one of the 13,299 manholes in sewer so it can relay back video of the line’s condi-
their coverage area reminds them of one tion. Above: A FUD employee watches video of a
of their indispensable roles: taking care of sewer line being transmitted to him by a robot; he
the waste water pumped through approxi- is looking for any issues that may need repair or
mately 600 miles of sewer lines. maintenance.
While the district is responsible for both facility handling one million or more gal- Environment and Conservation saying
providing drinking water and collecting lons per day have a generator set. Should what occurred, and take samples for sedi-
wastewater, it is FUD’s success with the a pump stop working or even not be ment and pathogens.
sewer rehabilitation program that makes working up to par, heavy rains or other di-
general manager Bruce Giles beam. sasters could cause backups and overflows “One of the things that all large waste-
with devastating results. water systems strive for is to ensure that
He also credits FUD’s board with fiscal we don’t have sewer overflows during an
savvy. The district has spent about $9 “With summertime storms, or storms in outage, because it can take us to another
million on sewer rehabilitation so far, and general, we need our pump stations to stay level in terms of violating the Clean Water
is budgeting $45 million for the program in service, or we will have sewers overflow- Act,” Giles says.
over the next five years— and that’s in ing,” says Pat Spangler, director of capacity
cash. This responsible planning—both in management operations and maintenance. A few years ago, the district experienced
the financial sense and with the intensive “When we get these heavy rains, at some 70 or more sanitary sewer overflows a
rehabilitation program—has resulted in of our bigger stations it is critical that we year. So far this year, the district’s sewer
lower fees for customers, Giles says. are not out of service for any length of overflows tally just eight.
time, especially during off hours, at night.”
“Proof is in the numbers, and I believe For the past five years, the FUD waste-
we have the best program in East Tennes- A sewer overflow in the Fort Loudoun water plant has earned the Operator
see,” he says. Reservoir means that FUD has to file a Excellence Award for the State of Tennes-
report with the Tennessee Department of see. The award stems from operational ef-
The district’s proactive approach to ficiencies and no violations of the district’s
maintaining and rehabilitating the sewer
lines also involves fixing manholes and re-
placing the system’s most crucial element,
pump stations.
“We’ve been replacing a pump sta-
tion every year,” Giles says. “Thirty or 40
years ago, nobody thought about this,” he
adds, noting that the district has grown
from the small area of 3,000 people that it
first served, to a much larger area serving
100,000 residents.
Since 1974, the plant has upgraded its
capacity from one million gallons per day
to 18 million gallons per day to meet the
growing demand for more capacity.
FUD is based in West Knoxville, the
fastest growing portion of the Knoxville
metropolitan area. As part of its planning
process, the district is taking anticipated
future growth into consideration.
To serve the growing number of house-
holds and businesses, FUD has taken the
necessary steps to employ critical backup
measures. Every major system within
the district has backup power, and the
Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation recommends that any
8 TPW September/October 2015
