Page 9 - Sept/Oct 2015 Vol.33 No.3
P. 9
discharge monitoring permit during each FUD Snapshot FUD employees Ronnie Davis, assistant manager for operations, Dan
of those 12-month periods. Stiles, telemetry technician and Pat Spangler, director of capacity
Service area management operations and management.
Each pump station has multiple water
pumps, and the station has to be able to 78 square miles
handle the flow even if its largest pump is
out, says operations project manager Brad Population served
Brummett.
100,000
The generator sets are configured with
an immediate response in case of power Water customers
failure, because if the pumps stop for just
a few seconds, it can result in loss of pres- 33,619
sure and serious water hammer.
Sewer customers
Powerful pumps are pushing thousands
of gallons of water out per hour, and if the 30,584
pumps stop, the water flows backwards.
When they start again, the pressure on the wastewater
pumps is intense, hence the term water pump stations
hammer.
25
“You don’t want that,” Spangler says.
“Water hammer can break things.” “We have 80 square miles of service look at problem areas and to take pictures
area that used to leak like a sieve. It had all and makes notes.
The diesel-powered generators are set sorts of leaks of groundwater and we had
up to automatically run under load for an to slow down the amount of groundwater Though the camera can be used when a
hour every week, including a 15-minute getting in our waste,” he said. problem is suspected, the majority of the
cool down cycle. Every pump station gets a time it is simply preventive maintenance.
weekly maintenance check, and all genera- Those instances of inflow and infiltra- For the same reason, pipes are cleaned
tors undergo annual load bank testing. tion have been greatly reduced as leaks every 3-5 years – a frequency not seen at
are repaired and old sewer lines replaced. most sewer districts.
Besides ensuring that there is a reliable Rather than arbitrarily replacing lines,
source of back-up power, FUD also stays though, FUD uses a robotic camera that But, as Spangler stressed, pipes will
prepared for the worst through regular, in- crawls the sewer lines and provides a view continue to get older with each passing
tensive maintenance. This was not always of the lines and potential problems. day and the district intends to persist in its
the case, Giles said. progressive program.
On any given day, the camera crew
can be seen around FUD’s coverage area, “It’s all about getting the right people,
with their CCTV camera dropped down right tools and right equipment and doing
a manhole. Inside the crew’s truck, an it right,” said Spangler. “We’re not going
employee directs the camera, pausing to to let up; we’re going to keep being aggres-
sive.”
View online at tnpublicworks.com 9
of those 12-month periods. Stiles, telemetry technician and Pat Spangler, director of capacity
Service area management operations and management.
Each pump station has multiple water
pumps, and the station has to be able to 78 square miles
handle the flow even if its largest pump is
out, says operations project manager Brad Population served
Brummett.
100,000
The generator sets are configured with
an immediate response in case of power Water customers
failure, because if the pumps stop for just
a few seconds, it can result in loss of pres- 33,619
sure and serious water hammer.
Sewer customers
Powerful pumps are pushing thousands
of gallons of water out per hour, and if the 30,584
pumps stop, the water flows backwards.
When they start again, the pressure on the wastewater
pumps is intense, hence the term water pump stations
hammer.
25
“You don’t want that,” Spangler says.
“Water hammer can break things.” “We have 80 square miles of service look at problem areas and to take pictures
area that used to leak like a sieve. It had all and makes notes.
The diesel-powered generators are set sorts of leaks of groundwater and we had
up to automatically run under load for an to slow down the amount of groundwater Though the camera can be used when a
hour every week, including a 15-minute getting in our waste,” he said. problem is suspected, the majority of the
cool down cycle. Every pump station gets a time it is simply preventive maintenance.
weekly maintenance check, and all genera- Those instances of inflow and infiltra- For the same reason, pipes are cleaned
tors undergo annual load bank testing. tion have been greatly reduced as leaks every 3-5 years – a frequency not seen at
are repaired and old sewer lines replaced. most sewer districts.
Besides ensuring that there is a reliable Rather than arbitrarily replacing lines,
source of back-up power, FUD also stays though, FUD uses a robotic camera that But, as Spangler stressed, pipes will
prepared for the worst through regular, in- crawls the sewer lines and provides a view continue to get older with each passing
tensive maintenance. This was not always of the lines and potential problems. day and the district intends to persist in its
the case, Giles said. progressive program.
On any given day, the camera crew
can be seen around FUD’s coverage area, “It’s all about getting the right people,
with their CCTV camera dropped down right tools and right equipment and doing
a manhole. Inside the crew’s truck, an it right,” said Spangler. “We’re not going
employee directs the camera, pausing to to let up; we’re going to keep being aggres-
sive.”
View online at tnpublicworks.com 9
