Page 12 - Sept/Oct 2018 Vol 36 No 3

NASHVILLE Provided by Gresham Smith & Partners and Metro Water Services
Omohundro Water Treatment Plant
City’s Most Historic Site is not on Everyone’s Tour

These days, tourists water through the pipes, which used the Sulfate (Alum) in response to bacteria
around the City sand and gravel for filtration – now a and color issues. Alum provided
of Nashville are common practice in certain areas of the effective coagulation but did not solve
everywhere, but one country – and delivered it to the city. the bacteria issue. Hypochlorite of lime
of the most historic was added at the reservoir in 1909 for
sites is limited During the late 1800s, Nashville was water disinfection and was replaced with
to few tours: the experiencing tremendous population liquid chlorine in 1920. A grit chamber
Omohundro Water growth, and another reservoir was for removal of river gravel was installed
Treatment Plant and completed in 1889. What is known as near the George Reyer Pump Station
the George Reyer the 8th Avenue Reservoir was built from in 1921, and the first conventional
Pump Station. The cut limestone and divided into two tanks treatment plant (the Historic
Omohundro Water with a 51 million gallon total capacity. Omohundro Water Treatment Plant)
Treatment Plant is The Historic George Reyer Pump Station was placed into service in 1929 with a
one of two surface mentioned above was one of the first capacity of approximately 28 million
water treatment buildings at the Omohundro Water gallons per day (MGD). Chemical
plants that serve Treatment Plant site and was constructed treatment was moved from the reservoir
the Metropolitan near the same time as the reservoir. to Omohundro. The treatment plant
Nashville area (over The pump station utilized steam-driven was originally built with 12 filters, was
200,000 customers pumps for the high-service (drinking expanded to 18 filters in 1932, with 12
and 3,000 miles of water) pumps and electrical generators more filters added in 1956, bringing
water mains). The attached to those pumps for powering today’s total to 30 filters.
George Reyer Pump the low-service (raw water) pumps.
Station supplies raw Some of the original pumps and valves In the 1950s the George Reyer
water to the plant are still operational and used today. Pumping Station was modernized,
from the Cumberland moving from coal-fired boilers and
River and treated drinking water from In 1908 the 8th Avenue Reservoir steam engines to electric motors for the
the plant to the city. began chemical treatment on the pumps. With the upgrades, a new raw
clarifier side using a form of Aluminum
Now, here is a little history about
Nashville’s drinking water and a
Nashville historic site. As we all know,
drinking water is essential for life, so
from the earliest days, the first settlers
of Nashville chose the location of Fort
Nashborough because of the availability
of pure water from a spring at that
location. The spring water was pumped
through wooden water mains to a
reservoir in the square until around
the 1830s. A new pumping station and
reservoir were placed in service around
1833 using Cumberland River water
without treatment.

Early stories tell of the muddy
Cumberland River, and the untreated
drinking water was believed to have
led to cholera outbreaks. Around
1878, in response to the outbreaks,
the city began the first treatment—a
riverbank filtration system. Pipes were
laid below a shallow river island in the
Cumberland River where pumps pulled

12 TPW September/October 2018