Welcome to a day in the life where we take you behind the scenes of the departments that keep Leburg running. Today we're at the Leburg Water Department. This team is responsible for ensuring our community has safe, clean drinking water. From water treatment to system maintenance, let's take a closer look at how they keep our water flowing
smoothly and safely every day. Heat. [Music]
Heat. [Music] [Music] So Al, what is the water treatment process and how can you ensure it's safe to drink? Fortunately, uh Alan, we uh we're in an area we have good clean drinking water.
So what we have here is just primary treatment at this facility. What that means is that we just uh uh pump it from the ground and add a disinfectant uh and then it runs through uh the pumping process at that point. Our our
system is is continuously monitored uh by chlorine analyzers and our SCADA control system uh which has a set of parameters for pressure uh number of pumps, failure of pumps uh and it's continually monitored 24 hours a day.
Another question I have for you, Alice. Can you walk us through the stages of the water treatment? Yes, sir. Uh the stages is we have in this facility, we have six wells associated with this uh facility uh ranging from uh 320 ft all the way up to
about 1,000 ft. uh they are pumped here to this facility uh where we we add the disinfectant and it goes into the uh uh ground storage tanks uh which we have 3 million gallons of storage on site here uh and then uh
it goes out to our customers. Another question I have for you Alice, what process is in place to make sure our water meets the federal standards? Supervisor control and data acquisition is our SCADA system which monitors our entire system. uh for different
parameters, pressure pumps running uh and we have chlorine analyzers that are uh uh continuously monitoring the water as it leaves the facility. So we would get alarms if something was out with out of those parameters.
Rob, how how do you maintain the city's infrastructure when it comes to water distribution? Uh well, you know, we respond to leaks uh continuously. Um and usually whenever we go out on a leak, uh specifically a main break, um you know, we make the repair, but as we're making the repair,
we use that as an expecting time to to know or find out the type of material, the age of it, uh and if we need to put it in a plan to be replaced to for an upgrade. So, uh we kind of, you know, maintain the system like that. We also,
you know, we flush lines to keep them uh clean. That way, you know, it doesn't build up tuberculation, which can also uh cause leaks and stuff, you know, getting in your joints and stuff like that. Uh so, how do you address water issues uh when it comes to brakes or low pressure?
Uh well, generally we get a a call from from our admin or uh we get a work order on Navalon and we we respond to a low pressure um and we'll go out see what's going on with us. Sometimes uh you know Al might be working with the uh the the
pressure from the pumps. Uh they may be doing maintenance or something like that. Uh if it's not something that they're doing for maintenance on on the plant side, then we go out and test. We'll test several different hose bibs, several different houses to make sure that it's not just a single house or if
it's a a mass area. Um, and if there is low pressure, if it's just a single house, then sometimes they'll have backflow issues that that needs to be addressed on the customer side. Uh, they could have clogged screens in the house that's restricting the flow. Um, and
then again, we could have a valve that may be uh turned down a little bit that may we need to go and find and turn turn back up so we can get full flow and and increase the pressure. Um, as far as main brakes, um, you know, it's kind of obvious, you know, when you see water on the ground, we get a phone call. So,
whenever we get that phone call, we respond and see what's going on. I mean, it could be from a 3/4 in line up to a 16 or 20 inch line. And whenever that happens, then that's when you see us with all the trucks and equipment and signs and uh you know, getting to work out there. So, that's when you see us
cutting the road open to dig down and and uh see what we got going on and and uh sometimes we can we got what we call a band-aid, which is a repair clamp. You just slap that on and it's a quick fix. Sometimes we're out there for, you know, 6 8 hours and replacing a couple sections of pipe. It just depends on the
situation. Last question I have for you, Rob. what technology is used when maintaining the water system. Uh well, we deal with GIS a lot. Um that's our that's our mapping system and that that is our database collector. So whenever again when we're out on main brakes that you know we see the type of
material, the size of it um the area that it's in and whether it's a problematic area, you know, if we have several main brakes a year in that area, then we understand that, you know, we might need to put that in for an upgrade. So yeah, every time we go out on a main break, we collect that data
and input it into the GIS system. [Music] So guys, how does the water department handle customer inquiries when it comes to water quality? We'll go out and investigate uh and pull samples to test
water. uh kind of just touch base with the customer and and kind of just touch and see what's going on. Sometimes we give them little tips. They just need to clean their strainer and their sink. Uh sometimes we have a lot of snowbirds that come down here uh and that water
sits and they need to flush it when they first come back uh to get that stagnant water out. Uh just little things like that. And if he if he doesn't solve the problem with just that those things that he does, then they'll call us and uh I'll dispatch a technician to go out and
see what the situation is. Sometimes it's the services got some dirty water in it or the main might have have dirty water in it. So we'll we'll break the meter down, flush the service, um check hose bibs around the house just to make sure that everything is clean. If not, then we'll go back to the main and we'll
flush a fire hydrant out uh just to get the main clean so that way we can provide a a quality clean service to the house. So, what should a resident do if they notice a change in water color, taste, or um things like that? Uh soon as they notice a change or or
something, they should call the office immediately so uh either Rob or my my my crew could go out and and investigate uh to make sure the water is safe. Yeah. And you can contact uh our admin at the uh main office at 352-728-9835
and just let them know what you've got. I mean if it's smelly water, dirty water, the taste uh taste has changed u and then we'll come out and do a a thorough check on it. Last question is how do you educate the public on water conservation and public issues like that?
Well um we have a conservation specialist and that is all that she does. She goes out to help us with conservation uh in all areas of of the field. Uh irrigation timers, uh high water users, uh to help them with leaks.
Uh they go to she goes to schools and does training. She does subdivisions, uh HOA meetings and uh different different uh uh events like that. She goes through and uh just kind of educate as best we
can. And then also they'll call into customer service if they get a high water bill or if customer service uh the meter readers go out and they see that there's a high usage. They'll also send them a letter and then they'll notify us that we need to go out and do a possible leak check.
So we'll go out and we'll check everything in the house, make sure we'll go around the house, make sure they don't have a toilet leaking like Al mentioned. Uh and then we'll do an irrigation check. We do this out of a courtesy. We don't charge the customer. uh we go a little above and beyond because uh we our actual service stops
at the meter, but we'll usually do a courtesy for the customer and go and check the irrigation just make sure they don't have any obvious leaks around their irrigation or the irrigation heads. And again, like Al said, you know, maybe uh check their timer just to make sure they don't have their timer set too high to where they're using more
water than than they need. Yeah. Okay. And add a little tidbit to that. Uh what the customer can do before they call if they suspect a leak is if they go out to their water meter on their water meter face there is a red uh triangle or some have little circles. Make sure
everything is turned off inside the house and go out and look at that. And if it is spinning then you have water flowing through that meter going somewhere. [Music] So Amanda, what are some of the rebate programs that I hear that the water department has?
So some of the rebate programs that we have for the water conservation department is that we have an indoor rebate for homes built prior to 1994 where we replace help cover the cost of toilets, sink faucets, bathroom faucets. Um and then we have an outdoor rebate program where we cover some of the cost
of the irrigation smart irrigation control timers and irrigation repair parts. And then Amanda, what are some of the um things that we should know about our irrigation systems? So irrigation systems are important to keep up as far as like making sure there's not leaking, broken heads, especially with mowers and weed whackers
always hitting them, along with making sure that they're running at the correct time. So we do not allow watering between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 400 p.m. And we do set timers for free. We do help do irrigation evaluations where we go out there, run the zones manually, make sure they're not leaking along with giving advice as far as which ones we
can cap and which ones that maybe need to be replaced. If someone wanted to have you come out and u you see them, how would they go about doing that? They can call up our public works department. U they can get a hold of me on our phones or via email. They can contact our customer service department. They can also get a hold of me and set
up an appointment for me to come out there and take a look for free at their irrigation system and their timer. And we do resets as well. [Music] Can you tell us a little bit about the job opportunities and how someone can go about finding out more about those? Yes, sir. We're always hiring in public
works. Um we have vacancies for every job that you've showcased in in um your segments. Folks can go to the city's website and find the link and apply. go to our HR office on the third floor of city hall or we have magnets that have
QR codes on vehicles that they can see throughout the city. As you can see, the Leburg Water Department plays a vital role in delivering safe, clean drinking water to our community each and every day. From treatment operations to system maintenance and customer support, it takes a skilled team dedicated to keep
our water flowing reliably. Thank you for spending the day with us. Until next time, I'm Mayor Alan Reeseman and this has been a day in the life right here in the city of Leburg.
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