Tag Archives: Duke Energy

Drought & Conservation, My Water

Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake: Source Water Protection

Charlotte Water provides an average of 117.54 million gallons a day to over 1.1 million people. Our drinking water sources are Mountain Island Lake and Lake Norman, which are both parts of the Catawba-Wateree River Basin.

Taken by Cam Coley, employee City of Charlotte, Charlotte Water

Charlotte Water staff partner with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services to sample source waters Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake.  Multiple locations from both sources are monitored. Sample results and monitoring techniques can be found on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services website.

The Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group (CWWMG) which Charlotte Water is an active member of is a member organization for all large water users on the Catawba-Wateree River Basin.

CWWMG members meet regularly to formulate strategies and projects to help understand and address the Basin’s water challenges. This includes monitoring the river basin, assessing conservation locations for maximum benefit to the water supply, and working together to ensure that the region has a lasting and high-quality water supply for years to come. These recommendations are then implemented when feasible by water users and related partners across the region.

Visit the CWWMG website for project results.

The North Carolina Division of Water Resource, Public Water Supply Section is responsible for implementing the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) for all public drinking water supplies in the state. A source water assessment is a qualitative evaluation of the potential of a drinking water source to become contaminated by the identified potential contaminant sources (PCS) within the delineated area. PCS includes permitted industries, urban stormwater runoff, and other non-point source contamination sources like agriculture and land clearing activities. (from ncwater.org)

Additional Partners and Organizations Working to Protect Local Source Waters are:

Drought & Conservation, My Water

Charlotte Water Is The First Utility in the Region to Turn Waste Into Electricity

This year, Charlotte Water completed construction on a system at McAlpine Wastewater Treatment Plant that captures and converts methane gas (a byproduct of wastewater treatment) into a fuel for electricity production and useful heat.

Typically the bacteria used to break down organic materials during wastewater treatment creates their own waste in the form of methane. Up to 900 pounds of this waste is produced per day at McAlpine and is normally used for heating in boilers or burned off. The new facility to convert methane gas into something useful is called a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) facility – and Charlotte Water is the first water/wastewater utility in the state to utilize this system.

The CHP facility produces 762,480 kWh in a given month, which is enough energy to run about 846 homes.

The electricity will be added to the electric grid through a partnership with the local electric provider, Duke Energy. The excess heat will be returned to the wastewater treatment process, offsetting some of the electricity it needs to operate.

A 20-year, zero-interest loan from the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (a federal Clean Water Act program that’s been in operation since the late 1980’s) financed the project. The state allowed for no-interest financing because of the project’s positive environmental impact and renewable energy generation, which made it financially feasible for the utility. The partnership means Charlotte Water won’t have to divert any of its operations budget reserved for routine system upgrades, there will be no additional costs to water customers, and the project will pay for itself in about a decade.