Tag Archives: economic development

Construction, Infrastructure Improvements

Updated Technology Reveals Details of Water Usage

In the latest move to modernize Charlotte’s infrastructure, Charlotte Water will be updating your water meters with a newer, advanced water meter reading system. This project will take about seven years to completely roll out to all Charlotte residents accordingly to current projections.

“Charlotte Water isn’t changing how we measure water, just how we are reading your meter. We are focusing on providing a better service to our customers and making our operations more efficient,” the project manager for the new advanced water meter project, Jeffrey Jones, wants you to know. 

Currently, residents get monthly updates with their water bill about their water usage. The new transmitter on the water meter will send updates to the cloud every 15 minutes. Residents will be able to see these updates online.

With these updates, residents can spot leaks and adjust usage accordingly. You won’t have to wait until you get your water bill to find out that a toilet upstairs has been running all month. Or that your child is taking hour-long showers. The new updates won’t allow residents to see where the extra water usage is coming from, just when it is. It will be up to residents to determine the source of their higher bills but the extra data will help people to identify problems earlier.

This data will also allow Charlotte Water to anticipate and identify leaks and issues on our end, giving us needed information to better serve customers. We can reallocate resources away from driving meter routes and instead focus on meeting the needs of our customers.

Track your water usage

You will see a read-out like the ones below. The first graph shows an apartment complex’s usage when there is a leak. The second graph shows the same apartment complex’s usage after the leak was fixed. As you can see in the second graph, water usage drops off in the middle of the night when most people are asleep. When water usage is still high during these periods, that indicates a leak. You will have access to graphs like this for your own home. 

Currently, these advanced water meters are only used for a few commercial clients. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, Bank of America Stadium, Frito-Lay, Lance, and SouthPark Mall all use the new advanced water meters. Pilots are planned for residential customers, also. 

Advanced Meter Infrastructure allows Charlotte Water to create a better experience for Charlotte Water customers. Having greater access to consolidated data allows Charlotte Water to better prepare for droughts, usage surges, changes in water pressure and temperature, etc. It also will help us to spot leaks in the infrastructure more quickly and expedite repairs. 

One project of many to update our infrastructure

This is only the latest step in modernizing our water infrastructure. Before more recent technology was released, Charlotte Water employees had to manually read each water meter. In 2003, the city started a project to replace the water meters with more modern water meters that allow a car to drive by and pick up the readings using radio signals. This saved the city lots of time and money. 

However, this isn’t a perfect system. For the signal to be picked up, the car must be close to the meter. Every month, 1800 meters are missed in this process. This means that employees manually read those meters. These meters are missed due to equipment malfunction (like batteries dying) or damage. 

As our population continues to grow, those missed readings cause increased burdens on the city’s resources. Also, those transmitters are starting to wear so it is time for many of them to be replaced in the next 5+ years. With this modern technology, Charlotte Water will be able to see digitized readings of usage, and the older water meter reading route will end. This will save the city time and resources that could be better utilized elsewhere. 

Residential pilot in Davidson

In the coming months, Charlotte Water is piloting these water meters in the new Davidson Point neighborhood. This location was chosen because the surrounding water meter routes were full due to the growth in the area. Rather than completely redoing the water meter routes, they were a practical choice for a pilot. 

This is all part of phase one of a three-phase launch of these advanced water meters throughout the city. Also, during phase one, we will be working with consultants who launch similar installations around the world to determine changing business needs and communications. This will help us prepare to answer the public’s questions and communicate well about expectations. 

During phase two, Charlotte Water will be installing these meters in 10,000 buildings. They will be selecting 1-2 areas of the city that include a mix of different customers: single-family homes, apartments, and commercial. This beta release will allow Charlotte Water to start training its employees on the new equipment. After the beta release, they will take a break for a year to evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what changes need to be made to replace the rest of the meters.

Phase three is the big launch. Charlotte Water will be replacing all water meters that are over five years old throughout the city. Meters that are less than five years old can be reprogrammed to work with the new system. This requires replacing 270,000 of 310,000 meters in the Charlotte metro area. This will take about five years to complete with 300 meters being replaced per day. All the transmitters will be replaced to work with the new system. 

More information will be released with each phase. Keep an eye on the city website for more information as the project continues. This is one of several projects that the city is working on to update our infrastructure and support our continued growth. Charlotte continues to prove itself as an up-and-coming city that continues to grow as people see our incredible city. 

Construction, Infrastructure Improvements

A Growing City Means Growing Treatment Plants

When you reflect on jobs that people are passionate about, wastewater treatment plant operators aren’t usually at the top of that list. However, the passion was palpable as I spoke with three employees at the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is currently undergoing updates and expansion due to our growing community. They have a deep understanding of the importance of the work they are doing in the community and how it contributes to the growth of the area and our current quality of life.

An architect’s rendering of the new influent pump station and equalization tank.

If growth in the area was allowed to outpace the development of the sewer infrastructure, it would cause a very messy problem for the city. Development can only occur where there is the infrastructure to support it. As the University area continues to grow quickly, the infrastructure must be built and updated to meet the increase in demand. Recent studies have shown that for every one million dollars Charlotte Water invests into its utilities and infrastructure, it leads to 17.7 million dollars in economic output. Investment in our infrastructure allows the kind of growth that protects our quality of life.

As such, the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant has several updates and additions planned over the next eight years. The original facility was built in 1979 and has been expanded over time. The original buildings are still in operation, but some of the equipment and buildings need to be replaced. By updating the facility, the plant will grow and have increased capacity and efficiency. The current facility handles 12 million gallons per day, however, when all the updates are completed, the plant will be able to handle 16 million gallons per day!

One concern of an expanding wastewater treatment plant for many is the odor. One goal for the updates is to increase odor control so that the plant isn’t a nuisance. As many would imagine, before touring this wastewater treatment plant, I had mentally prepared for a strong odor throughout the facility. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the odor was mostly contained to the part of the facility where the wastewater entered untreated. Throughout the rest of the facility, I wouldn’t have known that I was standing so close to millions of gallons of wastewater.

This is where sewage is strained of larger pieces of garbage before entering the rest of the plant. This equipment is being replaced. It will be covered to help with odor control.
This is the pump house, built in 1979 with various changes made over the years. This building will also be replaced with new pumps and a new building to accommodate the new pumps.

These ad hoc additions over the years left the facility with a mismatch of equipment of assorted sizes and capacities. For example, right now there is an assortment of pumps that have been added over the years of all different sizes. This makes redundancy difficult. Redundancy is the ability of the other pumps to handle the extra flow when one pump is down for maintenance. By replacing the pumps with six new pumps that are all equal in size and capacity, the strain on individual pumps is lessened, and their capacity to handle maintenance issues is increased.

This is the day tank that assists the plant in managing capacity during times of fluctuating flows.

Another portion of this project is the equalization tanks that are being added. One that handles five million gallons and another that can hold 15 million gallons. Throughout the day and night, the flow of sewage coming into the plant varies; the equalization tanks hold flow during the higher flow times to even the flow into the plant. This reduces the strain on the equipment and makes testing more accurate. The smaller tank handles day-to-day variations while the larger tank handles large storms and flooding. These tanks also allow the plant to temporarily shut down sections of the plant for updates and maintenance.

The location of the new equalization tank. Charlotte Water and its contractors will be digging 65 feet under the ground to place the influent pump station which will be adjacent to the equalization tank.

Many systems and buildings within the plant will be touched by at least one phase of the project. There are four phases, with phase one being launched by the end of 2022. Most of the work of phase one will begin in 2023 with plans to be completed by the end of 2026. 

It is easy to ignore or not even consider how much work goes into keeping our city clean and sanitary for the more than one million people (and counting!) who live here. As we continue to grow, we are grateful for the City employees who plan for and accommodate the continued growth of our city. There is a lot of work that goes into planning and sustaining the foundation that keeps Charlotte running.

Behind the Scenes, History

Charlotte Water Highlights Our History

Charlotte Water Adds Uplights to Our Historical Vest Water Tower in Collaboration with McCrorey Neighborhood

Considered a hallmark of water facilities of the 20th century and lauded for ingenuity in function and design, the Vest Water Station symbolizes over 100 years of water and urban development history in Charlotte. In 1990, Vest Water Station received designation as American Water Works Association Landmark and is also designated by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission as a Historic Landmark.  

Historic Drought Threatened Charlotte

In 1911, Charlotte’s main water sources were private wells and local creeks. When a devastating drought dried up the creeks, Charlotte was forced to pay neighboring cities to haul water to the city. The drought was so significant that the city’s police were confiscating garden hoses from people’s yards. Newspapers as far north as New York City warned people to stay away from Charlotte and neighboring cities and placed ads in Charlotte newspapers talking about their clean, fresh water. While the drought eventually ended, it brought to light an area of concern for planners if Charlotte was to continue to develop into a larger city.  

As a result, city officials rapidly pursued pumping water from the Catawba River and an extensive, state-of-the-art water treatment and storage facility at Vest Water Station. Around this time, Charlotte was the most populous city in North Carolina (around 50,000 people) and growing. If Charlotte didn’t have a secure water source, the city would not last not grow. This facility was the start of an extensive and innovative water system that continues to win awards today. 

An Innovative Water Treatment Facility

The main facility held laboratories, coagulation basins, filters, a capacity of 8.3 million gallons a day, and an elevated storage tank of 1 million gallons. By the late 1930s, capacity was reached, and expansions were completed after 1939. This expansion enabled the water treatment facility to meet the needs of Charlotte’s population of over 130,000. 

Without this forethought into water supply and distribution, Charlotte would not have experienced the same degree of population and industrial growth throughout the early 20th century. A commitment to clean, drinkable water and state-of-the-art water infrastructure allowed Charlotte to boom throughout the following decades. The fire department worked closely with Charlotte Water to ensure the water infrastructure supported efficient firefighting. This led to a decrease in fire-related losses in Charlotte. 

Due to its innovative design, the Vest Water Treatment Plant runs efficiently and is a major water source in the area. In evaluating locations for the new water plant, the Beatties Ford Road corridor location was chosen for several reasons. The land was at a higher elevation and close to existing water mains. It also was at a prime location to collect water from existing water sources. It was also, at the time, undeveloped. Rev. H.L. McCrorey owned the land and had planned to use it for future African-American-owned development. After a legal process, the City of Charlotte acquired the land from McCrorey Heights.  

The McCrorey Heights Influence

While the history has been complex, the McCrorey Heights neighborhood has since been designated a historic district to protect it from other projects in the future. This allows the neighborhood to have more control over what happens within McCrorey Heights and helps protect against gentrification and other changes that threaten the integrity of its neighborhood. 

Due to the work of McCrorey Heights, their neighborhood has stayed well-preserved and intact. It looks remarkably like how it was in the 1950s when it became fully developed. Many civil rights leaders lived in the McCrorey Heights neighborhood and some of their descendants and family live there today. This neighborhood was and still is an influential hub of Black culture and leadership. 

Vest Water Tower Lighting Ceremony

It is in collaboration with the McCrorey Heights neighborhood that Charlotte Water added lights to the Vest Station water tower earlier this month. With the community’s input, more than 70 LED lights were strategically installed and positioned across the tank walls and underbody to illuminate the tower for decades. Other improvements to the area will include an electric vehicle charging area and a bench seating and placemaking location. 

Charlotte Water recognizes both the historic nature of the innovative Vest Station water tower and what it meant to the growth and development of Charlotte and this historic neighborhood that has been influential in Charlotte becoming what it is today. 

In recognition of our past, we better understand the work that needs to be done in the future. It is only through collaboration that Charlotte can progress. We are grateful for the leadership of the McCrorey Heights neighborhood and their participation in this project. 

Billing, My Water

AAA Rating From Fitch Group

On Wednesday, August 3, 2017, Fitch Group affirmed Charlotte Water’s Bond Rating at AAA with a Stable Outlook. This reinforces the City’s ongoing commitment to providing high quality water and wastewater services at affordable rates.

When reviewing Charlotte Water’s finances and operations, several items were cited by Fitch as critical factors contributing to the stability of the utility, including efforts the utility makes to:

  • Maintain affordable rates.
  • Follow long-term financial and regional water supply plans.
  • Implement ongoing capital investments to accommodate new growth and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
  • Support the city’s role as a regional economic center for trade, transportation, health care, financial services and other industries.

Departure from existing financial planning was identified by Fitch as the only notable factor that could threaten the utility’s rating in the future.