Tag Archives: infrastructure

Construction, Infrastructure Improvements

Making Water Outages at Critical Care Facilities a Thing of the Past

In order to repair a broken water main, the location of the break has to be isolated by using pre-installed valves. There are 85,547 water main valves throughout our system. In most cases, this process requires us to turn off water access to nearby customers before working on a pressurized main. An inconvenience for some, but for others like critical care facilities, can be a matter of life or death. That is where a new insertion valve comes in.

The valve can be installed on an existing in-service main and allows us to perform maintenance or repairs without shutting down nearby blocks of the water distribution system.

Staff are currently being trained to install these special valves, and have already installed four in critical areas.

3 men in hard hats are in a hole in the road installing a valve
a group of men wearing hard hats and safety vests standing around a valve in the street
Crew 422 with Crew Chief Travis Cutherbertson and Delmond Cummings installing an insertion valve in Cornelius.

The goal is that at least one crew in every one of our four zones is trained on this specialized valve insertion process so that when a repair is needed near a critical facility, we can install the valve and eliminate the need for a water outage.

Labor Crew Chief and insertion valve project manager Delmond Cummings says, “These valves use fewer fittings, meaning less chance of leaks to the distribution system. The hydraulic integrity of this equipment helps reduce turning off residents or community water for extended periods of time for repair. With this training, employees learn new methods and technologies that upgrade/enhance their knowledge and skill level.“

Though we can’t guarantee that a water outage won’t occur during a repair or routine maintenance of our distribution system, we hope that with the addition of these types of valves in our toolkit, we can minimize disruption to our customers.

This is just one of the many ways that our staff are working to improve the resiliency of a system that protects public health and the environment.

Construction, Infrastructure Improvements

Flushing and the growth of the Queen City

Before cranes build the next skyscraper or apartment complex, developers must reach out to Charlotte Water to see if the wastewater infrastructure has the capacity for the increase in the-ahem-flow.

From the pipes that carry your wastewater to the treatment plants, to the plants themselves, they all have a specific amount of wastewater that they can hold and treat before the system gets overwhelmed. If a building with say 600 new units wants to be developed but our pipes couldn’t handle the extra waste then development halts until the capacity issue is resolved. This delay in construction is not good for business or the growth of our city, so that is where our Capacity Assurance Program comes in. Our highly trained engineers, who take projected growth and future developments into consideration, review the capacity of our entire system. In calendar year 2018 Charlotte Water received 391 separate requests, it is anticipated that there will be more than 600 requests by the end of 2019.

This isn’t something that we just eyeball, there is a science to it. We anticipate a specific number of gallons of wastewater will be produced from each particular type of development, as you can see below:

  • 190 gallons per day for each dwelling unit for single-family residential areas (including townhouses).
  • 135 gallons per day for each multi-family residential unit.
  • 25 gallons per employee/shift for office space.

This information helps our engineers know whether a new or redeveloped site can handle the increase in wastewater and respond appropriately to each developers request for access to the wastewater system. A major part of our capital budget, which is funded through water and sewer rates, goes towards increasing the capacity of our system.

Our staff works hard to make sure we anticipate growth and perform projects to increase capacity before development starts. Our recent wastewater project near Barringer Drive is a great example of upsizing pipes to fit new developments.

“This project is a success story,” said Angela Lee, Director of Charlotte Water.  “We were going to clean and install a new liner in the pipe. Before we started, the service area started to redevelop and we were able to quickly change course and upsize the pipe before major private developments started building vertically. This project is one of many that show our passion to serve the public and the ability to deliver on-time commitments to the community.”

The original wastewater pipes were eight to ten inches in diameter, the new pipes are now 18 or 24 inches in diameter. The total cost of the project was $2.5 million.

“While we installed the wastewater pipe, private developers were able to start their construction as well. Our new pipe was in service before the developments were completed.”

Charlotte Water has made sure the Capacity Assurance Program aligns with the development time frame from conception to completion to support rather than impede the growth of Charlotte.

For more information about other projects being done throughout Mecklenburg County to increase capacity,  and improve water quality and reliability visit our website.

Construction, Infrastructure Improvements

Updates to Capacity and Development Fees for FY 2019

Some Charlotte Water Capacity Fees Drop In July

At their June 11, 2018 meeting, the Charlotte City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget. Along with that budget, the FY 2019 Charlotte Water fee schedule was approved. Due to legislated revisions to the methodology, some Capacity and Connection Fees are decreasing in FY 2019. The Charlotte Water fee schedule for FY 2019, which will become effective July 1, 2018, can be found on the Charlotte Water website.

Water Main Extensions Required for New Service Requests on Larger Pipes

Also effective July 1, 2018, customers requesting any new water service tap requests that have immediate access to a 30-inch transmission main AND larger will be required to complete a water main extension application. For those service taps on a 20- or 24-inch water line, Charlotte Water reserves the right to connect to a local smaller main. New service requests will not change for taps on 16-inch or smaller mains. Though additional construction delivery time may be needed for new service tap requests on extensions 30-inch or larger, these changes in system design will enhance distribution system water quality and customer serviceability.

FY 2019 Plan Review & Inspection Fees

Two years ago Charlotte Water introduced plan review and inspection fees for the first time to recover employee time costs.  Since the utility had never recouped review and inspection costs previously, percentages of the fees were received on an escalating basis for three years.

  • From 7-1-16 through 6-30-17 – 50% of the fees recovered
  • From 7-1-17 through 6-30-18 – 75% of the fees recovered
  • From 7-1-18 onward – 100% of fees recovered.

The schedule of plan review and inspection fees effective July 1, 2018 can be found on Charlotte Water’s website.

Visit charlottewater.org and click on Development for more information.

Behind the Scenes, History

Lee Dukes Water Treatment Plant Turns 20

Twenty years ago North Mecklenburg County looked a lot different than it does today. Talk of toll roads and Whole Foods markets were not even on the radar. But Charlotte Water knew this region of the county was growing and with that came an increase in the need for water. At the time, all the water for the county was supplied by water from Mountain Island Lake, treated at Franklin and Vest and pumped up to residents in Northern Mecklenburg. With the addition of a new intake on Lake Norman at Blythe Landing and the treatment plant across the street, Charlotte Water could better serve the residents of north Mecklenburg with a closer water source.

Originally Lee Dukes, or North Mecklenburg Water Treatment Plant as it was once called, was built to be a community center in addition to a treatment plant. Unlike most treatment plants, the lobby area was designed to look aesthetically pleasing and shows off mosaics made by local children and artists and houses the extensive collection of woodcarvings made by Lee Dukes himself. Unfortunately due to increasing need for security after 9/11, community events in the facility had to be minimized. Though Blue Planet was not in the original plans, due to an EPA grant the environmental learning facility was built within Lee Dukes plant and served residents for ten years before being closed.

 

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Example of Mosaic Artwork Found at Lee Dukes

 

The plant opening was delayed a year due to difficulties installing the 60” diameter concrete pipe under Highway 73, this pipe connected the pump station at the lake to the treatment plant.

Three plant operators that were part of the inaugural staff on that day in 1998 still work at Charlotte Water, with two of them still working at the same plant. The science behind water treatment hasn’t changed much in 20 years and except for some updated office technology, the plant hasn’t changed much either.

 

Lake norman at blythe 43 copy
Pump Station at Blythe Landing on Lake Norman

Currently, Lee Dukes treats about 18 million gallons a day but the land purchased by Charlotte Water in the mid 90’s has room for much more equipment that would increase the capacity of the plant significantly if needed. This treatment plant is in it for the long haul and will continue to play an integral role in the growth of Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson.