With the slightest change in pressure, equipment running slower than normal or any other change at a water treatment plant in Starkville, Sean Johnston can monitor the conditions at the water treatment plant through an app on his phone.
Johnston is the chief water operator in the Starkville Utilities Department water division. He oversees the water treatment facilities and makes sure everything is running smoothly and up to state and national standards.
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“All of our critical components such as pumps, wells and tanks are all integrated with real-time monitoring systems,” SUD General Manager Edward Kemp said. “Sean can pull up on his phone right now any of the pumps, wells or tanks. He gets alarms when something is either not working, a level of a tank is too low, or something may be pulling too much on a pump. He and his team monitor that 24/7.”
Kemp said water treatment is a critical part of the community, and while aging infrastructure is a problem across the country, SUD is doing as much as possible to keep up the maintenance of its facilities as well as the water and sewer pipes in the city.
Efforts such as those in Starkville and Columbus to upgrade water and sewer infrastructure help to ensure residents and businesses within the two municipalities receive clean and safe drinking water.
With the water crisis in Jackson making national headlines, the importance of maintaining a safe water infrastructure is clear to the employees and management at SUD and Columbus Light and Water.
Kemp said pipes began being replaced around two years ago beginning in Pleasant Acres, and now SUD is working on rehabilitating and renovating sewer lines in Green Oaks. After Green Oaks is finished, water lines in downtown Starkville will be replaced before the Main Street streetscape project begins.
With a total budget of roughly $9.5 million, the majority of SUD’s water and sewer funding comes from billing, Kemp said.
“We have to have the revenue from water so we can maintain it, do new projects and generate the water,” Kemp said. “… We don’t get tax revenue from the city. We get grants, and we get some income from leases. We lease out telecommunication on some of our water tanks, but those are small components. The majority of funding for water comes from billing.”
At CLW, General Manager Angela Verdell said while the two water treatment facilities are staffed 24/7, like many other plants, there are needs for upgrades.
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“Water and sewer infrastructure needs are very critical at this time,” Verdell said in an email to The Dispatch. “Many systems across the country, including CLW, have been operational for decades and are in need of upgrades and repairs. … The water pipes are in good working order. CLW water operators and crews are proactive in identifying system issues and work to ensure that needs are addressed timely.”
Verdell said CLW’s Fiscal Year 2022 water and sewer budget included $1.5 million in capital projects and $10.5 million in related expenses. CLW received more than $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the city for water and sewer projects, and Verdell said CLW is aiming for a potential dollar for dollar match from the state.
Avoiding Jackson
The water crisis in Jackson has brought the state’s infrastructure issues to light.
Jackson’s water crisis was a buildup of many problems, according to the Associated Press. In June, one of the capital city’s water plants was having pressure issues when the city put its residents on a boil water notice.
When the pressure is too low at a water treatment plant, cracked pipes can begin to absorb water from the ground and it can go untreated into someone’s drinking water or water for other consumption.
In January, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice that the system violates the Safe Water Drinking Act, but in late June, residents with city water were put under a boil water notice due to mechanical issues with filtration equipment and high demand of water during the summer heat wave. With the floods in August, the system reached a critical point to where residents couldn’t even flush their toilets.
Officials reported this week the system had been mostly restored to adequate water pressure, but the boil water notice will remain in place until the city reports two rounds of clean water samples.
While general managers for SUD and CLW could not speculate about the problems Jackson is facing, they did lend to how their water systems are different.
Verdell said it would take years of neglect for Columbus to fall to a level where a crisis like the one in Jackson would be possible.
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“For a crisis of this magnitude to occur in Columbus, there would have to be several years of system oversight and neglect,” Verdell said. “We are constantly monitoring and maintaining the system through proper chemical treatments and daily metrics. In 2022 Columbus Light and Water received a 5 out of 5 rating from the Mississippi Department of Health. … Without knowing the exact design and makeup of the Jackson system, it’s difficult to say what resources would be needed to fix a problem in Columbus of Jackson’s magnitude. There are a lot of factors to consider which makes it difficult to know how long it would take to repair, the cost of repairs, or what resources would be needed to fix an incident of that scale.”
Kemp said in Starkville, the water received a 4.6 out of 5 ranking by the state department of health, and water confidence reports can be accessed on the SUD website under the residential water/sewer tab. The water supply comes from aquifers in the ground instead of a reservoir like Jackson’s, but Kemp said the best way to ensure a water crisis in Starkville doesn’t occur is the constant maintenance and updates to water infrastructure.
“The water supply is different, and we’re not as susceptible to floodwaters,” Kemp said. “What we’re trying to do is continue to reinvest in that infrastructure, whether it be maintenance or upgrades. … Our facilities like everything require a constant update. Sean (Johnston) and I are in the process of changing out some filters at one of our stations. These treatment facilities have been built in different eras, so one of our older facilities needs a renovation that will happen in the next year or two.”
Staffing
Another issue that furthered Jackson’s water crisis is understaffing and overworking employees. WLBT in Jackson reported that operators at one plant logged overtime hours in the triple digits to ensure an operator with the needed certification was present.
SUD has three full-time water operators including Johnston. Kemp did not say his department was understaffed, and there are no open positions on the SUD website.
Verdell said CLW is nearly fully staffed with only one open position remaining.
“Johnston leads a great team, and to me that’s where it all starts,” Kemp said. “We have great people like him that are dedicated and very knowledgeable. They’re all trained and actively participate in the statewide water association’s mandatory education training yearly.”
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