When you’re the largest public water and wastewater utility in the Carolinas, serving more than a million customers, “working smarter, not harder” isn’t just a catchphrase — it’s a necessity.
In the past, Charlotte Water has received accolades for safeguarding public health and protecting North Carolina’s environmental resources through proactive sewer management practices, operations and maintenance above and beyond what is required by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Today, this large collection system continues to incorporate and expand the use of innovative smart sewer technologies to protect approximately 265,000 households and businesses throughout the area from community contamination.
With an average of 91 million gallons of wastewater passing through roughly 4,376 miles of collection pipelines and 82 wastewater lift stations, more than 30% of the utility’s staff are designated to oversee the complexities of maintenance and asset management.
Using advanced technology
For nearly 10 years, Charlotte Water has successfully been using one of the most sophisticated wastewater technologies for detecting and preventing SSOs. In addition to preventing sewer spills, the investment in smart sewer technology has expanded a range of additional applications, including targeted maintenance and cleanings, ranking infiltration and inflow impact, entry detection at even the most remote locations, and responding to neighborhood odor complaints.
To reduce the amount of cleaning performed on clean pipe, Charlotte Water uses its SmartCover system to alert zone management teams when it’s time to inspect and clean only dirty pipes. To optimize its cleaning schedule, it deployed a SmartClean program at high frequency cleaning sites and syphon boxes on the sewer line. The combination of real-time monitoring and trend analysis provides powerful, predictive insights into the behavior of the collection system, enabling visibility of potential problems days, or weeks, in advance. The strategic use of ongoing remote sewer monitoring, analytics and alarms provides early warnings of elevated levels and blockages.
Today, cleaning crews are only dispatched as needed, which in turn creates more efficient resource allocation. The significant reduction in sewer line cleaning has decreased traffic control needs, conserves thousands of gallons of water each year, extends pipeline life, and saves millions in maintenance costs for the city of Charlotte. All of this on top of preventing sewer spills.
As stewards of critical infrastructure, we invite you to learn how you can apply these lessons of innovation to your collection system. Visit smartcoversystems.com to learn more.
About the Authors
Reynolds Wheeler is an Associate with WC Equipment Sales, a member of Templeton & Associates Engineering Sales, representing a broad line of products for water and wastewater treatment in both the municipal and industrial markets throughout North Carolina. Wheeler earned his undergraduate degree in industrial management from Georgia Tech and his MBA from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is an active member of NC AWWA-WEA, SC AWWA-WEA, NCRWA, SCRWA, WEF and AWWA.
Glen Hill, P.E. is the senior manager for the southeast at SmartCover. Glen has more than 30 years of engineering and sales experience. He earned his civil engineering degree from The Citadel and soon after earned his professional engineer certification. He is licensed in South Carolina, Florida and Texas. Hill brings experience in acoustics testing, flow monitoring, robotic pipe inspection and trenchless pipe rehabilitation.
SmartCover is an award-winning smart sewer technology company serving 500-plus cities with remote collection system monitoring. Public and private utilities rely on our solutions to predict, detect, and prevent emergencies. Since 2005, we’ve accumulated over 190,000,000 operating hours, and installed thousands of sensors underground across North America. SmartCover has an established performance record and world class customer service with references from small to large utilities. We’re driven by the mission to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and preserve the quality of life throughout communities. Visit www.smartcoversystems.com to learn more.
855-291-1980 | sales@smartcoversystems.com | smartcoversystems.com
