PUMA Goes Bowling
Maria Thi Mai
Just past daylight, Terry Richardson and I were met by the smiling faces of the PUMA crew (Pump Station Maintenance) of the BES. These are the good folks that fish bowling balls out of our pipes - among other things.
I learned that we have nearly 100 pump stations that feed waste water into our treatment plants and the work that the PUMA crew does helps keeps our waste water flowing where it needs to go and out of trouble with DEQ. Dean Steffanson, of the PUMA crew, used an analogy of our bodies to explain how our waste water and collection system operates. Think of the pump stations as 97 hearts moving fluid through an elaborate maze of pressurized pipes throughout the city similar to how our arteries and veins distribute blood to all parts of our body. In the case of our waste water system, some pipes are nearly 11 miles long and as big as 14 feet in diameter.
Thanks to the crew for a great day!
P.S. Click here to see where the nearest pump station is to your home? Download pump_station_map.pdf
Posted by Maria Thi Mai on March 2, 2006
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