WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Water Treatment Staff: Shannon Boring, David Borum, Greg Branning, Eugene Durant, Michael Jackson, Bryce Lechman, Todd Merriman, Danny Pardue, Chris Payne, Brent Stafford, and Shane Whitehead.

Our award winning, state of the art, Water Treatment Facility has been in operation since October 2004. The plant uses a membrane filtration system, one of the first of its kind in the state when it began operations. Since 2004 the plant has made many improvements to stay ahead of our fast growing county, while the plant currently produces around 2.9 million gallons of water daily, it is capable of producing 10.3 million gallons of water daily. Our water treatment plant is a big part of our mission to be prepared for tomorrow.

In 2014, the plant won the Award of Excellence given by the American Water Works Association (AWWA), standing out among 150 mid-sized facilities across the state.  AWWA considered a number of things in giving the award, including the state sanitary survey score, plant maintenance program, employee training, and emergency plans.  

Our plant is staffed with a certified operator on every shift, and it is staffed around the clock during the week. We perform over 1,800 lab tests on the water per year in our onsite, certified lab. We have a total of 7 Certified Grade IV Water Treatment Plant Operators and 2 Certified Grade II Distribution System Operators on staff at our plant, all of our certified operators are required to attain 12 hours of CEU (continuing education unit) credits every 3 years to maintain their licenses.  This is no small feat as the national rate of operators passing their grade 4 exam is around 40% or less. Our operators are a critical part of providing an adequate and safe water supply to Blount County. ‍