ERMU Misc. 11-09-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Nomi EN um NNE VIEWPOINT Big Pumps in the Big Easy Last year I had the chance to tour two of the That sensc of ownership was exemplified by a pumping facilities designed to keep New Orleans dry group of about 300 water board engineers and In the hours immediately after Katrina blew through, operators who stayed on the job as Hurricane Katrina I was pleased to see that the city hadn't flooded and swept over the city,risking their lives in the process. the pumps were doing their job.And then the levies As floodwaters from broken levis engulfed the city, broke and everything changed. many of the pump stations were inundated. I've toured a fair number of water-related facilities According to reports, one group of operators at in my capacity as editor of WaterWorld, but the New Pumping Station No. 5 had to swim to safety across Orleans pumping facilities were memorable both for the Florida Canal in eastern New Orleans.Another their technology and their history. group of 12 men were trapped at Pumping Station The pumping system was an interesting mix of old No. 4. They were forced to make a makeshift boat and new pumps.And BIG pumps—typing big in all out of a fence and managed to float to safety. Thank- caps doesn't even do them justice. Before the flood, fully, all those on duty during the storm survived, the New Orleans' area pump stations had the capacity according to a spokesman for the Water Board. to move 42,000 cubic feet per second or a little over When I think about the low pay and lack of tee- a billion gallons an hour. ognition most water system operators experience,it's One such station, the Bonnabel hard to imagine such dedication. Pumping Station on Lake Pon- My heart goes out to the people of New Orleans. tchartrain,has three horizontal and The idea of an entire city devastated,evacuated,and two vertical A-C Custom pumps. its populace scattered to the four winds is difficult The vertical pumps have a capacity to comprehend. How do you even begin to restore of 135,000 gpm,while the higher what once was? Not only were homes destroyed, but • volume horizontal pumps have a the basic infrastructure of a city and the businesses capacity of 500,000 gpm. that provide livelihood for its residents. The backbone of the system, I look around at my warm home, my comfort- however,were large screw pumps able life, and shudder to think what a fragile world developed by Albert Baldwin Wood, we live in. a New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board engineer. Wood developed his first screw pump in 1912. His innovative pump design gave New Orleans a fighting chance in the war against the water that surrounds it. Almost 50 of Wood's original pumps are still in use in New Orleans today. • G. Joseph Sullivan, General Superintendent of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, gave a presentation during our tour of Pump Station #1. He spoke with pride when discussing the old pumps. It was obvious that the clean,quiet facility was well 7L4-6P4Put., maintained and staff had a strong sense of ownership when it came to their pumps. James Laughlin, Editor