On Tuesday, April 14, Treatment Operator Tyler Hoops walked into the Control Room to begin his shift - and saw an unusual sight for 3 o'clock in the morning: His manager. "Right away, that screams - something is happening!" Hoops said.
That night, a perfect nightmare unfolded as relentless flows overwhelmed NEW Water's Green Bay and De Pere Facilities. In late March, storms of some 25" of snow pummeled the region, followed by rising temperatures and rapid snow melts.
In early April, a series of volatile thunderstorms hit the area.
The once-frozen tundra became suddenly saturated - unable to absorb another drop - as intense storms continued to hammer the region for three straight days.
By 3 o'clock on April 14, the wastewater system was struggling to handle the massive flow. That night's flow reached a peak hourly flow of 228 million gallons per day, well above the system's design capacity of about 166 million gallons per day (between both Green Bay and De Pere Facilities). The team huddled to figure out how they would keep the system moving water throughout the night - to protect public health, and the treatment plants.
Read the full publication: Providing Continuous Service - No Matter the Weather | wwoa.org