City of Lubbock Water Utilities by North American Constructors Journal

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City of Lubbock Water Utilities:

Designing A Sustainable System Lubbockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Water Utilities Department has an annual operating budget of $85 million and services more than 90,000 individual water connections throughout its system. Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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urn on your faucet and out it gushes. Flush your toilet and away it goes. However, as a consumer, have you ever truly thought about the system that meets your everyday water needs? Odds are not until you are affected in some way and system maintenance is necessary at its most granular level, your residence. Director of Water Utilities Aubrey Spear has overseen a highly integrated, complex system for the city of Lubbock, TX (pop. 270,000) for the past 13 years. Incorporated in 1909, the city was initially serviced by a handful of wells that were disinfected by simple chlorination methods..

North Water Treatment Plant have the capacity to treat a combined 90 million gallons per day. On the Wastewater side, the collection system consists of 1,212 miles of sanitary sewer lines, 36 lift stations and 18,606 manholes. Approximately 6.70 billion gallons of wastewater was treated and either reused or disposed of during 2019. Potable water is distributed throughout the region via 1,780 miles of lines, 14 pump stations, 25,941 valves and 6,670 fire hydrants. The city also has contract with four municipalities, two educational facilities and one criminal justice unit to provide treated water.

Today the mid-size municipality’s Water Utilities Department has an annual operating budget of $85 million and services over 90,000 individual water connections throughout its system. According to its mission statement, it is committed to developing, protecting, and preserving valuable water resources while providing high quality utility services and exceptional customer service.

That’s a lot of potential for troubleshooting but, as Spear points out, the city’s comprehensive 350page Strategic Water Supply Plan, Water Distribution System Master Plan, and Wastewater Collection System Master Plan for upgrades “provides a road map for the development of a cost effective and sustainable water supply and infrastructure improvements over the next 100 years.”

In FY2019, the City obtained water from its Bailey County Well Field (2.1 billion gallons) and Lake Alan Henry (2.3 billion gallons) as well as the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority (7.3 billion gallons). The city’s South Water Treatment Plant and

“It sends a signal that we’re open for business and we’re going to be for many years to come because we’ve taken care of our water business. We have access to enough water to grow this city for the next 100 years,” proclaims Spear. “And the utility has

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“There is great satisfaction in knowing we’re making a difference in people’s lives because we’re providing something that is vital.” - Director of Water Utilities Aubrey Spear

really been proactive in educating the community about conservation of our resources over the past decade.”

Some Key Initiatives Automated Metering Infrastructure Project: This landmark joint venture with the city’s electric utility will be substantially completed by January 2021. Over 90,000 of the Water Department’s connection’s meters were swapped out or retrofitted over a

two-year period. “We have a lot of data now and we’re hoping to build portals so customers can look at their water consumption data every day so they can manage their own usage since it’s connected with our billing system. It’s exciting to see it come to fruition,” Spear notes. North Water Treatment Plant: The plant, built in the 1960s, treats both ground water and surface

Aubrey Spear

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City of Lubbock Water Utilities | 6 water coming from the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority and is undergoing four phases of improvements. “We’re in phase three now and we’re six or seven years into this project. It’s going to take about 10 years to complete and in a couple years during the final phase the terminal reservoir will be dredged. Right now we’re working on refurbishing the backwash system and have replaced many of the mechanisms. It’s quite a comprehensive project,” Spear says. New Elevated Storage Tanks: Three aging elevated storage facilities are being decommissioned and will be replaced by five new elevated storage

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tanks built in optimal locations to accommodate the growth throughout the city. “The city has grown significantly in the past 50 years or so. This project will result in significant energy savings. Right now we have to keep our distribution system pressurized with pump stations. Once the elevated storage tanks are up and running, the pump stations won’t be used all the time. The final three will be built over next five years, so there are opportunities for contractors,” Spear observes. Diversification: Spear explains the city’s goal in dealing with the region’s climate conditions and weaknesses

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BEHIND EVERY UTILITY THERE IS A PERSON.

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City of Lubbock Water Utilities | 8 associated with the water system is to DIVERSIFY its sources of water. “We have two lakes and two groundwater well fields. We’re beginning to re-use our water and trying to avoid relying on one source or one type of water and we’re emphasizing conservation to delay expensive projects. If we conserve, we can push back new supply projects by close to 20 years. That’s an important number because it usually takes 20 years to pay off one of these projects,” he elaborates.

Day To Day Prior to coming to the City of Lubbock, Spear worked in the private sector as an Engineering and Business consultant dealing with water, wastewater and environmental issues. “I’ve worked with a variety of different industries, including with municipalities. In fact, prior to becoming employed by the City, I had worked with the City of Lubbock in a business consulting role, helping them optimize some of the utility,” he says with a laugh. “After 20 years in the private sector it was very intriguing to me to switch into the public sector and see what the difference is and how I could make an impact.” Spear, an industry veteran of 33 years, views himself as a communicator, negotiator, problem solver, and

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facilitator and says no two days are alike. “You start off thinking this week I will take care of X-Y-Z and it winds up being A-B-C,” he says. “Making life easier for my employees by helping them get the resources that they need is crucial. Working on the big picture issues, connecting with our 220+ employees and providing a good work environment for them, talking to them and seeing how they are doing are all parts of the job.” Ensuring the safety of the public, city workers and contractors is of

City of Lubbock Water Utilities | 9 technology helps the city stay ahead of the curve. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software gathers and analyzes data in real time. Meanwhile, Bid Sync provides contractors and suppliers information about upcoming projects. “I think the most important thing is letting contractors know the opportunities that are out there. The more contractors we have show interest, the more likely we are to get a better product. Better communication and information creates better project performance,” Spear says.

paramount importance and starts at the top. “Our City manager is earnest about employee safety. He makes sure everyone has the personal protective equipment that is needed to stay safe. All of our groups hold safety meetings. City safety personnel often drop in and audit job sites to make sure the working conditions are safe and people are adhering to the protocols, so I feel like we a really good on safety,” Spear says. Understanding and optimal use of

The City almost always asks for a Request for Proposal, rather than a Request for Bid. The process includes a point system for price, safety, qualifications and schedule, allowing it to identify and select the most qualified contractors. Large General Contractors oversee most jobs, hiring local, subcontractors that are familiar with working on city owned facilities. These specialists include concrete and electrical firms with long-term demonstrated skill sets. “They know us, we work well with them and we’re not going to be punitive if they make a few mistakes and take the appropriate corrective action,” Spear notes.

Meeting Challenges As is the case with every sector of the

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City of Lubbock Water Utilities | 10 Construction industry in total, Lubbock faces an aging workforce on the verge of retirement and is scouring every source for replacements, including high school and college graduates, those looking to change careers and military veterans looking for opportunities in the civilian workforce. “Getting people interested in working at a utility is a challenge. A lot of people don’t know that it can be a great career and that cuts across all groups. When we go to the schools, we want to connect with anyone interested in working for us. We’re also collaborating with other utilities across the country because there are some great ideas being brought to the surface,” Spear says.

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Spear points out that the City continues to improve in balancing revenue stability, affordability and conservation in the region’s more arid areas that don’t have as much water. Finally, he says dealing with the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the need to be prepared for all manner of uncertainties.

Looking Ahead Everyone needs water every day. With its comprehensive Master Plan in place

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“We’re open for business and we’re going to be for many years to come because we’ve taken care of our water business. We have access to enough water to grow this city for the next 100 years.” - Director of Water Utilities Aubrey Spear

and an eye on conservation, the City of Lubbock seems able to deliver that basic commodity well into the next century. “Our role is to develop, protect, and preserve our water resources and

provide a high level of customer service. I think in the last 20 years, the changes that you see are that we’ve realized it’s not a commodity to be sold but a very important resource that we need to conserve,” Spear concludes. “There is great satisfaction in knowing we’re making a difference in people’s lives because we’re providing something that is vital.”