My supervisor and I have lots of work experience beyond the comfortable confines of our Ferndale office. We’ve traveled to Ann Arbor, Canton, Highland Park, South Lyon and even Ingham County. Over the course of these visits, we’ve spoken to a few fire chiefs, solar installers and other key players.
One of my favorite meetings was 25 June with South Lyon Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Bob Martin. He was warm, charismatic and very funny. These meetings make me a little nervous, but I’m learning how to be professional and adjust my approach with each person.
Bob was extremely knowledgeable and put us in touch with the South Lyon police and fire chiefs. (In fact, South Lyon Fire Chief Kennedy will speak with me and Jen tomorrow afternoon). By reaching out to these sometimes intimidating reps, Bob exemplified the web-like structure of professional connections. One person can connect you to another, who might recommend you speak with someone else, etc. This can both accelerate/enhance and slow the connection process. Occasionally you have to go through a few different people to have a question addressed and things can get muddled.
Perhaps the coolest aspect of our meeting was learning about the sewage treatment plant’s pump monitoring system. This remote monitoring system is set up indoors and displayed on a couple screens, so Bob is constantly aware of stats like pump pressure or whether they require any maintenance.
About 10,000 people live in South Lyon. Even for a smaller city, wastewater treatment consumes a great deal of money and energy. Three percent of the electricity used in the U.S. is simply sewage treatment. It makes sense that treatment uses so much energy – it involves moving water from one place to another, heating and pumping oxygen into it – but it doesn’t have to be such an insatiable consumer.
Still, the treatment facilities (their pumps) have to be run 24/7, 365 days per year. After street lighting, wastewater treatment is often a city’s largest expense. For South Lyon, it used to cost them $280k each year. The REO worked with the city to lower their energy use and cut costs (this is what we’re trying to do at police and fire stations across Southeast Michigan).
The trick to spending less money and energy on treatment (or really anything) is to be as efficient as possible, to channel your resources (time/attention/energy/money) most effectively, where they can make the greatest impact. With this frame of mind, the city installed a monitor which helps the department save energy. It feeds them information so they can turn pumps off when they’re unnecessary. Bob was especially enthused because he can review any pump from a remote location and see what’s happening. All the pumps and their respective stats are displayed, so he doesn’t have to look at them individually. Bob can check the treatment system at 2 P.M. or 2 A.M. and regulate it accordingly. The dashboard displays which items are consuming the bulk of their energy, so the department can tailor their pump use. The monitor tells the department when to shut off certain pumps, blowers and compressors. As a result, they can run the pumps during the best conditions, when energy use is off peak hours. They can adjust their usage so that they use the least amount of energy possible. DTE can then take that energy potential and use it to power something else, making treatment cheaper for the facility overall.
I’m so proud and lucky to work with the REO – they made that monitor possible! The REO applied for a grant and covered the cost of South Lyon’s system. The monitor cost $36k, but the city was able to make that back in a year. This simple system cut $15-20k from their energy expenditure.
Hearing about the monitor from Bob and seeing his excitement and enthusiasm firsthand was inspirational. It made me more committed to my specific project. I know it will take quite some time, but I want to see solar panels go up at our municipal members’ stations. To help make that happen would be completely awesome.
It’s great that you’re getting to travel and experience a lot outside of your organization. Learning about some of the things we often take for granted, like water treatment, is a cool experience. It’s also great to meet those community members and leaders that impact, impress, and motivate. Thanks for sharing!