BATAVIA, OH (April 26, 2023) — Elevated water storage tanks in Afton and Goshen are slated for repainting this spring and summer as Clermont County Water Resources begins a decade-long refresh of 18 water tanks.
American Suncraft Co. of Medway, Ohio, has been awarded a $1.16-million bid for work on the towers, located on Half Acre Road near Milacron in Afton and on Goshen Road near Goshen High School.
Work on the Goshen tower is expected to begin after the Afton tower. Work is anticipated to take two months at each tank. Bid opening for rehabilitation and repainting of the Summit tank took place on March 16. Work at the Summit tank is scheduled to be completed in 2023 also.
The towers will have a blue underside and top, with the county logo on two faces, along with lettering spelling Clermont County and the name of the township. The name Clermont County will also be printed on the top.
The Board of County Commissioners last year selected the design from options presented by artist Keith Konya of West Chester, who has experience with towers in Butler County.
Water Resources Project Manager Ainsley Knapke said the classic look will be uniform across the county. The aesthetically pleasing design will help build a positive brand for Clermont County.
Individual water tanks are repainted roughly every 20 years, so repainting the tanks with the new design will be a process over the next several years, running through about 2034.
Most of the project’s cost goes toward repairing portions of the metal structure (ladders, platforms, etc.) and applying coating. Interior areas normally wet will receive a zinc epoxy and an epoxy will go on dry interior areas. Exteriors of the tanks will receive a zinc epoxy urethane coating system.
Workers will sand blast off existing paint, with dust containment enclosures in place. County logo and text will be painted on the exterior of the tanks, using stencils.
Safety remains vitally important to Derek Spencer as he goes about his job inspecting all of Clermont County’s sewer lines. His work takes him to open manholes, the middle of busy roads, and other potentially dangerous situations. Some holes go as far as 40 feet deep. There can be toxic gases.
“I’m in the field all day, every day,” he said. “I can’t lose sight of the importance of safety.”
Spencer operates two special cameras that ride crawlers of 1.5 and three feet in length through sewer mains and laterals. He records the video on a computer in his mobile office, a large white van. His official title is Collections Specialist in the Water Resources Department.
He uses fall protection and safety equipment such as harnesses and cable winches as he lowers and pulls out of confined spaces. His protection also includes an air quality monitor to detect any gases from sewerage.
“I spend a lot of time checking laterals to see if there is a blockage so we can help homeowners and restore access to our service,” he said. Often, tree roots get into sewer lines, causing backups into basements. Sometimes, ground settles, leading to breaks where dirt backs up a line.
Spencer reviews his findings with his manager James Mattes, Supervisor of the Water Resources Department’s Electro Maintenance and Collections Department, to come up with solutions to the various situations.
“Derek is the eyes of the department,” Mattes said. “He is what leads the department into proper repairing. It’s a very important position.”
State requirements lead to inspection of all sewer lines every 10 years. This allows Water Resources to help protect safety of the environment by detecting any leaking of sewerage.
“If we’ve got a sanitary sewer line there, I’ll make it there,” Spencer said.
Mattes, who has worked for Clermont County since 2004, said his 18-person team takes safety seriously.
“If you’re lackadaisical about it, you’ll get injured,” he said. “Safety starts with the individual. There’s nothing worth you not going home at the end of the day due to injury. We supply an important service, but at the same time we need to take care of ourselves. ”
Mattes said that his team works closely with Clermont County Safety Coordinator Gary Caudill. They review any incidents and make changes to prevent recurrences. This can include additional training or manpower adjustments.
Caudill appreciates the teamwork with Mattes’ department, which keeps priorities such as safety and customer service in the forefront at all times. Caudill noted that Spencer doesn’t lose track of safety duties while going about his essential job.
“We’re lucky to have a good team, supplied with PPE and provided with training,” Mattes said. “Gary does a good job of listening to the guys. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed, we’ll address it.”
BATAVIA, OH (Feb. 14, 2023) — Clermont County Water Resources Department is aware of the train derailment in East Palestine, OH (located on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania) and is monitoring the situation. ORSANCO continues to monitor water quality in the Ohio River and provide updates on the contaminate plume’s concentration and its location as it progresses downriver.
Clermont County has three treatment plants, one of which is located in the southwestern portion of the County where it draws water from the Ohio River Valley Aquifer. This is a groundwater plant and does not draw water from the Ohio River.
In an abundance of caution, if the contaminate plume still has concentrations at dangerous levels when it is passing by the area where our wellfield is located, Clermont County Water Resources may temporarily cease the operation of wells nearest the Ohio River bank until it is determined that the contaminate plume has passed.
Construction has begun on the long-anticipated first sewer system in the former village of Newtonsville. Completion is scheduled for end of summer of 2023.
Crews from Tribute Contracting & Consultants of South Point, Ohio, are busy digging and laying sewer lines along State Route 131. Work by Building Crafts Inc. of Wilder, Ky., also is progressing on a wastewater treatment plant behind Wayne Township offices.
Extensive engineering fieldwork and project design by the Clermont County Water Resources Department began in 2012. A number of public information meetings have been held.
Commissioners on March 9 awarded bids totaling $12.3 million to Building Crafts and Tribute Contracting & Consultants for the collection system and wastewater treatment plant projects in Wayne Township. Building Crafts entered into a $6.3-million contract for the wastewater treatment plant and Tribute, $6 million for the collection system.
Currently, properties have septic systems. In October 2012, residents were notified by Clermont Public Health that a significant number of homes had failing septic systems, and sewage created a health risk. At that time, Public Health recommended a public sewer system to serve the residents in the project area. During the initial mailings and public meeting, individual Sanitary Sewer Petitions were received by Clermont County for property owners in the former village of Newtonsville and the surrounding adjacent area.
A majority of the property owners indicated their support for a full gravity collection system. The treatment plant will handle 57,000 gallons per day, and includes an influent pump station and a backup power generator. The collection system includes over 17,700 feet of 8-inch gravity sewer main, manholes, and a submersible pump station.
Funds for the work will come from assessment of benefitted properties, the County Wastewater System Capital Improvement Fund, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant and loan funds, Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) grant funds and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funds.
The assessment for property owners totals $4.2 million, which will be funded through a USDA loan. Clermont County will contribute $1.5 million in ARPA funds to reduce the assessments and overall loan amount. That will be a 36-percent reduction in the overall assessment.
BATAVIA, OH — University of Cincinnati environmental engineering major Isaiah Brinson appreciates first-hand experience gained as special projects intern at Clermont County Water Resources. He’s also grateful for the support of department staff during the 3-month internship.
“Unlike previous jobs, I’m able to look at sites such as waste treatment plants,” said Brinson, 22, a graduate of Glen Este High School (now West Clermont High School). “The people here have been very helpful, my supervisor Chris Rowland, co-workers, everyone. The inspector at a job site showed me schematics so I could see it myself. Everyone is very helpful when I have questions. A lot of them went to UC as well.”
Brinson is in the fourth of five years in the UC engineering program. He is minoring in chemistry.
His internship, which started the last week of May, includes a wide variety of duties. He helps with engineering bids, examining items such as pipe length, jack and bore (a trenchless method of sewer construction), fire hydrant installation, connections to services and water meters, etc. This involves reviewing blueprints and doing calculations as he looks for discrepancies.
Brinson also assists with civil 3D designs, redesign standards and specifications. He helped with design of an in-house project. He uses programs such as ArcMap and Excel to carry out his duties.
“These are just the big things,” he said. “I’ve definitely got a lot of engineering experience. That’s why I wanted to come to this department. I’m still learning. It’s definitely been very useful.”
The Water Resources Department has three co-op / internship positions available: One in water treatment, one in wastewater treatment, and the third in the Engineering Division.
“We have had the water/wastewater treatment co-op positions for several years now,” said Lyle Bloom, Water Resources director. “In the past, we have filled these positions with students from Cincinnati State who are enrolled in the Environmental Engineering Technology program. In some instances, the co-ops are subsequently hired as full-time employees as water or wastewater treatment operators who eventually obtain their State of Ohio certification as a licensed operator.”
Earlier this year, Water Resources created an internship position to recruit engineering students who are pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, including students at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science. Brinson is the first hire for this new position.
Co-op/internship positions allow students the opportunity to gain real-world experience in the field in which they are pursuing a degree. Those interested can apply online through the County’s employment portal at: Employment opportunities (munisselfservice.com)
BATAVIA, OH — Clermont County Water Resources’ 5-year Capital Improvement Plan calls for 63 waterworks projects totaling $42 million and 55 wastewater projects estimated at $72.7 million. Water Resources Director Lyle Bloom reviewed the plan with the Board of County Commissioners on May 9. Commissioners approved the plan on May 11.
Waterworks projects include 32 water main replacements ($25 million), eight water storage tank rehabilitation/removals ($4.3 million), eight water treatment plan renovations/upgrades ($4.7 million) and eight new water main extensions ($5.4 million). Funding for the waterworks portion of the plan includes $3.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and $813,000 in Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) money.
Wastewater projects include 14 sewer replacements ($25.1 million), 12 lift station upgrades/eliminations ($9.8 million), nine wastewater treatment plant projects ($19.1 million) and 13 new sanitary sewer main extensions ($16.4 million). Funding for the wastewater part of the plan includes $4.8 million in ARPA funds, $3 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funds and $864,000 in OPWC money.
BATAVIA, OH — Action by the Board of County Commissioners on March 9 brought the former village of Newtonsville a step closer to its first sewer system – a process dating back to the 1990s. Work on the project that’s coming to fruition started in 2012.
Commissioners awarded bids totaling $12.3 million to Building Crafts Inc. of Wilder, Ky., and Tribute Contracting & Consultants of South Point, Ohio for the Newtonsville-area collection system and wastewater treatment plant projects in Wayne Township. Building Crafts entered into a $6.3-million contract for the wastewater treatment plant and Tribute, $6 million for the collection system.
Currently, properties have septic systems. In October 2012, residents were notified by Clermont Public Health that a significant number of homes had failing septic systems, and sewage created a health risk. At that time, Public Health recommended a public sewer system to serve the residents in the project area.
Since then, the Clermont County Water Resources Department has completed extensive engineering fieldwork and project design. A number of public information meetings have been held.
A majority of the property owners indicated their support for a full gravity collection system, and not a hybrid collection system that had been presented to them. The hybrid collection system included a combination of conventional gravity sewers and STEP (Septic Tank Effluent Pump) to convey wastewater to the proposed wastewater treatment facility.
The treatment plant will handle 57,000 gallons per day, and includes an influent pump station and a backup power generator. The collection system includes over 17,700 feet of 8-inch gravity sewer main, manholes, and a submersible pump station.
Lyle Bloom, director, of the Clermont County Water Resources Department, said funds for the work will come from assessment of benefitted properties, the County Wastewater System Capital Improvement Fund, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant and loan funds, Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) grant funds and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funds.
The assessment for property owners totals $4.2 million, which will be funded through a USDA loan. Clermont County will contribute $1.5 million in ARPA funds to reduce the assessments and overall loan amount. That will be a 36-percent reduction in the overall assessment.
“It’s been a long project, but staying with it and paying attention to the stakeholders, you guys did a great job,” Commissioner David Painter told Bloom. “I think this one is really going to make a difference in that part of Clermont County, to actually have sewers.”
Work on the project is expected to start in March, 2022, with completion projected for July, 2023.
–Submitted by Kevin Saunders of Water Resources and Hannah Lubbers, director of the Clermont County Office of Environmental Quality (OEQ) and the Adams-Clermont Solid Waste District
Staff recently celebrated the retirement of a valuable employee of the Clermont County Water Resources Department after 39 years of service. William Johnson was hired by Clermont County Sewer Laboratory where, back in the 80’s, there was an abundance of William Johnsons employed with the county.
Since a William and Bill were already employed by the Laboratory, he selected JB as his moniker and the beginning of a legend began!
JB was educated at Miami University and obtained a BS in Chemistry and BA in English. This dichotomy in education led to a very unique individual who can, in his own words, “speak to the symbolism in Paradise Lost or describe how a polymerization reaction proceeds due to metal catalysts.”
JB started working in the Laboratory as a technician and rose to the role of Laboratory Manager. He will be retiring with the title of Chemist, but he is the true heart of the Wastewater Lab and we will be losing a technical expert, teacher, and historian.
The one thing JB excelled at was teaching everyone to be a critical thinker and installed a desire to never stop learning. During his tenure, the Laboratory was approved as one of the only Ohio EPA-certified labs in the state and currently services 15 different treatment facilities running analytical chemistry on 14 different tests.
In addition to his practical work accomplishments, JB always brought humor and wit to the workplace. He is a great conversationalist and a fascinating person.
JB has practiced scuba diving, sailboarding, and more recently can often be found practicing his Tai Chi on the banks of the Little Miami River. He’s always prepared to chime into to any conversation with an obscure, but related fact. For example, when discussing best management practices, JB educated us about how in the 1950’s they parachuted beavers into the Idaho backcountry as a conservation effort.
He’s skilled at making mundane work tasks entertaining by bringing levity and interesting pieces of information to the task at hand. JB’s knowledge, dedication, and sense of humor will be sincerely missed at the wastewater laboratory.