Water Efficiency May 2012 : Page 42
CALLING REINFORCEMENTS Performance contracts and outside consultants help municipalities fund and repair infrastructure. BY DAN RAFTER hen officials with the city of Mount Vernon, IN, offered Chuck Gray the position of water superintendent, Gray’s first instinct was to walk away. Th at might have seemed like an odd position to take. Aft er all, the move to superintendent was a step up for Gray. But as head of another Mount Vernon city department, Gray knew all about how the water department was operat-ing. And, he didn’t like what he saw. “Th at place was a train wreck,” says Gray. “I didn’t want to deal with it. We were having systemwide boil orders ev-ery three months. Th e city hadn’t spent W the money to keep the water system up; it was literally falling apart.” How bad was it? Gray had to stick bubblegum and tape over a hole in one of the main intake pipes leading into the city’s water treatment plant. It was the only way he could stop the pipe’s persistent leak. “Th ey had to work with what they had at the time,” says Gray. “Back then, everything was duct tape and baling wire. Unless, of course, we were using gum.” Times have changed in Mount Vernon. Today, this city, located along the bend of the Ohio River in the most southern point of Indiana, boasts a 42 WATER EFFICIENCY WWW.WATEREFFICIENCY.NET ALL PHOTOS: BROOKSVILLE
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