The Orange Water and Sewer Authority joins 97.9 The Hill on the air once again for a conversation featuring Engineering Manager for Capital Projects Allison Spinelli and Asset Manager Coleman Olinger, both from OWASA, as they discuss local investments in infrastructure upgrades, especially in light of some issues facing water systems across the country and right here in Orange County.
Spinelli oversees a team leading many of OWASA’s infrastructure investment projects, while Olinger combines data analysis and engineering strategy for effective long-term management of water, wastewater, and reclaimed water infrastructure.
“We’re always looking for ways to improve and lessons that we can learn from other water systems along the way,” said Olinger. “We can make these infrastructure investment decisions based on a data-driven approach to provide the best services that we can to our customers … That project evaluation includes looking at the age and use of certain pipes and equipment and trying to predict where an issue might occur before it’s failing so that we can address it appropriately. There are times still, of course, where something unexpected happens or we’re responding to something outside of our control. … Overall, we’re trying to proactively invest in our infrastructure and stay ahead of the curve to reliably serve the customers with high-quality services.”
According to figures from OWASA, roughly 50% of all customer rates — about $20 million annually — are invested back into the community’s water, sewer, and reclaimed water infrastructure. Upgrading pipes, pumps, equipment, and more is costly and time-consuming work, but OWASA’s commitment to getting it done keeps the water running.
“Most of our projects are actually paid for with the rates that our customers are charged for our services, said Spinelli. “… Funding is actually a national issue where there’s really not enough funding to keep up with the type of infrastructure needs that are needed across the country — particularly for water and wastewater systems. So, to try and combat this issue as well as try and combat rising construction prices as well as inflation that everyone’s experiencing, this past June, the OWASA board of directors actually approve new rates that are set to go into effect in October. So those rates primarily are how the vast majority of our projects are being funded throughout the community.”
(Featured image via OWASA)
You can listen to the full conversation below, and visit the Wonderful Water page here for more interviews and stories about the work OWASA does in our community.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents use roughly 7 million gallons of water a day, and “Wonderful Water” is a monthly conversation sponsored by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority highlighting its work to keep our community growing and water flowing.
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