Down and dirty, in a good way

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Five hundred miles of sewer lines. Ten million gallons a day.

Who're you going to call when it hits the fan?

If you live in this Charleston County town, you're lucky. The guys who answer the call are among the best in the business.

Recently, in a national competition against 40 other cities, a team of five Mount Pleasant Waterworks employees finished fourth overall when it comes to the things that matter.

Things like treatment plant control, pump repair and maintenance, wastewater-collection-system repair, safety and laboratory analysis.

If you think these things are mundane and unimportant, you've never had a sewer line break in your backyard.

Truth is, it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

Liquid Force

"This is a competition that involves people, pipes and pumps," said Allan Clum, the utility's director of environmental resources and a member of the company's team known as Liquid Force. "But it's a far cry from plumbing."

The team, coached by David Niesse, is made up of Clum, captain Troy Newton, Tom Kohler and Greg Hill. Together they represent more than 70 years of making sure you never notice the process of wastewater management.

Mostly, you might see these guys looking at a muddy hole in the ground while somebody works desperately down below to repair a broken pipe. It's what they do every day.

Once a year, they get to compete against their peers in specific categories that come with the job. Not only do they have to perform certain tasks a certain way, but they work against the clock.

This year, for the third time, Liquid Force won the state title in Myrtle Beach and moved on to the national competition. Earning fourth place against much larger cities like Dallas and Chicago, it was the highest finish ever for a South Carolina team.

Pit crew

Naturally, they're proud of what they do.

"It takes extra time and dedication," said Newton, a supervisor with 19 years of experience. "But we've got a team that has gelled together. We're like a pit crew in NASCAR, except we're fixing pipes and pumps down in a manhole environment."

To say the least, it's not a job for the faint of heart. This growing metropolis has two treatment plants and 500 miles of pipe that pump 10 million gallons of sewage daily for a population of 65,000.

"It's the kind of job that nobody notices until something goes wrong," Newton said.

When that happens, it's important that the people who show up to fix it know what they're doing and can do it in a hurry.

"That's the great thing about this competition," Clum said. "Not only do we get bragging rights, but we meet other people who do this kind of work and bring back valuable information that we can apply to what we do every day."

And for that, we are all grateful.

Reach Ken Burger at kburger@postandcourier.com or 937-5598. Read previous columns by Ken Burger here.