Water

Working For Water

Matt Johnson and his team work hard to keep our systems running.

Your morning routine may consist of a variety of items: a shower, brushing your teeth, a stop by the restroom and maybe some morning coffee. But none of these are possible without water. Heading up service and maintenance in water services at HBPW is Matt Johnson, who along with his team, helps to keep the water running in our community. A lot of hard work goes into maintaining the 2,820 valves, 251.88 miles of water lines, and 2,395 hydrants that supply water to over 13,000 homes throughout Holland.

“This career is perfect for me because there is great variety in every day,” Matt said. “There’s always a job to do between servicing valves, hydrants, pump stations, and responding to emergencies.” Matt has been on the team at Holland Board of Public Works for 20 years, serving the last 18 as Lead Service and Maintenance in water services. Each day offers something different from maintenance to emergency services, keeping Matt and his team on the go.

Here are a few day-to-day tasks you might not know about that keep our system running great:

Valves:

The crew does a directional flushing program to clean build up in the distribution system. Each valve in the system receives treatment at least once every five years keeping the water system clear and clean. This program requires new sealants, replacing corroded nuts and bolts, and realigning pipes.

Hydrants:

Each hydrant in the system is tested yearly, to make sure that they open freely, are well greased and in great working condition. In addition to testing, Matt and his crew replace 12 hydrants each year and any others damaged by car accidents or operation. Needless to say, these upgrades are critical for public safety and fire response.

Pump Stations:

The city has seven pumping stations, which help maintain positive pressure across the system, and each requires maintenance of pump motors, lubrication and cathodic protection, a special treatment to prevent metal corrosion. The crew also maintains aesthetic projects on the grounds and painting.

Emergency:

All that maintenance is done to prevent main breaks and water service breaks, but some emergencies are not always predictable. The cold winters in Holland can freeze pipes and underground sprinkling systems, causing burst pipes and broken backflow preventers. In the summers, contractors can hit water services and cause leaks. Some emergencies are caused by human error, while others are just the nature of the job, but all of them are maintained by Matt and his team.