Tennessee American Water Co. is pumping more water but sending less sludge to the city’s sewage treatment facility.
A new $18 million dewatering system dedicated by the water utility Monday is cutting sludge effluents sent to the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment plant by 95 percent, company officials said.
“This is cutting edge,” said Susan Story, CEO of American Water Co., the nation’s biggest water and wastewater company and the parent company of Tennessee American in Chattanooga. “In our company, we have an R&D group with 20 scientists who are working with communities around the world to make sure that our customers have the best quality water when you need it.”
Story said American Water and its subsidiaries don’t want to just meet minimum water quality standards.
“We want to set the standards for everybody else,” she said. “Last year, American Water Co. standards, on average, were 13 times better than the national average for all water systems, and our goal this year is to be 18 times better than the U.S. average. We’re going to do it because of projects like this dewatering facility.”