Photo By Tech. Sgt. Jensen Stidham | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Coley, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron water and fuels...... read more read more
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SUMTER, S.C. - With more than half a million feet of gas, sewer, and water lines here, an experienced team of Airmen work day and night to keep the 20th Fighter Wing clean, healthy, and mission ready.
The 24 20th Civil Engineer Squadron water and fuels systems maintenance Airmen keep everything gas and water related here running correctly. From water heaters, sinks, water treatment, water and sewer maintenance, to emergency gas breaks, they do it all.
“We do a lot of different things in this career field,” said Staff Sgt. Daniel White, 20th CES water and fuels systems maintenance journeyman. “Our job outside of the military is like four completely different jobs.”
Although, several different types of jobs are done each day to ensure Shaw is mission ready.
“The whole concept to being a military base is being able to supply yourself, by yourself,” said White. “That’s why we work hard 24 hours a day to keep everything maintained.”
Because there are strict South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control water regulations, specific water guidelines have to be met.
“We produce on average 600,000 gallons of clean water every day,” said White. “That means a lot of work has to go into making sure the water meets the standard. We have to add chemicals like chlorine and fluoride. We take water samples every three hours to make sure the chemicals are correct, and then every month, we have to report all of our readings to DHEC.”
Once the water is clean and ready to be used, it enters the water lines, with the extra filling up the water towers.
“We have a total of four water towers on base,” said White. “One for general usage, two for housing, and one for the fire department. We also have to maintain the water towers annually by climbing up them, inspecting the water lines and checking everything the water touches.”
Along with water, they ensure all the gas lines are working properly.
“We walk the gas lines every year to make sure everything looks good and is working the way it should be,” said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Eakins, 20th CES WFSM craftsman.
In addition to water and gas, they also manage the more than 250,000 feet of sewer lines.
“Once a year, we check every manhole and jet every pipe to ensure there aren’t any blockages,” said White.
Maintaining all of the water and fuels systems has the 24 Airmen around base constantly performing inspections.
“My favorite part about this job is being able to be outside getting ‘out and about’ each day,” said Eakins. “I come into work each day not always knowing what to expect because all the different jobs.”
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2014 15:33 |
| Story ID: | 135650 |
| Location: | SUMTER, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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