Turn on your tap and out comes the water. Simple, right?
EBMUD employs nearly 2,000 men and women whose daily mission is to make sure you always have access to clean drinking water.
But sometimes the pipes that deliver that water break, and eventually those old pipes must be replaced.
To do so is no small feat. In one way or another, hundreds of EBMUD staff touch every foot of new pipe that goes into the ground.
How do we make it happen?
Maintenance crews repair broken pipes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Engineers plan and design new pipelines to replace those that are beyond repair. They survey the terrain to design lines that will withstand ground movement and meet pressure and flow requirements.
Computer technicians maintain the platforms on which we store this vital information.
Buyers purchase materials, which often involves a competitive bid process. Warehouse crews store and provide the necessary materials. Schedulers coordinate with city officials on road closures and construction work schedules.
Once all the pieces are in place, our pipeline construction, water quality and paving crews take over the work to close your street, dig out your old pipe, replace it with a new one, flush and disinfect the new pipe, and repave the street.
But wait, don’t forget our community affairs representatives who work in your neighborhood, keep you updated on the pipeline replacement progress and minimize its effects on your daily life.
It’s a team effort that involves you as a teammate, too. With your continued support of pipeline replacement throughout the East Bay, we can make sure water continues to come out of the tap when you turn it on.