Columbus Water Works

The City of Columbus has a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system.  In support of a new EPA-issued permit, Columbus was mandated to sample the Chattahoochee River in seven locations.  As required, the sampling locations are as follows:

• Lake Oliver
• Whitewater Launch (above Highlands Dam)
• 14th Street Bridge
• Trade Center
• Rotary Park
• Chattahoochee River just upstream of Upatoi Creek (Oxbow Field)
• Mill Creek

Samples are to be collected once per week, based on a time-paced flow, Monday through Friday.  During a CSO overflow (discharge) event, additional samples must be collected at 50, 90, and 120 minutes following the initiation of the discharge event and hourly thereafter until the event stops.

Each sample location contains:

• Permanent automatic sampler (as required by permit)
• River pump on guide wire system
• Stainless-steel tank
• Small PLC with wireless communication to start/stop the sampler for a discharge event
• Enclosure

Each location for the installation of a sampler presented unique challenges.  CWS worked within these design constraints at each of the seven locations, to provide an easily accessible, automatic, sampling system.