Teachers at Fairdale High School are getting a head start on the upcoming school year with a teacher’s conference at Louisville MSD’s Central Maintenance Facility. The event for approximately 50 teachers uses meeting space at the facility.

By Sharise Horne

Under the Great Lawn in Shawnee Park, sits the MSD Shawnee Park Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Basin. The top of the basin is approximately 12 feet below grade, with three-foot-thick reinforced concrete walls. When it rains, the basin is hard at work protecting the Ohio River, the Park and the neighborhood from combined sewer overflows. 

On Friday, June 21, MSD joined Mayor Greg Fischer and Shawnee Park neighbors to celebrate the end of more than two years of construction work on the basin.

How it works

Louisville MSD’s embracing of technology in helping maintain safe, clean waterways was acknowledged April 15 in winning the 2019 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award. MSD received the award in partnership with Canadian engineering services firm Tetra Tech.

The award acknowledges MSD and Tetra Tech in pioneering the first major application of Csoft Real-Time Control (RTC) for system-wide sewer optimization.

The City of Crestwood Council approved the purchase by Louisville MSD of the City of Crestwood’s sewer system at their meeting on May 1, 2019. MSD already operated and maintained the Crestwood sewer system. This agreement simply moves the ownership of the system to MSD. Crestwood residents will no longer pay the Crestwood debt surcharge—resulting in a lower bill—and will benefit from being a part MSD’s larger system that can provide economies of scale, access to greater resources, more employees to respond to issues, and a dedicated customer service call center.

Wednesday marked the ribbon-cutting for the MSD Clifton Heights Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Basin. Built into a grassy hillside next to the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, the 7 million gallon basin will capture and store wastewater and stormwater during rain events and gradually release it back into the sewer system when treatment capacity is available. 

MSD Executive Director Tony Parrott said the basin will help protect Beargrass Creek and the neighborhood from combined sewer overflows while also offering a park-like setting.

MSD’s work toward supplier diversity means businesses owned and operated by minorities perform millions of dollars in infrastructure and other work for the agency. These efforts were recently recognized by the Tri-State Minority Supplier Development Council (TSMSDC), which awarded MSD its 2019 Impact—Corporation of the Year Award.

February 2019 was one of the wettest months in Louisville’s history, with heavy rainfall causing flooding from the Ohio River Valley throughout the Louisville/Jefferson County area.

During any flooding event, it is important to take precaution and follow these tips:

• Be careful walking through water. As little as 6 inches of water can cause a person to fall. 

• Never drive through water, and stay away from electrical equipment and downed power lines.

So here’s the scoop of “Bumblebee” …

“Scoop” doesn’t quite do it justice, however, for the work underway at the Waterway Protection Tunnel, as “Bumblebee,” the project’s tunnel boring machine, continues to carve its way through bedrock to create the four-mile tunnel.

MSD’s “Bowl Patrol” campaign offers a light-hearted approach to the issue of what to and what not to flush (hint: only “the three Ps” = pee, poo and toilet paper). Though the campaign uses humor to convey its message, the ramification of split-second bathroom decisions plays out in large—and frequently expensive—ways for Louisville MSD.

Collections Supervisor Claude Rottet said people sending the wrong items down the toilet causes massive issues for MSD equipment and personnel, and the biggest culprit is so-called “flushable” wipes.