Keeping the environment clean
Ever wonder what happens when you flush? Well, Larry Kubli, Water Pollution Control Plant Superintendent, can tell you.
Kubli has been in charge of operations and maintenance at the Water Pollution Control Plant north of the city for just over a year. He has worked with the Indianolas wastewater for 20. He oversees five full-time employees, conducts the citys Inflow and Infiltration study, deals with sewer lines, the budget and answers questions on all sorts of topics dealing with wastewater. Just keeping up with the regulations mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Natural Resources to keep the environment clean is a full-time job in itself.
But its the variety of the work that keeps Kubli going.
You never know whats going to pop up and bite you next, he said.
Indianola has only one Water Pollution Control Plant. Built in 1978, it started operating in 1979. There are four pumping or lift stations around the city that pump wastewater into the plant. After the water is treated, it can be safely discharged into Cavitt Creek and eventually into Middle River. The water is tested constantly.
We run tests every day, Kubli said. We have to closely monitor the quality of the water coming in and going out of the plant as well as for the operation of the plant itself.
Computers are essential to Kublis job. There are no longer 24-hour shifts at the plant because computers monitor the system and give alerts if something goes wrong. The main flow gate is automated, as are the air blowers that aerate the wastewater. Accessing files on disk instead of digging through several years of records also speeds up his job.
When Kubli isnt dealing with pollution control, he can be found on the golf course or mowing weeds and performing other chores at a farm he co-owns with his sister. He has two grown sons, Kevin, 31, and Chris, 29.
