Paul EvansJASPER, Tenn. - Every five years the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the federal government require an inspection of a municipality's water tanks, and Jasper's next inspection is due this year.
Mayor Paul Evans said the town has six water tanks in operation and one clear well.
At the September meeting of the Jasper Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Gary Cosby, an engineer with CTI Engineers Inc. in Chattanooga, gave the board two approaches from which city leaders could choose to complete the mandate.
"One is to inspect them only and write the necessary reports," he said.
That would cost Jasper an estimated $18,000.
The other option would be to clean the tanks thoroughly while the inspections were being completed for a total cost of $24,200.
Cosby said if the tanks are not cleaned, it's "quite likely" that TDEC will order the town to clean them anyway after the reports are filed.
"To remobilize and clean them will cost you more than doing it in conjunction with the inspections," he said.
The board voted unanimously to pay the extra cost for cleaning and inspecting the tanks to avoid that probable hassle.
"There's no need to drain the tanks," Cosby said. "It used to be that you had to do that and take them out of service, but you don't do that anymore."
These days a diver is used sometimes, he said, but more typically a robotic submersible is employed to complete the inspections with cameras and lights.
"While we're in there, that same robotic submersible can be used with what amounts to a vacuum attachment to clean the tank," Cosby said.
A Jasper water department official said the city's largest tank needs to be cleaned anyhow so workers can find out what condition the bottom of it is in and if any repairs are needed.
There will be "several inches of sediment" on the bottom of the tanks, Cosby said.
"That's just the way it is," he said. "In order to really do an adequate inspection, we need to get that out of there anyway."
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.