Utilities Airmen replace pipe, lift station

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Raughton
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  The 2nd Civil Engineer Squadron utilities flight replaced a lift station on Davis Ave., Sept. 16 - 17.

Sewage pipes slope downward, allowing gravity's pull to move waste through the pipes, so the two-day process was necessary to swap dated metal pipes with plastic ones and ensure the continual function of the area's lift station.

"The pipes can only go so deep," said Staff Sgt. Thomas Zweydoff, 2nd Civil Engineer Squadron water and fuel systems maintenance craftsman. "Once the sewage reaches the bottom and fills to a certain level, pumps are activated in the lift-station, which pumps waste to the top so it can slope back down again. There are several of these on base."

The lift station was very old and replacing the aging metal pipes with plastic ones provides many benefits.

"Plastic is cheaper, lasts longer, and doesn't rust," said Zweydoff. "Even in a few years if the new piping needs to be replaced, it is still much cheaper."

While utilities Airmen replaced the lift station and underground piping, plumbing for the Airmen above ground continued uninterrupted.

"People aren't going to stop flushing the toilet while we work on the lift station, so we have a bypass that we'll temporarily install so we can work on replacing the lift station," said Zweydoff.

While continuing to provide uninterrupted plumbing service, less-experienced utilities Airmen, who have never worked with a lift-station replacement, had a chance to get their hands dirty.

"I was excited to get this training," said Airman 1st Class Jefferson Bowler, 2nd CES water and fuel systems maintenance apprentice. "I don't like working in the sewage, but it's all part of the job. I have to do it anyway, so I might as well have a good attitude about it since I need the training to get signed off for the next skill level."

Bowler had utilities training, and his supervisors watched carefully as he worked on the pipes. Bowler also had to maintain full trust in his wingman in case of a health hazard, mishap or emergency such as low oxygen levels underground.

"This will make or break your trust in the flight," said Master Sgt. Joseph Mueller, 2nd CES water and fuels systems maintenance NCO in-charge. "I have to trust them to go down there and do their job right, and they have to trust us to pull them out."

With the lift station and piping replaced, the new materials will keep Airmen out of the outhouse and service Barksdale for years to come.