Access to clean, drinkable water is essential for everyone, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is doing its part to ensure residents of Asheville, North Carolina, have the water the city needs as part of Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
One place USACE has been making this effort is the Bee Tree Reservoir and adjacent water treatment, located plant just east of Asheville. After the hurricane hit, the reservoir collected rainwater, and debris running off the surrounding mountains in the form of dirt, mud and fallen trees because of mudslides created by the rain from the storm. This led to a much higher level of turbidity – matter suspended in the water – that needed to be filtered out to make the water drinkable again.
Jeff Wood, USACE quality assurance representative at the reservoir, oversees the Bee Tree Reservoir Turbidity Reduction System that was put in place to help filter debris and particulates out of water after Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina…