Johnson Lake system unique challenge

“There aren’t many things worse than having a sewer system break down. If something goes wrong, I get a phone call,” he said.

The trouble call is initiated from one of the system’s 11 pump stations and goes to the SID headquarters building where equipment relays the problem and its precise location to Gardner’s cell phone.

In a typical municipal sewer system, the collection lines follow the streets, for the most part, and are laid out in orderly, straight lines, block by block.

The Johnson Lake system is unique. It’s a large circle with two systems that follow the perimeter of the lake, covering 12 miles of sewer mains. The two systems begin at the north end of the lake in the section known as Lakeview Acres. One system serves the east side of the lake, the other the west side.

The systems meet at the SID lagoons south of the lake where the sewage is deposited.

The Johnson Lake system works almost entirely by gravity.

“The system was a challenge to design and build,” Gardner said.

Overcoming changes in elevation or a lack of elevation was probably the most challenging part, he said, but there were other issues.

“There are areas where the cabins and homes were not built in a straight line. Some are close to the lake. Others are at a distance from the water,” he said.

This is where the pump stations come into play, pumping sewage from the different elevations so it can continue on its way.

“How the system works could be compared to the circulatory system of a human being with the pump stations serving the role of the human heart,” Gardner said.

The process of forcing the sewage upward, then letting it flow down to a lower elevation is repeated many times.

The pumping stations have two pumps. This provides backup if a pump malfunctions, and neither pump is permitted to remain idle for long periods of time.

Gardner’s work requires him to check all the pumps in the two systems weekly.

“We check them for cleanliness, make sure the float switches are operating properly, and we inspect them to see that there’s no deterioration in the concrete or metal,” Gardner said.

In addition, he checks the manholes yearly. There are 232 manholes in the system. About two-thirds of them are buried in roadways and must be dug up.

“This is not an old man’s job, but I’m used to it,” he said.

Gardner received his education as an electronic technician during his service in the U.S. Army in El Paso, Texas, for a missile control system and radar for the 1st Division and the 17th Airborne Division.

“We had to be anywhere in the world in 24 hours,” he said.

He acquired his electronics experience installing fiber-optic systems in 1979, which he says prepared him to understand the pump controls and monitoring system for the Johnson Lake SID.

He also served as a staff firefighter for the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years as well as being an emergency medical technician. That was followed by being a quality control manager for Eiler’s Manufacturing of Lexington and three years as the maintenance manager at Sapp Brothers station at Odessa.

He and his wife, Pam, both are members of the Johnson Lake EMS and give instruction in emergency medical services. They also are busy as the owners of Portside Express, a convenience store at U.S. Highway 283 and Johnson Lake Drive.