Golf Like a Local. Drink Like a Local.

Louisville Water crews have been busy for the last several months helping the city shine on the international stage for the 150^th Kentucky Derby, and this week, the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

With tens of thousands of guests in Louisville for both events, held just a week apart, Louisville Water completed a lengthy checklist to keep the Louisville Pure Tap® flowing.

Operations Supervisor Brandon Drake said work began in January when cross-connection specialists inspected Valhalla’s internal backflow preventers. The devices are essentially valves designed to prevent the water flowing from a main water supply back in the opposite direction. He added the metering department also checked the strainers on nearby meters to ensure water will flow freely and at optimal pressure to accommodate the influx of guests attending the golf tournament.

Additionally, a fire hydrant service crew flushed hydrants surrounding the course. Once that work wrapped up, Engineering Planner Craig Sherer installed data loggers on the hydrants.

“These digital data recorders log pressure data at a sample rate of one-minute intervals. They provide a transcript of the (water) pressure around Valhalla,” Sherer explained. “If something were to happen with the water system, it provides additional valuable information that may help in investigations.  Examples could be a main break or a service leak – anything large enough to affect regional system pressures, these loggers would pick up.”

Drake says Louisville Water will have crews working in the vicinity of Valhalla all this week to respond to any potential problems that pop up.

While we feel confident that many of those spectators and golfers will Drink Like a Local while they’re here, one in particular will also Golf Like a Local. Two-time PGA Championship winner, Louisville native, and St. X graduate, Justin Thomas, will swing for a chance to win his third championship title in his hometown.

So, as they prepare to raise the Wanamaker trophy at Valhalla this weekend, we’d like to raise a glass of Pure Tap to our Louisville Water crews working hard behind the scenes!