The DeKalb County Utility District made the opening of its new Superpulsator water-treatment facility official with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the presentation of a 50-year milestone award.
Grown into a state-of-the-art facility, the DeKalb Utility District’s water program began with humble beginnings in a small office in the courthouse. Now, with over 400 miles of lines, the facility is one of only seven Superpulsator-type operations in the state.
The Superpulsator Clarifier combines basic chemical principles and proven clarification technology in a high-rate, solids contact clarifier that offers maximum efficiency. The unique design combines flocculation and clarification functions in one basin for optimal use of space. Vacuum-generated flow pulsations create a homogeneous sludge blanket that results in excellent effluent quality at minimal operating costs.
In addition to being a top-notch facility, the entire operation is housed inside a warehouse with room for expansion. Most water-treatment plants are outside and need to bring in chemicals to clean the water. The DeKalb County Utility District facility makes its own chlorine in-house, adding another measure of safety as they don’t have to rely on tanker trunks filled with chemicals. In an era of concerns about security, it’s the best of all worlds for DeKalb residents.
“We can run 3-million gallons a day maximum,” said Andy Jacobs, operations technician at the plant. “We’re only running about 7-800,000 gallons a day now. When you combine that with the way our building was planned and built there is plenty of room and capacity for future expansion as  needed.”
The building where the plant is housed was built as a half-warehouse building, meaning the current rear of the structure is actually much higher than the front. This allows the building to double in size with the addition of a back-half sloping downward.
“We have come a long way since we started out down in the courthouse in one little room the size of the conference room. It’s well worth its ups and downs. We are extremely proud for DeKalb County and the surrounding counties we support. We provide state-of-the-art services with over 400 miles of lines. covering four counties,” Jacobs noted.
The water treatment plant, located at 300 Yulanda Hills Road, Smithville, serves over 5,000 customers in either all or portions of DeKalb, Smith, Cannon, and Wilson counties.
The Chamber gave out a Golden Milestone Award to DeKalb Utility District celebrating 50 Years. DeKalb Utility is overseen by a five-member board of directors including Roger Turney, Cannon County Board Chairman; Danny Bass, Smith County; and Joe Foutch, Hugh Washer, and Jimmy Womack, all of DeKalb County.

We are extremely proud for DeKalb County and all the surrounding counties we support.~ Andy Jacobs, operations technician