Some front-line workers who lived through the COVID-19 pandemic in the Mutter-Lode last year are clearly visible. Many local residents often see workers in their grocery stores and banks, as well as police and fire fighters with lights and sirens responding to calls.
Comparatively invisible are the utilities of the Tuolumne Utilities District, Twain Harte Community Services District, and Groveland Community Services District, who run water to thousands of homes in Tuolumne County. Local utility workers at Mother Lode are also helping communities deal with a fact of life while more people stay at home – more human waste is collected and more pressure is put on local sewer systems.
Andrew Marshall is a distribution and collection operator at Groveland CSD, the utility that supplies purified water to approximately 3,500 customers in Big Oak Flat, Groveland, and the Pine Mountain Lake private gated community.
Marshall, 36, from Soulsbyville was born and raised in Groveland. He joined GCSD in January 2018 and worked through the coronavirus pandemic that started a year ago and contributed to the deaths of 59 counties, more than 55,000 Californians, and more than 500,000 Americans.
“If we do what we do, we have to be able to do our job,” Marshall said recently at GCSD headquarters on Ferretti Road in Groveland. “Everyone needs water.”
The district owns and operates the Groveland Water System, which is based on Hetch Hetchy water from Yosemite National Park, owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco.
When the Moc fire broke out near the Hetch Hetchy company town of Moccasin in August, Marshall was among the GCSD workers responding to maintaining water flow in Big Oak Flat, Groveland and Pine Mountain Lake. The Moccasin fire coincided with outages on the hill in the Groveland and Marshall area had to ensure that generators were operated at 16 lift stations, five water tanks and two sewage treatment plants.
During the pandemic, it was normal for small businesses to close and some people to work in small businesses that were unable to make a living. There have been local debates about the severity of the pandemic and whether masks are necessary. Marshall tried to keep a positive attitude and move on.
“We had to wear masks all the time,” he said. “It’s not a big deal. For some people it’s a problem. For me it wasn’t. Just wear a mask and be safe.”
Marshall’s state certifications include maintenance of the water distribution operator and collection system, according to GCSD. His full job title is Water distribution and collection 2 operators.
“As a level 2 operator, our job is to provide the community with clean drinking water and to maintain and / or repair broken water lines, service lines, and to make sure hydrants and valves are working properly,” said Marshall. “We’re installing new services for emerging homes that are being built.”
On the collection side, Marshall and other Groveland CSD employees conduct monthly manhole inspections to ensure proper sewage flow, monthly lift station cleanings, and weekly checks on lift stations and generators.
“With the pandemic, we’ve found more people staying at home and more wastewater in our lift stations that we normally don’t see until the summer or on vacation,” Marshall said. “Therefore, the doubling of lift stations and shafts has been doubled to meet demand as more residents are at home.”
The area served by GCSD is approximately 15 square miles in southern Tuolumne County. Its borders are the Tuolumne River to the north, the Stanislaus National Forest to the east, and Mariposa County to the south. The district owns and operates the regional sewage collection, treatment and regional recycling water system, which provides sewage service to around 1,500 customers in the GCSD supply area.
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