![Numbers Replace Sight, Sound, Smell and Intuition at the Water Plants in Louisville, Colorado](https://cole-tpomag.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpomag.com%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F02-tpo_scofield_louisville_2019.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=620&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=75&w=1024&s=475d9cab77db759581f16daa255a9525)
The Louisville water treatment plant team includes, from left, Jeff Owens, David Cole and Jocelyn Brink, operators; Greg Venette, chief water plant operator; Nick Owens and Edmond Song, water plant interns; and Steven Daniels, operator. Not pictured: Matt Formandy, Thoa Pham and Glen Sidenberg, operators; and Terrell Phillips, superintendent.
Data increasingly guides water and wastewater treatment operating decisions. Numbers replace sight, sound, smell and dosing-and-retention-time guidance handed down from old-timers. Plants and distribution and collections systems substitute calculations and facts for guesses and gut...