What do the Raleigh Police Department and Raleigh Water have in common? It sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke, but surprisingly, the two City departments have a lot more in common than you might think. Recently, Chief Rico Boyce, joined Raleigh Water for a tour of the Neuse River Resource Recovery Facility and asked very thoughtful questions. One that many of us have probably wondered ourselves, “Where does the water go when I flush the toilet?”
A perfect question to kick off the tour, because much of that wastewater ends up right where he was standing, the Neuse River Resource Recovery Facility. That simple question opened the door to some great conversations and helped both teams to learn about connections we may not have thought about before… and no we’re not just talking about, everything that you flush eventually comes to us.
Emergency response: If it’s a weekend, holiday or the middle of the night and you need help or your water is flowing just as it should, that’s because both teams are on the job 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide services for you. Connection.
If you call the police non-emergency line to report an odd smell, sometimes it turns out to be a sewer main break and our teams at Raleigh Water are working to fix that. Connection.
A top priority for both police and public utilities is our public safety mission. When you're walking downtown or running errands, you’ll see Raleigh Police officers out on patrol, protecting our community from crime and responding to emergencies. Raleigh Water crews are a little more behind the scenes. You might spot them working along the street on water lines or sewer mains, often late at night or early in the morning, making sure clean, safe water reaches your home and wastewater is carried away safely. Connection.
These are only a few of the ways our departments are connected. Every day, both teams are proud to serve and protect the people of Raleigh.
A special thank you to Chief Boyce for spending time with us at the facility. Your visit was a great reminder that our departments rely on one another every day and share the same commitment to serving the people of Raleigh. We appreciate your curiosity, thoughtful questions, and willingness to learn more about the people and processes that keep safe, clean water flowing throughout our community.
