Hoover Boiler Plant

Department Description

In addition to operation, maintenance and repair of the boilers, OBS maintains water conditioning equipment for boiler feedwater, monitors boiler water chemistry, adds boiler chemicals as needed, and arranges for annual boiler inspections.

OBS services to General Fund buildings are paid for with an annual fee that is based on building size in square feet. For these buildings, OBS is responsible for replacement of boilers and auxiliary equipment as needed to provide reliable and economical service. Boiler replacement is done on a planned schedule based on the age and condition of the equipment. The annual fee paid by the General Fund departments to OBS includes an amount to cover this equipment replacement cost. This eliminates occasional large expenditures from the customer department’s budgets and spreads the impact over a large number of installations. Some non-General Fund customers contract for service only and cover major equipment costs within their own budgets. All OBS customers pay separately for gas and water used in the boilers through Utilities Billing. OBS provides boiler chemicals and all other supplies required.

Cooley Boiler #3

The Hoover boiler plant is considered a Satellite Boiler facility and is financially within the Central Power Plant Enterprise, even though it is operated and maintained by Outlying Boiler crew members. Satellite boiler customers are billed on metered steam usage. The billing rate for steam covers all costs to produce the steam and maintain and replace equipment, including the costs of fuel and water.

Organization and Personnel

OBS is part of the Central Power Plant organization. The Manager of Outlying Boiler Services reports to the Central Power Plant Manager – Richard Wickboldt.

The OBS staff consists of 13 full-time technicians operating, maintaining and repairing boilers, plus one full-time supervisor. Four of the crew are on a 24-hour rotating shift to man the Hoover boiler plant. They are also responsible for the 300 North Ingalls boiler plant, make rounds of buildings and take all OBS trouble calls.