Thursday, Oct. 08, 2009
Aqua Man: Bradley Suggs and the (water) system
Photo by Scott Smallin
Bradley Suggs at Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority.
When we found out that Bradley Suggs played in the drum line at Loris High School in his freshman and sophomore years, we were curious why he just didn't tell us that he was in marching band. "I consider the drum line a lot cooler than the rest of the band," he says. "We had our own little thing." And while not exactly rock 'n' roll, the appeal of the skins planted a seed.
Born and raised in Loris, Suggs made the move to Myrtle Beach after graduating from high school. "I moved closer to the beach where I could get a little bit more into the mix of things," he says.
Getting into the mix involved foregoing college, working and playing in a number of local bands. But to pay the bills, in 1999, Suggs became a meter reader for Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority (or GSWSA), on the recommendation of a friend who helped him to get his foot in the door, and this led to his current position as water system operator.
"Basically this means I deal with anything in the field that has to do with water once it leaves the treatment plant - from running a pump station to keep the pressure up to maintaining fire hydrants and valves," he says. GSWSA has a program in place mandating reinspection of such items on a daily basis. A portion of his time is also devoted to handling customer complaints and possible water quality issues. "If a customer encounters a leak, we go out and fix it, but just to the meter or service line from the main water line." This excludes leaks inside the home, which is the plumber's domain.
Suggs and his counterparts work certain zones across the county. "My zone is Garden City," he says. "If we come across something and need a little help, we call our neighbor in the zone next to us, but for the most part we're on our own all day."
GSWSA is a countywide operation, but certain municipalities utilize the system differently. Myrtle Beach, for instance, employs its own meter readers and system operators, but buys water from GSWSA. "Myrtle Beach had its own treatment plant, but Grand Strand bought it a couple of years ago and now runs the facility in Myrtle Beach," Suggs explains. "But the city does its own field work." GSWSA operates and maintains several treatment plants, from Myrtle Beach to Bucksport.
A typical workday can vary wildly, and this keeps things interesting for Suggs. "One day we might have a big water line bust and put everything else on the back burner. You need to shut down water lines so that you can get everything repaired and back up as soon as possible. Some days it's just reinspecting fire hydrants. It's not the same any two days in a row."
Day job aside, Suggs, 29, has been a part of the local music scene for years, starting as a senior in high school. "A good friend and I started talking about starting a band, and wound up playing at the Loris Bog Off after like three practices." This was Suggs' first experience playing an actual drum kit. "To that point it was always the bass drum in the drum line. We played in front of a few hundred people at the Bog Off, and I was so nervous that I could barely keep time with the hi-hat."
From there came a few school events with the fledgling band, later known as the Beatholes, which enjoyed a respectable run locally and elsewhere. "We were around for anywhere from five to seven years, not only playing Myrtle Beach, but we traveled out to Columbia, Raleigh - all over the Southeast." Suggs says the Beatholes played a reunion of sorts a couple of years ago at House of Blues local night, but haven't played together since.
A stint with another band, One Louder, included The Drag frontman Chance Walls. "One Louder was more short-lived than the Beatholes," he says. "I was with them for two years. When they broke up, a couple of those guys moved to Atlanta." These days, Suggs plays when he can. "I know a lot of musicians around town, and I'm here and there, playing with friends, but nothing really on a steady serious basis."
Suggs, who says he is single and looking to mingle, is happy that he can spend his weekends any way he chooses. "Saturday this time of year it's college football, and Sundays it's the NFL." His teams are the Clemson Tigers and the Washington Redskins. "They're both kind of disappointing me so far this year, but maybe they can turn things around."
But Suggs doesn't spend all his free time in front of the TV. "If I'm looking to be low key, I'll go to Bumstead's or Tavern in the Forest," he asserts." But to get out with the boys, it's Broadway, where it's a little wilder." He tries to get out of town as much as possible, perhaps to attend a live sporting event or to catch up with his pals in Atlanta.
We felt compelled to ask Suggs why he only works on the water side - as opposed to the grizzlier sewerage side - of things at Grand Strand Water and Sewer. "I've got the weakest stomach in the world," he admits. "I don't know if I could hack that, but God bless the guys who do work on that side."