North Andover, MA
Good example today of how this photo journal project brings me to see details I have overlooked. This mailbox of the Water Treatment Plant is on my commute and I have never paused to look at it. Today I noticed the word Iowa on the red valve. Given my open mindset of the morning, I came to find a number of personal connections with the valves.
I spent 6 semesters and one summer of my undergraduate time in Iowa. I'm very familiar with the stretch of I-80 north of Oskaloosa.
My first job after college was working as a jr engineer on the design of a water distribution system.
My favorite aspect of working on industrial utilities is colored piping.
I have driven through Oskaloosa once. Perhaps I would recognize a stretch of road if I were to visit again. Hard to say for sure, but I think I remember the industrial area which I presume birthed this valve. What I do clearly recall from the trip was taking a wrong turn and buying sack of kettlecorn from a man that popped corn in a large kettle at an intersection in open country.
I read somewhere that Iowa has more small towns than any other state. According to the internet, Oskaloosa has about 10,000 people - which is decent size for a town in Iowa. In our economy of global supply chains, this marking of a product with a hometown name seems old fashion. I checked the internet and found that some people in Oskaloosa are still working in the valve company - now under the name of Clow Valve.
http://www.clowvalve.com/about-us/company-history/
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