WEF Highlights

The Operator Ingenuity Contest is back for 2019. The contest seeks to recognize the simple, everyday fixes that operators and other water professionals invent to make work easier and safer with the help of summer slot sites. Entries are judged on solution safety, resourcefulness, and transferability. Have a clever fix to share? Draft up a […]

Operator reunites a resident with an heirloom that sat in a manhole for 9 years Collection systems employees at the City of Somers Point, N.J., found the proverbial needle in a haystack, or more precisely, the ring in a sewer system. In November, Ted Gogol, wastewater operator and Somers Point public works crew chief, was […]

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) has introduced a new component to its robust set of operator training materials. The Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals 1 – Liquid Treatment Trainer’s Kit provides a hands-on guide for instructors of wastewater operator training programs. The Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals series is designed to help operators prepare for the first three […]

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) introduced a study resource to help wastewater collection system operators expand their knowledge and prepare to take certification exams. The second edition of the Wastewater Collection System Operator Certification Studybook provides in-depth information on the topics these professionals need to be familiar with and offers more than 500 […]

Growing up in Beaumont, Calif., then a relatively small town in the mountains, Bryan Wilfley didn’t expect to pursue a career in the water sector. But he also remembers shadowing his father, Jay Wilfley, who spent 30 years at the small Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District working as an operator, foreman, superintendent, and self-taught engineer. Bryan […]

As a machinist’s mate in the U.S. Navy, Dustin Price was trained to maintain, operate, and repair nuclear propulsion plants. But after retiring from service in 1999, he found himself working three part-time security jobs to make ends meet. Eventually, Price stumbled across a job with the Portland (Maine) Water District. This “accidental” discovery made […]

WEF introduces the top teams in every category Members of the 44 Operations Challenge teams competing at WEFTEC 2017 entered McCormick Place in Chicago with their sights set on winning. In addition to overall Division 1 or Division 2 awards, teams vied for top spots in the competition’s five events: Process Control, Laboratory, Safety, Godwin […]

When Sylvan Coles first joined the Kansas Water Environment Association (KWEA) in 1979, some of the chapter’s “old-timers” made an impression on him that stuck. “They sold me on the importance of making a substantial commitment [to the profession,]” he said. And commit he did. If you want to visit KWEA’s offices, you’ll need to […]