WEF Highlights

With nine water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), eight drinking water treatment facilities, 45 pumping stations, and miles of pipelines to operate and maintain, the Washington County Department of Water Quality (DWQ; Williamsport, Md.) sometimes struggles to find qualified candidates for its many technical jobs.   Since the launch of a new wastewater operator apprenticeship program last […]

Charlotte (N.C.) Water has a fresh approach to finding new utility technicians. That approach is a yearlong apprenticeship program offered by the utility trains recruits in a variety of skills — and even guarantees them a job upon completion. The program was created to tackle a high turnover and vacancy rate for the city’s utility […]

While known for top-rated university science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs that are educating the next generation of water professionals, the state of Indiana has a problem: convincing graduating students to stay. Half of the 2014-to-2016 bachelor’s-level STEM graduates of Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.), for example, found employment out of state, according to […]

When it rains, it doesn’t always pour — at least not at the City of Columbia (S.C.) Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant. Even after a historic 1,000-year flood in 2015 and the wettest December on record 3 years later, the 227-ML/d (60-mgd) facility remained well within its regulatory limits every day, according to superintendent David Wiman. […]

Faced with the challenge of staffing three new water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD; Virginia Beach, Va.) launched its wastewater apprenticeship program in 1979. HRSD has grown to operate 13 award-winning WRRFs that provide service to 1.7 million residents across 18 cities and counties. Its apprenticeship program has grown in tandem, […]

Tideway, an independent water company in London, launched a first-of-its-kind apprenticeship program to clean the River Thames and address a pending worker shortage in one fell swoop. “London relies on a 150-year-old sewer system built for a population less than half its current size,” said Hannah Shroot, media relations lead for Tideway. The company is […]

John Seldon, WEF Member and Founder of Temporary Operations and Maintenance Inc.   John Seldon, a Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) member since 1980, is founder and president of Temporary Operations and Maintenance Inc. (Port Burwell, Ontario) and a principal of Envir-O-Site Inc. (Sarnia, Ontario). During his career, Seldon has focused on optimizing municipal […]

WEF developed apprenticeship standards that provide pathway into the profession Evidence of commitment to operators by the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) continues to grow. In 2010, WEF launched its Operator Initiative to provide knowledge and services to wastewater systems operations personnel. As part of this initiative, WEF has obtained U.S. Department of Labor […]