Im trying to get into my city for operations but an opportunity to go for water service technician 1 with the city came up, but that is more distribution/collections. How helpful would it be to take that and move into the plant when it wont be leveling uo my treatment certs? I currently am an OIT with a private company in treatment but leveling up within this company is slow since their such small systems. Better to keep doing what im doing to get treatment certs or switch to distribution flow meter tech stuff to get in with the city?

Ive also heard distribution/collections is rough so id only be doing it to help me move into operations within the city, i dont want to get stuck in that position for long

Looking at getting a Huber screw press at a new facility we are designing. I'd love to hear pros and cons about everyone's experience with them

I'm looking for recommendations on quality 1 1/2" hoses. The hoses we've been getting lately have issues. The threads are bad sometimes and we end up with holes pretty quickly. I believe our plant is trying to save money on getting good quality hoses.

Any of you guys use them at your plant? If so what do you use them for? Pros and cons?

Hi, I was wondering if some people could share their experiences working with bentonite clay flocculants. Can anyone help me with a few brands of dry powder chemical feeders?

Thank you

Wildlife

My wife sent me this.

A section of water pipe from approximately 1870. You can still smell the creosote which lined the inside of the pipe.

Went to a hands-on training class at a plant for education credits. They had an area in the plant with displayed tools from how things were done a long time ago. I'm new to the industry, so these were all quite interesting to me.

This is a Colorimeter from Hach.

I already know the math, so I am looking for study materials for both wastewater collections and water distribution

I'm currently a Pipefitter wanting to move onto something less physically demanding. I have the opportunity to become a Backflow Technician. I'm wondering what the difference in pay will be. I currently make $28. Any insight or advice welcome.

Just found this manual at the plant . I know that this place was originally built in 1920

Hello everyone! As of last night I finished Water Treatment Plant Operation, Volume 1. As I understand it, I can now register to take the CA Drinking Water Operator exam.

However, I first had a few questions. How similar is the content of the exam to that in the CSUS courses? Would you say it is more or less difficult? It appears that the test can be taken basically at anytime, is that correct?

We saw the very useful post of who you consider “blacklisted” vendors, equipment, companies, etc. who have you had good experiences with?

Ok so I am here once again, and once again I need advice. Thankfully, I'm subscribed to one of the best subs in all of Reddit. I appreciate all of the feedback firsthand.

So basically, I've been offered a lucrative position as concierge in a luxury residential building in Manhattan. The job comes with 32bj benefits ( biggest union in Nyc ) and that union also affords you the opportunity to take numerous trades free of charge. Job starts at around 25 per hr. This career path along with my Environmental Engineering degree, would lead me to become an established building professional along the lines of Resident/property manager.

On the other hand, I filled out an application and was contacted to take a civil service exam for WPCA (Water pollution control authority) of Stamford CT. I take the exam next Saturday. So the job isn't tangible yet, but I'm thinking about what would happen should I receive an offer. This position would basically be everything I was coveting since I joined this group and started pursuing the water industry. I would be a Waste water operator trainee staring at around 30 per hour. It's a city job, so I guess whatever benefits comes with that. Although I'm not as sure about them offering any training incentives. This career path would allow me to work a few years in the plant getting the hands on experience operating the machines while I build myself up on on the side learning Autocad, Wastewater modeling softwares like Biowin, and getting my EIT designation to eventually transfer into Water Engineering.

This is my dilemma. I graduate in May so I'm really trying to figure which path I should embark on and which would one would ultimately make me the most money, most job satisfaction and have the best benefits long term.

View Poll

Anyone out there in the wastewater community work in the Physical Chemical field?

Hey everyone, I currently work for one of the bigger wastewater treatment plant suppliers in the state as a salesman/estimator. Just wanted to see if there was any other Louisiana folks or anyone from some neighboring states in the group?

Another thing too, I call myself trying to make sure I am as knowledgeable as I can be for my customers, and if I’m unsure of something I’ll ask instead of screwing their orders up. I always, ALWAYS do my best to make sure my phone stays on me in case of emergency. But I want to see what does it take to really for lack of a better term, put the icing on the cake to keep guys from consistently calling a competitor?

Serious question. This has been the topic of debate between operators and management at my plant this week. I work at a level three municipal plant so we have huge aeration tanks. We recently drained one so we can go in to cut rags.

My opinion: yes it’s a confined space.

Managements opinion: no it’s NOT a confined space. The reasons why are simple! After hosing the tank down there is no atmospheric risk because we have cleared any grit away (we have hosed for two days and there is still piles of grit that we can’t seem to get near the drain). My boss also said that we don’t have enough manpower/budget to have a rescue crew.

Thoughts?

Edit: do you require a rescue crew?

Hello. I am looking at changing careers and getting into the water treatment industry in California. I've seen that there are a lot of different certificates and such that are needed, which is fine. But I'm not clear where I should be starting.

What certificates should I be looking at first? I'm starting at square one, so any advice would be appreciated.

I am in the market for bathymetric mapping/modeling software for sonar data. I use sonar technology (a remote sonar "boat") to survey small bodies of water and lagoons.

The data it outputs is simple and is in .csv format. It gives latitude, longitude, and depth to sonar sounding. The software I currently use came as a free program with the purchase of the sonar boat. Its, simple, UI is clunky and has virtually zero customization/editing options. I input the data, and it spits out this:

https://preview.redd.it/bcw1uundg31e1.png?width=1911&format=png&auto=webp&s=56a97df49066388ac9cb39639de83989daf5d3dd

It also shows a top down google earth type image that is overlayed with the path of the sonar boat. Okay, easy enough. The bathymetric map is essential and so is the overhead image overlay.

I'm simply looking for an upgrade. Something with all these features and more. I want to create maps, reports, display metrics, alternative model/map views, survey area customization, etc. What is the leading or popular software for this type of mapping?

Budget is up to 15K.

Hey all I’m considering accepting a position as a waste water consultant and I would like to Know the pros and cons.

The description mentions travel 50-75% of the time with some over nights. The pay would be about 100k with a free car and a nice bonus

Im just wondering what this position would be like. Is this a stressful job? Ect

Any in-site would be really helpful!

Curious to hear what manufacturers/brands you'll never recommend and why.

WASPS, how do I keep wasps from infiltrating my control panels ? I'm in Florida and my work partner was checking a station yesterday and they chased him off.

With the recent Hurricane we just had, a Lot of our control panels have a large hole drilled in the bottom of them so the generator cables could be ran into them. So we can't seal them up and hope for the best.

I’ve been collecting all the tomato sprouts from the clarifiers and belt press. Although it might be getting too cold for them lol

Recently a sales rep came by our plant and attempted to sell us a bioaugmentation product. It is essentially a powder blend of bacteria and enzymes. He claims when activated with water, the blend of enzymes and bacteria digests the fat and eliminates any fat buildup issues.

We do occasionally get grease buildup in our lift stations' wet well; we have to manually break them up and get a vac truck to suck them out. This product could potentially help us out, but it also sounded a bit too good to be true.

Just wondering if anyone is currently using similar products or has used them in the past cares to share their experience. Thanks!

I recently just made the switch from environmental consulting into the water treatment field. I'm a fairly new college grad (About 1.5 years so far in env consulting - focus on due diligence). I want to leave for a variety of reasons but for the sake of this post it's not relevant. I've been looking for something at least environmentally adjacent. After quite the exhaustive search, I came across water/wastewater and I have a genuine interest in the processes of it and being able to see my impact in real time across the communities I'd be serving would be very rewarding to me.

I just recently accepted an offer as a water treatment operator and the position's start date is in a few weeks. Going to have to get used to rotational shifts and weekend work, but it's something I'm willing to do. I have a training period of a few weeks and will have to get my first license by 3 years of the start date, then I'll have another 3 to get my second tier of the license.

I wanted to ask how the room for career growth is and what it looks like. I'm looking for an industry where I can see myself in for the long-term.

From the folks I talked to, career growth usually means going up into managament. I'll be at a relatively larger company so I imagine the opportunities to bounce around within will be more abundant. I was curious if operators primarily move into management, stay in operations, or if some people decide to make the switch towards mainly laboratory work, environmental, etc. (If that even is a common thing to do). I do have a STEM undergrad degree/background if that's helpful to note. If anyone could touch upon this that would be much appreciated, thank you!

Also, if anyone has any tips for me starting in the industry, let me know!