WEF 2017-18 President Jenny Hartfelder blogs about operators, as well as initiatives designed to attract, prepare, and retain the next generation of water quality professionals.
Before my year as Water Environment Federation president comes to a close, I want to discuss one segment of our membership that has special meaning to me: our operators. These professionals work on the frontlines of wastewater treatment. WEF has committed to supporting operator initiatives with the goal of attracting, preparing, and retaining the next generation of these water quality professionals.
WEF offers a variety of resources to help operators access the training and education they need to do their job, as well as to help utilities fill operator positions. The Operator Advisory Panel (OAP) helps identify and carry out operator initiatives. Numerous technical publications and training opportunities can help operators learn. WEF celebrates excellence in the profession through the Operator Ingenuity Recognition Program, showcases their skills during the Operations Challenge competition, works to create the Professional Operator designation, and develops new initiatives through the WEF House of Delegates (HOD) Operator Workgroup. We hope that operators will take advantage of these resources and that the water sector uses these tools to attract, prepare, and retain future water sector employees.
WEF focuses on providing different types of operator education, training materials, programs, and collaboration efforts, such as
- the On-Demand WasteWater Library (OWWL),
- Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals series,
- operator certification guides,
- operator-focused publications, and
- Water Environment & Technology Operator Essentials section.
Two of WEF’s Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals books are game-changing educational resources that focus on the ABC “need-to-know” criteria gathered from current sector practices and WEF’s vast library of publications. Volume 1 focuses on liquid treatment and can be purchased online. Volume 2, which is scheduled for publication in 2019, focuses on solids handling and support systems.
During the past decade, WEF staff and trustees have collaborated with Member Associations and supported HOD Operator Workgroups. The role of this year’s HOD Operator Workgroup is to assist the WEF OAP in promoting and supporting the professional operator by developing materials that support and encourage participation in WEF's operator-oriented programs and services.
If you are interested in volunteering to develop or implement these programs, or if you have ideas for other needed operator resources, please contact WEF staff member Steve Harrison at sharrison@wef.org.
Excerpted from WEF Highlights, Aug. 22, 2018, “From the President.” Read the entire article.