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Welcome to “Water Break”, where we try to bridge the gap between Water Operators and Engineers! Today’s episode is our 48th and to celebrate, we have brought back Wanda Baustert of “Wanda’s Water Tidbits”. Typically, our Tidbits are little bits of trivia or articles that are unusual and sometimes even brilliant about water that my mother, Wanda, has sent to me and has asked for my opinion on. Today, you get to hear her opinions directly.

Welcome to “Water Break”, where we try to bridge the gap between Water Operators and Engineers! In today’s episode, we are going to talk about “Operator Ethics and Why They Matter”. We would like to welcome back John Schwartz, who is the Senior Technical Support Representative/Technical Training Manager, and Loyd Rawlings, who is the Technical Training Manager for USA BlueBook. John brings over 40 years of water and wastewater experience to the training room, including roles as a water system operator, a lead/senior operator for both water treatment and distribution systems, and a water treatment and distribution system manager. He also served as a circuit rider, trainer and technical advisor for the California Rural Water Association. John is certified in Water Treatment and Distribution in California and Montana and holds a Utility Management Certification (UMC) for Water and Wastewater Management from NRWA’s Water University. Loyd has over 30 yrs of experience and has worked for Missouri Department of Natural Resources as a certification trainer and compliance assistance operator. With Missouri Rural Water Association, he led EPA Water Quality Action Specialists (WQAS) trainings, worked as a USDA Wastewater Technician, served as a circuit rider, and taught numerous water and wastewater certification classes. Loyd holds certifications in Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment and Distribution systems in Missouri. He holds a Utility Management Certification (UMC) from NRWA’s Water University.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In today’s episode, we are going to talk about a challenging packaged sanitary wastewater treatment plant retrofit. We are thrilled to welcome back our guest Ibrahim Teres, a senior process engineer at EMCO group with 10+ years in the water and wastewater treatment systems design field. Ibrahim was recently elected as the vice chairman for the AZ Water Association’s water treatment committee and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering. Ibrahim has successfully designed, executed, and started up numerous municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment projects. His expertise spans across diverse sectors including beverage, food processing, and oil & gas industries. Before moving to Arizona, Ibrahim worked on projects located in the middle east and Africa, thus bringing in a wealth of international experience and a proven track record of delivering innovative and effective water treatment solutions to his new role.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” Matt Casto Jordan Jackson In today’s episode we are going to talk about “Protecting Source Water.” Our guests are Matt Casto and Jordan Jackson of  North Carolina Rural Water Association. Matt’s unconventional journey into the water industry began with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture, where he developed an improvisational problem-solving mindset that he’s carried into 14 years of hands-on experience in water operations. He’s worked as a surface water plant operator and superintendent, Circuit Rider, and he now serves as a Source Water Protection Specialist with the North Carolina Rural Water Association. Matt enjoys both the technical aspects of water treatment and the hands-on work of system repairs, feeling equally at home in the field or the boardroom. Outside of work, he is an avid saltwater aquarist, ornamental gardener, and recreational hockey player. Born and raised in North Carolina, Jordan has 12 years of water and wastewater utility experience with expertise in source water protection, cross connection control, wastewater laboratory and pretreatment programs. She obtained a Masters of Water Resources from the University of New Mexico and holds NC Biological Wastewater Grade IV certification in addition to Utility Management Certification issued by National Rural Water Association.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 43 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses interesting details about water with our guests, John Schwartz, Senior Technical Support Representative/Technical Training Manager, and Loyd Rawlings, Technical Training Manager for a leading MRO company. John brings over 40 years of experience in water and wastewater to the training room, including roles as a water system operator, lead/senior operator for both water treatment and distribution systems, and manager of water treatment and distribution systems. He also served as a circuit rider, trainer, and technical advisor for the California Rural Water Association. John is certified in Water Treatment and Distribution in both California and Montana and holds a Utility Management Certification (UMC) for Water and Wastewater Management from NRWA’s Water University. Loyd has 30 years of experience in water and wastewater. He has worked for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as a certification trainer and compliance assistance operator. With the Missouri Rural Water Association, he led EPA Water Quality Action Specialists (WQAS) trainings, worked as a USDA Wastewater Technician, served as a circuit rider, and taught numerous water and wastewater certification classes. Loyd holds certifications in Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, and Distribution Systems in Missouri. He also holds a Utility Management Certification (UMC) from NRWA’s Water University.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 42 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses wastewater laboratory testing with Jane Leatherland. Jane was born in Yorkshire, England and started her career at a coal testing facility that also conducted water, gas, and air analysis. Jane emigrated to the USA in 1986 and worked for Metro Denver Wastewater for 16 years as a lab analyst. She then moved to Michigan and later to Tennessee, where she was employed by Humboldt Utilities. Jane earned her Grade 4 WWTP certification within one year and her Grade 2 water certification four years later. Now semi-retired, she enjoys traveling with her husband of 38 years.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 41 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, is discussing the Operations Challenge with actual participants: Kevin Wegener and Skyler Edmison of Clean Water Services. Operations Challenge is a premier event for wastewater operators, testing skills in process control, maintenance, laboratory procedures, and more. The Challenge happens first at the State level and then winners of the State Competitions go to the “Super Bowl” of Operations Challenge at WEFTEC where you face 50+ other teams. These events simulate real-world challenges faced in the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment facilities. Today we want you listeners to hear from the challengers what they learned, the challenges they faced, and how the experience impacted their skills and career.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In Episode 40 of the Water Break podcast, host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Ibrahim Teres from Emco Engineering Inc. to dive into an intriguing case study involving a tannery in the United Arab Emirates. Ibrahim is a water solutions expert who serves as the head of the industrial division at EMCO group. Ibrahim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from UoB. Over the past 10+ years, Ibrahim has successfully designed, executed, and started up numerous municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment projects covering beverage, food processing, and oil & gas industries. Before moving to Arizona, Ibrahim worked on projects located in the middle east and Africa, thus bringing in a wealth of international experience and a proven track record of delivering innovative and effective water treatment solutions to his new role.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 39 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is continuing the conversation with Christopher Hatch to dig even deeper into Anaerobic Digestion and applications. They will cover processes, troubleshooting and safety. Christopher has almost 3 decades of experience in wastewater treatment and biological systems and he leads the Riverbend division of Chemtron Riverbend as the Senior Director of Biotech and Engineering. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Iowa with an Environmental Minor and a Degree in Physics. He has operated nearly all types of biological driven processes in wastewater, as well as dewatering and thickening and many chemical processes as well. He has a huge passion for anything biological and environmentally related.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 38 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Christopher Hatch to dig deep into Anaerobic Digestion and applications. Christopher has almost 3 decades of experience in wastewater treatment and biological systems and he leads the Riverbend division of Chemtron Riverbend as the Senior Director of Biotech and Engineering. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Iowa with an Environmental Minor and a Degree in Physics. He has operated nearly all types of biological driven processes in wastewater, as well as dewatering and thickening and many chemical processes as well. He has a huge passion for anything biological and environmentally related.

In episode 37 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Jim Huchel to talk about nitrification and denitrification. They discussed this topic in 2020 and are revisiting it after nearly four years. With 4 decades of years of work experience in the wastewater industry, Jim shares his insights, advice and more with our listeners.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 35 of the Water Break podcast, our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Frederick Tack to discuss membranes in water and wastewater treatment. Frederick serves as a Technical Director, Project Director, and Associate with GHD, based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he leads a team of engineers, operators, and designers, in the planning, engineering, operations, management, and compliance of water and wastewater treatment infrastructure across the U.S Southwest. With over 21 years of experience, he is a field to finish, multi discipline professional who has led the design of over 135 projects including 32 water treatment and 37 wastewater treatment facility expansions, optimizations, or rehabilitation and has sealed over 290 final design documents in the past 10-years.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 34 of the Water Break podcast, our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Wanda Baustert. Wanda is the inspiration behind Wanda’s Tidbit – our special segment toward the end of every Water Break podcast. She loves to curate wastewater fun facts, and more, to keep our listeners informed and entertained. Fun fact about Wanda? She’s also Heather’s mom!

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 33 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is going to talk about Preliminary Engineering Reports with Marty Howell who is a senior engineer with Souder, Miller & Associates, a civil engineering firm with offices throughout the mountain west. Howell’s work focuses on rural water and wastewater projects across southern New Mexico and Texas

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In Episode 32 of The Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, talks with Mike McGill about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) communication plans and how to support local communities through the new regulations coming down from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mike is the Founder and President of WaterPIO, a company that specializes in crisis communications planning and implementation in the water industry.       Heather’s Niagra Falls Photos: