An Ode to Our Operators
Treating wastewater involves a lot of processes and a lot of machinery to clean the water before being released into the South Platte River. To ensure everything operates as it should, our operators are on site 24/7 to monitor and ensure that things go smoothly between both our Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility and Northern Treatment Plant.
During their shifts, operators are responsible for
- Monitoring the plant’s efficiency
- Identifying flow trends
- Adjusting the plant’s process to maintain compliance levels related to our discharge levels
- Conducting centrifuge runs for the biosolids
- Equipment checks
- Gathering samples for the lab
- Weekly and quarterly swapping of equipment
- And more!
Each day is different,” explains Northern Treatment Plant Operations Supervisor Elias Carson. “I usually start the day having a meeting with the nighttime operators to identify trends and then divide the day’s work. There’s no typical day because something will likely come up.”
Those daily challenges are what keep Carson engaged. He began his career at Metro Water Recovery as a Facilities Maintenance employee but wanted to move into a new role within the company. The operator role intrigued him with the lure of a complex new challenge. “I hated when I worked an office job, I hated doing landscaping, but I wanted something that would let me continue to work outside with more challenges.” Challenges can range from everything from a change in trends to active triaging of issues that could arise. “It’s a lot of variety, almost like a new challenge puzzle to put together each day.”
To become an operator, one would need a High School diploma or General Educational Development (GED) and a willingness to learn. Carson says, “as long as someone is willing to put in the work they can succeed as an operator.” Operators also need to earn their Colorado Wastewater D-license through state testing, experience, and classwork. If anyone is interested in becoming an operator, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) offers a program you can learn more here: CCWP Program | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Our plants treat millions of gallons of wastewater each day, something we quite literally could not do without the hard work of our operators. They are essential to the metro area’s public health and environmental sustainability.