On the Ground with Facilities Maintenance
There are many moving parts when it comes to treating wastewater, and one of the most important jobs in our process is to make sure that those moving parts are serviced and properly working. That’s where our Facilities Maintenance (FM) team comes in. The FM team is a team whose daily job is to service the facility. That role includes a wide variety of jobs, both in scope and messiness.
“We joke around and say we’re kind of the fire department,” explains Facilities Maintenance Manager Jeff Scheble. “Our team responds to a wide array of emergencies that range from jetting clogged pipelines to fixing the temperature in a conference room.”
The FM team is also responsible for maintaining the grounds of our facilities, which can be anything from landscaping and insect control in the warmer months to snow removal and removing injured or trapped ducks from basins in the colder periods of the year. The team is also Metro’s go-to for restocking safety equipment bins (hearing/eye protection), setting up new workspaces and conference rooms, and addressing HVAC issues.
Days Can Be Long and Dirty
“We recently had a job that started at 4 a.m. to clear a clarifier to bring it offline,” reflects Scheble. “When they get drained, the pumps can only go so far, so our team is responsible for getting the rest cleared out so that the clarifier can be serviced before the flows increase.”
Following the crew for a few hours alone would fill an entire episode of Mike Rowe’s hit show Dirty Jobs! When I rode along with FM, a crew in clean suits was flushing a line and cleaning the dirty aftermath. A little later in the day, Obed Rodriguez-Sarmiento, Industrial Maintenance Technician III, showed off an empty aeration basin. “I climbed in there earlier to set a pump up,” Obed said, while motioning towards a gargantuan emptied basin. Once serviced, the basin will fill back up and the team will be elsewhere on the plant to service another area.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Scheble’s favorite part of being in FM is having a good team that works well together. “It wasn’t always like this” he explains, “but the teams work surprisingly well and will assist each other on projects regardless of which portion of the plant each team is assigned.”
Ultimately, Scheble enjoys the balance of working with all of the departments at Metro. “I enjoy it best when the teams work together to accomplish some lofty goals.”
Whether it’s a small or big task or a clean or dirty job, Metro simply would not operate without the daily contributions of our Facilities Maintenance team.