Every year at its annual convention, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) hosts the Operations Challenge: five timed events that test the skills of wastewater operators. The American Water Works Association hosts similar competitions, such as Hydrant Hysteria, but WEF’s is much harder. To be grand champion, a team must excel in the laboratory, process control, maintenance, safety, and collection systems.
That last one mimics repairing leaky PVC pipe and is the most exciting to watch. A couple days after touring a Waste Management recycling center, Justin and I headed to Glen Ellyn, Ill., where Operator 1 Jason Neighbors hosted a demonstration in the Glenbard Wastewater Authority’s maintenance garage.
On a day so humid my glasses fogged up, we learned that team members often aren’t from the same utility. The Central States Water Environment Association’s, for example, draws from Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Despite practicing only four times last year, Jason’s team (the Shovelers) brought home two trophies.
Anyway, Jason and his coworkers set up a similar installation and showed us what the competition consists of. Then they let us take a shot at it. Let me tell you: cutting through 5/16-inch PVC pipe with a metal saw is not easy. I stopped sawing once I got the feel of the pipe, but Justin wouldn’t quit until he’d sawed all the way through. Then he had about a gallon of water and lunch!
