Jennifer Wilson posted on January 23, 2012 13:00
Last week I found an article on Twitter about a water operator who has surrended his license. Why? He lied about his CEUs.
We read in the news almost every week about very serious transgressions of public servants, from the mayor lining his pockets to illegal wastewater discharges. Sadly, a couple of times each year we even find out that someone died from a public servant not doing his or her job.
We don't hear that often about the 'little' things. That chemical feeding reading that was a guesstimate. The training class where a participant took a long lunch. The form that was signed as the certified operator for another system he had not recently visited. You don't hear about these things until they turn into a not-so-little problem, or the individual gets caught.
Water operators like this one in Massachusetts give industry professionals who do the right thing, day in and day out, a bad name.
Public trust is a community asset
Sometimes we forget to talk publicly about the truly important responsibility for public health protection in the hands of water operators. As water colleagues we know this, but I would argue that we owe it to the communities we serve to remind them.
Do something in 2012 to connect the water from the tap to the real people who make it happen.
Host a tour of your plant or include a flyer in your next bill. These efforts will give the public a positive message about the importance of operators and the job they do. Through local outreach you can demonstrate that most operators are not like John Glaze.
How to Run your Small Water Supply like a Business is a weekly series at SmallWaterSupply.org, appearing on most Mondays.