Wastewater PR / Positions

There are many opportunities in water and wastewater utility business

An essential field for all locations (Oak Park, New York, etc) since everybody needs water

Here is a list of job description titles that are available just at the Ventura regional sanitation district

DOWNLOAD Waste...ions.pdf

This industry is not only comprised of people turning valves, looking at tanks, testing water

It also has areas such as finance, public outreach (PR), and engineering since it is a broad business that needs a lot of different functions

Day-to-day activity

One day is rarely like another since it is based on the need at a certain time

Ex: He is currently launching a very innovative project to reuse water for the next 10 years

Day-to-day tasks include newsletters, social media, website development, and tours

Involves some insurance: insurance renewal (compiling statistics and reporting them to the insurance company)
PR tasks: educational outreach program (talking to elementary students)
Special weekly tasks: arranging, publicizing, and promoting a class that will be teaching people how to landscape their properties and be aware of the fires
Managing Facebook, news releases, etc.
PR is changing very rapidly with social media because everything has to be a hit. Within 10 minutes, it's gone

Writing is a very important skill for any job

Social media shorthand is having a negative effect on true communication. Good writers can write something quickly that is easily understood

Especially social media, where you must share information quickly
Also in PR or marketing

College admissions officers are very impressed when students thank them for coming to the school (it makes a big difference)

It should be:

well written
have no text shorthand
very polite

In interviews: it definitely helps you to follow up with a thank you note or some indication

interviews are largely based on the skills that somebody is showing
but a well written, detailed, proofread cover letter makes a big difference

Here is a handout that was given at the meeting that has more information on cover letters

DOWNLOAD Cover...ters.pdf

What does a wastewater unit do?

It mainly handles water, wastewater, and solid waste (trash/landfills)

Currently expanding landscape to take in more trash to increase efficiency

One of the problems that we have in Oak Park is there's no local water

It all comes from about 400 miles away on the California Water project.
With population growth, the deterioration of the environment, pollution of the waterways, people need to be more water conscious.
There's is only as much water in the planet now as there was a million years ago
There will never be any more or any less
So, it depends on what people do with it
70% of the planet is water
3% is freshwater
1% is accessible (the other 2% is stuck in the ice caps on the North/South Pole)

In California, 2/3 of the freshwater supply is in Northern California, but the demand is 2/3 in Southern California. So, a pure water project is happening to ensure water is brought down.

What is a pure water project?

It consists of:

Taking wastewater, cleaning it to such an extent that it can be put back into the environment or into drinking water, blend it and use again.
Desalination - taking seawater and clean it up so it can be consumed
It is hugely expensive, but the technology's there.
The ocean water is dirty due to salts, solids and plant life
The power required to treat seawater is prohibited

So, it's better to figure out a way to reuse what we have already used

(This is called closing the sustainability loop)

Wastewater utilities use a lot of electronics.
But, there is not a lot of electronic development within the water utility industry.

Ex: electronic remote water meter systems in Oak Park that automatically transmit people's water use.

There is a customer portal where you can look at your water use on a minute by minute basis, and figure out where your may be wasting water and more information

Instrumentation and electronics technicians keep all those electronics running

Data people keep computers and networks up and running

Chemists and environmental / botanic people: compliance testing for water quality

Very important since they have a massive responsibility to make sure the water meets the standards
So environmental sciences are big.
Marine biology: environmental analysis

There is no marketing department since the only job is recovering costs

Ex: It costs 75 cents, even pennies, to send a gallon of water. If water expenses are $100,000, they can only charge $100,000 plus minimal, to recover the costs of administration to keep things going and plan for the future

Finance people are mainly concerned with budgeting effectively at the beginning of the year and monitoring that budget

Finances within a water utility

In the private sector, also in the water business, they try to make money

Investor relations: trying to promote the stock, make sure earnings per share are viable, and revenues are sufficient to pay your debt, etc.

In his business, it's primarily budget

Make sure you budget effectively, comply with the budget and report it

as a public agency, most companies have to report to somebody
its shareholders or in his case, the public.
The public has a right to know that they are not taking their money away
They are just recovering the costs that it takes to produce, send and treat the water

His company has about 70 employees

Finance sector has about 10 (a good chunk of the business)

The process of cleaning water

Three stages

a primary and secondary clarification: the wastewater settles out and the solids are separated from the liquid
the liquid is processed with chlorine and filtered to remove microbiological particles, then dechlorinated to a level where it can be put back in the environment (ex: discharged into a waterway)
Ultra filtration, UV disinfection, which is ultraviolet light and reverse osmosis

Once it goes through tertiary (three) stage treatment, the water irrigates parks, schoolyards, golf courses, etc.

A purple pipe always signifies recycled water

After these three stages, all that is left it two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (like distilled water) Distilled water is not good to drink because it has no minerals. It can actually make you sick because it starts to leach minerals from your body as opposed to putting them there (if drunk in large enough quantities)

So, water has to be blended before it is piped to customers

Water Quality Safety

Bottled water has fewer regulations on it than tap water. Tap water is safe for consumption because it is repeatedly tested and monitored to be reported to regulators such as the EPA and the California Department of Health

Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs): things in water should be below the levels to be acceptable for drinking.

Water over MCLs may be drinkable for the local population, because over time their system has grown accustomed to it.

But in certain areas, the level of natural contaminant is high
Or there is no sanitation system, so the wastewater just gets dumped on the ground or just raw sewage into a hole.
Eventually it will seep down into the groundwater, contaminate, and lead to biological contamination.
That's why so many third world countries, the infant mortality rate is huge (because the water is bad)

More Information

Here is a video that covers how to be successful in public relations.

This video covers all of the basic information about public relations.