Arlington Re-Gen Employee Spotlight

Number of Years with WPCP: 9 years

Q: Can you tell us about your role at the Water Pollution Control Plant? What does a typical day look like for you, and what are some of the challenges you’re responsible for solving?
I currently serve as the plant’s Pre-Treatment Coordinator, overseeing the Fats, Oils, and Grease Program. My role involves working outside of the plant, with local businesses in Arlington County, to ensure that wastewater produced by the public is compatible with our treatment systems. I inspect restaurants and grease interceptors to make sure they’re in compliance with regulatory standards and working properly.

Q: What’s something about your work at the plant that most residents probably don’t realize?
The entirety of our efforts that go along with treating wastewater. People think of the plant’s operations as something that are contained to our treatment systems, but my position demonstrates that we actually do a lot of work outside the plant’s footprint throughout the community.

Q: Can you share a little bit about your career journey? Was there a moment in your career when you realized this was the kind of work you wanted to do?
Before moving to my current position, I was an operator at the plant for 8 years. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Geology. Coming out of college, I knew I wanted to work doing something environmentally focused, where I could use my scientific knowledge as a member of a team.

During my time as an operator, I obtained a Class 1 wastewater license, which is the highest level you can achieve. I also completed a program to receive a Registered Environmental Manager Certificate. In my new role as the plant’s Pre-Treatment Coordinator, I get to combine both these areas of expertise in an interesting way.

Q: How do you support the Re-Gen program? What part of Re-Gen has challenged you the most professionally, and what have you learned from it?
I serve as an operations subject matter expert, advising on Re-Gen’s planned processes and designs. I help consult as a former senior operator with a strong knowledge of the plant.

Q: How are staff preparing for the new processes and technologies that the Re-Gen program will deliver? What are you and your colleagues learning now that will be important once the new facilities and processes are operating?
Re-Gen is presenting both a challenge and opportunity for our staff to learn and grow. Our operators are learning how to be better, and more creative, to keep the plant’s operations going throughout construction. The entire program presents an opportunity for everyone to become better at what they do.

Q: What’s something about your work at the plant that most residents probably don’t realize? What Re-Gen benefits to residents are you most excited about?
I’m most excited about the plant’s operational focus going from essentially just treating waste, which is the general assumption people have about treatment plants, to unlocking opportunities for our community to recover resources. Many people in Arlington County are excited about this. Through projects like Re-Gen, people are learning that the wastewater industry is becoming much more sustainable, and that’s something to be excited about.

Q: What advice would you give to the next generation of water professionals interested in projects like Re-Gen?
For those entering the industry, I would advise them to be open to thinking about wastewater in different ways. It’s a field where we need many forms of specialists working together. Be open to having conversations and trying different ways of thinking from people with different expertise. Re-Gen has sparked many conversations at the plant because so many talented people with different skills are involved.

Q: What do you hope the next generation of WPCP employees inherits from the work your team is doing today?
I hope that they appreciate that Re-Gen represented a change in what the plant was here to do. People think we just treat wastewater, and it is about to become a lot more than that. We’re becoming a facility that recovers resources for our community, and I hope the people who come after us understand that Re-Gen laid the foundation for that change.

Q: What makes you proudest about Re-Gen?
I’m proud that Re-Gen gets me thinking beyond an operator's mindset. We’re focused on safety and effective treatment, but it makes us go a step further and think about what we can do with the resources coming through our facility for treatment. It reminds me that we’re working on something bigger than the day-to-day, something that will last.