Join CSWEA
How did you get involved in the water or wastewater industry? That’s a great question to ask folks you work with. Wastewater isn’t the most glamorous of career choices. The answers I’ve heard range from meaningful to glib to funny.
I recognized the importance of water at an early age. There is a creek in the woods behind our house where I grew up. As a little kid I spent a lot of time playing in the woods and the creek – damming it up, throwing rocks, walking in it, and walking along it. Once, while playing in creek, a friend of mine suggested we take a drink. It was crystal clear, cool, and flowing. Why not? I tried it – then was sick for two days. It was a learning experience for me. There had to be more to water than meets the eye. I learned much later that the creek got most of its flow from surface runoff, including areas where septic systems and leach fields were located. Yuck.
Going on backpacking and canoe trips also helped develop my perspective on water. We take drinking water with us when we backpack or properly filter it when we canoe. And we are very particular in how and where we manage our own waste. My experiences have shaped my perspective: the world needs good quality, drinkable water as well as proper waste management. The inspiration to do better with water and wastewater led me to seek and earn an environmental engineering degree.
My career has been devoted to using this education as well as my experience and perspective to improve water and wastewater. We in the water/wastewater industry are stewards. We don’t own the water, the creeks and lakes, nor the piping and treatment systems, but we are responsible for taking care of them: planning, designing, building, operating, and maintaining them. It takes a lot of people doing many things correctly to produce well-treated wastewater and tasty drinkable water. It’s this combined interest we share as an industry that gives meaning to what we do as a profession. CSWEA is a group of people with generally a similar interest – to do better with water.
To this end, the Minnesota Section has been busy creating opportunities for us to share ideas and lessons learned as well as strengthen our connections. The Innovative Approaches Seminar was held in St. Cloud on February 6. Attendance was up from prior years as was the interest in the variety of vendors and excellent technical presentations. Dozens of MN Section members represented Minnesota well at the May CSWEA Annual Meeting in Illinois. Committee reports and discussions during our Section Breakfast and Meeting showed great engagement and advancement of our combined efforts. The MN Section met in St. Cloud in June to coordinate and exchange ideas at the Minnesota Exchange (MNX). You’re encouraged to participate in CSX, which is on July 18-19 at the Dells. Planning is underway for the Conference on the Environment to be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center on November 7. We have a great planning committee and welcome your participation. Contact me to get involved!
The Minnesota Section is working to improve its engagement in Operations Challenge. Early in my career I was part of an Ops Challenge team that competed at WEFTEC. I was the Process Control lead, and participated in the other events – Safety, Lab, Collection System, and Maintenance. This involvement broadened my perspective, increased my knowledge, and cemented the importance of having fun with great people while learning. It also inspired me to get a wastewater operator license. This is a great opportunity to be involved in helping people become better at what they do while representing the strong water/wastewater professionals of Minnesota. Eric Lynne of Donohue is the Minnesota Wastewater Operators Association (MWOA) Liaison with CSWEA MN Section – contact him to get involved (elynne@donohue-associates.com).
The MN Section has an energetic team of people involved in a wide range of efforts. We are organized by Committees. Check out the list of committees on the CSWEA website and contact the people listed to engage (www.cswea.org/minnesota/about-us/officers-and-committee-chairs). You’ll be glad you did.
To provide a Water Environment Federation (WEF) organization (Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin) offering multiple opportunities for the exchange of water quality knowledge and experiences among its members and the public and to foster a greater awareness of water quality achievements and challenges.
Connect With Us
ahaque@cswea.org
(855) MYCSWEA (692-7932)