Wastewater Schools Committee

2019 Chair
Mark Drake, Veolia Water
mark.drake@veolia.com

(919) 653-4564

2019 Vice Chair

Alex Travaglia, Brown and Caldwell 

atravaglia@brwncald.com

(919) 233-9178

The Wastewater Treatment Operators Schools Committee was formed to provide education and training to the State’s wastewater industry professionals. In an effort to better prepare operators for their current positions, as well as the State’s operator certification exams, the committee organizes and runs: two (2) five-day schools (one in Raleigh and one in Morganton) for biological wastewater treatment plant operators Grades I through IV, one (1) four-day school for physical/chemical wastewater treatment plant operators Grades I and II, and a one-day Advanced Topics Seminar. The committee meets at various locations during the year to review pertinent information and announcements, and to select instructors for the schools and topics and presenters for the seminar.

In addition, the committee provides input to the state’s Technical Assistance and Certification Unit (TACU) and the Water Pollution Control System Operators Certification Commission (WPCSOCC) on the curriculum for the schools.

Committee History

The Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators Schools Committee of the North Carolina American Water Works Association-Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA) was formed around 1950 as the Annual Wastewater School Committee. The original purpose of the committee was to prepare a curriculum for the school. The first school was held in 1952, and the purpose of the committee after that time became to establish and carry out all duties required in order to hold at least one school for wastewater treatment plant operators annually. The school was initially coordinated by George Barnes and Charlie Weiss, and the committee was chaired by Don Francisco beginning in 1971 and continuing until 2004. Interest in the school greatly increased in 1969 when the State of North Carolina passed the law requiring operator certification, which established the WPCSOCC. To provide additional opportunities for operators in the western part of the State to attend the school, the committee added a second school in Morganton for Grades I and II biological wastewater treatment plant operators in 2002, and expanded that school to include Grades III and IV in 2004.

The committee established a one and a half-day seminar for advanced wastewater treatment plant operators in 1983, and currently holds a one-day advanced topics seminar for wastewater treatment plant operators. The committee also took over the organization of the Physical/Chemical Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators School in 2006.