From delivering potable water to collecting wastewater, about 100 high school and college students got a chance to get their hands dirty at Water Carrier Day on Oct. 10 at the San Elijo Consolidated Powers Water Campus in Encinitas, according to a news release. He said he took a tour.
Engineering students from Mission Hills High School and students from Palomar College’s Water and Wastewater Technology program toured campus, stopping at stations staffed by San Elijo JPA, Lucadia Sewer District, and Olivenhain Municipal Water District staff.
Engineers operate systems that include remote-controlled cameras to inspect sewer pipes and vacuum trucks to clean them, large and small valves and the machines and computers that open and close them, and microscopes to identify microorganisms that digest wastewater. We demonstrated the equipment used to maintain this. .
The Water Campus itself is a facility that treats wastewater and delivers recycled water to Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, and Rancho Santa Fe, and serves as a huge showcase of the work required to keep critical infrastructure running. I accomplished it.
“It seems like a great place to work,” Tristan Manibusan, a senior at Mission Hills in San Marcos, said in a news release. He said he would be drawn to working in a lab.
“It’s great to help the community and the environment,” Tristan said.
Water executives and front-line technicians got students thinking about careers in their industry.
Carney Russell, Field Service Technician for the Leucadia Sewer District, explained to students how wheeled cameras move through sewer pipes to identify root intrusion and other possible points of failure. .
Almost everything he learned about wastewater collection was learned on the job, Russell said in a news release, adding that a willingness to work hard and a good attitude are important qualities.
Many positions don’t require a two- or four-year degree, but Palomar College’s Water and Wastewater Technology Program and MiraCosta College’s Technical Career Institute offer relevant training and coursework.
“We’re teaching our employees the right skills,” Chris Ing of the Technical Career Institute said in a news release.
Palomar College student Pravia Oryem is pursuing a career as a plant operator. In addition to coursework, she completed internships with the City of San Diego Department of Public Works and the Vallecitos Water District. At the booth of the Olivenhain Municipal Water Board, Flavia filmed a video and explained the details of computerized water meters together with one of the presenters.
“These are their kind of jobs,” Olivenhain general manager Kim Thorner said in a news release. “We currently have three positions, all entry-level.”
San Elijo JPA General Manager Mike Thornton, another longtime water industry executive, said in a news release that Water Career Day supports exit planning in an industry where many workers are retiring. said.
“We want young people to understand that there is opportunity here,” Thornton said.
Water Career Day was hosted in partnership with Rising Tide Partners. For more information, please visit www.sejpa.org.
