Water Break

Welcome to “Water Break”, where we try to bridge the gap between Water Operators and Engineers! Today’s episode is our 48th and to celebrate, we have brought back Wanda Baustert of “Wanda’s Water Tidbits”. Typically, our Tidbits are little bits of trivia or articles that are unusual and sometimes even brilliant about water that my mother, Wanda, has sent to me and has asked for my opinion on. Toda...

Welcome to “Water Break”, where we try to bridge the gap between Water Operators and Engineers! In today’s episode, we are going to talk about “Operator Ethics and Why They Matter”. We would like to welcome back John Schwartz, who is the Senior Technical Support Representative/Technical Training Manager, and Loyd Rawlings, who is the Technical Training Manager for USA BlueBook. John brings over 40...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In today’s episode, we are going to talk about a challenging packaged sanitary wastewater treatment plant retrofit. We are thrilled to welcome back our guest Ibrahim Teres, a senior process engineer at EMCO group with 10+ years in the water and wastewater treatment systems design field. Ibrahim was recently elected as the vice c...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” Matt Casto Jordan Jackson In today’s episode we are going to talk about “Protecting Source Water.” Our guests are Matt Casto and Jordan Jackson of  North Carolina Rural Water Association. Matt’s unconventional journey into the water industry began with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture, where he developed an improvisational p...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 43 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses interesting details about water with our guests, John Schwartz, Senior Technical Support Representative/Technical Training Manager, and Loyd Rawlings, Technical Training Manager for a leading MRO company. John brings over 40 years of experience in water an...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 42 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses wastewater laboratory testing with Jane Leatherland. Jane was born in Yorkshire, England and started her career at a coal testing facility that also conducted water, gas, and air analysis. Jane emigrated to the USA in 1986 and worked for Metro Denver Waste...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 41 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, is discussing the Operations Challenge with actual participants: Kevin Wegener and Skyler Edmison of Clean Water Services. Operations Challenge is a premier event for wastewater operators, testing skills in process control, maintenance, laboratory procedures, and mo...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In Episode 40 of the Water Break podcast, host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Ibrahim Teres from Emco Engineering Inc. to dive into an intriguing case study involving a tannery in the United Arab Emirates. Ibrahim is a water solutions expert who serves as the head of the industrial division at EMCO group. Ibrahim...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 39 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is continuing the conversation with Christopher Hatch to dig even deeper into Anaerobic Digestion and applications. They will cover processes, troubleshooting and safety. Christopher has almost 3 decades of experience in wastewater treatment and biological...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 38 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Christopher Hatch to dig deep into Anaerobic Digestion and applications. Christopher has almost 3 decades of experience in wastewater treatment and biological systems and he leads the Riverbend division of Chemtron Riverbend as the S...

In episode 37 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Jim Huchel to talk about nitrification and denitrification. They discussed this topic in 2020 and are revisiting it after nearly four years. With 4 decades of years of work experience in the wastewater industry, Jim shares his insights, advice and more with our listeners.

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 35 of the Water Break podcast, our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Frederick Tack to discuss membranes in water and wastewater treatment. Frederick serves as a Technical Director, Project Director, and Associate with GHD, based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he leads a team of engineers, operators, and...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 34 of the Water Break podcast, our host Heather Jennings, PE, is in conversation with Wanda Baustert. Wanda is the inspiration behind Wanda’s Tidbit – our special segment toward the end of every Water Break podcast. She loves to curate wastewater fun facts, and more, to keep our listeners informed and entertain...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers.” In episode 33 of the Water Break podcast our host Heather Jennings, PE, is going to talk about Preliminary Engineering Reports with Marty Howell who is a senior engineer with Souder, Miller & Associates, a civil engineering firm with offices throughout the mountain west. Howell’s work focuses on rural water and wastewater p...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In Episode 32 of The Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, talks with Mike McGill about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) communication plans and how to support local communities through the new regulations coming down from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mike is the Founder and President of WaterPIO , a...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 31 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses the experience of being a new person in the water and wastewater industry with our newest team member Andrew Emerson, and Jim Huchel, Operations Manager, Makai Water Services. With 39 years of work experience in the wastewater industry, Jim shares his inte...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 30 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses the WEFTEC Operations Challenge with Allan Clum , General Manager, and Greg Hill , Operations Manager, at Mount Pleasant Waterworks (MPW) in South Carolina. Clum and Hill share their experience of participating in the Operations Challenge and reveal why th...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 29 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses fundamental water systems backflow and cross-connection issues with  Gary McLaren , Marketing Director and “Backflow Nerd” at  HydroCorp , based in Troy, Michigan, and  Rich Davison , Engineering Sales at  Soderholm & Associates  in Madison, Wisconsin....

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In episode 28 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses fundamental water systems backflow and cross-connection issues with Gary McLaren , Marketing Director and “Backflow Nerd” at HydroCorp , based in Troy, Michigan. Mr. McLaren has inspected over 4,000 commercial and industrial facilities for unprotected back...

“Where we bridge the gap between water plant operators and engineers” In Episode 27 of the Water Break Podcast, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses the microbiology of filamentous bacteria with Dr. Toni Glymph-Martin. Dr. Glymph-Martin is a Wastewater Microbiologist and Certified Operator, B-Level, with 40+ years’ experience in wastewater. She is the author of two books: A Wastewater Microbiology Labo...

“Where We Bridge the Gap Between Water Plant Operators and Engineers” In The Water Break Podcast Episode 25, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses commercial diving and how it applies to water and wastewater treatment facilities with guest Robert Greenspan, president of Midco Diving & Marine Services of Rapid City, South Dakota (phone 1-800-238-0217). Mr. Greenspan has 28 years of commercial diving...

“Where We Bridge the Gap Between Water Plant Operators and Engineers” In The Water Break Podcast Episode 24, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) with guests from 120 Water (phone 1-888-317-1510), Marcus Hagberg and Lowell Huffman . Mr. Hagberg is an Account Manager and Mr. Huffman is Director of Strategic Partnerships at 120 Water. Both are very actively invol...

“Where We Bridge the Gap Between Water Plant Operators and Engineers” In The Water Break Podcast Episode 23, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses Pumps and Motor Operation and Maintenance with Glynn Stoffel , a certified environmental trainer and senior instructor for the University of Florida’s TREEO Center . Mr. Stoffel teaches courses related to the proper operation and maintenance of water and wast...

“Where We Bridge the Gap Between Water Plant Operators and Engineers” In The Water Break Podcast Episode 22, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses Slips, Trips, and Falls with Joseph Lanute . Mr. Lanute is the owner of Universal Safety Compliance, LLC., and he is a lead Instructor at the Arizona State University OSHA Education Center . Universal Safety Compliance (phone 602-810-6713) is a full-service s...

“Where We Bridge the Gap Between Water Plant Operators and Engineers” In The Water Break Podcast Episode 21, Heather Jennings, PE, discusses Excavation and Trenching Safety with Joseph Lanute . Mr. Lanute is the owner of Universal Safety Compliance, LLC., and he is a lead Instructor at the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at Arizona State University. Universal Safety Compliance (phone 602-...