Category: AWT Champions

During a special awards presentation at the November 16 San Diego County Water Authority Board meeting, CWEA President Chuck Greely, and CA-NV AWWA Executive Director Sue Mosburg honored SDCWA as one of the original champions for the Advanced Water Treatment Operator™ certification program. Support from their agency and team members in 2018-2019 directly led to this successful program.

Comments by Chuck Greely, CWEA President

Today we are honoring San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors leadership and support of advanced treatment. Your involvement at the very beginning of the Advanced Water Treatment Operator Certification program has allowed CWEA and Cal-Nevada AWWA to train and certify hundreds of California’s best operators, ensuring they have the knowledge and skills to produce the cleanest water possible.

Comments by Sue Mosburg, Executive Director, CA-NV AWWA

California-Nevada AWWA and CWEA followed in your footsteps of bringing the best and brightest together from the water and wastewater profession, regulatory community, academics, and experts in professional certification to develop the nation’s first Advanced Water Treatment Operator certification.

Thank you for all that you’ve done for California and for the advanced water treatment community. Here are just a few reasons why San Diego County Water Authority deserves this prestigious Advanced Water Treatment Champion award…

1. Recognizing and honoring SDCWA Board’s visionary leadership and support for water reuse.
2. SDCWA was one of the original funders for the AWTO cert program.
3. SDCWA staff, including Toby Roy and others, dedicated their time to setting up and managing the program. Toby chaired one of the early formation work groups.
4. SDCWA provided meeting space.
5. You’re help raising the profile of AWT operators among elected officials and the public.
6. Highlighting the important role AWT Operators play in achieving the one water vision.
7. Spreading the word and promoting the AWTO program to help it grow to the necessary level of operators.
8. Supporting positive steps towards developing the water workforce of the future.

SDCWA Member Agencies with AWT certified Operators

• City of Escondido
• City of Oceanside
• City of San Diego
• Fallbrook Public Utility District
• Helix Water District
• Padre Dam Municipal Water District

During CWEA’s Annual Conference in San Diego we honored the City of San Diego as one of the original champions for the Advanced Water Treatment Operator™ certification program. Support from their agency and team members in 2018-2019 directly led to this successful program. Sue Mosburg, CA-NV AWWA Executive Director, and Jenn Jones, CWEA Executive Director/CEO both presented the award to the team from the City of San Diego.

During the awards presentation we also had the opportunity to honor several AWTO certified City of San Diego team members and shown in the photo above. Congratulations to those outstanding operators for achieving their certification as well!

We applaud the City of San Diego’s vision over the last 50 years for always developing new and innovative water reuse programs. Water professionals and agencies are being called to action to protect our communities and we are rising to the challenges.

Pure Water San Diego

Pure Water San Diego is the City of San Diego’s phased, multi-year program that will provide nearly half of San Diego’s water supply locally by the end of 2035.

The Pure Water San Diego Program will use proven water purification technology to clean recycled water to produce safe, high-quality drinking water. The Program offers a cost-effective investment for San Diego’s water needs and will provide a reliable, sustainable water supply.

Phase 1 includes several projects that will clean recycled water to produce 30 million gallons per day of high-quality purified water, reducing the City of San Diego’s dependence on imported water.

About AWTO Certification

As California and Nevada seek to secure sustainable water resources, all of us working together allows us to rapidly build critical programs such as AWT Operator certification. We have issued 158 certifications so far, ensuring a steady supply of AWTO® professionals ready to serve their communities by operating advanced water treatment facilities.

Drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, and water reuse operators with a Grade 3 or higher certification and working at facilities using advanced water treatment technologies may be interested in earning the new, voluntary AWTO Certification. AWT Operators protect public health by ensuring a safe and reliable supply of high-quality drinking water from advanced facilities.

Photo above by City of San Diego.