Our entire NTMWD family congratulate the South Mesquite Rangers on becoming the 32nd Annual WEFTEC Operations Challenge Division 2 Champions!
At the world’s largest annual water quality technical conference and exhibition, #WEFTEC2019, our South Mesquite Rangers representing Water Environment Association of Texas and NTMWD won First Place in the Division 2 National #OpsChallenge.
The hard work, dedication and unity of Caeleb Butler, Rey Davila, Joshua Deaver, Zachary Jackson, and Jeremy Thompson, all from the South Mesquite Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, exemplify the values of this team and all our staff who work around the clock to provide vital services for wastewater collection and treatment to protect our health and the environment.
The Operations Challenge completion is designed to bring together wastewater collection and treatment professionals to demonstrate their skills in five major categories: collection systems, laboratory, process control, maintenance, and safety. Our South Mesquite Rangers placed First in the Laboratory, Maintenance, and Safety events. The events reflect real-world scenarios, and teams are scored based on a combination of time and precision execution to perform the task safely and in alignment with accepted protocols. Nearly four dozen teams participated in this year’s event, including international competitors from as far away as Denmark.
The Laboratory Event called for teams to perform actions like the analysis of total suspended solids of influent, primary effluent, aeration basins, secondary clarifier effluent, and final effluent.
The Maintenance Event required teams to close and lock out a 3-in. gate valve on a KSB submersible pump discharge unit, examine and replace fuses, assemble a Reid Gantry unit, and mount a trolley and chain hoist to extract the pump for service.
The Safety Event had teams deploy a portable manhole guard and use a winch to rescue a simulated victim from beneath the platform.
The overall WEFTEC conference provides extensive educational opportunities and access to cutting-edge technologies and services in the water and wastewater industries.
Learn more about this year’s operations challenge, and see more photos on our Facebook page.
Learn more about WEFTEC.