Key Takeaways from Facilities Tour
Kitty Lovell, Engineer, took part in the professional development day. She said she was surprised to learn how Connecticut, and many other states, lack regulations about reclaimed water for non-potable uses. In fact, California is one of the first states to allow water systems to develop treatment protocols to convert wastewater into high quality drinking water, a regulatory measure adopted in December 2023. The RWF tour gave her firsthand insight into how regulatory guidance could create an incentive for more facilities to implement non-potable reuse, as well as indirect and direct potable reuse. But most of all, she appreciated how the tour will inform her day-to-day work on wastewater projects.
“Design cannot solely exist on Bluebeam, Autocad, and REVIT in perfected 2D and 3D spaces,” Kitty said. “It is absolutely imperative that engineers tour facilities, especially early on in their careers. This helps equip engineers and designers to make decisions about the usability of these systems. Also, collaboration between engineers and operators throughout the design process is important. Engineers can’t anticipate every operational challenge, and operators bring invaluable insights that can prevent costly or inconvenient oversights.”
“Without seeing a facility like this in-person, my only experience is CAD drawings and pictures,” added Matthew Bernhardt, Engineer. “Being able to walk through something I might be designing in the future helps me understand that what might look good on paper makes little sense in practice. Also, while working on design project, I can more easily and accurately look at the drawings through the lens of the operator.”
It was the first time Bernhardt saw a treatment process like the UConn facility. He and intern Sophia Noonan were both surprised to learn that even though the RWF treatment process treats the water to a higher standard than tap water, it is still considered wastewater effluent. This limits the use of recycled water in the absence of regulatory guidance.
“Touring facilities like the UConn RWF allows me to get a grasp of the outcome and scope of large-scale projects,” said Noonan, who is interning with Woodard & Curran for a second time as a rising senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “These tours are an opportunity to learn and observe, as well as to meet different people directly affected by project design and hear their perspective from their respective fields.”
For Emma Lesser, Engineer, who focuses largely on wastewater treatment plant design, learning from the operators about details that make a big difference in how they operate the facility is invaluable to her professional development. She said, “It is helpful to hear about small things, such as the fact that big hand wheels on valve operators are easier to operate than small ones. In the future, when I might be specifying a valve operator, this information will come in handy.”
“We have such an amazing partnership with O&M and consulting. Engineering staff can visit these plants and not feel afraid to ask what they might think is an elementary question,” said Frances Cameron. “This was much more than just a tour. We are all here to support each other and help each other learn. We have a great set up to be able to do that, so let’s take advantage of it.”
It’s our hope that professional development days like the one at UConn will continue to help foster the best and brightest rising talent in our industry.
Woodard & Curran people pictured above, from left, includes: Emma Lesser (Engineer), Sophia Noonan (Intern), Caterina Tassone (Intern), Kitty Lovell (Engineer), Luke Fournier (Engineer), Joseph Yoon (Engineer), Deirdrah Urban (Intern), Matthew Bernhardt (Engineer), Brooke Testa (Intern), and Jacob Fortin (Project Engineer).
