Collaborative being created to address staffing shortages at treatment plants

Dec. 3—It's one thing to have a staffing shortage at fast food joints.

But water treatment plants?

Yes, despite the promise of steady employment and a solid pay and benefit package, many parts of America are having trouble getting enough young people interested in working as operators at water treatment and sewage treatment plants.

The Toledo area and much of northwest Ohio is no exception, according to John Hull, chairman of the Public Water Supply Committee, a group of public water system officials and engineers that discusses local issues quarterly.

The latest meeting was Thursday afternoon at the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments, where the committee talked about a $500,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant issued to TMACOG, the city of Toledo, and Owens Community College to help entice and train more operators.

"There's a serious [lack] of people to take over water and wastewater plants," Mr. Hull told The Blade after the meeting. "It's happening everywhere. It's serious stuff. It's not just the public sector, but the private sector, too."

TMACOG said in a news release this fall that it had sought funding after hearing member organizations talk about an increased need for utility workers.

About half of the $494,874 grant it received is going to Owens to offer tuition waivers, Kari Gerwin, TMACOG water quality director, said.

"City and village administrators told us that workers who treat water and wastewater are retiring faster than new staff are being brought on and trained," she said. "With skills in demand, trained personnel often leave smaller communities to work for larger utilities that may pay more, leaving those communities short-handed."

An Ohio EPA work force survey from 2018 showed 22 percent of the state's drinking water operators are set to retire by 2023, with 41 percent expected to retire by 2028. For wastewater operators, 25 percent are set to retire by 2023, and 44 percent by 2028.

Ms. Gerwin told The Blade that a local enticement-and-training collaborative, funded for three years, will begin in early 2022.

Part of the money will be used to promote the benefits of a career in utilities.

The committee was given an overview of the program by Matt Kennedy, TMACOG water quality planner.

"It's really to really increase those incentives and increase that exposure," he said of the upcoming program. "It should be a big part of what we're doing going forward."

Three-quarters of the water and wastewater service providers in northwest Ohio said they need more operators, according to a recent survey.

"The goal is to increase awareness of water and wastewater career paths and build a pipeline of workers for public utilities," TMACOG said in a news release earlier this fall. "The collaborative will be a source of information on water sector careers, recruitment materials, curriculum, instructors, and employment connections."

Toledo Public Utilities Director Ed Moore wrote a letter in support of the project.

"With a significant number of retirements in both water and wastewater, the city of Toledo needs qualified professionals," he wrote.

Radhika Fox, U.S. EPA assistant administrator for water, issued a statement earlier this fall acknowledging the problem.

"The water sector is facing significant workforce challenges and it is critical that EPA and its federal, state, and local partners invest in the next generation of water professionals."

First Published December 2, 2021, 6:34pm