FEATURE — Labor Day, the U.S. holiday founded by Congress in 1894 to be recognized on the first Monday of September, was intended to be the working man’s holiday. When you turn on your kitchen sink or turn the knob in the shower, have you ever wondered who has a part in the water that gets to you, what they do and how they work together to be sure you have good clean running water?
The job done by those who work for the Washington County Water Conservancy District plays an important role in the water coming to many homes, businesses and land in the community.
Washington County Water Conservancy District Field Operations Manger Hank Childers said that although he has a position that gives some clarity to his responsibilities, he is very much part of a team.
“We have a very proactive, very professional team. Working here is a real pleasure,” Childers said. “We’re very cross-trained. We’re more of a family group in that we, we look at the challenge, we pull the right people together and attack those challenges. So my joy, I guess, and the thing I enjoy the most is just working with these people.”
One of the district’s facilities is located just below Quail Creek Reservoir, serving as the main water treatment facility for Washington County, processing well over half of the water for the county.
The water enters the facility through a 60-inch pipeline capable of transferring more than 40,000 gallons a minute, according to information provided by the district.
The water goes through a five-step purification process to ensure it meets or exceeds safe drinking water standards, Childers said. The certified lab technicians who test the water are currently producing millions of gallons of water per day to meet the demands of the county.
Read more: District upgrades water treatment systems: 60M gallon capacity per day; STGnews Videocast
“Our job is a critical service, you know, water is not only a good prosperity thing, it’s also a reliability thing in our social – in our lives – and so we have great joy in providing such a critical service to the community,” Childers said. “And so there is a lot of reward in seeing what we do and the net result. And I think that’s very gratifying: to watch people succeed because we throw water at them, that’s pretty exciting.”
Related posts
- District upgrades water treatment systems: 60M gallon capacity per day; STGnews Videocast
- County Commission appoints Renstrom to water district board
- State imposes restrictions on water rights to Virgin River, tributaries
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Another pat on your back for something that was long done by the City of St George for years. Remember when you took over and forgot to order the charcoal for the filters? Everything ran fine before WCWCD entered the picture.