On May 22, Wisconsin celebrated Wastewater Professionals Appreciation Day.
It was the second year in which Gov. Tony Evers issued a proclamation to recognize men and women whose work helps keep the state’s communities and environment healthy and safe.
The special day grew out of an idea from the Wisconsin Wastewater Surveillance Program, started during the COVID pandemic to test wastewater for pathogens including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That’s according to Dr. Dagmara Antkiewicz, scientist for the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, which works closely with the state Department of Health Services on wastewater disease surveillance.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control invited the health department to take part in the National Wastewater Surveillance System to test wastewater for COVID and other respiratory diseases. The department is now one of six centers of excellence in the country for such testing.
Helping hands
The surveillance program surveys 44 wastewater utilities throughout the state. Since the Wisconsin state lab and the health department can’t do all the sampling, operators at the treatment plants take wastewater samples and send them to the lab for testing. The sites represent 3 million people.
“The concept of monitoring wastewater is old and has been around for a long time, but it became critical during the pandemic to track levels of respiratory diseases,” Antkiewicz says. The health department and the hygiene lab wanted to recognize the operators and other plant personnel involved for their efforts.
May 22 was chosen to coincide with National Drinking Water Week and to take advantage of warmer weather in which utilities could hold outdoor celebrations and recognition parties.
Antkiewicz observes, “Everyone at the wastewater treatment plants — operators, managers, administrators, lab and technical staff — do such important work and sometimes people can take them for granted. We created this day to recognize them and keep them engaged with us to continue their critical roles.”
Unsung heroes
Various celebrations took place around the state. At the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Jamie Schauer, executive director of the hygiene lab, thanked the workers. Many staff members from the district, the state and Dane County health departments and the hygiene lab mingled, shared treats and took photos.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District celebration, staff members received handwritten thank-you cards and treats. The district also created a video showing wastewater professionals working in different roles and posted it on social media. The district is also using the video as a recruiting tool.
The smaller city of Baraboo had a low-key celebration where Dr. Antkiewicz and two other hygiene lab microbiologists gave workers handwritten thank-you notes, treats and a wastewater monitoring impact report that detailed the findings from the city’s sampling. Attendees discussed the future of the surveillance program with the operators and were given a plant tour.
In Racine, a celebration included utility management and lab and sampling staff. There were talks about how the surveillance program has evolved since 2020, and an impact report on the sampling program was distributed. A plant tour followed the presentation.
The proclamation and the events were promoted on social media sites. The Wisconsin Wastewater Operators Association put the proclamation in its magazine, The Clarifier, according to Marc Stephanie, president.
“Wastewater professionals are in the background but working hard every day,” Stephanie notes. “It is nice to see them recognized for what they do and the importance of their roles.”
