This was our first attempt at an open Certification Review 2-Day Session in the northwest section of Indiana or more commonly known as Lafayette, and it turned out to be fantastic. The class wasn’t quite as large as expected, but that meant it was just a little more one-on-one time when needed. Barb Smith of Wastewater 101, LLC along with attendees from Lafayette, Rensselaer, Gary, Elkhart, Ft. Wayne and Valparaiso enjoyed two luxurious days in B.L. Anderson’s Conference room on April 19th and 26th. Both days we were greeted with coffee/soda and assorted rolls/muffins provided by our host B.L. Anderson (quite a luxury for Barb’s sessions). This group of attendees are studying for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Wastewater Treatment Exams for Class I, A, III, C and 4 so we had quite a variety. Some have been in the field for a few years but no real “plant” experience, I just hope I was able to help them understand some of the terminology better by the end. We also had a few attending that just to see what information they could glean and add to their arsenal of wastewater knowledge. It always does my heart proud when I see people actually taking notes (not just highlighting the handouts – or writing when I tell them, “if you didn’t answer, you didn’t know, write it down.”) Of course between the two sessions and after the final one, the attendees were bombarded with more study material than they will probably ever want, via e-mails, but just in-case we like to make sure they have plenty of quizzes and other study material.
L – R
Thomas Siple (VP Valve Sales), Mark Gasvoda (Chairman – CEO), TJ Siple (Valve Sales Engineer), Dave Gasvoda (Marketing Director)
I must say, everyone seemed pleasantly surprised with lunch being provided on the 26th by B.L. Anderson (I know I was honored they did that) and we had a chance to meet and talk shop with representatives such as Mark Gasvoda, Dave Gasvoda, Thomas Siple, TJ Siple, and Hobie Montomery (Field Technical Specialist – not pictured), including information about their awesome service department and how to make those service calls more cost effective. After lunch we toured the inventory area (they had more types of valves on hand than normal which was a plus for us) and discussed valves of all sizes, shapes and uses. If you want more information regarding B.L. Anderson check out our resource page at: http://wastewater101.net/resource-links/
Again, I just want to say thank you and hopefully B.L. Anderson will become a regular place to hold training in the future.
On a personal note – I just want to say Thank You to the persistence of a few Operators out there. We had one operator from Nineveh (southern part) and one from Rensselaer (northern) and one from Winamac (coming up in May) who because of their persistence caused Wastewater 101 to reach out to find ways to make these sessions happen.
For those wastewater Heroes from this course – I wish you all the luck on the exam and in your professional life and if there is anything I can do to help – ya’ll know I am here.