A S S O C I AT I O N I N S I D E R
INDEX
WYOMING WATER QUALITY &
POLLUTION CONTROL ASSOCIATION
The Wyoming Water Quality & Pollution Control
Association (WWQ-PCA, or WWQ for short) differs
from most wastewater associations in more ways
than just its name. “We are different and unique from
most other associations in that our sole purpose is to
provide training to Wyoming water and wastewater
operators for the purpose of certifying as an operator
or renewing their certification,” says Zulima Lopez,
WWQ’s secretary and treasurer.
W
yoming is a small but mighty state. Geographically, the
state is very large, but population-wise it’s very small so
WWQ makes their annual conference, held in Casper at
the end of October, the association’s central focus.
Lopez says, “We try to sponsor trainings throughout the year,
or let members know if there’s any going on, but we focus our
efforts on the conference.” A lot of the towns and municipalities
spread vastly across Wyoming are not only very small, but they’re
very rural as well, which makes traveling a challenge both on
budgets and on people. If trainings are happening at other times
throughout the year, operators may have to travel hundreds
of miles to get to a city in order to participate in a training.
Therefore, WWQ focuses a majority of their efforts on the
conference where the goal is to provide good, quality training
and as much training as possible all at once.
In Wyoming, operators need to have 24 hours of applicable
operations training every three years in order to become licensed
or renew their certification, and there are four areas operators can
be certified in: Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, Water
Distribution Systems and Wastewater Collection Systems. Again,
because Wyoming is so rural, many operators perform every job so
they need to fulfill all four of the 24-hour trainings. Lopez points
out, “There’s less waste to treat, but it’s still complicated and
very technical and can be an intense amount of training in a small
amount of time. Those people are very well educated in their field.”
That expertise starts with the quality of the trainings, which is very
good. For instance, this year’s conference saw the Number 2 pump
expert in the world teach a class on pumping and optimal pump
selection. Lopez taught a pre-conference class in Pipeline Assessment
Certification since she is a certified operator—something that is
required in order to serve on the association’s board. WWQ is a nonprofit organization with only one paid employee. Everyone else on
the board is a volunteer and a certified operator.
“We’re all regulated by the same federal government. Some
treatment facilities are so small they fall under the threshold for
requiring government regulation,” Lopez says, but she adds that
14 AM ERICAN LIQUID WASTE NOVE M BE R 2013
even those small communities who fall under the no-regulation
threshold still work hard to ensure that they do everything they
need to do to get drinking water quality and wastewater quality
to the level that is expected.”
While Wyoming doesn’t have the population to drive innovation,
they remain on a par with other states. They allocate funding so
they can use the latest proven technology and meet ever-changing
EPA regulations. The state is comprised of mostly ranch land
and world-class fishing, as well as government and state-owned
land with part of Yellowstone National Park occupying a portion
of its space.
Each year, about 100-130 participants out of the 500 memberstrong WWQ-PCA show up at the conference, but sometimes,
other operators will attend. If there is an onsite facility at
Yellowstone, people will come out from the national park to take
the training and to stay up-to-date on the latest technologies and
best management practices in water and wastewater treatment.
Lopez says a lot of drillers will take the trainings because they are
required to treat the water they’re using in their drilling processes
before they discharge it. In addition to ranching, oil and gas, and
mining are the largest industries in the state.
“We are stewards of our environment,” Lopez says. “Everyone
really cares about our open spaces, our wildlife, and our public
lands so we all work very hard to ensure that our water quality is
good, particularly on the wastewater side where we’re discharging
back into our rivers.”
For more information, visit www.wwqpca.com
Story by Megan McClure
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