People who work in the clean-water profession love it. Many wouldn’t quit it for the world. Yet out there in the public, many people associate the career with unpleasant things.
Why? It’s the words we ourselves use to describe it. Sewage plant. Sewerage commission. Wastewater operators. What sorts of picture do those phrases create in people’s minds? Pictures of things they would rather not think about.
We talk about what we take in instead of what we produce – which is clean water, and by extension, healthy communities, thriving fisheries, beautiful clean beaches, swimmable rivers. That’s what we need to talk about. And talking about it is part of The Fire Chief Project.
Think for a moment. The place you drive by in the country with all those grazing cows – we don’t call that a “manure processing facility.” They do process manure to grow the feed for the cows that give the milk – but we call it a dairy farm, because dairy product is what they make. And we associate that with milk, cheese, yogurt, all good things.
And that place with the big tall chimneys and the coal piles – we don’t call that a “coal combustion facility.” Yes, they burn coal, but we call it a power plant, because it creates electricity that powers our TV sets and lights our homes. Again, all good things.
So, even though we take in wastewater, we don’t have to call our facilities “wastewater plants.” Why not clean water plants? Or water reclamation plants? Or water recycling facilities?
To move your thoughts in that direction is to support The Fire Chief Project. Remember, the Fire Chief Project has two simple aims:
· That clean-water operators have the same stature with the public as the fire chief
· That boys and girls grow up wanting to be clean-water operators
Tell your stories. Tell about the great fishing downstream from your plant. About your float in the local parade. Anything that makes the profession look great. Send your stories and I will pass them along to readers. Start today. Send a note to editor@tpomag.com.
