A few months ago none other than Reader’s Digest magazine listed water and wastewater operators among “10 Top Jobs Americans Can’t Live Without.”
And not only did they place the profession in the top 10 — they ranked it Number 2. It’s rare, maybe even unprecedented, for those who work in the field to get such high-profile recognition in a consumer magazine. The ranking appeared in January (www.rd.com/slideshows/10-jobs-americans-cant-live-without) in the Money section of the magazine’s online edition.
Now consider the context in which the water professions appeared. Ours was perhaps the least predictable career to be mentioned. As one might expect, the list included police, firefighters, power plant operators, electric line workers, air traffic controllers, and telecommunications workers. Registered nurses ranked Number 1.
Why the surprise?
And then right there at Number 2 were water and wastewater professionals. To those of us in and around the industry, such a ranking just seems intuitive. But if you asked everyday citizens to list the top 10 most essential jobs, how many do you think would have named water-related occupations?
Probably not many. And so the logical follow-on question is: Why? Clearly part of the answer is that people in the water professions don’t “blow their own horns.” That humble attitude is perhaps most characteristic of the wastewater side.
This low-profile approach is no one’s “fault” — the professions tend to attract people who are simply intent on doing a great job and who don’t necessarily care about recognition. But recognition becomes important in these times of fiscal austerity — the public has a say over where money gets spent, and they will support spending it in the areas they consider the most essential.
So perhaps it’s time to be more “in your face” with the public about why clean water and the water professions are so indispensable.
Raising the profile
What can your organization do to give your customers the message: We are important and you cannot — quite literally — live without us? One place to start would be for every single clean-water agency to post a link to that Reader’s Digest article on its website or Web page. Or in case the article is taken down, as it will be in time, to post a summary of it for permanent display.
Next, perhaps it’s time to get beyond a “just the facts, ma’am” approach to describing the treatment plant and sewer system. A typical Web page or brochure goes something like this:
“The Any City Wastewater Treatment Plant began operations in 1980 and cost $17 million. It has seven departments with 43 employees … it is monitored 24 hours per day and treats 23.5 million gallons of wastewater per day … wastewater from homes and industry enters the plant through a 54-inch pipe nearly 23 feet below the ground … the plant uses a combination of processes to achieve the required degree of treatment …”
All good information, yes, but does it convey the essential fact about what the plant is for, what the people who work there do, and why the average person should care?
Another approach?
Suppose that instead we started with an affirmative statement about why the plant matters: “The Any City Clean Water Plant is essential to protecting public health in our community and to sustaining water quality in the Pine River for recreation and fish and wildlife habitat …”
And suppose that treatment agencies seized every opportunity to tell the community about their plants’ and their team members’ achievements? How about press releases, website items and social media postings like these:
“On June 30, the Any City Clean Water Plant marked five years of uninterrupted compliance with its permit from the state Department of Natural Resources, consistently producing treated water cleaner than the water in the Pine River …”
“Susan Smith, plant superintendent at the Any City Clean Water Plant, attended the 2011 WEFTEC conference hosted by the Water Environment Federation. There she networked with 12,000 other clean-water professionals, learning new ways to treat water and improve water quality in the Pine River …”
“Alex Davis, operator at the Any City Clean Water Plant, has earned his Class 4 operator’s license from the state Department of Natural Resources. Class 4 is the highest available level of licensing and encompasses four years of work experience and a combined 240 hours of study on established and new techniques for producing clean water to protect public health and the environment.”
Getting the message
Perhaps it’s less about the number of messages than about the attitude. It’s time to kiss the low profile goodbye and speak affirmatively about what the clean water profession does — in terms that connect with things the public cares about.
Do it often enough and with sufficient conviction and perhaps there will come a day when a magazine lists water professionals as among the most essential, and the general public reaction is, “I knew that.”
