Until the upgrade for the Warren (Ohio) Water Pollution Control facility becomes reality, Mike Welke and his crews nurse and coerce every piece of aging equipment.The plant was upgraded in 1988, and the biosolids facility went online in 1998. “Our greatest challenge is age,” says Welke, biosolids manager and maintenance supervisor. “Each day I walk in wondering what’s next. I’ve sweated out how to do things more often than I care to admit.”Ingenuity and an associate degree in electrical engineering technology from Youngstown State University have been strong assets for Welke, enabling him to work with the resources at hand.
