When Andrew Shepherd looks into the microscope, he sees more than wastewater organisms.
He gets a picture of the entire plant operation and can tell how the process is performing out there among the pipes and valves and pumps and basins. “It crystallizes the whole process for me,” says Shepherd, operator and regulatory specialist at the Newberg (Oregon) Wastewater Treatment Plant. “I can see how the microbiology works. It’s a macro versus micro view. It’s pretty phenomenal.”
What he didn’t see coming was the 2020 Operator of the Year award from the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association. “It shocked me and humbled me,” he
