Learning at the School of Hard Knocks: Big Success in Milwaukee

Daniel Welk holds two college degrees and a Wisconsin Surface Water Treatment certification. But a key component of his education in the water treatment sector came through the school of hard knocks. Welk was a chemist with the Milwaukee Water Works at the time of the Cryptosporidium outbreak in spring 1993 that sickened more than 400,000 people.Welk, now water plants manager with the utility, calls that event a constant reminder of how essential it is for treatment professionals to be vigilant, capable and forward-looking. “These are really important jobs,” he says.“Sometimes I don’t sleep well. I think of things, and I