Forty years ago, a surge of resources and new recruits flooded the treatment industry due to the Clean Water Act amendment. Now, that generation of operators is rapidly nearing retirement age, which will leave behind a major vacuum in the industry workforce.
To compound the problem, increased operator licensure requirements and a lack of active recruitment in past decades have put a stopper in the flow of new blood coming into the field.
Some utilities, like Lancaster Area Sewer Authority (LASA), are none too worried, however, due to the steps they’ve taken to secure new operators.
Working with educational
