August 24, 2023 • 19 mins
Have you ever stopped to wonder about the unsung heroes behind your tap water? Passionate champions committed to the water and wastewater industry. Join us as we shed light on the importance of water operators in small communities, the array of skills they need, and their impact on the community's health and safety.
Water operators are more than just workers; they are chemists, mathematicians, mechanics, and problem solvers who ensure the purity of your water. But this episode doesn't just stop there. We also take a hard look at the unavoidable need for infrastructure upgrades in the water industry, an issue often overlooked but incredibly crucial. Despite the ongoing technological advancements, the importance of water remains constant. Get ready to gain a renewed appreciation for the heroes behind your tap water, and understand the critical role they play in our daily lives.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I think the biggest thing that I and even when I was
younger I didn't think about ithow many hats the operator
wears.
He goes out, reads meters, hegoes out fixes leaks.
Big question is why can't weget operators?
And the biggest thing I see isnobody talks about the operator
(00:23):
in a good sense, nobody thinksabout how vital he is to that
whole community and you knowkind of appreciative people need
to be for that operator becausea lot of them they're in it
because they care.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome back to Small Talk with Communities Unlimited
.
The podcast meant to empowercommunities.
I'm Chris Baker, I'm your hostand we're in Oklahoma today
talking to our Oklahomaenvironmental team.
So one of the things that Iwant to jump into and I always
find this so fascinating, moreso than you guys know is how you
got to where you're at and whywater and wastewater and why
(01:04):
communities are unlimited.
Bradley, I know a little bit ofyour backstory, but could you
tell people kind of how youwound up doing what you do and
why you're here and why you doit and all that kind of stuff?
Man?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Well, I've always had the want to help and I got into
water and wastewater as aninspector for Indian Health
Services, worked with them,helping out with Native American
homes as well as communities,and then I was also worked for a
city for a while as aninspector and my dad actually
(01:37):
worked for he started out withCRG, transitioned into CU, so
I'm kind of a second generationCU employee, Hearing him talk
about the impact he made, andnot only on like water and sewer
, but he also helped.
There was some communities theyneeded police cars or fire
(01:57):
trucks and he helped findfunding for them to get police
cars and fire trucks, becausethey didn't have the money to
get them and they basicallydidn't have any.
So when the opportunity came tocome to CU and seeing what
impact he'd made and everything,that really piqued my interest
(02:19):
to be able to go in and helpthese towns who don't
necessarily have all the fundingthey need.
They try to look out for thecitizens of the town and they
don't want to raise ratesanymore than they have to just
to cover their basics.
But when something big happensthey don't have the funding.
So it's kind of neat to go inand make an impact that is a
(02:41):
lasting impact.
If you don't have water, youdon't have anything.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Um, so has it been interesting for you with your?
With?
You brought up your dad and hedid it for quite a while, right,
yeah, has it been interestingfor you to?
Uh, you obviously share thesame last name.
You're talking about buildingtrust.
You're working in a similararea, right Like that's gotta
have been a interesting processfor you.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yes, and there's a lot of towns.
They'll, you know, reach out tosee you.
They'll get my name and I'llcall them or make the site
visitor, what have you, andit'll take a moment.
But they'll say, Pittman, youknow, are you related to Arthur?
Well, just a little bit, andand so when I talk to him about
(03:25):
everything, I always tell him Isaid, you know, it's, it's, it's
kind of a double edged sword,because I get that trust from
them, from them knowing him, butthen I also get the years that
he of experience he had, they,they, they think that just
because I'm his son, I have thatsame experience.
And I, you know, I have to tellhim now, you know, I don't have
(03:48):
30 plus years.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You mean, your dad didn't talk water and wastewater
with you when you were growingup.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Oh, he did, he did.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
But you don't say son , this is.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I mean he did.
But you know, it's just, it's,it's.
It's kind of funny how I haveto tell him you know, wait just
a minute, let me do someresearch, let me get my bearings
, but it's, it's, it's reallyneat.
I've, in my going on two yearswith CU, I have made lots of
contacts that he's previouslyworked for and shows me how big
(04:21):
an impact he made, how much hecared, and that also kind of
makes me think, oh, I have bigshoes to fill with that name.
But yeah, it's, it's reallyneat having that trust kind of
already there.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, that's cool, man.
I mean, that's a I wouldimagine a fairly unique
situation, right?
And, like you said, it's adouble edged sword.
It's like being MichaelJordan's son in a way, right,
you know, like you got to playbasketball.
That's an interesting dynamic,so thanks for sharing that,
lucas.
I'm going to ask you a realsimple question, just to let you
roll with it, man why water andwastewater?
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Well, because, to be honest with you, I fell in love
with it 20 some odd years ago.
I was actually.
I was looking for a job at thetime, you know, I was just a
young kid.
I'd working in some factoriesaround home.
Just wasn't working out.
So, you know, I got a job atthe little utility department
there in the town that I livedin and just grew on me.
So, so much so that I, you know, started off in that small town
(05:14):
as a meter reader and sometimes, you know, we was over the
garbage as well.
So I'd fill in, ride in thetrash truck and move my way up
through there to the point towhere I was eventually running
the wastewater treatment plantwe had and love to, you know,
just new learning process tospend 18 years there.
It started off at the bottom,worked my way up to being the
manager at one point.
(05:35):
From there, you know, I lovethe town I work for, don't get
me wrong there.
But I wanted to keep growing inthe water and wastewater field.
So I took a job with OklahomaRural Water Association that was
opened up at the time and I gotto take all the learning that
I'd already got with the newlearning there, you know, from
training and stuff, and I got tostart traveling the state of
Oklahoma and that really openedsome doors for me to see.
(05:58):
You know, sometimes you're kindof blind to what's going on in
these systems unless you workthere, you know.
I mean, I pretty much 18 years'worth of knowing exactly what
was going on in mine, you know.
But then I start travelingaround the state of Oklahoma and
just seeing the state ofdisrepair of some of these
systems are in and thinking, youknow, not really having to know
how to help them fix theirsituation, but trying to figure
(06:20):
out how they got there.
Because my situation was alittle more unique, you know, we
were in better shape than mostand that's not just bragging, it
was just partial, just CherokeeNation help through the years
and just different things,different entities, and just
knowing who to talk to for helpand, to top it off, just always
having just some of the greatestoperators working with me and
(06:43):
then later for me.
And once you get them greatoperators like that, you know,
and a lot of towns have greatoperators, don't get me wrong
and then you see that care andwith that care you see better
ranch systems, you see betterinfrastructure For me.
Why do I care?
Because I've got to drink thiswater and if I go to a
neighboring town and go eat, I'mstill drinking that water,
(07:06):
mainly for the safety.
I want people to have theknowledge of what this water is
capable of.
If you don't have theseoperators out here taking care
of it A lot of people, you knowthey'll turn that tap on.
That water's there.
They ain't praising you for itwhen it's on, let it be off for
two minutes.
There's just not a lot ofpublic education on it out there
(07:27):
.
And you know, I think that'ssomething that I've been trying
to do in my time, especiallysince I left working as an
operator.
I've been trying to spread thateducation across the state of
Oklahoma, while also travelingto different states working the
hurricane one time, you knowit's just for me.
I want the best for all thesecommunities.
And you start with the waterand wastewater.
(07:49):
These guys, public healthprofessionals, and they touch
every single life in any town orrural America you're in.
You take away the water, youtake away the school, you take
away the school, you take awaythe town.
And I guess what I'm sayingwith that, with the water
quality month coming up is.
I just want to thank all theoperators out there.
You know, every day we're outthere 24-7, keeping it going.
(08:11):
Like I said, I just want topraise them, just like the
police departments and the firedepartments, because without
them, those two departmentsaren't necessary.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, they're not going to happen.
How are you going to have afire department without water,
right?
Yeah, water operators.
To me, gosh, it's so weirdbecause I never thought about
that position.
You know, you don't get thepraise all the time at the
meeting, probably not in theparade, but by gosh, none of
that happens without that person, without that role.
(08:39):
It's crazy to me.
We've got to figure out a wayto bring thanks to those people
who are doing that job.
Man, I agree with you 100%,Tammy.
She must have started this jobin water and wastewater.
She's about 10 years oldbecause she's been doing it for
about 23 years.
Have you been in Oklahoma yourentire career?
Yes, my entire life.
Okay, so let's talk about whyyou're still involved in this
(09:02):
area and why maybe you'vefocused towards this area in
that time Water and wastewaterwhy, well?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I think that the segue that Lucas provided is
perfect, because without waternothing else grows.
So my degree is actually inregional planning and when I was
in college I had dreams ofgrandeur, of building buildings
and businesses and a macrosituation.
(09:28):
But as life has occurred, Iended up in microcosms instead.
And we've lived across thenorthern sphere of Oklahoma, all
the way from the northeast edgeto west of Woodward, and water
quality is quite different inWestern Oklahoma than it is in
(09:50):
eastern Oklahoma.
So with my degree I wasinterested in community
development to start with.
Infrastructure begins withwater and wastewater.
You can't do anything withoutit.
Throughout the years I have hadan amazing relationship with the
tribal communities and I haveheard and learned, processed and
(10:11):
believe the idea of sevengenerations is real.
This is not about us.
It's not about our children norour grandchildren.
This is about seven generationsbeyond us.
It's about leaving this placein a better place than where we
found it.
It's about sustaining anon-ubiquitous resource so that
(10:37):
our Earth can be whole andhealed, to sustain the life that
comes beyond us and, frankly,seven generations beyond our
imagination.
I base this belief in biblicalperspective because I am a
Christian.
The Bible talks about waterbeing life and life giving.
So my spiritual beliefs are inline with the seven generations.
(11:02):
The reason that I want to behere is not for me and, frankly,
in spite of my love for them,it's not for my family.
It's really what I consider mymission in serving others,
because by serving them today itwill serve the seventh
generation beyond my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So August is Water Quality Month.
Lucas Bradley.
Is there anything that you guyswould want to share as a tip or
a commonality maybe that yousee over and over when it comes
to water quality?
Is there something that you'dlike people to know and and
think about?
Like you know, if you'retalking to your neighbor who
doesn't know anything aboutwater, you know.
(11:44):
Is there anything you'd likethem to know?
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, there is actually a lot of times, you
know, in the water just industryitself, you get a lot of
complaints.
Maybe the color of the water,sometimes that's not necessarily
something the operator has doneor fixed and sometimes that's
an infrastructure issue.
What we're doing here, you know, helping to assist with grants
(12:08):
and different things along thoselines is trying to help upgrade
this not only aging but in manyplaces failing infrastructure.
You know it's ran its courseFor a lot of systems.
It's time to raise rates to payfor that.
Along with that comes a littledismay from the community at
times.
You know you're going to hearabout it and that's okay.
Just in my experience, in thelong term, ride on your end with
(12:31):
raising these rates and newincome and you're, you're,
you're seeking this grantfunding.
You're responsible for fixingthis aging infrastructure.
That'll cut out a lot of theproblems.
You know, a lot of timesthere's operators get blamed and
just different people feel theblame for things that may be out
of their hand.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Is what you're trying to say?
Is it, uh, is that you wouldlike people to know about?
But is what you're saying isthat you'd like them to know
that there's actual peoplebehind that process that may be
dealing with something thatisn't it's not news to them, and
they've been maybe screamingfrom the mountaintops for a
while, but the only reasonthey're being heard is because
now it's a problem for everybody.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah, sometimes what you don't see, you don't know.
I encourage, I would like thegeneral public, I would
encourage them all to uh, if youhave concerns about the water
quality where you live, the,whether you live in a town that
has a municipality or out in themiddle of nowhere on a rural
water district, every system,every year, is required to do a
consumer confidence report andon that report it gives you, you
(13:32):
know, any violations the systemhad during that particular year
.
And that's what I try to tellpeople.
If you, if you're concernedabout the quality of your water,
a good means to start.
If you talk to your, yoursystem, you know, talk to the uh
, talk to the operator, began.
You know, sometimes what maylook like a water quality issue,
as far as health purposes isn't, won't affect your health,
(13:54):
could be laid back to theinfrastructure or the source of
the water, or the time of theyear can affect the smell of the
water, depending on if yourlegs turning over just so many
variables in that, you know,water quality is very vast,
depends on your location.
You may be testing for seventhings a month.
You may be testing for ahundred.
This is a.
This is a great time to bealive in the the water industry
(14:15):
to to move this sevengenerations like Tammy's talking
about.
I just encourage everybody totry to make the best of this
funding that is available.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Bradley, what to anything you want to add there,
man, or anything you want totalk about.
What?
What about if I ask you this,bradley, if there's one thing
you would like people to knowabout their water, what would?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
that be, I think, the biggest thing that I then even
when I was younger I didn'tthink about it how many hats the
operator wears, everybody sees,especially in a small town.
The water operator is probably.
He goes out, reads meters.
He goes out, fixes leaks Mostof the time.
(14:56):
Big question is why can't weget operators like that?
There's like a shortage and thebiggest thing I see is nobody
talks about the operator in agood sense.
It's always when the water goesout they're talking bad about
the operator or they see him outthere digging a trench.
Nobody thinks about how vitalhe is to that whole community or
(15:19):
whole county because if hemesses up just a little bit,
really bad things are going tohappen.
And kind of appreciative peopleneed to be for that operator
because a lot of them they're init because they care.
They're definitely not in itfor the money and they're out 24
, seven, 365.
They're out there Whetherthere's three inches of ice or
(15:41):
six foot of snow or 115 degreesout.
They're out there trying tomake the water quality healthy
enough for people to drink anduse Tammy.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Since you've been in Oklahoma working with
communities for so long, Iwonder if there's anything that
you want to add to theperspective of someone that's
been doing it for a few years.
Is there anything that we'vemissed that you want us to cover
?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I think Bradley touched on it today.
Chris and Lucas gave a greatscenario to it, in that we want
to make sure that we pass on theknowledge of what actually
happens at these water and icewater systems.
So often, one person has beenthe operator for numerous years,
(16:25):
and when they decide to retire,the knowledge goes away with
them.
So we want to be sure to passon the gift of knowing what's
going on within these watersystems, whether it is
structurally, operationally,mechanically, billing, office.
All of this knowledge needs tobe organized well enough for it
(16:49):
to be passed on to the nextgeneration, and that has become
an issue Number one.
Operators aren't paid like theyshould be, and so why would
anyone want to pursue a careerwhere they can't even make but
barely minimum wage, minimumwage.
And they are.
I've come to realize sinceworking at CU they're a bit of a
(17:11):
chemist, they're a bit of amathematician, they're a
mechanic, they are a problemsolver.
They have to get people tocooperate well enough to go to
the hardware store and get thepart and talk them into allowing
that last $10 in the bankaccount.
999 of it needs to be utilizedfor that.
While they're not getting moneyfor themselves, they're
(17:35):
dedicated to making that systemwork together with the others
that help operate it.
So I think that's the one thingthat I'd like to say about
water quality is we need waterquality within the systems for
us to be able to help producequality water.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
You know you were talking about passing on
knowledge and one of the thingsthat kind of came to my head was
that we live in a world todaywhere it's all about technology.
How quickly can this change?
And you know what doesn'tchange?
It's water.
Water doesn't change.
It doesn't matter how fast yourcomputers are, it doesn't
matter if you're flying in cars,it doesn't matter if we're
talking to robots all day.
(18:14):
Everybody's still got to havewater.
And I want to say somethingbefore we wrap this up.
You guys, you guys are all veryhumble and you are passing the
praise onto the water operatorsand in that world.
But you guys, the job you guysdo, is vital in that as well,
and I think you all deserve thatpraise as well.
(18:35):
And the knowledge that you'retalking about, the knowledge
that you guys have, that you'rewilling to pass along to those
people, that you're willing togo into community Bradley and
help, the fact that you havethat mindset, it doesn't go
missed.
I'm not missing it.
I think you guys deserve thatas well.
Thank you, that's very kind Iwould just like to put that out
there, because it's a vital rolethat I have discovered I didn't
(18:56):
know anything about before Istarted working here.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
And don't you think that to be a success at CU, that
is?
The mindset you need is to beable to help others and really
take pride in the work that wedo, do you?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
have a favorite water district.
No, I'm just kidding, I'm notgoing to ask you that.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
The one that we drink from most often has to be our
favorite.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Okay, maybe the more interesting question is do you
have a least favorite?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode
of Small Talk.
I really appreciate you guys'time and I really appreciate
your openness to discuss yourjob.
I know it's not the mostcomfortable situation for
everybody because at the end ofthe day, you guys are doers, not
talkers, and so that's a uniqueflip.
You know that's a switch thatyou don't flip that often, so I
appreciate your time in doingthat.
(19:45):
All right.
Thank you, we'll see you nextweek with another episode of
Small Talk with CommunitiesUnlimited.
I think the biggest thing that I and even when I was
younger I didn't think about ithow many hats the operator
wears.
He goes out, reads meters, hegoes out fixes leaks.
Big question is why can't weget operators?
And the biggest thing I see isnobody talks about the operator
(00:23):
in a good sense, nobody thinksabout how vital he is to that
whole community and you knowkind of appreciative people need
to be for that operator becausea lot of them they're in it
because they care.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome back to Small Talk with Communities Unlimited
.
The podcast meant to empowercommunities.
I'm Chris Baker, I'm your hostand we're in Oklahoma today
talking to our Oklahomaenvironmental team.
So one of the things that Iwant to jump into and I always
find this so fascinating, moreso than you guys know is how you
got to where you're at and whywater and wastewater and why
(01:04):
communities are unlimited.
Bradley, I know a little bit ofyour backstory, but could you
tell people kind of how youwound up doing what you do and
why you're here and why you doit and all that kind of stuff?
Man?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Well, I've always had the want to help and I got into
water and wastewater as aninspector for Indian Health
Services, worked with them,helping out with Native American
homes as well as communities,and then I was also worked for a
city for a while as aninspector and my dad actually
(01:37):
worked for he started out withCRG, transitioned into CU, so
I'm kind of a second generationCU employee, Hearing him talk
about the impact he made, andnot only on like water and sewer
, but he also helped.
There was some communities theyneeded police cars or fire
(01:57):
trucks and he helped findfunding for them to get police
cars and fire trucks, becausethey didn't have the money to
get them and they basicallydidn't have any.
So when the opportunity came tocome to CU and seeing what
impact he'd made and everything,that really piqued my interest
(02:19):
to be able to go in and helpthese towns who don't
necessarily have all the fundingthey need.
They try to look out for thecitizens of the town and they
don't want to raise ratesanymore than they have to just
to cover their basics.
But when something big happensthey don't have the funding.
So it's kind of neat to go inand make an impact that is a
(02:41):
lasting impact.
If you don't have water, youdon't have anything.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Um, so has it been interesting for you with your?
With?
You brought up your dad and hedid it for quite a while, right,
yeah, has it been interestingfor you to?
Uh, you obviously share thesame last name.
You're talking about buildingtrust.
You're working in a similararea, right Like that's gotta
have been a interesting processfor you.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yes, and there's a lot of towns.
They'll, you know, reach out tosee you.
They'll get my name and I'llcall them or make the site
visitor, what have you, andit'll take a moment.
But they'll say, Pittman, youknow, are you related to Arthur?
Well, just a little bit, andand so when I talk to him about
(03:25):
everything, I always tell him Isaid, you know, it's, it's, it's
kind of a double edged sword,because I get that trust from
them, from them knowing him, butthen I also get the years that
he of experience he had, they,they, they think that just
because I'm his son, I have thatsame experience.
And I, you know, I have to tellhim now, you know, I don't have
(03:48):
30 plus years.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You mean, your dad didn't talk water and wastewater
with you when you were growingup.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Oh, he did, he did.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
But you don't say son , this is.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I mean he did.
But you know, it's just, it's,it's.
It's kind of funny how I haveto tell him you know, wait just
a minute, let me do someresearch, let me get my bearings
, but it's, it's, it's reallyneat.
I've, in my going on two yearswith CU, I have made lots of
contacts that he's previouslyworked for and shows me how big
(04:21):
an impact he made, how much hecared, and that also kind of
makes me think, oh, I have bigshoes to fill with that name.
But yeah, it's, it's reallyneat having that trust kind of
already there.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, that's cool, man.
I mean, that's a I wouldimagine a fairly unique
situation, right?
And, like you said, it's adouble edged sword.
It's like being MichaelJordan's son in a way, right,
you know, like you got to playbasketball.
That's an interesting dynamic,so thanks for sharing that,
lucas.
I'm going to ask you a realsimple question, just to let you
roll with it, man why water andwastewater?
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Well, because, to be honest with you, I fell in love
with it 20 some odd years ago.
I was actually.
I was looking for a job at thetime, you know, I was just a
young kid.
I'd working in some factoriesaround home.
Just wasn't working out.
So, you know, I got a job atthe little utility department
there in the town that I livedin and just grew on me.
So, so much so that I, you know, started off in that small town
(05:14):
as a meter reader and sometimes, you know, we was over the
garbage as well.
So I'd fill in, ride in thetrash truck and move my way up
through there to the point towhere I was eventually running
the wastewater treatment plantwe had and love to, you know,
just new learning process tospend 18 years there.
It started off at the bottom,worked my way up to being the
manager at one point.
(05:35):
From there, you know, I lovethe town I work for, don't get
me wrong there.
But I wanted to keep growing inthe water and wastewater field.
So I took a job with OklahomaRural Water Association that was
opened up at the time and I gotto take all the learning that
I'd already got with the newlearning there, you know, from
training and stuff, and I got tostart traveling the state of
Oklahoma and that really openedsome doors for me to see.
(05:58):
You know, sometimes you're kindof blind to what's going on in
these systems unless you workthere, you know.
I mean, I pretty much 18 years'worth of knowing exactly what
was going on in mine, you know.
But then I start travelingaround the state of Oklahoma and
just seeing the state ofdisrepair of some of these
systems are in and thinking, youknow, not really having to know
how to help them fix theirsituation, but trying to figure
(06:20):
out how they got there.
Because my situation was alittle more unique, you know, we
were in better shape than mostand that's not just bragging, it
was just partial, just CherokeeNation help through the years
and just different things,different entities, and just
knowing who to talk to for helpand, to top it off, just always
having just some of the greatestoperators working with me and
(06:43):
then later for me.
And once you get them greatoperators like that, you know,
and a lot of towns have greatoperators, don't get me wrong
and then you see that care andwith that care you see better
ranch systems, you see betterinfrastructure For me.
Why do I care?
Because I've got to drink thiswater and if I go to a
neighboring town and go eat, I'mstill drinking that water,
(07:06):
mainly for the safety.
I want people to have theknowledge of what this water is
capable of.
If you don't have theseoperators out here taking care
of it A lot of people, you knowthey'll turn that tap on.
That water's there.
They ain't praising you for itwhen it's on, let it be off for
two minutes.
There's just not a lot ofpublic education on it out there
(07:27):
.
And you know, I think that'ssomething that I've been trying
to do in my time, especiallysince I left working as an
operator.
I've been trying to spread thateducation across the state of
Oklahoma, while also travelingto different states working the
hurricane one time, you knowit's just for me.
I want the best for all thesecommunities.
And you start with the waterand wastewater.
(07:49):
These guys, public healthprofessionals, and they touch
every single life in any town orrural America you're in.
You take away the water, youtake away the school, you take
away the school, you take awaythe town.
And I guess what I'm sayingwith that, with the water
quality month coming up is.
I just want to thank all theoperators out there.
You know, every day we're outthere 24-7, keeping it going.
(08:11):
Like I said, I just want topraise them, just like the
police departments and the firedepartments, because without
them, those two departmentsaren't necessary.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, they're not going to happen.
How are you going to have afire department without water,
right?
Yeah, water operators.
To me, gosh, it's so weirdbecause I never thought about
that position.
You know, you don't get thepraise all the time at the
meeting, probably not in theparade, but by gosh, none of
that happens without that person, without that role.
(08:39):
It's crazy to me.
We've got to figure out a wayto bring thanks to those people
who are doing that job.
Man, I agree with you 100%,Tammy.
She must have started this jobin water and wastewater.
She's about 10 years oldbecause she's been doing it for
about 23 years.
Have you been in Oklahoma yourentire career?
Yes, my entire life.
Okay, so let's talk about whyyou're still involved in this
(09:02):
area and why maybe you'vefocused towards this area in
that time Water and wastewaterwhy, well?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I think that the segue that Lucas provided is
perfect, because without waternothing else grows.
So my degree is actually inregional planning and when I was
in college I had dreams ofgrandeur, of building buildings
and businesses and a macrosituation.
(09:28):
But as life has occurred, Iended up in microcosms instead.
And we've lived across thenorthern sphere of Oklahoma, all
the way from the northeast edgeto west of Woodward, and water
quality is quite different inWestern Oklahoma than it is in
(09:50):
eastern Oklahoma.
So with my degree I wasinterested in community
development to start with.
Infrastructure begins withwater and wastewater.
You can't do anything withoutit.
Throughout the years I have hadan amazing relationship with the
tribal communities and I haveheard and learned, processed and
(10:11):
believe the idea of sevengenerations is real.
This is not about us.
It's not about our children norour grandchildren.
This is about seven generationsbeyond us.
It's about leaving this placein a better place than where we
found it.
It's about sustaining anon-ubiquitous resource so that
(10:37):
our Earth can be whole andhealed, to sustain the life that
comes beyond us and, frankly,seven generations beyond our
imagination.
I base this belief in biblicalperspective because I am a
Christian.
The Bible talks about waterbeing life and life giving.
So my spiritual beliefs are inline with the seven generations.
(11:02):
The reason that I want to behere is not for me and, frankly,
in spite of my love for them,it's not for my family.
It's really what I consider mymission in serving others,
because by serving them today itwill serve the seventh
generation beyond my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
So August is Water Quality Month.
Lucas Bradley.
Is there anything that you guyswould want to share as a tip or
a commonality maybe that yousee over and over when it comes
to water quality?
Is there something that you'dlike people to know and and
think about?
Like you know, if you'retalking to your neighbor who
doesn't know anything aboutwater, you know.
(11:44):
Is there anything you'd likethem to know?
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, there is actually a lot of times, you
know, in the water just industryitself, you get a lot of
complaints.
Maybe the color of the water,sometimes that's not necessarily
something the operator has doneor fixed and sometimes that's
an infrastructure issue.
What we're doing here, you know, helping to assist with grants
(12:08):
and different things along thoselines is trying to help upgrade
this not only aging but in manyplaces failing infrastructure.
You know it's ran its courseFor a lot of systems.
It's time to raise rates to payfor that.
Along with that comes a littledismay from the community at
times.
You know you're going to hearabout it and that's okay.
Just in my experience, in thelong term, ride on your end with
(12:31):
raising these rates and newincome and you're, you're,
you're seeking this grantfunding.
You're responsible for fixingthis aging infrastructure.
That'll cut out a lot of theproblems.
You know, a lot of timesthere's operators get blamed and
just different people feel theblame for things that may be out
of their hand.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Is what you're trying to say?
Is it, uh, is that you wouldlike people to know about?
But is what you're saying isthat you'd like them to know
that there's actual peoplebehind that process that may be
dealing with something thatisn't it's not news to them, and
they've been maybe screamingfrom the mountaintops for a
while, but the only reasonthey're being heard is because
now it's a problem for everybody.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah, sometimes what you don't see, you don't know.
I encourage, I would like thegeneral public, I would
encourage them all to uh, if youhave concerns about the water
quality where you live, the,whether you live in a town that
has a municipality or out in themiddle of nowhere on a rural
water district, every system,every year, is required to do a
consumer confidence report andon that report it gives you, you
(13:32):
know, any violations the systemhad during that particular year
.
And that's what I try to tellpeople.
If you, if you're concernedabout the quality of your water,
a good means to start.
If you talk to your, yoursystem, you know, talk to the uh
, talk to the operator, began.
You know, sometimes what maylook like a water quality issue,
as far as health purposes isn't, won't affect your health,
(13:54):
could be laid back to theinfrastructure or the source of
the water, or the time of theyear can affect the smell of the
water, depending on if yourlegs turning over just so many
variables in that, you know,water quality is very vast,
depends on your location.
You may be testing for seventhings a month.
You may be testing for ahundred.
This is a.
This is a great time to bealive in the the water industry
(14:15):
to to move this sevengenerations like Tammy's talking
about.
I just encourage everybody totry to make the best of this
funding that is available.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Bradley, what to anything you want to add there,
man, or anything you want totalk about.
What?
What about if I ask you this,bradley, if there's one thing
you would like people to knowabout their water, what would?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
that be, I think, the biggest thing that I then even
when I was younger I didn'tthink about it how many hats the
operator wears, everybody sees,especially in a small town.
The water operator is probably.
He goes out, reads meters.
He goes out, fixes leaks Mostof the time.
(14:56):
Big question is why can't weget operators like that?
There's like a shortage and thebiggest thing I see is nobody
talks about the operator in agood sense.
It's always when the water goesout they're talking bad about
the operator or they see him outthere digging a trench.
Nobody thinks about how vitalhe is to that whole community or
(15:19):
whole county because if hemesses up just a little bit,
really bad things are going tohappen.
And kind of appreciative peopleneed to be for that operator
because a lot of them they're init because they care.
They're definitely not in itfor the money and they're out 24
, seven, 365.
They're out there Whetherthere's three inches of ice or
(15:41):
six foot of snow or 115 degreesout.
They're out there trying tomake the water quality healthy
enough for people to drink anduse Tammy.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Since you've been in Oklahoma working with
communities for so long, Iwonder if there's anything that
you want to add to theperspective of someone that's
been doing it for a few years.
Is there anything that we'vemissed that you want us to cover
?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I think Bradley touched on it today.
Chris and Lucas gave a greatscenario to it, in that we want
to make sure that we pass on theknowledge of what actually
happens at these water and icewater systems.
So often, one person has beenthe operator for numerous years,
(16:25):
and when they decide to retire,the knowledge goes away with
them.
So we want to be sure to passon the gift of knowing what's
going on within these watersystems, whether it is
structurally, operationally,mechanically, billing, office.
All of this knowledge needs tobe organized well enough for it
(16:49):
to be passed on to the nextgeneration, and that has become
an issue Number one.
Operators aren't paid like theyshould be, and so why would
anyone want to pursue a careerwhere they can't even make but
barely minimum wage, minimumwage.
And they are.
I've come to realize sinceworking at CU they're a bit of a
(17:11):
chemist, they're a bit of amathematician, they're a
mechanic, they are a problemsolver.
They have to get people tocooperate well enough to go to
the hardware store and get thepart and talk them into allowing
that last $10 in the bankaccount.
999 of it needs to be utilizedfor that.
While they're not getting moneyfor themselves, they're
(17:35):
dedicated to making that systemwork together with the others
that help operate it.
So I think that's the one thingthat I'd like to say about
water quality is we need waterquality within the systems for
us to be able to help producequality water.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
You know you were talking about passing on
knowledge and one of the thingsthat kind of came to my head was
that we live in a world todaywhere it's all about technology.
How quickly can this change?
And you know what doesn'tchange?
It's water.
Water doesn't change.
It doesn't matter how fast yourcomputers are, it doesn't
matter if you're flying in cars,it doesn't matter if we're
talking to robots all day.
(18:14):
Everybody's still got to havewater.
And I want to say somethingbefore we wrap this up.
You guys, you guys are all veryhumble and you are passing the
praise onto the water operatorsand in that world.
But you guys, the job you guysdo, is vital in that as well,
and I think you all deserve thatpraise as well.
(18:35):
And the knowledge that you'retalking about, the knowledge
that you guys have, that you'rewilling to pass along to those
people, that you're willing togo into community Bradley and
help, the fact that you havethat mindset, it doesn't go
missed.
I'm not missing it.
I think you guys deserve thatas well.
Thank you, that's very kind Iwould just like to put that out
there, because it's a vital rolethat I have discovered I didn't
(18:56):
know anything about before Istarted working here.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
And don't you think that to be a success at CU, that
is?
The mindset you need is to beable to help others and really
take pride in the work that wedo, do you?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
have a favorite water district.
No, I'm just kidding, I'm notgoing to ask you that.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
The one that we drink from most often has to be our
favorite.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Okay, maybe the more interesting question is do you
have a least favorite?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode
of Small Talk.
I really appreciate you guys'time and I really appreciate
your openness to discuss yourjob.
I know it's not the mostcomfortable situation for
everybody because at the end ofthe day, you guys are doers, not
talkers, and so that's a uniqueflip.
You know that's a switch thatyou don't flip that often, so I
appreciate your time in doingthat.
(19:45):
All right.
Thank you, we'll see you nextweek with another episode of
Small Talk with CommunitiesUnlimited.
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