The city of Meridian is facing a shortage of employees certified to operate its freshwater and wastewater treatment facilities, but it is not alone in the struggle to find the necessary staff.
In a work session Tuesday, Mississippi Rural Water Association Deputy CEO Randy Turnage told members of the City Council that the struggle to find certified workers is everywhere.
“It’s not just Meridian,” he said. “It’s statewide. It’s nationwide.”
Tuesday’s discussion comes after the council declined to take action earlier this month on a proposal to hire Waggoner Engineering to fortify the city’s water departments with its own workers and train city employees to take the lead. The one-year contract was quoted at not to exceed $150,000 per month.
Certified operators are hard to find, Turnage said, and the pool of available workers is shrinking. A report from several years ago predicted roughly 50% of those working in the industry would be lost within 8-9 years, he said.
To help combat that, Turnage said the Mississippi Rural Water Association created an apprenticeship program to help train the next generation of skilled workers responsible for keeping water plants operational and ensuring clean water is safe to drink and wastewater is disposed of properly. Meridian, he said, currently has three apprentices enrolled in the program.
The two-year program pairs apprentices with mentors for on-the-job training along with classroom instruction to prepare future operators to take the necessary exams needed to receive their certifications. The apprenticeship program, Turnage said, is funded through the United States Department of Agriculture and does not have a cost for participating municipalities.
Through the program, apprentices are trained to not only operate the fresh and wastewater plants but also receive instruction on management, emergency response and other aspects of the plant operations to prepare them to step into leadership roles when they receive their certifications.
Becoming certified to operate a water facility like Meridian’s is not an easy task, and significant investments in both time and labor are needed to reach the point where an employee is ready for that responsibility, Turnage said. On the freshwater side, he said, Meridian’s system falls in the Class B category, which requires operators who have Class B certifications.
Becoming a Class B operator requires a minimum of three years experience, Turnage said. Meridian’s apprentices, he said, will need an additional year of experience after their apprenticeship has ended before becoming eligible for the Class B license.
On the wastewater side, Meridian is a Class 4 system, MsRWA Wastewater Tech Rickey Parker said, which is the biggest classification available. Class 1 systems are basic lagoons, and Class 2 systems are lagoons with some sort of aeration. Class 3 systems are mechanical treatment plants, he said, and Class 4 systems are mechanical plants that handle large volumes of wastewater each day.
Meridian operates two wastewater treatment plants, with one on the east side of town near Avery between Dale Drive and Highway 11/80 and a south plant located near Meridian Regional Airport.
Parker said Class 4 operators are required to have at least six years of experience or a bachelor’s degree in chemistry or engineering and one year of experience to receive their certification. Employees must also get a passing score on the Class 4 exam.
The city currently has around 2-3 certified staff available for its plants, which are manned and operated around the clock, Turnage said. More certified employees are needed.
“You need enough to always have certified staff on duty,” he said.
In addition to the apprenticeship program, which holds a signup period every six months, Turnage said MsRWA is available to provide guidance and lend a helping hand when possible, but the association is not equipped to provide ongoing assistance. Statewide, he said, the program has 11 employees and only five who can come to Meridian to help out if needed.
However, MsRWA has worked well with Meridian in the past, Turnage said, and the organization is willing to do so again.
“We will do what we can,” he said.