Curriculum, continued from page 9
for the Section and taught the inaugural
workshop at the Rancho Cucamonga
training center.
These two new workshops add significant
depth to the CA-NV AWWA Water College
Curriculum, and depending on demand,
may be presented in northern California
24 SOURCE summer 2013
and in Nevada in future months. Other
topics being considered include pumps
and motors, environmental assessment,
the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) and customer service for water
utilities. Let us know what you think. For
a complete list of CA-NV’s Water College
Curriculum, please visit the Section’s
website. S
Water College Alumni Speak
To give members an idea of the value
of CA-NV’s Water College curriculum,
we asked two veterans to share their
experiences. Don Hurdle, Program
Manager for Water/Wastewater at
Southern California Edison is a
workshop veteran. Hurdle is responsible
for four community drinking water
systems and a number of small private
systems that serve Edison employees
and contractors and one wastewater
treatment site. He holds a Grade Five
wastewater certification and a Grade 4
drinking water distribution certification.
“It’s my role to effectively be a subject
expert in drinking water and I want to
be update on what’s going on.
“What keeps everybody on their toes
is the regulatory changes. You can fight
it and complain or just get to the front
end of the line and equip yourself for
whatever may happen. My view is the
workshops are very helpful for upper
certification folks who want to advance.
They already know their stuff and aren’t
going to gain a whole lot sitting through
a 16-week class at a junior college. They
want to go in and snap up what they
need and then go study. That’s one of
the strengths of what Cal Nevada offers.”
According to Paul Kalix, Lead Worker
in the Water Production Department
at the City of Westminster, the city
automatically sends employees taking
certification exams to the appropriate
eight-hour workshop as a refresher.
“I would say 99 percent of the time,
our employees pass so we feel it’s
successful. I’ve gone through five
levels for distribution, four levels
for treatment and two levels for
conservation—so there’s probably 12
workshops for me in the last 15 years.”
Kaliz estimates that in that time period
the city has probably sent well over 100
employees to CA-NV’s Water College.
The city pays for the workshop and if
the employee passes the state exam,
they’re reimbursed for the fee. Kalix says
he would “completely recommend” the
workshops as a review in preparation
for taking state examinations. S