Arlington Re-Gen Employee Spotlight

Number of Years with WPCP: 9 years

Q: Can you tell us about your role at the Water Pollution Control Plant?
I’m the Engineering Program Coordinator. I coordinate large capital improvement projects and plan for the next 10+ years, covering everything from identifying projects that will benefit the facility to funding and staffing.

Q: Can you share a little bit about your career journey?
Throughout my career, I have always been involved in mechanical work. I started as an automotive mechanic; however, I wanted a change and a new challenge. When I learned about the wastewater technician trainee program, it caught my interest.

When my husband and I moved to Maryland, I joined AlexRenew, another wastewater treatment facility, where I spent twelve years. I started in the lab, but I would often volunteer for extra projects outside of my day-to-day responsibilities. I eventually transferred to their engineering group where I learned that I really liked planning, project management, and process troubleshooting. I wasn’t actively job hunting when I came across an opening here at the Water Pollution Control Plant, but the role was so interesting that I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve now been here for almost nine years, and I’ve worked on some amazing projects.

Q: How has your role evolved since you first joined WPCP?
Sometimes I think that “other duties as assigned” is my actual job description. The variety of projects and tasks keeps things interesting. One piece I’ve really enjoyed is working on maintenance of plant operations during projects. That’s the term for making sure the facility can keep doing its day-to-day job while new treatment processes and facilities are constructed. I’ve also supported several major electrical upgrades, which has deepened my understanding of a field I wasn’t originally trained in. That’s one of the things I love about this job: it challenges me to learn and develop subject matter expertise in areas I never imagined when I first started my career in a lab.

Q: How do you support the Re-Gen program?
I focus on technical problem-solving with our engineering team while collaborating closely with other groups, consultants, and staff from the Department of Environmental Services and other County departments. I’ve also worked on instrumentation and asset management. The Re-Gen team is incredibly collaborative and supportive; we respect each other’s expertise and also serve as sounding boards for new ideas.

Q: How are staff preparing for the new processes and technologies that the Re-Gen program will deliver?
We’re starting training early and involving our field staff directly in the design process so they can see the bigger picture of how everything connects and how decisions are made. By the time new systems come online, our teams will already understand how their work fits into the overall operation. Re-Gen is transforming wastewater treatment into true resource recovery, which creates opportunities for all of us to build expertise in cutting-edge sustainability practices.

Q: What Re-Gen benefits to residents are you most excited about?
I’m excited for people to see just how incredible wastewater treatment really is. One of the coolest parts of the Re-Gen program is that we’re not just treating wastewater anymore; we’re becoming producers. We’ll continue cleaning water, but we’ll also be producing valuable outputs (renewable natural gas and Class A biosolids) – and recycling about 99% of what comes into the plant! The upgrades will also reduce truck traffic and lower our carbon footprint.

Q: What advice would you give to the next generation of water professionals interested in projects like Re-Gen?
Go out in the field. See the equipment, experience what it’s like, even what it smells like. Spend as much time at the plant as you can, and ask a lot of questions. It can feel intimidating at first because you assume everyone else already knows the answers, but that’s how you learn. At this point in my career, I’ve realized that the best thing you can do is keep asking questions.

Q: What makes you proudest about Re-Gen?
I’m proud that we’ve taken on a project this big. It’s not just a solids treatment process upgrade; we’re implementing brand-new processes and upgrading a huge portion of the plant all at once. With new controls and added complexities, it’s a huge effort, but we’re taking it on together. That teamwork makes me proud.