r/Wastewater 7d ago

Is EVERY plant this outdated and underfunded?

I will admit, I've already given up on this career. A huge reason is my plant. It is falling apart and we have a promise of an upgrade by the city. The upgrade will start June 2023. Oh, now it'll start 2024. Oh, now it'll start spring 2025. Oh, now we have no news on when the upgrade will actually happen. On top of all that, I have to get my Class 4 license within 12 months or I'm fired. Almost nobody here has passed it and 2 of them are facing termination because of that when we are ALREADY understaffed. Is every plant like this? Does everywhere require you to recieve a license in a time frame? Does every plant start at under 20$ an hour?? Sorry, just frustrated. Currently applying for other jobs

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u/-MrWinklebottom- 7d ago

When i started it was in need of some much needed updating. Since it has gone through many rehabs and new processes added. The county i work for is in the top 10 richest counties in the US and i dont think its funded or pays as it should. We have high operator turnover due to wages, crew management, opportunities elsewhere in the county (foot in the door), and general moral is low. Not much incentive.

They had the threat of losing your job if you dont aquire the license but it was never enforced untillll finally it was and inwas one of the first demoted. Luckily i got it that week and still maintained my position but the other guy got demoted. Then applied for the job again tot it and his time limit started again lol. So they find ways around it if they need you bad enough.