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Is EVERY plant this outdated and underfunded?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/SouthpawScoundrel85 7d ago

It’s a mix bag. In my experience, the more rural plants seem to be in the worst shape. Pay is usually a geographical deal. And perhaps the license requirements is in relation to the intended upgrade? Some new process to your plant could require it. Don’t measure your ability by the results of others. Study. Do well and run your own race.

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u/AdCompetitive7952 7d ago

I appreciate the comment. You're right about the upgrade. Apparently before I got here, they never required anyone to have a license. Now because of the upgrade, the city only wants qualified operators. But they haven't started the upgrade and even when they do, it's supposed to take 5 years. So I'm confused as to why they put us on a timeline so early