The People Behind Your Water

Every day, safe and reliable water makes its way to homes and businesses throughout the District. Behind that service is a dedicated team of people working to keep the water system running, protect water quality, maintain infrastructure, and respond when our community needs them.

Meet the crew who help make it happen:

Alan Paulson — Operations Superintendent
Dan Radford — Distribution System Supervisor
Josh Manson — Distribution System Operator
Will Hope — Distribution System Operator
Trev Carlson — Distribution System Operator

 

        

Together, this team brings a combination of experience, technical knowledge, teamwork, and dedication to the work of providing dependable water service to the community.

Keeping Water Flowing

The water distribution crew works every day to keep safe, reliable water moving throughout the District. Their work includes reading, testing, repairing, and installing residential and commercial meters, helping customers locate or shut off their meters, identifying possible leaks, and replacing worn or damaged meter parts.

They also respond to customer concerns involving low pressure, discolored water, service connections, and turn-ons or shut-offs. While many of these tasks may happen behind the scenes, they play an important role in keeping water service dependable and helping customers when they need assistance.

Protecting Water Quality

Keeping water flowing is only part of the job. The crew also plays an important role in monitoring water quality and system performance.

Crew members collect samples from taps, source-water locations, and designated sample stations for routine testing. They measure chlorine residual, turbidity, pH, and temperature while also monitoring pressure changes, tank levels, and flow data.

Careful records are maintained for meter readings, chemical dosages, and test results to support regulatory compliance. When water-quality readings move outside safe operating limits, the crew helps adjust disinfection feeds to bring the system back into range.

This attention to detail helps protect public health and maintain a safe, reliable water supply for the community.

Ready When the Unexpected Happens

Not every day goes according to plan. When an emergency occurs, the crew is ready to respond around the clock.

During a water-main break, crew members isolate broken pipes, coordinate repairs, manage disinfection, and work to restore service as safely and efficiently as possible. They also dig, repair, or replace damaged mains and service connections and investigate customer reports that could point to a larger problem within the distribution system.

Their ability to respond quickly, work together, and solve problems helps minimize disruptions and restore service when the unexpected happens.

Taking Care of the System Every Day

Some of the crew’s most important work happens long before a problem occurs. Preventive maintenance helps keep the water system dependable and ready for emergencies.

The crew routinely tours pump and booster stations and storage reservoirs, inspects pump houses, motors, and electrical control panels, and completes routine maintenance. They exercise system valves to help prevent them from seizing, flush dead-end water mains to clear sediment and keep water fresh, and mark underground water lines with paint or flags so contractors can work safely.

These are jobs that customers may never see, but they are essential to maintaining a reliable water system.

Continuing to Learn

Water distribution is a complex field, and keeping the system running safely requires knowledge, training, and a commitment to learning.

Water distribution operators continually build their expertise through required continuing education, industry certifications, and specialized technical training. Classes and seminars help operators stay current on Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, PFAS mitigation, cybersecurity, cross-connection control, advanced disinfection, and other evolving issues.

Continuing education helps the crew stay prepared to meet the changing needs of the water system while protecting public health and providing dependable service to the community.

The People Who Make It Happen

From reading a meter and helping a customer to monitoring water quality, maintaining equipment, repairing a water main, or responding to an emergency, the work of this crew touches nearly every part of the water system.

Much of what they do happens out of sight, but it makes a difference every day. Their work helps ensure that when someone turns on a faucet, safe and reliable water is there when they need it.

Water doesn’t simply make its way to your tap. People make it happen.