Water and wastewater operations specialists play an important role in providing communities with clean drinking water. However, in an industry that expects to see nearly 50 percent of its professionals retiring in the next five years, aggressive steps must be taken to ensure the next generation of skilled workers are properly trained and in place.
The Alliance of Indiana Rural Water (AIRW) in Franklin, Indiana is doing its part through an “Earn While You Learn” Apprenticeship Program that provides on-the-job training, technical instruction, state licensing, and nationally recognized credentials from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship. Its two-year program requires apprentices to complete at least 288 hours of technical training and 4,000 hours of paid on-the-job training, which prepares those individuals for careers as systems operations specialists in the water and wastewater industry.
“The idea (for apprenticeships) came about in 2015, approximately three years before it was approved,” said Kelly Gardner, Apprenticeship Program Coordinator with the AIRW. “We were the first state to get apprenticeships and one of the first two states to have program graduates. We had our first graduate in 2019.”
In all, the program has already seen 60 graduates with an additional 70 trainees currently serving as active apprentices. Unfortunately, the industry still faces some challenges in attracting new professionals.
“There still aren’t many who know about this career path,” Gardner said. “They just don’t hear about it when they’re growing up.”
To combat the issue, AIRW is actively working toward promoting the industry to students at the elementary, junior high and high school levels.
“If we let them know this pathway exists, it may spark their interest enough to pursue it when they graduate,” Gardner said.
“We have four water classes for Career Technical Education. Now we just need teachers and a pilot school to buy in. We also need to find enough students who are willing to give it a try,” she added.
Gardner is excited about AIRW’s apprenticeship program and the promising future it offers to those looking for a high-demand career path.
“You don’t need to have a college degree to get into this career and we can certainly help with the required training,” she said.
“Water and wastewater will never go away.”
Additional information on the AIRW apprenticeship program can be found at https://www.inh2o.org/.
