City of Italy employees earn Wastewater Treatment certifications

Barry Byers Posted City of Italy, Texas
Image: Public Works Director Dean Carrell instructs city employees — City of Italy’s Public Works Director Dean Carrell conducts the state required Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Wastewater Treatment certification class to City of Italy employees. The classes save the city time and money with less of a need to send employees out of town for training.

Public Works Director Dean Carrell instructs city employees — City of Italy’s Public Works Director Dean Carrell conducts the state required Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Wastewater Treatment certification class to City of Italy employees. The classes save the city time and money with less of a need to send employees out of town for training. (Submitted photo)

The City Of Italy held a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Wastewater Treatment class last week. The class was arranged to help the city employees obtain their state requirement certification and is one of many classes to come.

The state requires all employees that perform process control to be certified no matter if it is Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, Back flow Inspector or a Customer Service Inspector. The class conducted last week was for Wastewater Treatment and is a 20 hour class.

On average, if the city sends an employee to class, the cost would range from $800.00 to $1000.00 for this 20 hour course. This average cost includes $285.00 for the class and book, around $210.00 for a hotel, $380.00 worth of employee pay for being in school (being absent from work) and $140.00 for food and gas. These costs are based on 20 hours but there are many 40 hour courses that have to be taken as well.

“This is one of the reasons why I became a certified Instructor (teacher) to save time and money for the city,” stated Instructor Dean Carrell.

The City of Italy employees that attended the class were Justyn Henderson, Jason Henderson, Jacob Hopkins and Shedric Walker. Class time was four hours each morning which allowed the crew to work the rest of the day. “This is a great program for the city budget,” added Carrell.