Water Quality Program Specialist

Date Opened: Thursday, January 16, 2025 12:00 AM

Close Date: Friday, January 31, 2025 12:00 AM

Department: Charlotte Water Department

Salary: $70,124.80 - $87,656.00 Commensurate with Experience

SUMMARY

Charlotte’s local government, with more than 7,000 employees and a $2.39 billion budget, works hard to ensure that the community will be a winning city for everyone – a truly remarkable place to live, work, learn and play.

Charlotte Water is an enterprise department of the City of Charlotte and one of the largest public water and sewer service providers in the southeast with 300,000 customer accounts and over 1000 employees. Our service area includes the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Mint Hill, Matthews and Pineville. Charlotte Water’s FY 23 budget is $535M and a five-year capital program of $2.5 billion. We enjoy the highest credit ratings from all three major credit rating agencies as a result of sound financial planning and management and strong support from our City Council. We value competent, skilled candidates with a customer service focus to work in a team environment.

SALARY:

$78,890.00- $87,655.00 Commensurate with Experience

JOB SUMMARY:

The Water Quality Program Specialist is responsible for tracking water quality from the watershed through the distribution system in accordance with all federal and state drinking water regulations. This position will report to the Water Quality Program Administrator. The candidate will serve as technical resource to the Water Treatment Plants (WTPs), the Distribution System, and the Environmental Services Facility, ensuring best management practices are used for compliance with all drinking water regulations.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

· Maintains compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and other Federal, State, and local regulations pertaining to water treatment and distribution systems.

· Ensures all compliance and non-compliance monitoring is scheduled and conducted.

· Conducts water quality field sampling and testing; ensures proper lab procedures are followed; packs coolers for shipment; ensures chain of custody completeness; and communicates with laboratory and plant staff.

· Calibrates, maintains, and repairs all laboratory analyzers/equipment at all WTPs. Researches the specifications and cost for new equipment.

· Budgets for, organizes, and maintains inventory for lab supplies for all WTPs.

· Creates detailed SOPs for all job duties.

· Ensures data is accurate and reported appropriately; receives and interprets analytical data; collaborates with laboratories to resolve issues.

· Compiles and analyzes data using excel and databases. Provides technical reports/presentations to supervisor and/or staff.

· Provides guidance and education to staff on water quality, lab procedures, and regulations.

· Assists in the evaluation of water treatment processes to support optimized operations.

· Conducts jar tests.

· Ensures all safety protocols are followed.

· Answers customer questions and addresses/resolves customer complaints.

· Provides National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance support.

· Available to respond to water treatment issues after hours.

· Performs other related job duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:

· Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, chemistry, or a related field.

· Three (3) years related work experience in water treatment.

· B-Surface Water certification and must obtain a North Carolina A-Surface Water certification within one year.

· C-Distribution certification or obtain within one year.

· Must be able to obtain and maintain a city’s drivers permit.

Preferred Qualifications:

· A-Surface water certificate.

· B-Distribution certificate.

· Physical/Chemical certificate.

· Operation of a surface water treatment plant.

· Operation, calibration, and maintenance of water quality analytical instruments.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

· Knowledge of the policies, procedures, and goals of Charlotte Water.

· Knowledge of federal and state regulations for drinking water.

· Knowledge of surface water treatment and plant optimization.

· Knowledge of distribution system water quality issues.

· Knowledge of source water monitoring and protection.

· Knowledge of standard laboratory procedures and proper sampling techniques.

· Knowledge in Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Teams, and WIMS, and other pertinent computer programs - proficiency in the preparation of charts, graphs, and tables, analyzing data, writing technical