Our Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) “Smooth Operators” swept the competition at the South Carolina Environmental Conference Operations Challenge in early March! 

The conference was co-hosted by the Water Environment Association (WEF) of South Carolina and the South Carolina American Water Works Association. To showcase how wastewater treatment operators and technicians overcome challenges and emergencies, WEF has developed what is considered the industry’s most rigorous professional development program – the Operations Challenge. In order to compete at the national level, teams must perform well at the state-level competitions. The South Carolina conference hosts invited out-of-state teams to compete with them at their state conference (called an Invitational).

GUC’s 2024 “Smooth Operators” team includes Adam Garris, Chris Hill, Bryon Orr, and Kyle Meeks. They competed against 10 other wastewater teams from across the country and swept the competition! They came in 1st for Invitational (out-of-state teams), 2nd Overall, 1st in Safety, 2nd in Collections, 2nd in Maintenance, 3rd in Process Control, and 6th in Lab. 

“This was a big win for us to go down and compete in one of the largest events held for the Operations Challenge across the nation and finish 1st in Invitational and 2nd Overall,” said Team Captain Bryon Orr. “It just goes to show that hard work pays off. We're thankful for our coworkers who help cover some of our daily duties while we’re out, so this team is truly bigger than just us four. It feels good to put GUC on the map for the Operations Challenge!”  

Congratulations again to Chris, Bryon, Kyle, and Adam!