For example, he responded several times to complaints about hot water heaters spitting out short bursts of water from the relief valve. “Through his hard work, dedication, and attention to detail, the district has six years of satisfactory ratings on our South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control sanitary survey,” Rasco says.Ī tenacious problem solver, Clemones refuses to give up on customer questions until he has the answer and solution. Rasco also notes that since Clemones took on his bigger responsibilities, there have been no lags in the routine for three years. I have a few employees in my department with the potential to run a water company one day, and Justin is one of them.” It’s been great watching him grow and develop. “But as he matured and became more comfortable in the job, his confidence increased. “When Justin arrived, it was tough to get him to look you in the eye,” Rasco says. “Chris advised me to tell customers what I was doing and why. “I was forced to take some baby steps in overcoming my nervousness when talking to people,” he says. “Being promoted was a turning point because I knew then that I was advancing and I could keep advancing if I set my mind to it,” says Clemones.Īt first he did his work alone in the field, and it required interacting with the public. His duties include fire hydrant maintenance and flow testing, cross-connection control, valve maintenance and exercising, system flushing, sampling for lead, copper, and disinfection byproducts, bacterial analysis, and oversight of the SCADA and GIS mapping systems. Within a year, Rasco acknowledged Clemones’ drive and maturity by promoting him to compliance specialist. “Performing core functions with the staff has paid dividends far beyond what I can describe,” says Rasco. I learned the system inside out, all the road names, and where they are in the district.”įlush with confidence, the operators even tackled programming and integrating the AutoVU software, then backed up the previous generations of transmitters. “When we had enough for a route, he would send all of us into the field and we would change out the meters in two or three days. “On rainy days, Chris would call everyone into the shop to assemble Sensus meters and transmitters,” says Clemones. In the end, it also saved customers more than $250,000. Rasco believed doing the work in-house would condense years of work into months.
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He also locked meters for nonpayment or repaired manual-read units for customer service, an activity that satisfied his curiosity to learn how things worked.Īt the same time, the district still had some 7,000 old meters to change out before it could switch from manual to automatic meter reading and convert from bimonthly to monthly billing. If they want it, we’ll give them plenty of opportunities.”Ĭlemones broke in his boots repairing leaks and making taps with the field crew. Advancement is always left up to the operators. “New hires learn in the first few weeks if they want to do this job or not. “We look for people who have the drive to better themselves and who will seize the initiative,” says Rasco. The district has 12,000 customers and 21 employees, eight in operations. Show him something once and 99 out of 100 times he’ll understand it.”įour years after Clemones joined the district, the South Carolina American Water Works Association named him the 2010 Water Distribution Operator of the Year, recognizing him for excellence in distribution operations. “He’s mechanically inclined, eager to learn, and a quick study. “Justin is a very conscientious, dedicated employee,” says operations and maintenance superintendent Chris Rasco. When charged with developing a compliance schedule, he did so, then maintained it flawlessly since its implementation in 2008.
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In one year, Clemones earned his D level distribution license and advanced to his present position. He was right and I have never regretted my decision.” “He also talked to me about job security, the good benefits, and the rewards of the work. “I learned a lot from my dad about how water is treated and flows into the distribution system,” says Clemones. His father worked at one of them, Anderson Regional Joint Water System, for more than 25 years. The district, based in Easley, S.C., distributes water purchased from three suppliers. In his spare time, he worked on cars and rebuilt engines in a little shop behind his house.īut when the Powdersville Water District advertised for an operator trainee, Clemones seized the opportunity. His love of tinkering enabled him to repair marine motors and outfit boats for an Evinrude/Johnson dealership. Justin Clemones wasn’t thinking about becoming a water compliance specialist when he graduated from Pendleton (S.C.) High School in 2005. Get Location/Detection articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now.