SEQUIM — Al Chrisman, the city’s wastewater treatment plant lead operator, has been elected president of the Olympic Section of the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association.
Chrisman will serve as the association’s president through 2011.
Chrisman has worked for the city since 1983 and at the treatment plant since 1987.
The plant today treats between a low flow of 50 gallons per minute at 5 a.m., rapidly rising to as high as 1,500 gallons a minute by 11 a.m. daily. The plant was upgraded last year in a $11 million expansion project to handle future growth.
The association is a member of the Water Environment Federation, the nonprofit technical and educational organization for water environment professionals in 39 countries.
The primary focus of the association is to train wastewater operators, encourage and promote action necessary for enhancement and preservations of the water environment, and to allow wastewater operators across Idaho, Oregon and Washington state to network with one another.
The Olympic Section of the association was organized in the early 1990s by former Sequim wastewater treatment plant lead operator Wayne Balhom, who also served as the section’s first president.
Sequim Utilities Manager Pete Tjemsland served as president in 2007 and 2008.
