Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
Contributed Photo The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday named the Wolf Treatment Plant in Shawano its Registered Laboratory of the Year at a program in Madison. The crew includes, from left, front row, Dustin Beyer, Dave Hartmann; back row, Jerry Weisnicht, John Collins, Justin Richter, Nick Bartz.
For the second time in four years the operators of the plant that treats waste water for the city of Shawano and several surrounding municipalities have been recognized as the best in the state at keeping track of data.
The Department of Natural Resources named the Wolf Treatment Plant, on River Bend Road, as 2014’s Registered Laboratory of the Year.
“This is our 19th year presenting the award and for the first time we have a repeat winner,” said Steve Geis, DNR’s section chief for science services.
Wolf River also won in 2010, said Dave Hartmann, the plant’s chief operator and lab director.
In addition to the water quality inspections at treatment plants, the DNR also audits the 228 registered labs in the state associated with the plants for the quality of data they record and maintain.
Good data means efficient plant performance and cleaner water discharged into the Wolf River, Hartmann said.
“Data is the backbone of what we do. If our data is not correct, our decisions aren’t going to be made very well either,” he said.
Employees Dustin Beyer, Nick Bartz and John Collins are cross-trained in operations, maintenance and in the lab, giving them a chance to cross-check their colleague’s work, which improves data quality and assurance, Hartmann said.
Jerry Weisnicht, the plant’s administrator, said the DNR award is a “nice honor” for people who don’t get much public attention.
“This represents the hard work they put in,” Weisnicht said. “Lab work is hard; the DNR has very exacting standards for what they want from the labs. There’s more testing, more accurate results required. The data shows what we’re putting back into the Wolf River, which everyone wants to be as clean as possible.”
The DNR audits each lab every few years, and during the past two audits, 2009 and 2013, Wolf Treatment Plant had no significant deficiencies — “truly an outstanding accomplishment,” Geis said.
“That’s very unusual,” he said. “There are always things we find that can be improvements to the processes because we check on so many things.”
There are two categories for registered labs in the state, those that treat fewer than 2 million gallons of effluent daily and those that treat more. The Wolf Treatment Plant on average treats 2 million gallons daily putting it in competition with the biggest plants in the state.
The Wolf Treatment Plant is regional facility serving Shawano, Shawano Lake Sanitary District, Bonduel, Cecil, Belle Plaine, Richmond and Waukeschon.