Help! There’s a recliner in my lift station!
We spoke to Larry Claude, an Energenecs field technician with nearly forty years experience in the field, about some interesting aspects of his job!
Where are you from?
I am from northwest Wisconsin and moved to Florida in 1981, and was down there for twenty-two years. It started getting very crowded down in Florida and I missed the seasons, so we moved back up to Wisconsin.
How did you get interested in water and wastewater?
I kind of fell into it, back in 1982. A friend was an operator at the City of Boynton Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant in Florida. They were looking for a mechanic and he knew I could handle mechanical type of equipment. I started working for them and don’t think I even filled out a job application!
How long have you been at Energenecs?
Six years as of January 2020.
What types of jobs do you primarily work on?
I go out on service calls for pumps, screens, instrumentation and controls. For example, a pump breaking down or getting plugged with debris, or a fine screen not performing properly to specification. Up in my neck of the woods, there often is no communications (like a SCADA system) so they rely on visits to the site to troubleshoot various instrument and control problems. I’ve also been working on a fair amount of biogas burning equipment lately. Machinery repairs in general would be the best way to put it.
Another example of a job was when I went on a service call this last summer because a pipe had broken. The sewage lift station was a dry room type, which is down in the ground. It had flooded so all the electronics and electric motors had been underwater. A pumper truck had removed all the water out and we found out where the leak was coming from. All of the controls and pumps had to be replaced. They hired Energenecs for our labor because they knew it would get completed properly.
I heard you found a recliner in the lift station wet well!
It was a fluffy recliner [laughs]. The station didn’t have a fence around it and someone broke the padlock off. They got the lid open and were able to get rid of their garbage. We found the recliner resting on the pump. The fact that it soaked up a lot of water made it a chore to hoist out of the wet well. It was not what we were expecting!
Any other interesting things you have found?
A raccoon! [laughs] We were at a storm water pump (or lift station) at a recycling center in Minneapolis. The raccoon had crawled through the drainage pipe and couldn’t figure his way back out. He had climbed up on a section of piping and was rather irritated. One of the maintenance guys at the site found a 2×4 board, so we stuck that on the pipe where he was, at the top of the well. We stepped back and ten minutes later up the 2×4 the racoon came and took off like a race horse!
How often do you come across animals stuck in equipment?
Not often, but in Florida rats were a problem! I don’t miss that. Up here the one thing we find quite often in pump stations are garter snakes.
We also pull lumber out of pumps, oil filters, towels and bed sheets. I thought I found a diamond ring once but it turned out to be plastic! We find quite a few matchbox cars, children’s toys. A toilet is a fun thing to throw things into when you are two!
What do you enjoy about your job?
I do like the interesting variety. You get competent at most things but it might be a couple of years until you work on a particular type of job again. We all rely on our other servicemen to help each other out. I work with a lot of guys that have more experience in certain aspects so I call them, and they call me for certain issues. It’s a great team that works together well.
For more information, contact Energenecs at 262-377-6360 or click on button below to email:
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