Water treatment operators are the unsung heroes of public health, working around the clock to ensure safe drinking water for millions of people. Yet every water treatment operator has certain “moments.” You know the ones. When everything that can go wrong does go wrong, usually at 2 AM on a Friday night. These are the stories that make you laugh (eventually) and teach you lessons you'll never forget. We've collected real-world "car-crash" moments that every operator should know how to handle. Think of these as your survival guide for when Murphy's Law decides to visit your plant.

These are representative documents used by operators to collect and report information during typical normal and emergency shifts. They are available in downloadable PDF, Word, and Excel file format and can be edited by you for your specific needs.

Description goes hereThe Setup: Your plant has been running smooth as silk. Turbidity is low, customers are happy, and your quarterly TTHM results have been well within limits. You're feeling pretty good about life. Then your latest sample results come back from the lab, and your TTHMs at the entry point to the distribution system (EDPS) are dancing dangerously close to the 80 ppb limit. Your supervisor mentions something about "enhanced coagulation" and suddenly everyone's looking at you like you should know what that means.

The Setup: It's been a typical Tuesday until your lab results come back showing Total

Organic Carbon (TOC) levels that are higher than your monthly budget after Christmas shopping. Your raw water TOC is spiking, and your percent removal isn't meeting the required 35% that keeps the regulators happy. You've got 24 hours before you have to report a potential compliance violation, and your usual alum coagulant is performing about as well as a screen door on a submarine.