For many in the wastewater industry, the association with autumn and conferences comes naturally. The Rocky Mountain Water Conference (RMWC) occurs in September and WEFTEC takes place at the beginning of October. This was my first year participating in back-to-back wastewater conferences in less than one month. While both conferences lived up to the hype with all the free drinks (and interesting talks) it got me thinking about the collective experience at one of those conferences. I estimate there was roughly 7,500 years of knowledge at the RMWC alone.

In this vein, I was hoping to exploit my friend Blair Corning and his vast experience. Blair is currently the Deputy Director of Environmental Programs at South Platte Renew and was my boss at South Adams County Water and Sanitation District (SACWSD) in my first stint in wastewater. Blair was the reason I got involved in the RMWQAA and I’m reaching out to him to share his perspective. We’ll start out with a standard, base-level interview question. How did you get involved in the wastewater field….is it something you knew you wanted to do your whole life?

I didn’t even think about being in water treatment when I was young. I wanted to be a veterinarian in high school and college. No one ever tells you about water and wastewater when you’re young and if they do it’s certainly not sexy enough to think about. Until you realize benefits and job stability and steady exciting work helping the community is sexy too. I got in when I applied for a job as a way to run from the USDA. I was a food safety inspector there, which meant long hours on a giant assembly line cutting into cow parts. Two years is all I could handle and fortunately I found my first job in water at SACWSD. 

 

I never thought I’d hear the words “sexy” and “cow parts” in that close of proximity to each other. Thank you for that. What was your trajectory from there? What did you start out doing at SACWSD and how did you get to where you are now?

I started as an environmental “technician”. I worked in the water lab, wastewater lab, and industrial pretreatment all at once. It was a new position that had been created and looking back it was the best job ever for seeing everything about the water business. I am currently a Deputy Director at South Platte Renew. I got there by being patient, learning all I could in every job, and never saying no or I’m too busy to do that. 

 

I like that….never saying no is a very consulting mindset to have, but it really takes you far because you never stop learning. What has been your favorite job/role over the years?

I’ve loved them all. The lab is great because you get a result and it’s real and it’s done and you feel good. The further you get from the bench, the more things seem to be less concrete. My favorite role though is my current position. The other day I was on a boat in Barr Lake in the morning looking at lake monitoring probes and in a Denver high rise in the afternoon talking about the facility master plan. It reinforced to me that I have the best job in the world. 

Variety is great! And the boat sounds so awesome! Especially with this amazing fall weather we have been having. Name one lab-related challenge you faced in your career and how you overcame it.

The one I can think of is operating the lab during a remodel. Imagine the effects of dust and vibration and construction on a TSS test. We set up quarters in a tent in the garage and did the best we could. It was a lesson in no whining. We got it done and met permit requirements. 

I remember that remodel! The best thing about it was not having to wash BOD bottles. You let us splurge on the disposable bottles. But that was really the only good thing about it. You have done so many cool things in your free time….writing, comedy, and now your podcast. How did the podcast come about?

When I switched jobs and started at South Platte Renew my commute lengthened (I live in Arvada). I started listening to podcasts on the way to and from work. I looked for Colorado Water podcasts but didn’t find too many. Then of course I thought “I could do that” and went about figuring out how to do it. It’s fun. I love interviewing different guests and talking water. It’s therapeutic. Which is good because therapy ain’t cheap. If any lab folks want to be on the podcast I’d love to do an episode on the laboratory side of water and wastewater. 

If any of our readers are interested, you can shoot Blair a message at: bcorning@englewoodco.gov. Be sure to follow the Streaming Water Podcast….there are some really awesome episodes. My favorite is Season 3, Episode 4, Airborne Snow Measurement with Taylor Winchell and Jeff Deems. I learned some awesome stuff about snowpack in Colorado. Tell the readers about how you first came across the RMWQAA and about your involvement in the group when you joined.

I got involved because of Joan Chavez, my wastewater lab supervisor. She had been in the group and encouraged me to get involved and introduced me to some members. I’m glad she did that because it is just what I needed at that time. I was new to the industry and didn’t know what I knew or didn’t know so it really helped having some lab friends. Joan was unselfish and wanted to build people up. It was something I tried to carry on. 

You carried that on by doing the same for me when I was in your lab! I joined in 2005 and I met so many awesome people, many of whom I’m still friends with today. What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the wastewater industry, besides getting involved in a professional organization? That’s always my number one piece of advice since it helped me so much in my career.

My biggest piece of advice is Give the people what they want. It’s that simple. Whether it’s your boss, your board, the public, etc., just give them what they want. I spent years giving people what I thought they should want or I wanted them to want but when I learned to understand what they wanted everything became easier. 
 

That’s some really sound advice Blair. Thanks so much for taking part in this interview!! To wrap it up, if you could choose one song to play every time you walked into a room, what would you choose and why?

This one is easy. There’s a dive bar by my house and before I go in I play Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille on TouchTunes. I did this for two years before they finally made the Pavlovian connection that when that song came on - I walked in. It was a bonus because this is a metal, Creedence, Lynard Skynard type place, so Muskrat Love totally disrupts everything. That’s the beauty of it. 

Ha!! That’s amazing….you legit have a walk-in song!! Love it. Thanks Blair!

Natalie Love is the Laboratory Research Manager at Metro Water Recovery and has not been in the industry as long as Blair but agrees with all his great advice.