![A Look at the Bugs Tells This Operator How the Plant Is Running](https://cole-tpomag.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpomag.com%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F022a9121.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=620&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=75&w=1024&s=0cc4b74f02fbf5bdf98f35c072769739)
The team at the Newberg Wastewater Treatment Plant includes, from left, Mike Fischer, plant mechanic; Jennifer Valdez, administrative support coordinator; Jon Hodgkins, operator; Andrew Shepherd, operator III/regulatory specialist; Ed Thomas, senior plant mechanic; and Connor Pomeroy, operator.
When Andrew Shepherd looks into the microscope, he sees more than wastewater organisms.
He gets a picture of the entire plant operation and can tell how the process is performing out there among the pipes and valves and pumps and basins. “It crystallizes the whole process for...