Tap Talk – The Olympics of Water Quality: WEFTEC’s Operations Challenge

Were you able to attend this year's WEFTEC in Chicago, or did you have to miss it? Either way, it's worth it to take the time to learn more about the Operations Challenge competition conducted at each WEFTEC — You can relive the excitement, if you were at this year's conference, or hear why you absolutely need to attend next year in New Orleans so you don't miss the fun!

Luckily, we covered the ins and outs of Operations Challenge in one of our first episodes of Season 6 of Tap Talk, the Drinking Water in Rural America Podcast. Our team has been producing this podcast since 2021, with the aim of connecting professionals across the drinking water community with ideas to extend and enhance water work. The podcast is a collaboration between the Rural Community Assistance Partnership and the University of Illinois, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The show is hosted by Steve and Jennifer Wilson of the Illinois State Water Survey’s WaterOperator.org, PrivateWellClass.org, and DecentralizedWastewater.org programs. Episodes of past seasons have primarily focused on municipal water treatment and private well-related topics, while recent seasons have begun exploring septic/decentralized wastewater topics as well. 

In episode #62, we welcomed Steve Harrison and Jeff Sober to Tap Talk. Steve, a WEF senior manager, and Jeff, Director of Water Services at Garver, are both members of the Operations Challenge Community. Just ahead of WEFTEC 2025, they gave our hosts a complete rundown of the annual showcase of the top water quality operations teams in the country. 

Listen through the audio player below, or, find Tap Talk on audio services such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, or Audible.

And be sure to read about the winners who prevailed in this year's 38th Annual Operations Challenge Competition!

Topics Discussed

• Meet Steve Harrison | LinkedIn
• Steve’s Water Hero: Cordell Samuels, Past President of WEF and retired Plant Superintendent at the Region of Durham in Ontario.
• Meet Jeff Sober | LinkedIn
• Jeff’s Water Hero: His father, Gary Sober, who gave Jeff his first job in the water industry.
• What is WEFTEC and what does it represent for the water industry?
• What is the Operations Challenge and what does the competition include?
• History of the Operations Challenge
• How does a team get to WEFTEC?
• How the challenge affects professionals throughout the industry
• How the challenge supports the mission of WEF
• What else to see at WEFTEC
• Connect with the Water Environment Federation and WEFTEC
  • WEF: Website | LinkedIn | X/Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
  • WEFTEC: Website | Facebook | X/Twitter

    “You get a better workforce out of this. One that knows how to respond to all challenges and to be more resilient; and one that respects the positions and challenges of all the others as well.”

    Jeff Sober

 

Go Further

You’re invited to discuss the episode in our LinkedIn Group. If you decide to share on Twitter, please use the hashtag #TapTalkPodcast. And, of course, make sure to subscribe in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Guests

Steve Harrison is Director of Operator Programs at the Water Environment Federation and is coordinator of Operations Challenge, WEFTEC’s award winning professional skills competition. He has contributed to many water sector workforce initiatives, including developing apprenticeship standards, coordinating regional workforce approaches, and launching the workforwater.org website. He holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Management from the University of Maryland, is a Board Certified Environmental Scientist, a Certified Mission Critical Professional, has a NASSCO Pipeline Assessment Certification Program credential, and is a member of the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers.

Jeff Sober is the Director of Garver’s Water Services. He also sits on Garver’s Board of Directors. Jeff has 23 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry, focusing on large-scale facility master planning, wastewater treatment process design, grit removal science, and biosolids. He is a Past President of the Water Environment Association of Texas and currently serves as Past Chair of the WEF Operations Challenge Committee. He has been responsible for leading operations training and workforce development initiatives in Texas, in addition to leading one of the fastest-growing water and wastewater engineering services firms in the nation.

Jeff holds a B.S. and an M.Eng. in civil engineering, both from Texas A&M University. In 2025, he was named a WEF Fellow, one of the water industry’s most distinguished honors.