Ever wondered what it's like to work at a water treatment works? Or maybe you’re curious about how water gets from the source to your tap? We spent the day with Leigh, Tom, and Anna, three production technicians at Affinity Water, to give you an inside look at their important jobs.
What Does a Production Technician Do?
Production technicians at Affinity Water have a big job. They’re the ones making sure that the water we drink is safe and clean. How do they do that? Well, it involves a lot of cool gadgets and hands-on work. They maintain and upgrade all the electrical equipment that produces the water we deliver to 3.9 million people!
A Day at the Water Treatment Works
Our day with Leigh, Tom, and Anna started bright and early. They pulled up in their shiny blue Affinity Water vans, ready to roll. The first stop? The local control room! This is the brain of the whole operation, where they make sure everything is running efficiently and effectively.
Throughout the day, our production technicians do all sorts of tasks, focusing on completing essential proactive maintenance to keep our assets reliable. They might be fixing a pump, calibrating or servicing water quality equipment, or making sure the water treatment process is working perfectly. They also take samples of water from each stage of the treatment process to make sure it’s meeting the high standards we expect.
But it’s not just routine stuff—sometimes, things go wrong. Maybe a valve stops working, or an alarm goes off. When that happens, the technicians spring into action, solving problems quickly to keep everything running smoothly. They even have to be on call after hours, just in case something happens at night!
Safety First!
Another big part of the job is making sure that the plant is a safe place to work. All of our production technicians are always on the lookout for hazards, making sure that everyone stays safe while they’re working.
How Do You Become a Production Technician?
If this job interests you, here’s what you’d need to get started. First, you’d need a full electrical apprenticeship, or have a City and Guilds Level 3 or equivalent. Or, you could have experience with:
- Single and three phase pumps
- Motors, drives and inverters
- Control circuits
- Actuators and instrumentation
Tom, one of the technicians, told us how his previous job gave him the skills he needed for this role. “Before joining Affinity Water, I worked as a service technician for a company that manufactured and tested valves. Working for this company gave me transferable skills I’m able to use in my role at Affinity Water.”
Why being a Production Technician is a Great Job
Being a production technician isn’t just about working with machines. It’s also about teamwork and solving problems. Every day is different, so you’ll never get bored! Sometimes you’ll work with a team, and other times you’ll be on your own, making decisions that keep the water flowing for everyone.
If this sounds like the kind of job you’d love, take a look at the Affinity Water careers website to see if there are any openings. You could be the next person helping us to deliver 950 million litres of water each day to a population of 3.9 million people.