Union Sanitary District’s Jose Rodrigues Wins Statewide Collection System Worker of the Year Award

Union Sanitary District Collection System Worker II Jose Rodrigues has received the statewide “Collection System Worker of the Year” award from the California Water Environment Association (CWEA). “Jose’s leadership skills and contributions to USD’s training and maintenance programs are very deserving of this recognition,” says James Schofield, Collection Services Supervisor. “He consistently displays a ‘can do’ attitude that makes him a great co-worker and representative of our District.” Jose is the first USD employee to win this award.

USD owns and maintains over 780 miles of sewer lines in the Tri-Cities. The District’s Collection Services Workers clean, inspect and repair lines daily to help ensure continuous, uninterrupted service to our customers. They also complete connections to our system for new construction, mark utilities for digging, and respond to customer trouble calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Protecting human health and providing professional service to our customers is an important job,” says Jose, who joined the District in 2003. “I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned throughout the years with others, and I strive to be someone that a new person in the collection services field can look up to.”

Jose’s accomplishments include helping to develop and construct an overflow estimating training station at the District’s Alvarado Treatment Plant in Union City, and presenting technical training to USD employees and outside agencies. He contributes as a subject matter expert to the District’s award-winning training program, helping to develop tools for measuring competencies and instructing classes. He has also presented workshops at CWEA conferences and other industry events.

CWEA is the California industry association for wastewater professionals, with about 9,000 members statewide. Jose initially won the regional Collection System Worker of the Year award in January 2013 for CWEA’s San Francisco Bay Section, which includes over 1,600 members in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties, plus a portion of San Mateo County. The regional award automatically qualified him to compete at the statewide level. The competition is based on accomplishments and contributions to the wastewater industry.

Union Sanitary District operates a 30 million gallon per day wastewater treatment facility in Union City and provides collection, treatment and disposal services to the cities of Fremont, Newark and Union City. For more information about USD’s Awards, contact James Schofield at (510) 477-7553.