Staff Spotlight – Billy Ray Gibson, Jr.
Billy Ray Gibson, Jr.
Team Member since April 2012
Latest Achievement: Class III Wastewater Operator License
After spending over twenty years in commercial, marine and residential construction, including the installation of utilities as a contractor, Billy Ray Gibson, Jr. sought the opportunity to use his skills as a utility maintenance worker at the BGJWSC in early 2012. Billy attended a week long class in Waycross taught by the Georgia Rural Water Association late last year and began studying for a state board exam while performing daily plant maintenance work for the BGJWSC.
Billy passed board certification in January of 2014 and has committed to the pursuit of further education, including the Class II and Class I licenses, which will prepare him for greater responsibilities in maintaining the collection system infrastructure located at the wastewater treatment plants. He also began cross-training with other operators at the plants in order to maintain operational readiness and to meet legal requirements regarding the number of certified staff that must be present.
The operation of the treatment plant on a day to day basis includes taking samples of the wastewater that flows into the plant, screening out trash that will negatively impact the treatment process, and monitoring the amount of solids to be removed from the process and safely disposed of. The plant operators then filter the wastewater and treat it with UV lights or chemicals, such as chlorine and sulfur dioxide, in order to prepare it to be returned to the environment by way of Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island or Academy Creek and the Little Satilla River in Brunswick.
Billy is part of a team, led by Superintendent Mark Ryals, that performs regular maintenance on systems at the three plants within our system. He can regularly be found troubleshooting electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic problems, welding and fabricating mounts for equipment installations, replacing industrial grade pumps and responding to equipment failures.
Editor’s Note – As a new permanent feature of our public service announcements posted here, we will be sharing our staff accomplishments with you on a regular basis. As we celebrate with them the achievements that they have made professionally, such as certification, licensing and college degree completion, we’d like to draw your attention to them.