Congratulations to the Blue Ridge Brawlers of the Western Virginia Water Authority. The Brawlers took home the national championship in the annual Operations Challenge hosted by the Water Environment Federation (WEF).
The Brawlers competed against 41 other teams from the United States, Canada and Argentina at the five-event competition held at the WEF’s 89th annual technical exhibition and conference.
The Operations Challenge is a fast-paced test of the essential skills needed to operate and maintain wastewater treatment facilities, their collection systems, and laboratories—all vital to the protection of public health and the environment. Over the course of nearly three decades, Operations Challenge has steadily grown from the original 22-team event to this year’s 42-team, two-division format. Teams are judged on the best combination of precision, speed, and safety. The winners are determined by a weighted point system for five events including collection systems, laboratory, maintenance, safety, and process control, which was enhanced this year by new modeling software from Hydromantis.
The Brawlers were featured in a Roanoke-Times article entitled: Roanoke’s Brawlers patch their way to national attention, that can be accessed here. A video of the team preparing was featured on WDBJ7, and can be found here.
The award was distributed at the WEFTEC 2016 Awards Luncheon. Video of the Brawlers in action is below.