The city of Wichita will hire a company to temporarily run the new Northwest water treatment plant.
There are 20 new positions at the new facility, with 5-6 more operators left to hire.
Public works will need more operators while the city runs the two facilities concurrently for a short time. The new plant is scheduled to come on-line in April 2025 while the old treatment plant is shut down around the end of that same year.
Recruitment and retention of water operators is not just a local issue but a national one as well.
The contract with Operational Technical Support is worth just over $1.285 million for one year, which will be partially offset by roughly $491 thousand in salary savings from vacant positions.