Water​/Wastewater Operator

Keewaytinook Okimakanak, translating to ‘Northern Chiefs’ in Oji-Cree, is a non-political Chiefs Council serving Deer Lake, Fort Severn, Keewaywin, McDowell Lake, North Spirit Lake, and Poplar Hill First Nations.

Governed by the Chiefs of these member First Nations who comprise the Board of Directors, our organization operates with a keen understanding of community needs and a collaborative team-based approach. We provide advisory and assistance services to our member First Nations, facilitating their progress and development.

Our skilled Public Works team collaborates closely with public works managers and staff from First Nations communities, focusing on various technical infrastructure aspects such as water and wastewater management, power generation and distribution, and overseeing major capital projects.

Keewaytinook Okimakanak is seeking a skilled Water/Wastewater Operator who will perform all operational tasks and maintenance (preventative and corrective) duties for assigned facilities, (including daily rounds, system monitoring, housekeeping, regulatory sampling and deliveries to lab). The successful candidate will ensure safe and efficient treatment processes, perform routine maintenance, and comply with regulatory requirements.

The Operator will be responsible for, among other duties:

• Perform all operational tasks and maintenance (preventative and corrective) duties for assigned facilities, including daily rounds, system monitoring, housekeeping, regulatory sampling and deliveries to lab;
• Communicate using strong oral and written communication skills, to clearly describe operational items to members of the public, clients, government agencies, equipment supplies, and contractors/tradespeople, as well as internal staff;
• Ensure compliance with all applicable legislation, regulations, approvals, orders, and guidelines;
• Adjust, inspect and evaluate process performance and equipment, in order to optimize efficiency and effectiveness in accordance with established procedures;
• Operate, monitor, and repair surface Water Treatment Plants, Distribution and Supply Systems, Pumping Stations, Reservoirs including Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), various digital and analog instrumentation and control systems, numerous monitoring, reporting and communication systems, pressure tanks, filtration systems, continuous online analyzers, and related appurtenances, valves, hydrants etc.;
• Operate, monitor, and repair wastewater treatment plants with varying degrees of complexity, including Rotating Biological Cont actors (RBCs), Lagoons, Septic Systems, Sewage Pumping Stations, and manholes, etc.;
• Work independently to troubleshoot numerous types of equipment malfunctions, make necessary repairs using Operations and Maintenance manuals, and seek input from peers by telephone or through the computer using Teams, Skype, Zoom etc.;
• Collect regulatory water and wastewater samples (bacteriological, chemical, and effluent) using necessary Chain of Custodies, proper packaging and transportation to various laboratories;
• Conduct in-house laboratory work utilizing handheld monitors (colorimeters, spectrophotometers);
• Carry out process changes required to optimize treatment performance;
• Comply with the on-call rotation schedule including evenings, weekends and statutory holidays and is able to respond to alarms at various sites;
• Interpret Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs), Process and Instrumentation Drawings (P&IDs), reviews, creates or updates Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and assists with asset data collection from sites to upload into a Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS);
• Maintain logs and records pertaining to system performance and…