Name: Jay Nadeau
System: Champlain Water District
Title: Distribution Director
Jay Nadeau has worked in the water resources field for nearly 40 years. He will be retiring at the end of 2024.
Tell us about your career in the water/wastewater industry.
I was hired by the Village of Essex Junction [now the City of Essex Junction] in 1985 as a public works equipment operator. Fifteen years later, Champlain Water District (CWD) hired me as their Retail Superintendent. I also worked for Winooski in a water/wastewater capacity and at Smugglers’ Notch managing all their water and wastewater systems. I came back to CWD in 2019 where I will close out my full-time career.
Jay Nadeau
Do you have a favorite memory?
My first day on the job in Essex, I worked on a water leak on Park Street in Five Corners. I fell in love with the job that day: middle of IBM rush hour traffic, physical labor, satisfaction when the job was done.
What is your favorite part of the job? Least favorite?
Favorite: solving the many day-to-day challenges associated with aging infrastructure.
Least favorite: these days, it’s the late-night callouts, and ongoing customer demands. Modern technology, where customers expect everything to be online with minute-by-minute updates, is a curse for the water (and wastewater) fields.
What’s your proudest moment of your career?
Moments to me are just part of the job. If I can complete what I set out to do, then I’m proud or happy, but to me it’s all part of what I was hired to do. If there were one set of moments, I would say it’s teaching the distribution workers in Vermont. Distribution operators were often left out in training opportunities so I wanted to bring what I had learned from the field and national organization conferences back, so everyone could become better at their call of duty.
Jay Nadeau with dowsing rods.
How have you seen the water industry change over the years?
When I started, we read meters manually using meter books. It was not unusual to knock on a customer’s door and then let ourselves in to get to the basement to read the meter. Meter reading took two guys a couple of weeks. Now we drive by the house and have the whole system read in a day or less. That and pipe repair parts. Fernco or equivalents and stainless-steel repair bands are our friends.
This can be a hard job that gets little thanks. What has kept you motivated?
I like a good challenge. My first long-time mentor at the Village of Essex Junction once told me that he had forgotten more than I’d ever learn. I took that as a challenge, not a defeat, and every time he said it, which was quite often, I’d strive to learn more. I also like to teach what I have learned.
Do you have any advice for new operators?
Sometimes ours is a forgotten job until the water stops flowing. But what we provide is a service, the first line of defense in public health. Stick with it, keep learning and bringing new ideas to the field.
How do you plan to spend your retirement?
Visiting kids and grandkids, motorcycle trips, volunteer work with the Vermont Old Cemetery Association, and spending time at camp. And maybe some part-time work with a water system that might need some help.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Over the years I’ve had the honor of working alongside some of the most dedicated people in the world. Water distribution operators, regulators, boards—all driven to provide. Many friendships have been developed from working relationships. I thank you for what you have given me.
Thank you, Jay, and to all of Vermont’s water and wastewater heroes who perform essential services to protect the health and environment of our communities!
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