On any given day you are likely to find Kevin Schmitz, Boxelder Sanitation District (BSD) pretreatment technician, keeping a close eye on what goes down the drain. As the front line of defense for BSD’s industrial and commercial customers, Kevin takes his role in keeping dangerous chemicals and contaminants out of the Poudre River seriously.
Keeping the river pristine is a primary goal and of immense value for BSD and Kevin. Having been with BSD for three years, and in his role as a pretreatment technician for one year, Kevin is quick to note that wherever commercial customers deal with chemicals, he will be keeping a close eye to ensure all rules and regulations are followed.
“Everything I do is to ensure the safety and health of the Poudre River,” he said. “I’m the first line of defense against harmful water coming into the Poudre. Our primary objective is to put all treated wastewater in the Poudre cleaner than what is already there.”
In order to do that, Kevin and the team at BSD issue permits to companies enabling them to discharge approved and tested wastewater down the drain, while regulating other companies that have zero discharge permits. A zero discharge permit means that the chemicals produced at the facility must be disposed of properly by taking them offsite and not sending them down the drain.
Kevin, who is often out in the field working hand-in-hand with BSD customers, loves the variety of his job. He gets to be behind the scenes with customers who create everything from lawnmowers to fire trucks – things he never knew went on in Northern Colorado before working at BSD.
“I really enjoy seeing all the amazing stuff that gets built in Fort Collins,” Kevin said. “I had no idea there was such a wide variety of products that get built here; it’s just really cool to see.”
While Kevin and BSD have an Enforcement Response Plan, something BSD worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on, they are fortunate in that they don’t have to use it often and that companies in Fort Collins share in BSD’s goal of keeping the Poudre safe.
While Kevin has worked in a lot of jobs, he’s never found one like BSD where the team is so close that they are like family.
Here at BSD, we have a crew full of hardworking team members like Kevin working diligently to ensure that your wastewater needs are met. These are the unsung heroes of BSD – now the next time you see wastewater go down the drain you have a better glimpse into what we do here day-to-day for you.
