Hudson 7 First Annual Water Operators Appreciation Week Highlight: Poughkeepsies’ Water Treatment Facility (PWTF) and Keane Curtis, Licensed Water Treatment Operator

May 31, 2024 marks the sixth anniversary of the Hudson River Intermunicipal Council (Hudson 7).  To celebrate, we are launching our first annual Water Operators Appreciation Week (May 27 - 31) in order to bring public awareness to the important role of our water treatment plant professionals.  We are also hosting a tour of the Poughkeepsies’ Water Treatment Facility on the Marist College Campus that is open to the public on Friday, May 31 at 10am.  Please contact us at [email protected] if you’re interested in attending. 

Each day this week, we will feature one of the five public water treatment plants located in the Hudson River estuary, and highlight a member of their staff dedicated to ensuring the delivery of clean, reliable and high quality drinking water to the communities that they serve.

Today, we turn the spotlight on the Poughkeepsies’ Water Treatment Facilities (PWTF) located in Dutchess County and Keane Curtis, one of the PWTF’s Licensed Water Treatment Operators.

The PWTF is owned and operated by the City and Town of Poughkeepsie. Located on the banks of the Hudson River on the Marist College campus, they provide drinking water for 80,000 individuals within the City of Poughkeepsie, Town of Poughkeepsie, the Dutchess County Water Authority, and the Town of Hyde Park. The PWTF holds regularly scheduled joint water board meetings on the first Tuesday of every month at the Water Treatment Facility. Minutes and information reviewed at those meetings are available on their website: www.pokwater.com

​As Keane is currently working overnight shifts, we were very happy that he was able to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us. 

What is your title and what do you do?  How long have you been in your position?   
I am a Licensed Water Treatment Operator as of January of 2024.   

How many people do you provide drinking water for in your community?  
We provide water for roughly 80,000 residents, and growing.  Our water customers live in the City and Town of Poughkeepsie, although we deliver Hudson River drinking water to people who live as far away from our plant as Wappingers Falls. Some of our customers purchase and sell the drinking water we process to Fishkill and beyond. 

How did you come to choose a career in drinking water?
I was born and raised in the City of Poughkeepsie and attended the public school there.  Following a few years at the Dutchess County College, I took a job working for the Public Works Department in sanitation in Poughkeepsie for about five months, when I saw an advertisement to be trained and to work as a water treatment operator for the PWTF.  My grandfather, who is a environmental engineer based in Albany, told me how important this job was and encouraged me to take a chance and apply.

What do you appreciate about your job?
I feel like I am making a difference everyday.  There is a direct impact when the water comes into the plant to adjust and influence things like PH and Chlorine before it goes out to our customers.  I work 12-hour shifts (on a rotating schedule) performing water testing every 2-hours.  We are a team of seven - the ones making things happen. We show up to work no matter if there’s a holiday or a snowstorm.  We are a 24-7, 365 day a year operation.  These long shifts can be tough on our team who have children, and especially those with newborns, but we work together to support our colleagues and we always make it work.  I also appreciate having been trained while working side by side with other operators. The training was very thorough and significant, and many of those training me had worked at the PWTF for 7- 24-years.   One of the first questions I would ask was, “How long have you worked there?”  All of the answers were “More than 7-years.”  That said a lot about the PWTF and its staff. I knew it would be a great place to work, and it is.

What advice do you have for young people considering the same career?
Take the same chance that I did, and when you do, take a lot of notes!  Be patient, as you won’t understand everything you are being taught in the first year. It’s a learning journey.  There are always new things that come down the pike such as policies and laws, so it’s important to be ready to adapt in any situation.

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​About the Hudson River Drinking Water Intermunicipal Council (Hudson 7): The Hudson 7 is a collaboration of the mid-Hudson municipalities and counties that draw drinking water from the Hudson River Estuary for more than 100,000 people in the Town of Esopus, Town of Hyde Park, Town of Lloyd, Town and City of Poughkeepsie, Town and Village of Rhinebeck located in Dutchess and Ulster Counties. These communities are served by five drinking water treatment plants that utilize Hudson River water, operated by the City and Town of Poughkeepsie, Village of Rhinebeck (for the Village and Town of Rhinebeck), Town of Esopus, Town of Lloyd and Dutchess County Water and Wastewater Authority (for Hyde Park).