Summer Intern Highlight at H2Olson

Some summer interns are stuck sitting at their desks doing CAD edits or formatting bid document specifications. Although we do have our summer interns perform some "grunt work", we also like to see them get in the field and "get dirty". One of our summer interns who is going to be a senior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute was excited to get out in the field this week and help sample some sludge at a drinking water treatment facility.

The sludge samples collected were sent to a laboratory and tested for various parameters such as pH, metals, % solids, and nitrogen species. The results will be used to help our client obtain an Application of Suitability Permit for alternative sludge disposal options. This summer intern just thought it was a great idea to spend the day outside shoveling sludge and sampling a couple of drying beds. He also learned that it's not "all" fun. Somebody has to develop a sampling plan, order the sample bottles from the laboratory, complete an inventory of supplies needed to complete the sampling, label all the sample bottles, fill out the chain of custody, and coordinate the delivery of the samples to the laboratory including sufficient ice and coolers. We are happy to report that the field work was a great success, thanks in part to this WPI summer intern!