Wichita outsourcing specialized water treatment plant jobs | Home | kake.com

Multimedia Journalist

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) — The new Wichita water treatment plant is almost ready to go, but there’s one problem: not enough specialized employees.

“We have to get this right. This is the largest piece of infrastructure our city has ever seen. I think it’ll be an amazing project, something that we’ll be proud of for the next 100 years,” said Becky Tuttle, city council member.

Public Works Director Gary Janzen asked the city council for approval on a 1.3 million dollar contract so they could outsource a few specialized positions for the new water treatment facility. That money will come out of what's called the Water Enterprise Fund.

While progress has been made on Wichita's new water treatment facility- there’s still a long road ahead of opening in April.

He explained they’ve added 20 new water treatment positions, but they’ve also had trouble hiring 5 or 6 process control specialists despite additional recruitment efforts.

“We’re going to keep moving forward, we’re going to keep up the effort, we’re going to try to offer some additional incentives but in the meantime, we really need to move forward with additional help and support by way of this contract,” said Gary Janzen, Wichita’s public works director.

The approved contract says Operational Technical Services- a company out of Los Angeles will help fill the employment gaps unless Wichitans can step up fast.

“The good part about this is the contract can be canceled in whole or in part if in 60 days' notice, the city’s hiring efforts are successful,” said Janzen.

To become a process control specialist you have to have a high school diploma, two years of water treatment plant working experience, and a class four certification.

“OTS will provide certified water plant operators again full-time with 24/7 availability,” said Janzen.

The city says the temporary workers will live in Wichita during their time working for the water plant, and the outsourced workers will work with the current staff to train new workers brought into the facility.

The new water plant is set to open in April, but both the old and new water treatment facilities are expected to stay open throughout all of 2025.

Multimedia Journalist

Currently in Wichita