Faces of TMWA
Meet the people of TMWA whose commitment to serve our community ensures our water quality is among the best in the country.
Rich Dominguez, Mechanic Specialist
What do you love most about your job? I love the technical challenges of my job. As a mechanic, I am a part of Water Production Maintenance and basically we maintain and repair a lot of the mechanical plant systems, pumps, pressure regulators, valves, and well sites out in our distribution system. I guess you could call us industrial mechanics for water-works.
What have you learned working at TMWA? I have learned how technical and intricate water treatment and water distribution is. There is more to water than just turning on the tap. There are many aspects of the water industry that are just amazing, including how water is moved throughout our system, and the technological and chemistry aspects of it.
What made you want to become a TMWA Mechanic? I started out as a Water Plant Operator and then changed over to Maintenance Mechanic. I enjoy working with my hands— fixing, repairing and troubleshooting is what I really enjoy. I wanted to get into a hands-on trade. I went through two apprenticeship programs, the Water Plant Operator Apprenticeship Program and the Maintenance Mechanic Apprenticeship Program. What is amazing about the apprenticeship programs is that you are being trained at highly technical trades and you are being compensated well.
What is a typical day of a Mechanic look like? We are assigned either a repair, troubleshooting, or periodic maintenance task. Then, we’ll go to various locations, including plants, facilities, or distribution systems, which can include wells, or pump stations. Not only are we able to work on a wide variety of tasks, but we are also able to work with a wide variety of people, including people from Operations, Water Quality, road crews, Engineering, SCADA Technicians and Chemical Specialists.
What is your best memory working at TMWA? A good recent memory was the company picnic last year. I enjoyed seeing the coworkers in a non-work environment and meeting their families, children and grandchildren.
What is one your your proudest professional accomplishments while at TMWA? When I represented TMWA in the Top-Ops competition and our team placed 2nd and 3rd for the first time! During the regional water conferences there are fun activities where you compete against other operators from different regional water-systems. It’s like participating in a game show where you are asked operational questions and if you know the answers you press the buzzer and receive points!
