Team “Epizentrum” in top form

Hennef. The best apprentices in the wastewater sector are from Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. The team “Epizentrum”, made up of Stuttgart’s waste management company and Ludwigsburg’s sewage treatment plant, achieved first place in the fourth German Championship in Wastewater Engineering hosted by the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) in Munich. The teams “Stuttgart Youngsters” from Stuttgart’s urban drainage company and “Wasser & Volt” from Nuremberg’s urban drainage and environmental analytics company were able to obtain silver and bronze. The winning team entered the competition for the first time.

The championship of the apprentices, which was held under the name Water Skills Germany for the first time, aims to encourage professional motivation, set quality standards and, at the same time, promote environmental professions. “The training as a sewage engineering technician is versatile and challenging”, says Rüdiger Heidebrecht, Head of the Training and International Cooperation Department at the DWA and the initiator of the competition. The activities involve great responsibility for the environment and also for valuable high-tech facilities, the DWA’s training expert explained. What’s more, he added, the opportunities on the job market are good.

Ticket to Russia almost in the bag

Thanks to their excellent performance at the Water Skills Germany, the apprentices of the three winning teams have won their ticket to the selection process of the World Skills International, to be held next year in Russia. Those who perform best in the preselection travel to Kazan for the global skills competition in the discipline Water Technology. Water Technology was first approved as a demonstration competition last year in the host city Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

The apprentices from Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg asserted themselves against a total of 13 teams. They had to prove their skills in the four categories Occupational health and safety, Repair and maintenance, Measuring, controlling, regulating and operational monitoring and Process control. The participants had to demonstrate a perfect shaft entry and rescue an injured colleague whilst ensuring the necessary safety. The propeller of a wastewater agitator had to be replaced. The apprentices also had to demonstrate that they are able to operate measuring, control and regulating devices quickly and correctly and to monitor process operations. For this, they had to depict the flow diagram of a sewage treatment plant with magnetic cards on a whiteboard and detect and eliminate an operational disruption. In addition, each team was able secure an extra point at a 3-D station. For this, a tour of a sewage treatment plant had to be simulated with the aid of virtual reality glasses. Speed, accuracy and compliance with the applicable safety regulations were assessed.

The World Skills Germany were held during the industrial fair IFAT from 14 to 18 Mai 2018 in Munich.