Wastewater branch in competition

Hennef. 20 firms from Germany and the neighbouring European states have registered for the professional competition, which the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) have organised in close partnership with the WorldSkills Germany Association within the framework of the IFAT ENTSORGA 2012 from 07 to 11 May 2012 in Munich. At the specialist trade fair of the water, wastewater, waste and raw materials industries trainees and specialists from sewer operations and treatment plants will demonstrate their skills to the public with the “1st Open German Championship in Wastewater Engineering”.

 

Teams from Germany and neighbouring countries

 

Not only German companies are taking part in the professional competition, one team from each of Austria and Rumania have also registered. The teams from Germany – which in part are made up from different towns and cities – come from Augsburg, Bensheim, Berlin, Bonn, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Köln, Kornwestheim, Mönchengladbach, Nagold, Nürnberg, Sindelfingen, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden and Wuppertal. The European teams from outside Germany are from Vienna and Timisoara.

 

Trainees and professionals show their proficiency

 

The competition will be carried out on two days of the trade fair. On Tuesday morning 08 May 2012 the teams of trainees compete against each other. Professionals from the branch compete against each other

on Tuesday afternoon and all day on Wednesday. The contest takes place on all competition days between 10.00 h and 16.00 h. At 17.00 h each day the winners will be honoured with certificates and medallions, which will be presented by Ministerialdirektor Dr Helge Wendenburg from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

 

WorldSkills Germany demonstration competition for WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 – The world championship of the professions

 

On Tuesday 08 May 2012, from 13.00h to 14.00h, trainees from the Municipal Drainage Operation in Stuttgart and pupils from the Kerschensteiner School - also from the federal state capital of Baden Württemberg – will also compete against each other in the discipline Instrumentation and Control in Wastewater Engineering. Both teams have in their sights a participation in the Professions World Championships, which is taking place in 2013 in Leipzig and where the best from almost 60 countries will compete against each other in ca. 50 professional disciplines from industry, handicrafts and the provision of services. At the IFAT, the German contenders will give a first impression of their skills. The performance takes place with the close collaboration of WorldSkills Germany and the DWA and is supported by the automation engineering firms FESTO and ADIRO.

 

Aim of the professional competition

 

The DWA professional competition wishes to promote the profession “Specialist for Wastewater Engineering” and to inspire young people to undertake the corresponding training. Through the professional competition attention is to be drawn to some of the aspects of the daily work, in particular labour and health safety and the necessity of a qualified training. Therefore, as disciplines for the professional competition for participants, the topics “Safe entry into and working in the sewer system” and “Safe working in traffic areas” have been selected. The competitors from wastewater treatment plants have to deal with the subject “Control of wastewater treatment plants”.

 

Respectively two three-man teams compete against each other in order to carry out the set tasks efficiently. The jury made up of experts from the DWA Specialist Committees “Labour and Health safety” and

 “Specialists and Master Technicians” assess not only the speed of the teams, but also the observation of regulations. Mistakes lead to penalty minutes and thus to a poorer competition time.

 

Tasks of the competitions

 

In the manhole competition “Safe entry into and working in the sewer system”, the competitors have to demonstrate that they have mastered the individual steps of a safe entry into the manhole and are in a position to solve independently the tasks which await them there. Including preparation, briefing and assessment the manhole competition takes about 30 minutes.

 

In the competition “Working in traffic areas” the competitors have to prepare a sewer manhole for entry. Manhole covers are often located in streets with heavy traffic and must be secured correctly. Working equipment is also to be set up with appropriate safeguards. The working site is to be cordoned off and signed within a maximum of 15 minutes.

 

With the competition “Control of wastewater treatment plants” the team has to depict, within half an hour, the flow diagram of a specified wastewater treatment plant with the aid of magnetic cards held on a metal wall and plan measures for the remedying of a simulated fault.

 

Support from many sides

 

The DWA professional competional is under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The firm Dräger is making a vailable the manhole demonstration facility and own training personnel for the briefing on the training facility. The professional competition is, in addition, supported by the Initiative WorldSkills Germany and the Messe München. 

 

The DWA professional competition takes place on the site of the Messe München outside between Halls A1 and B1, West Entrance, Am Messesee, 81829 München.

For queries or for information on arrangement of interview partners please contact Rosemarie Ullmann, Telephone: +49(0)2242 872-119,
E-Mail: ullmann@dwa.de.

 

The programme can be called up under http://de.dwa.de/berufswettkampf.html.