Passionate and dedicated, Nathan is from Washagamis Bay First Nation. “The Water First program was first brought up to me by my father. He emailed the flyer and talked about how this is a good opportunity, not just career-wise but for the whole community. I didn’t know anything about our water situation until this opportunity came about and presented itself. It made me look deeper and try to understand what a water treatment operator does.

The community has never had clean drinking water since I was born, so I never really questioned it. After some looking into it, I found out why it was so important to understand what a water treatment plant operator is. They don’t just make clean water but water for emergencies like fires. They also understand the plant to a point where they know how much water they have before they run out. There is a lot they do to understand the water in order to treat and inform the surrounding communities if there is a possible danger in the water source. This program really opened my eyes to what it means to be a water treatment operator.”