Dedication has its rewards as Jordan Wray learned while working at AVEK, where she began as a senior laboratory technician in October 2014, but after roughly four and a half years moved up to Laboratory Manager in February 2019.

As a senior lab technician, she focused on ensuring that the Agency maintained compliance with water quality regulations. She accomplished that by adhering to schedules for collecting and analyzing water samples and reporting her findings to the Public Health Department.

As lab manager, she is responsible for ensuring the quality laboratory services necessary to keep systems in compliance with Division of Drinking Water requirements. One of her many duties includes conducting a daily general physical check of the treatment plant process, which involves measuring pH levels to determine whether the water is alkaline or acidic, assessing the turbidity of the water, which refers to the cloudiness caused by particles in the sample, checking the color of the water, and measuring chlorine levels.

The lab accepts customer water samples for the purpose of testing for and reporting on the presence of contaminants as required by the health department.

Wray said she thoroughly enjoys her work. “I’ve always been interested in the environment.”

She earned a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. While in college she worked as a water quality intern for a utility company. Prior to joining AVEK, she worked for the City of Bloomington Utilities in Indiana.