Neenach resident Wade Shorrock came on board September 21 as an operator at the Agency’s Westside Water Bank, where his duties include water analysis for  chlorine residuals and pH levels, where the ideal range for drinking water runs from 6 to 8.5, or neutral, on a scale from zero to 14, with the lower numbers being too acidic and the higher numbers too alkaline.

Other duties for Wade include analyzing bacteriological samples and turbidity (cloudiness in water). He will also be responsible for meter reading and monitoring different sites, the sources for water supplies.

Wade said he applied for the position at AVEK because “I’d always heard good things about the company and thought it would be a great place to work.”

He brings experience to the job after working as an operator at “a small water company.” He holds a D1 certification, the first level as a water distribution operator and a T2 certification, a grade level for drinking water treatment operators.

AVEK’s Westside Water Bank, where Wade will work is located south of the Los Angeles/Kern County line. The facility, completed in 2010, was named the 2015 National Grand Prize Winner for Excellence in Environmental Sustainability by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

Regarding family, Wade said his father also resides in the Antelope Valley.

Outside of work, Wade spends his free time fishing and hunting, hiking, riding dirt bikes and managing his “small backyard farm.”