This month on “Wonderful Water” join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Mary Darr, the recently-announced general manager of operations at OWASA. Darr has worked at OWASA for over two decades, serving as the director of engineering and planning.
“We’ve been really lucky that we’ve been able to build an incredible team here at OWASA,” said Darr. “You know, I’ve been here for 26 years, but I’m not an outlier in having worked at a OWASA for more than 20 years. We have some folks who have more than 30 years, and we really strive to hire folks who want to be here and want to serve the community.”
In her new role, Darr is responsible for overseeing OWASA’s various operations, including the Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Department, OWASA’s Water Treatment Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant, and OWASA’s reservoirs and other land resources.
“Overall, we have to ensure that we’re making the most efficient use of our investments back into these systems so that we can continue OWASA’s mission of serving the community with high quality and reliable water, wastewater and reclaimed water services,” said Darr.
Coming out of 2020 — amid the usual seasonal reminders avoid pouring oils, fats and greases down the drain, advice that is also applicable year-round — OWASA is looking to the future in its ongoing attempts to keep pace with community demand for water and water treatment, and working on projects to ensure the continued availability of quality water to our community.
“We have several major projects that are either in the very early stages or just getting underway, including key construction projects at our Jones Ferry road water treatment plant to increase its reliability and resiliency,” said Darr. “We also have a couple of projects planned to increase our operational efficiency. And so those will be my key priorities for the near term.”
You can listen below for the full conversation between Aaron Keck and Mary Darr below, and visit the Wonderful Water page here for more interviews and stories about the work OWASA does.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents use roughly 7 million gallons of water a day, and “Wonderful Water” is a monthly conversation sponsored by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority highlighting its work to keep our community growing and water flowing.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines