Warrants Water Treatment Plant operator urges public to keep shared water clean on World Water Day

John Samaripo, a grade 3 operator at the Warrants Water Treatment Plant, urged residents to avoid dumping waste into waterways and to treat water as a shared, reusable resource during remarks marking World Water Day.

Samaripo described the plant’s core work: "We clean the water that comes to us, and then send it back out to the river, as clean as possible," he said. He cautioned against the stigma often attached to wastewater treatment, noting that when people hear "wastewater treatment plant, their first thing is, ew, icky," but added, "it's really not. It's very clean."

Framing the issue as a communal responsibility, Samaripo said, "We all share this water, this precious resource that we have here," and urged listeners "not to throw things inside of it." He emphasized that water is reused downstream, saying people must "realize that we're not the only ones that [are] using it, that it's not a once and done thing, that it gets reused."

Samaripo concluded by calling for care and stewardship so the plant can return water that is "as clean and renewable as much as possible," stressing that neighbors and downstream communities rely on the quality of treated water.

The remarks were delivered as part of World Water Day observances at the Warrants Water Treatment Plant; no formal actions or policy proposals were recorded in the transcript.