Employee Summer Adventures...

At Garver, we value a healthy work-life balance. We see our employees enjoying work every day, but how do they enjoy life after working hours? Now that fall is officially here, let's take a look at a few adventures our employees experienced over the summer...

Project Manager Jenny Sallee zip-lined over alligator pits while on a family vacation in Florida.

Project Manager Zach Moore and his wife whitewater-rafted at Yosemite National Park.

Project Manager Mason Atkinson traveled with a group of high school students from his church to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they volunteered with an organization running programs for children.

Project Manager Blake Staton mountain-biked from Durango, Colo. to Moab, Utah, a ride that lasted a total distance of 215 miles from start to finish. He was part of a group that also included Garver employees Steve Jones, Kyle Kruger, Jerry McCarley, Kevin Mullins, and Jeff Sober.

For more of our employees' summer adventures, check out the rest of the photos on our Facebook page.

Garver's Dr. Michael Watts publishes article, presents at IOA and IUVA World Congress

Garver has hired Dr. Michael Watts as Water Team senior process engineer to serve in our Water Design Center. Michael is proficient in cutting-edge physical-chemical water and wastewater treatment. His experience includes training and supervising future engineers in their research and coursework on water treatment unit process and plant design, water conveyance, water reclamation, and publication in respected journals for water treatment engineering and environmental science.

Michael earned both his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Carolina and Duke University, respectively. He holds his professional engineering license in Florida, where he taught at engineering at Florida State University. Michael is an active member of the American Water Works Association, the Association of Environmental Engineering Scientists and Professors, the International Ultraviolet Association, and the Water Environment Federation.

He has published articles in multiple peer-reviewed journals, the most recent of which is the current edition of Environmental Technology. The article, entitled “A bench-scale assessment of ozone pre-treatments for landfill leachates,” discusses how low doses of dissolved ozone (less than the instantaneous ozone demand) were applied to stabilized landfill leachate (a.k.a. ‘garbage juice’) prior to anaerobic biological treatment (bench-scale laboratory testing). The concentrations of three organic micropollutants common to landfill leachates were monitored through both treatment processes. Significant improvement to the rate of biodegradation of a known endocrine disrupting compound, ethinyl estradiol, was observed in ozone pre-treated leachates vs. leachates that did not receive pre-oxidation. This work has implications for design of small-footprint, advanced chemical-biological water reclamation processes for on-site treatment of landfill leachates.

Ultraviolet Bulb

Michael has given presentations and lectures at various conferences and for a variety of organizations. He’ll be presenting next week in Las Vegas at the 2013 World Congress of the International Ultraviolet Association and the International Ozone Association. If you plan on attending the conference, we’ll hope you’ll stop in to meet Michael and hear him discuss “O3 and O3/H2O2 Oxidation of Piroxicam, Ketoprofen, and Naproxen in Surface Waters” on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11:30 a.m.

 

Ultraviolet Collimated Beam

Garver hires Gaskill as new CFO

Garver has hired Dathan Gaskill as its chief financial officer. Dathan brings more than 20 years of corporate financial experience to Garver.

“I’m thrilled to add Dathan's financial skill set to our leadership team to help guide our continued growth,” said President and CEO Dan Williams.

Dathan’s career experiences have resulted in an extensive working knowledge of financial systems, governance, compliance, capital structure, treasury, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations. He has international transactions expertise along with  seasoned negotiating, analytical and business diagnostic skills.

“I’m very pleased to join and serve a great and growing Arkansas company like Garver, with its esteemed reputation and its commendable mission,” Dathan said.

Dathan earned his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Phase 3 of Tulsa International Airport's repaving project completed

Garver is doing construction engineering and inspection at Tulsa International Airport, where the project to repave Runway 36R has reached the end of Phase 3. The project's fourth and final phase is scheduled to begin in January.

“Tulsa runs a busy airport,” said Garver Senior Construction Observer Petey Chambless. “Adhering to the phased design and staying ahead of the construction’s progress is absolutely essential to maintaining our schedule, which minimizes closures and allows Tulsa International Airport to continue to run its business the way it needs to.”

3 million-gallon water storage tank elevated

Construction crews recently lifted a 3 million-gallon elevated water storage tank for Jacksonville Water Works. The Garver-designed tank will service water customers in the west area of Jacksonville, Ark. to include Little Rock Air Force Base, which is populated by over 6,000 military personnel and another 2,000 civilians.

“The tank can significantly reduce the air force base’s water pumping costs,” said Garver Project Manager Kirby Rowland.

The video below shows the six-hour process of raising the large tank in a matter of 14 seconds.