16 Mar OWASA Senior Maintenance Mechanic Rod Dail Continues Serving Home Town
OWASA Senior Maintenance Mechanic Rod Dail at Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Providing wastewater services for our customers is a job that requires work every hour and every day of the year. Keeping equipment running – or fixing an issue – is part of the responsibility for OWASA’s maintenance team, including Senior Maintenance Mechanic Rod Dail.
“You really never know what’s coming,” Rod says, “but when a facility runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there’s always going to be an opportunity for something to break.”
Rod grew up in Carrboro and then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
“The majority of my service was assigned to Cherry Point,” Rod says, “but I also served at El Toro in California, in Okinawa, Japan, and Korea.”
Following his discharge, Rod began working in generator maintenance. He then took over this role at OWASA in 2010, and he says it means a lot to work for the community he grew up in.
“I understand that our mission — OWASA in general — is essential to the economic wellbeing of Carrboro and Chapel Hill,” Rod says. “It gives us a great sense of purpose, and it’s integrated into a better class of living alongside our customer base.”
Rod says that his day-to-day includes planning maintenance schedules and routine maintenance activities — “as well as rare, occasional unplanned activities,” he laughs. Rod also performs pump station inspection and equipment testing.
Outside of work, Rod enjoys walking, “eternal tug-of-war” with his two boxers, as well as golfing and spending time with his adult children.