Aleksey, Jacobs

I started my career in wastewater treatment in the late 1970s and later became a plant manager. I thought I understood complex systems until I started working with AI.

Some assume you install AI and walk away. That’s not how it works — nothing is maintenance-free. Even with advanced technology, we still rely on our operators' experience and judgment to make it function effectively. Our team constantly helps the system learn about our unique conditions, equipment, and processes. The AI might understand chemistry, but my team understands this plant.

During construction, when two of our eight basins were offline, we paused its use until conditions normalized. The AI needed stable conditions to perform at its best. Knowing when to step back and when to move forward is part of managing intelligent systems. Our facility in Delaware serves half a million people, so reliability and safety had to come first.

We continue weekly calls with our AI partner, sending them updates so the algorithm can adjust based on field experience. It’s a true partnership with humans in the loop.

Operators are also learning. They now make decisions informed by decades of data, not just instinct. Data helps validate decisions and improve confidence. Previously, we took manual samples every eight hours to assess and adjust the air flow by walking around the aeration basins. Now, sensors provide near-continuous readings, allowing us to act before issues arise.

The system also helps us operate equipment more efficiently — cutting down blower use, reducing wear, and minimizing parts replacement. That makes a real contribution to the plant’s long-term reliability and effectiveness.

We’ve learned that the best results come from people and technology working together: AI learns from our input, and we learn from its insights. Together, we’re building something stronger than either could achieve alone.