Employees

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Sara Vos at her desk

Employee Spotlight: Sara Vos

Today’s Employee Spotlight is shining on Sara Vos, a Customer Service Representative for San Jose Water. If you ever give our customer service line a call, it might just be Sara’s friendly hello that greets you!

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Ethan Smith presenting at ASCE conference

ASCE Inspire 2023 Conference: SJW’s Ethan Smith presents “Pump Optimization: An Application of the AVEVA PI System”

This past month, SJW’s Assistant Engineer, Ethan Smith, had the opportunity to present at the ASCE Inspire 2023 Conference on pump optimization being implemented at SJW with the AVEVA PI System. Over the last two years, SJW has built out an effective solution to reduce energy costs, increase efficiency, and provide operators with real-time pump and motor performance monitoring.

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Wanda in Italy

Employee Spotlight: Meet Wanda Folk!

Meet Wanda Folk, Senior Water Services Representative in the Water Services Engineering Department. This department is the first point of contact for developers & homeowners who need new water service connections for their projects.

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Bill Tuttle

Employee Spotlight: Bill Tuttle

I’m Bill Tuttle, the Vice President of Engineering at San Jose Water. Our engineers oversee complex, professional civil and mechanical work related to the design, construction and project management of SJW water facilities such as new and replacement wells, chemical and potable water storage tanks, pressure regulating stations, booster pump stations, water treatment and disinfection facilities, and pipelines.

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Image of Brandon Stieber at work

Employee Spotlight: Brandon Stieber

I’m Brandon Stieber, Engineering Unit Manager for the SJW Special Facilities Department, a division of the Engineering Department. In this role, I manage and perform civil engineering design for in-station facility work for SJW’s Capital Improvement Program. This includes projects for water storage tanks, pump stations, groundwater production wells, control valves, yard piping, above-grade and subsurface appurtenances, structures, grading, drainage, and paving. I am a licensed civil engineer in the state of California and have over 17 years of experience.

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Jared Lewis in nature with binoculars

Employee Spotlight: Jared Lewis

I’m Jared Lewis, Manager of Environmental Planning and Natural Resources at San Jose Water. In this role, I direct environmental management, stewardship, wildfire resiliency, and water resource programs and policy. I also manage watershed and asset planning, resource protection, risk mitigation, and oversee long-range planning initiatives for land use, conservation, and ecosystem restoration.

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Three photos of Sharon Whaley

Spotlight: Director of Customer Service

At San Jose Water, customer service is a job that spans from assisting customers in understanding their water bills to overseeing the rollout of advanced metering technology, and everything in between. We had the chance to sit down with our newly appointed — though not new to SJW! — Director of Customer Service to learn a little more about her and her goals stepping into this new role. Read on for an employee spotlight Q&A with Director Sharon Whaley.

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Graphic collage of Kurt Elvert, photo of meter and conservation-related image

Employee Spotlight: Kurt Elvert

I’m Kurt Elvert, the Manager of Field Service and Conservation at San Jose Water. In my position, I oversee the field service department, which serves as our first responders when identifying water main breaks. I also oversee the conservation department, the meter shop department, the meter reading department, and our recycled water program.