C Factor—Patrick “Murf” Murphy

C FACTOR Remembering William “Bill” Allman

Patrick “Murf” Murphy

President, FWPCOA

William “Bill” Allman passed away on May 28, 2022. There have been many heroes in our industry (and still are), but Bill Allman was a superstar among us. His involvement with FWPCOA made an impact on the environment of the state of Florida and advanced the profession of operators. This is just my piece—a very small piece—of a much larger story of an icon and legend who paved the way for some of us in the business now.

Thank you, William “Bill” Edgar, for giving me permission to use this biography for Bill Allman from the CEU Plan website.

Biography of Bill Allman

Career Beginnings

In July 1955, William P. (Bill) Allman, began his wastewater career at the City of Kissimmee Sewage Treatment Plant. He received his Class C wastewater certification in 1956. After years of studying, working, and managing all areas of a wastewater treatment system, Bill received his Class A wastewater license in 1962. Bill maintains the sixth oldest wastewater operating license and the 11th oldest drinking water license in the state of Florida.

From the early 1980s through the mid1990s, he was the plant manager of the Ironbridge Water Pollution Control Facility in Orlando, and was involved in the rapid growth of central Florida. He managed the utility personnel to handle the rapid growth of the Walt Disney World area.

Bill has been recognized statewide—as well as nationally—for his leadership and management courses, his involvement in operator short schools and adult vocational training, and certification exams review. Bill has been a true leader in the wastewater field.

FWPCOA

Bill was a member of FWPCOA for over 60 years! His membership number is 29. He was one of the instructors at the first short school that I attended. I was desperate to pass the Class C wastewater exam to get a 26 percent increase in pay to the $4.17 an hour that I was making as a trainee. His passion for instructing was palpable. It was obvious that his style of engagement and sharing information with grassroots operators was something he enjoyed, and was darn good at, and it made me want to learn more. I was hungry, and he fed me; he was one of the many great instructors that made an impact on my career and made me want to be involved in the association.

When you have a career and you’re working hard, and even doing a great job, but you never branch out and network with other people to continually learn from them, you do a great disservice to yourself and others. Bill was always very involved with the association. He has been an officer and or committee chair or committee member for many groups in FWPCOA, as well as FWEA and FSAWWA. For FWPCOA he was secretary treasurer in 1968 and 1969, and president in 1971.

Exam Review Committee

In the late 1980s, the Department of Environmental Regulations, before it was changed to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), called for a kick-off meeting to create the State Exam Review Committee. There were at least 30 people there from around the state. Helen Setchfield was the Operator Certification Program (OCP) director at the time. I was a puppy in the room with big-dog legends in the business, which was very overwhelming!

At the time, the licenses were given four times a year at certain locations, and one had to score 75 percent to pass the test. The intent was to meet pre- and post-test cycles (so eight times a year), review the tests before they went out, make changes to the tests for the betterment of the process, vet the questions by documenting where they came from in the manuals, create new test questions, and review operator challenges to questions on the test.

As I remember, after about a year (maybe two), most of the folks that initially showed up had dropped off. For the wastewater exams, it left Bill Allman, Jeff Dupont, and me, reviewing all four exams (D, C, B, and A). There were four gentlemen on the drinking water side, but I only remember the names of two: Joe Habraken and Grady Sorah. They seemed to be much smarter, and I used to make fun of them and say that the exams must be easy, because the water guys were usually done before lunch, while Bill, Jeff, and I would be there until 4 or 5 p.m. I knew I was wrong when I started taking the water exams 20 years later!

Bill continued to be on the exam review committee until his passing.

This was a treasured time for me, to get to spend those days with two brilliant and dedicated people in the wastewater industry. My admiration and respect for Bill grew immensely during that time period, and after I dropped off, I looked for him whenever I could, at events and meetings, to catch up with him.

Florida Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers

This is an FWEA award, which was founded in 1956 by David B. Lee to recognize industry professionals for their outstanding, meritorious service above and beyond the call of duty to the Florida wastewater industry. Bill was inducted in the Class of 1969.

Traditionally, the intent of the annual award is to honor an engineer, an operator, and a “peddler” (vendor) if, in fact, three candidates are deemed to have met the award criteria. One may not join the FSSSSS, but rather is selected on the basis of personal merit, so the ones being inducted deserve this high honor through recognition of long and faithful service to the industry by their peers—something we should all be striving for!

At some point, Bill was pH 7 (the chair for FSSSSS), and became the one to induct new shovelers into the society. His presentations were steeped in tradition; he’d put on a railroad engineer cap, blow a train whistle, and start what is called the “railroading of the new inductees” to honor those dedicated specialists in the industry.

The process begins with a “roast,” which is some story (most likely considered compromising) about the inductee shared with the audience at a lunch at the Florida Water Resources Conference (FWRC). The candidates are then put through the tonguetwisting process of repeating the full name of the society—three times as fast as they can! It’s

an infinitely entertaining and highly memorable process, at least for the ones viewing it.

Earle B. Phelps Award at Florida Water Resources Conference

The City of Plant City won the FWEA Earle B. Phelps first-place award in 2012. The winning organization gets to keep the traveling trophy for a year, and I couldn’t wait to carry it through the exhibit hall at FWRC to show it off. I immediately started looking for what I called the “Three Bill’s Booth.” William "Bill” Edgar, William “Bill” Allman, and William “Bill” Johnson could frequently be found at the CEU Plan booth, or at a table alongside the exhibit hall, reminiscing about the past, talking about the future, and sharing stories of wastewater glory that I could listen to all day.

Awards

His awards are many, including the L.H. Scott Award, William D. Hatfield Award, David B. Lee Award, and honorary life member of FWPCOA. His wife, Barbara; was even given an FWPCOA award in 2006 for her services at the state short schools.

They were a lovely couple, and she supported Bill immensely. They seemed to always be together, even at regional short schools and events. Please keep her and Bill’s family in your prayers.

In Closing

Rim Bishop, another true legend in the industry, shared this about Bill:

“No member has served FWPCOA better or longer than Bill Allman, and none with a dignity and grace that even comes close. He was there for us when no one else could help, never letting Florida's operators down—not once, not for a second. He was a man who lived his faith, inspiring others in ways that words could never accomplish. There is no replacement for Bill Allman; all we have is his example, and thank God for that.”

I am heartbroken and speechless at Bill’s passing, but will say here that there are a lot of amazing people in our industry—do whatever you can to get to know and learn from them. Become a member of FWPCOA, get yourself out there, and be active. That could be all it takes to put you on the path of making a difference in our industry.

Laurence Hutton, an American essayist, described a meeting between himself and William Makepeace Thackeray, a British novelist, author, and illustrator. In a memoir by Hutton, Thackeray said, “Whatever you are, try to be a good one.”

William “Bill” P. Allman was a good one!

Thanks again to Bill Edgar for sharing some photos for me to include here.

FWPCOA 2022 Fall State Short School

The FWPCOA 2022 Fall State Short School will be held Aug. 1-5, 2022, at the Indian River State College in Fort Pierce. Remember, this is when the bulk of the FWPCOA awards are presented, so look at the website, and see which award would be perfect for an individual at your facility.

For event details go to www.fwpcoa.org and view the calendar. For all events contact Shirley Reaves at (321) 383-9690 or fwpcoa@ gmail.com, or Darin Bishop at (561) 8400340 or memfwpcoa@gmail.com.

Remember—let’s keep that water clean! S

Bill Allman and Robert McColgan receiving 60-year-plus membership awards from FWPCOA. Barbara and Bill’s 51st wedding anniversary.

From left to right: Bill Allman, Ed James, and Bill Edgar at Ed’s retirement party from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, showing off their shovels. At the 2019 Florida Water Resources Conference, after Patrick Murphy’s induction into FSSSSS (Class of 2019). Left to right are Patrick Murphy, Bill Allman (Class of 1969), William “Bill” Edgar (Class of 2003), and Jamie Hope (Class of 2012).