JOHN HUNG BUI

Department of Infrastructure | Manager of Water and Wastewater Operations

With more than 30 years of experience at the City of Hamilton, John Bui has a unique story of how he came to find his passion and started his professional career treating water. Learn more about Bui’s expertise on chlorine dioxide generation as a means of drinking water disinfectant and how this has contributed to Hamilton’s internationally award winning water.

John Bui, City of Hamilton’s Water Production Superintendent, started his career with the City of Hamilton in 1992 working in the Water and Wastewater Laboratory. But Bui says his journey to becoming a water operator began when he was 10-years-old.

While living in Vietnam, he would help his mom treat water that he would collect from a nearby river, carrying it home and putting it in a 55 gallon drum. When the drum was full, Bui’s mom would give him a large crystal to stir the water and then he would wait for the colloidal solids to settle to the bottom indicating that the water was ready for household use. In Bui’s freshman year of college, this water purification technique became the focus of a class project as he made the same crystal he used to treat water with his mom growing up. It was at this point that Bui says he fully believed it was his destiny to become a water professional.

Today, Bui has more than 30 years experience at the City of Hamilton, a Bachelor’s of Science in chemistry, a Class III Wastewater Operator License, and a Class III Water Supply License. Bui’s impressive background and expertise on chlorine dioxide generation as a means of drinking water disinfectant has made him a go-to resource on the topic for agencies, including the US EPA and other utilities nationwide.

The City of Hamilton is one of only two utilities in Ohio that use this type of treatment which is credited as one of the reasons Hamilton’s water is internationally award winning.

Getting To Know John

Q: Tell us something you’re proud of.

A: I am proud of my heritage and proud to say that I am an American. America is the land of opportunity. If you work hard, you can achieve your goals. The sky’s the limit. My mother gave me life, the Filipino people gave me a second chance to live and the United States raised me to be a productive member of our great nation.

Q: Tell us about your talents or hobbies. How did you get started?

A: I am kind of a handyman. I do a little bit of everything from home remodeling to fixing cars. I can perform electrical and plumbing work as well. I don’t easily give up on anything I encounter.

Q: Share a favorite memory.

A: Every year when we celebrate Jesus’s Birthday, I remember my Mom. She passed away on Christmas Day in Vietnam in 1995. I will never forget the teary phone call I received on Christmas Eve from my sister in Vietnam about my Mom.

Q: How would your friends describe you?

A: My friends would say I am a caring person, smart, personable and helpful.

About the Water Department

Hamilton’s water system is a full service system and is comprised of multiple assets including: two ground water well fields, the primary South Water Plant, the North Water Plant which primarily serves as backup and emergency redundancy, water storage tanks and raised storage tanks, and the distribution system at large. The system meets or exceeds all generally accepted water quality standards and has received multiple awards for water