Rochester's drinking water champ honored for delivering 'aqua pura' to residents

Rochester Water Treatment Plant Chief Operator Ian Rohrbacher explains the process from reservoir to tap while standing near the dam at the head of Rochester Reservoir. (Rochester Voice file photo)

ROCHESTER - City Manager Katie Ambrose recently announced that Ian Rohrbacher, Water System Superintendent for the City of Rochester, was the recipient of the Meritorious Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding service to New Hampshire's drinking water community.

The Meritorious Achievement Award recognizes an NHWWA member in good standing who has provided outstanding service to a water utility or drinking water community through diligence, innovation, leadership, or simply hard work. Recipients of the NHWWA Meritorious Achievement Award are presented with a plaque and recognized in front of their peers for their accomplishments.

Rohrbacher has a background in electrical and computer engineering and entered the drinking water industry in 2001 as a distribution mechanic for the City of Somersworth. In 2006, he transferred to the treatment plant, where he was responsible for the operation and maintenance of both an upflow clarifier and a ballasted sand clarifier.

In Rochester, he manages the water treatment and storage systems, oversees the cross-connection control program, and directs the planning and operations for a 4.5 MGD conventional surface water plant, a 0.9 MGD groundwater treatment plant, six pumping stations, and the City's multiple reservoirs.

In a 2019 interview, he told The Rochester Voice that in the time it takes to read a news article like this, the analyzing equipment at Rochester's Water Treatment Facility will have made thousands of calculations devoted to ensuring the purity of the city's water supply.

Rohrbacher has long been a passionate advocate for water quality and the science behind delivering it to city residents.

For Rohrbacher, water purity is clearly both a career, and a calling. He has oft said his only goal is to make the water Rochester residents drink taste like it came out of a pristine mountain spring.

His recognition earlier this month means a lot, but Rohrbacher admits nothing gives him more satisfaction than when someone tells him Rochester's water "tastes delicious."

To learn more about the NHWWA Meritorious Achievement Award, visit nhwwa.org/meritorious-achievement-award.