Robert J. KunertHamilton ResidentPlant ManagerStony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority
By: Greg Forester
How did you get into this job?
Well, I was 20 years old, looking for a full-time job to get myself into. I was down in Bordentown, at the lumberyard applying for a job, and a man in the back of the line heard me talking about wanting to get a full-time job. A voice said, "Hey, you, what kind of work are you looking for?" It turns out he was the superintendent of the Stony Brook Sewerage Authority, and he told me to go down to the plant and fill out an application. So I sped to the plant in about 20 minutes from Bordentown, leaving smoke trails behind me. I filled out the application, and they called me for an interview a few weeks later, and the rest is history. What is ironic is that I actually have the position of the guy who told me to apply for the job.
What kind of education and training did you need?
Well, at first I was an entry-level operator, starting in 1981, having no clue as to what happens to water once it goes down the drain. I took basic courses at night school at Hopewell Valley Regional High School, including the Basic Wastewater Course in 1982. I took advanced courses later, taught by Dr. Dick Dewling at the Middlesex County Community College. I worked my way up through the ranks, becoming assistant operations manager in 1987. During this time I completed various licenses, starting with my S-1 and eventually working up to the advanced S-4 in 1992, after which I was promoted to my current position of plant manager. I have continued my education, taking more advanced courses like "Applied Fluid Mechanics" at Mercer County Community College, which was a class I took with all engineers.
Describe a typical day in your job.
Well there really isn’t a typical day in this job. On a Monday like today, I come in, check all the process logs and see if there were any problems over the weekend. If there were we work to come up with plans to address those problems. I had a discussion with the executive director about personnel issues at the plant. Following that, I attended a staff meeting, and then went over our capital projects list, which I call a "wish list" of things that I would like to see here to make the plant better. This is an aging plant, and we need to keep up with the technology to keep doing a good job for the community.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Well, I really enjoy giving tours of the facility to outside groups. Over the years I have introduced the world of wastewater treatment to thousands of people, stressing the importance of the field in order to preserve our most precious resource, water, which is vital to the existence of all living things. I use my pet corn snake that I keep in my office on some of the tours, to entertain groups of Boy Scouts that come to the plant. I also enjoy troubleshooting the various problems the plant experiences, figuring out exactly how everything works so we can come up with solutions.
What do you enjoy least?
I think it’s probably the same for anyone working in the managerial field, personnel issues. They’re time consuming and I have been doing all the hiring and firing at this place for years. Some people just get out of control and they have to be fired. Some people don’t but I lose sleep over stuff like that, though we really have a good group working at the plant right now. I haven’t had to do much of that stuff over the years.
What is the key to success in your job?
First of all, the key to success in this business is first realizing how vitally important our industry is to our survival. Also, I have to pay attention to each and every thing that is going on at the plant, and keeping the big picture in mind. You should never let yourself get too comfortable with one little area of the plant’s operations. If there is something going on that I don’t understand, I try to learn and find out how, or why it is happening. I really have that drive to find out about the way things work. We take too much for granted in this world, and without water, nothing can survive.

