For the past couple years, Empowering Pumps has been inviting people to Nominate an Industry Professional to shine a light on the PEOPLE behind the pumps. Today’s Person of the Week is relatively new to the industry! We’re so excited to see the next generation entering the Pump Industry, so let’s meet Joe Cherluck!
Q. How did you get started working in the Industry?
Joe: I was hired by Mersino Dewatering in December of 2014 to head up estimation and inside sales at the Davison, Michigan headquarters. I was welcomed into this niche community of experts in the fields of dewatering and bypass pumping. At this vertically integrated company, I was able to get training and experience early on in both the manufacturing and functionality of our product line as well as get hands-on with the actual field application of our products.
Q. What is your favorite part of your job? What are you most proud of?
Joe: My favorite part of my job is developing and seeing implemented a solid solution to a large, challenging, or otherwise risky project; whether it came from pouring through details buried in plans or reference documents, or meeting with a client on-site and walking through each challenge in person, then troubleshooting a solution that will work for all parties involved. It’s gratifying being part of a challenging project, looking back and knowing you did your best, and recognizing that doing your best pays off every time.
I am most proud of getting the chance to work on the design, implementation, and operation of both the dewatering and temporary bypass pumping systems we provided to Macomb County Public Works on the emergency Romeo Arm Interceptor project back in 2017. This was an around-the-clock operation that lasted for 10 months. The first 2 to 3 months were ‘all-hands-on-deck’ and time was of the essence. The remaining months weren’t without their own surprises. On this project alone, I learned more than I thought I’d ever know about application design, troubleshooting, and operation.
Q. What advice would you give to someone new to the industry?
Joe: Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. A day in the field can teach you lessons you’ll never learn in a textbook or from a YouTube video.
Q. Can you tell us about a cool project you worked on?
Joe: In my relatively short career, I’ve been lucky to get the opportunity to work on several cool projects. I designed and bid a wellpoint dewatering system that was utilized within a sedimentation pond at the Big Hill Strategic Petroleum Reserve to wash out extremely high concentrations of chlorides present in the pond soils.
The Romeo Arm Sinkhole project was an emergency repair of a football field-sized sinkhole in which Mersino installed 29 dewatering wells, short term bypass pumping, and long term bypass pumping for diversion of an 11-foot diameter sewer interceptor collapse 60’ deep into the ground.
Lastly, I helped design and bid a water supply project for SUNCOR energy company which consisted of providing a full engineering report to supply 6,600 gpm at heads of 370 feet of total dynamic head (TDH) from a floating barge to be installed within one of their process water supply ponds. These units are critical to petroleum processing operations in Alberta, Canada. To date, all three of these projects were ‘one-of-a-kind’ and each one has been a huge success.
Joe, we are very excited to have you in the Pump Industry! We look forward to keeping up with you through the #PumpTalk Community!
Know an Amazing Person who is making valuable contributions within the Pump Industry? Nominate them to be “Pump Person of the Week”!
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