SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) —It’s National Public Works week, a time to remember people who serve their communities every day.

Inside the Water Purification Plant, you’ll find Ted Lewis working on making Sioux Falls’ water drinkable

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“So every single person that works for the water department is intricately involved in that water quality, delivering consistent, clean water for everybody in our community,” Sioux Falls Drinking Water Environmental Engineer, Ted Lewis said.

He is part of the close to 500 public workers in the city.

“We have engineers, we have technicians, we have project managers, we have equipment operators. We have specialized positions that do laboratory testing, to high level managers,” Sioux Falls Street Operations Manager, Dustin Hansen said.

While there are different times these workers are evident in Sioux Falls.

“From filling potholes, fixing streets, providing clean water, to taking wastewater and treating that, to developing projects across the city like building bridges. Working with our South Dakota DOT to develop large projects like our Veterans and Arrowhead project,” Hansen said.

They also serve in ways you wouldn’t expect.

“There’s so many things that until it’s not there, you don’t realize how often you used it or how important it was to your daily life. So many of us grow up just expecting clean, safe drinking water coming out of the tap and the breadth and depth of what’s involved to make that happen day in and day out is a lot more than most people realize,” Lewis said.

These are the men and women that keep our city up and running.

“A community like Sioux Falls, it’s 200,000 plus. And we typically have probably 300,000 that commute through our city every day. Our roads, our bridges, clean, safe drinking water, things of that nature. Like we have to provide those, so people can live and thrive in our communities,” Hansen said.

In-house the public work departments are having their own ways of celebrating, but Hansen says that if you know a public worker, to thank them for all they do this week.

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