Big D Lady Tappers aiming for fifth-straight pipe tapping title

The Big D Lady Tappers have built a Texas-sized pipe tapping dynasty. And they’re not done.

The City of Dallas Water Utility’s team won the last four women’s pipe tapping championships at the American Water Works Association’s Annual Conference & Exposition (ACE), and they plan on leaving this year’s event in Anaheim, California, with a fifth trophy.

The competition requires each team to tap a water pressurized ductile iron pipe, install a corporation stop, cut and flare 3/4-inch copper tubing for installation of a water service line with a curb stop, and connect this line to a meter yoke. During the process the team must follow safety guidelines and avoid water leaks. (Pictured above from left: 2018 championship with Jessica Davila, Ana-Alicia Zuñiga, Rosaerlinda Cisneros, Randy Payton-AWWA Operator Involvement Committee, Jessica Donovan; at practice; 2023 championship with Mark Steeves-AWWA Pipe Tapping Chair.)

Members of the championship team are: 

• Jessica Davila, a chemist for pretreatment and laboratory services and team machine setter
• Jessica Donovan, an environmental inspections-water quality supervisor, prepares the team copper tubing
• Ana-Alicia Zuñiga, a wastewater treatment plant operator and team cranker/driller
• Seanna Zuñiga, administrative specialist, wife of Ana-Alicia and the team’s new coach

“My dad was a wastewater supervisor for the City of Dallas,” said Davila, who has worked for the City of Dallas for 10 years.  “Growing up he would take me to work, and I would get an early education on the water treatment process. I have been interested in the water treatment process ever since.”

Donovan has been with the City of Dallas for 11 years. “I was able to take a limnology class and found the study of lakes very interesting,” she said. “After college, my first job as an environmental specialist was with the water quality team testing and monitoring the watershed along with the distribution system. I have been in water quality since.”

Donovan and Davila have been part of the team since its inception at the City of Dallas in 2015. Ana-Alicia Zuñiga joined the following year. Seanna Zuniga has supported the team since 2016 and became the team’s coach after Rosaerlinda Cisneros received a promotion and couldn’t continue coaching.

From her time as coach, Cisneros observed that the team’s success stems from old-fashioned values. “Dedication and hard work. I know that sounds cliche, but we’re so competitive that I think that’s what drove us to give our very best every single practice and competition. We were also a close-knit group; we fostered an environment where open discussion and collaboration thrive.”