Pressure Eyes invention earns operator Gimmicks & Gadgets award
October 30, 2024

AWWA Articles
Pressure Eyes invention earns operator Gimmicks & Gadgets award
Resourcefulness earned Jacob Saenz, water treatment plant operator with Inframark in California, the top prize in the American Water Works Association’s 2024 Gimmicks & Gadgets competition.

The North Pleasant Valley Desalter Plant in Camarillo, where Saenz has worked for more than two years, often deals with built-up air in its hypochlorite feed lines. Addressing that issue previously required three operators to perform different tasks in multiple places. At night, when just one operator staffs the plant, performing this task alone risked the line bursting. The Pressure Eyes device allows one operator to do this without assistance or risking feedline integrity, using two smartphones and a Pressure Eyes unit.
“I remember thinking, ‘If only I could see the gauge while I was at the injection quill, I could safely do this by myself.’ That’s when I got the idea to use the phones,” Saenz said. “But to use the phones I would have to make an apparatus to hold the camera right in front of the chemical skid.”
Out of necessity, Saenz built Pressure Eyes from materials he found in the plant’s shop.
“I used a lot of pallet wood and old PVC pipes leftover from other projects,” Saenz said. “When it comes to hardware, I’m a bit of a hoarder, so anything left over from ‘built it out of the box yourself’ furniture was at my disposal. The only money I used to make it was for optional, add-on accessories; a $5 cat toy laser pointer and a small $5 flashlight.”
As AWWA’s top Gimmicks & Gadgets award winner, Saenz received an $800 cash prize and was featured in the September 2024 issue of Opflow.
“It’s a huge deal to me, I feel incredibly honored,” Saenz said. “I’m very green to the water sector. However, I put a lot of effort into becoming a better operator. I make a lot of gizmos while at work to address a wide array of plant issues, and to be seen and acknowledged by the world for my initiative is hard to put into words. I can’t begin to explain how appreciative I am to receive this award.
“Awards like Gimmicks & Gadgets may seem insignificant to some but are a big deal for an underdog like me,” Saenz continued. “Recognition for the creativity of operators is a wonderful initiative. I believe that there should be more award programs like this. For every handful of operators to be recognized for his or her efforts, there must be thousands of others who fly under the radar.”
AWWA’s Gimmicks & Gadgets award recognizes a novel and relatively simple mechanical device or procedure designed to provide a more efficient, safer, and/or simplified way to perform routine tasks or functions in the maintenance, operation or construction of a water utility system.
This year’s second place winner is Patrick Freeman, water utilities manager with the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas, who invented the Slow-Blow pressure-control assembly.
Peter Hirneisen and Michael Watts tied for third place. Hirneisen, senior manager of distribution at Erie (Pennsylvania) Water Works, entered the contest on behalf of Ernie Scutella, a former distribution manager at Erie Water Works who created the Ernie Fitting. Watts, a utility mechanic at New Jersey America Water in Lawnside, created the Setter Socket.
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