Some teenagers are making nearly $20 per hour in a summer job.
They aren’t flipping burgers or making good money from household chores. Instead, they are working in the plumbing industry and getting their start at the Elmore County Technical Center.
“Everybody needs a plumber,” Wetumpka junior Jackson Webster said. “The world can’t go one without plumbers. You have to have clean water.”
PHOTOS: ECTC Plumbing
ECTC instructor James Broadway has years of experience in plumbing. He said many think it's a lowly job but it’s not and it pays well.
“Plumbers are needed everywhere,” Broadway said. “The plumbing folks will call and check a couple times of year to see who we have they might be able to hire after graduation.”
The perception comes from dealing with toilets and bathrooms. With few people wanting to work in the environment means pay is good. But plumbers don’t have to always deal with sewage.
In the shops of ECTC, students will also install air lines to help with pneumatic tools.
“We have one large air compressor with the extra capacity,” Broadway said. “We will run it to the reels in the shops. We will learn how to thread pipe and put it in service.”
The students will also install a shop sink. Broadway’s program teaches basic skills for all of the various avenues certified plumbers can work in.
Students who complete three years in the ECTC plumbing program can test for a journeyman’s license after graduation. The credential allows them to supervise a job.
“Plumbers never work under somebody else’s license,” Broadway said. “Every plumber on the job has their own license.”
Prior to plumbing, Webster was working at a scrapyard. But when a water heater was needed, Webster got interested in the field. Now, he works for a local plumbing company in the summer and he now has his eyes on a possible career.
“Everybody needs a plumber,” Webster said. “The world can’t go one without plumbers. You have to have clean water. I plan on working in plumbing until I get my masters license and then look at opening my own.”
As much as possible, Broadway’s program simulates actual jobs. Tables are used to simulate installing cast iron plumbing as well as a lesson in how to run plumbing through walls. Necessary clearances and protection needed to prevent nails damaging the pipes are also covered.
The deck is used to mimic a normal house with a crawl space.
“We will hang piping underneath,” Broadway said. “There is water and sewage there. We can finish a tub and toilet. We make it work.”
Recruiting can be hard at times because of plumbing’s taboo nature, but Broadway has a way to combat it. He tells the students and those who doubt plumbing he is a superhero.
“They laugh when I tell them I have a cape I put on at night,” Broadway said. “I’m a superhero because I can read minds. I say plumbing and you are already thinking about it. They think it’s nasty and icky and who wants to do that?”
Broadway hopes everyone will look past sewage. While it is necessary, plumbers are also needed in other areas such as gas, medical gas, chilled water systems and drinking water systems.
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