Sober named Water Environment Federation Fellow

Garver Director of Water Services Jeff Sober, PE, BCEE, has been named a Water Environment Federation (WEF) Fellow. One of the industry’s most prestigious honors, the WEF Fellows Program was created to recognize WEF members with at least 20 years of experience who not only have a resume filled with notable achievements, but who have also made substantial contributions to the water industry and the global water environment. The program began in 2009, and there are currently less than 200 named fellows, an elite class.

Sober’s distinguished career is an impressive record of expertise, leadership, and passionate service to the water industry and to his community. He has been a contributing member of the water industry since he was 18 years old, when he began working in operations for his father, Gary Sober, who owned and operated a contract operations and training company in Central Texas. The admiration he had for operations and maintenance staff never dissipated as he pursued first a bachelor’s and then a master’s degree in civil engineering, followed by his professional engineering license from the state of Texas.

Throughout his engineering career, Sober has contributed monumentally to workforce development among operations and maintenance staff through his involvement in the Operations Challenge Community, which began when he joined WEF in 2006. Over the years, his role has ranged from judge to collections coordinator to Chair of the WEF Operations Challenge.

As Operations Challenge Chair, he oversaw the largest competition in the history of the event and traveled to support multiple regional competitions, including the Texas WEAT Operations Challenge, which he has organized since 2009. He also authored a recurring column in Wastewater Digest, emphasizing the significance of the Ops Challenge and its crucial role in advancing the industry. Aside from his comprehensive support of the Ops Challenge, he has also served on the Workforce Development Committee in Texas and has given many speeches and written papers on the importance of operations staff.

Sober’s engineering expertise has been as influential as his support for the Operations Challenge Community. Nationally recognized for his expertise in grit removal science, headworks, and anaerobic digestion, Sober has spearheaded significant advancements within the field in the course of serving as one of two dozen research members participating on the first WEF Grit Characterization task force, and as one of the first ever engineers to test and compare full-scale, stacked tray systems next to a vortex grit systems.

His unique expertise has led to over 100 facilities calling upon him to solve their grit removal problems. Beyond grit removal, Sober has extensive experience in screenings and preliminary treatment. Dozens of utilities have looked to him to troubleshoot screen failures and work with manufacturers to create custom-designed engineering solutions. He is also a leading engineer in co-digestion and a nationally recognized expert in high strength waste digestion practices.

In addition to being a technical expert of note, Sober is also a renowned leader in the engineering business community. In 2012, Garver hired him to kickstart the firm’s first-ever water practice office in Texas, a feat attempted unsuccessfully by many firms before. Leveraging his exceptional relationship and leadership skills, he established the office and successfully expanded Garver Water's annual revenue from 1,500% in just ten years.

Sober has since helped establish offices spanning Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. This exceptional growth was recognized by Engineering News-Record in 2018, and Garver was the fastest growing firm in this space thanks to his leadership. Sober now serves on Garver’s Board of Directors and leads the Water Business Line as Director of Water Services. His prominence within the business community has resulted in his being asked to serve on the Texas A&M University Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Council as a trusted member who assists with accreditation and oversight. 

He has provided free training and seminars to students at Texas A&M as well, just one example of how he consistently gives back to the community he calls home. He has connected with his community through involvement and volunteer efforts with multiple water organizations, including the Hill Country Conservation Alliance, the Nature Conservancy, the Devils River Advocate, and the Texas Wildlife Management Association. He currently serves on the board of Bracken Christian School and has endowed a full scholarship at Texas A&M University for graduate students.

Sober will be honored September 29th during the WEFTEC awards ceremony. To learn more about what Garver’s Water Team can do for you, visit our Water services page.