Grant Gartrell, PE

Grant is an envi­ron­men­tal engineer with 30 years of experience in the water industry, including five years as director of engineering for a major drinking water utility serving 3.9 million people. In this role, Grant planned, prioritized, and managed nearly 100 projects within a $1-billion water Capital Improvement Program (CIP). He is highly experienced in water treatment plant design, construc­tion cost estimating, life-cycle cost analysis, capital improve­ments planning, condition assessments, and feasibility studies. He is particularly experienced in gravity media filtration design, operational troubleshooting, filter system rehabilitation, and in conducting condition assessments and prioritizing improvement needs for drinking water treatment facilities.

“I’m inspired by being part of a collab­o­ra­tive profes­sional community—operators, maintainers, technicians, designers, and engineers—that continues to advance innovative drinking water treatment tech­nolo­gies while sustaining proven methods that have ensured safe drinking water for over a century,” Grant says.

Grant’s leadership has included facil­i­tat­ing annual CIP updates, collab­o­rat­ing across engineering, operations, and finance teams, and employing advanced techniques like the Analytical Hierarchy Process to build consensus on alter­na­tives evaluations for projects such as trans­mis­sion main routes, facility improve­ments, and project delivery methods.

“CDM Smith is the preeminent global drinking water consulting firm, full of bright, talented, and highly motivated people who want to excel in our profession and be the best that they can be. This is exactly the culture that I want to be part of every day that I come to work,” he says. “My favorite part of my job is sharing my knowledge with younger engineers and watching them grow into this exciting and rewarding profession. This, in turn, motivates me to learn more so that I can share more knowledge with those who will succeed me.”