I’m Suzanne DeLorenzo, the Director of Water Quality at San Jose Water. In my position, I'm responsible for making sure that your drinking water is the highest quality it can be. My work is essential to monitoring the quality and cleanliness of our water in terms of state and federal regulatory requirements. In 2021, our highly experienced staff collected more than 1,000 regulatory and non-regulatory samples from our distribution system and treatment plant, generating over 23,000 data points. This sampling is key to ensuring healthy water!
My favorite part of this job is that it’s incredibly complex — there’s no time to be bored — there are constantly new challenges. I also treasure the united, supportive community within SJW. Everyone is willing to help one another, creating an environment for creative problem solving.
I lived in New Jersey and Oregon before landing at SJW one year ago. After earning a Ph.D. in biological oceanography from Oregon Health & Science University, where I studied the impact of climate change on nutrient cycles in the ocean, I wound up in a position focused on drinking water — and I never looked back! A lot of young professionals don’t consider exploring the drinking water industry. Like me, many people wind up in the industry by chance. There are so many cool facets to the water industry — everything from engineering to customer service to distribution crews and field samplers. There’s quite literally something for everyone.
Now that I’m living in California, I’ve realized the importance of everyone contributing to water conservation as a way of life. To conserve water in my own home, I’ve planted a low-water-use garden in place of a lawn. I also pride myself on taking short “navy” showers (under five minutes). I’m happy to be living in such a beautiful area with great people. When I’m not working, you’ll find me in the ocean surfing up and down the beautiful Opal Cliffs in Santa Cruz.