Columbus Water Works President Bob Tant to retire

The search is about to begin for a successor to Columbus Water Works President Bob Tant, who said today he plans to retire next July after more than three decades with the utility.

“One of the hallmarks of the Columbus Water Works through the years has been good planning, and this is just kind of in keeping with that tradition that we make our personnel decisions and our critical infrastructure decisions in a deliberate way and not in any kind of a rush,” Tant said of the more than nine months of advance notice he has given.

Philip Thayer, chairman of the Water Works board, said the process of hiring a firm to conduct a nationwide search for Tant’s replacement is under way. Internal candidates will be considered.

Thayer credited Tant for being more than a caretaker after replacing longtime Water Works chief Billy Turner nearly three years ago upon his retirement. Tant had served in the No. 2 position since 1988.

“He’s done everything the board has asked and then some,” Thayer said. “He has dealt with the most difficult economic time any of us have seen. And he has managed to hold rates at the lowest level in the state for comparable water systems.”

Tant, 65, oversees a utility with an annual budget of $58 million and a staff of 255 people serving more than 230,000 residents of Columbus, Fort Benning and parts of Harris and Talbot counties. He began his career at the Atlanta Water Works in 1965, the same year he and wife, Beverly, were wed. Landing a job as special project coordinator at the Columbus Water Works in 1979, he worked his way up in the ranks, becoming executive vice president under Turner in 1988.

In 1995, he earned the George Warren Fuller Award, the highest individual award given by the American Water Works Association.

“There have been some tough times. When our water tank collapsed that was an eye opener. I certainly didn’t expect that,” Tant said of the spring 2009 incident in which a 6-million-gallon storage tank came crashing down, spilling water across J.R. Allen Parkway and River Road. “We were fortunate that no one got injured. You hate to depend on luck, but sometimes you are just lucky.”

Once he retires on July 31, 2012, Tant said he plans to travel and pursue his hobbies, which include golf, genealogical research and stamp collecting, something he has done since age 12.

And while that parting moment is months away, the executive already has a lasting impression of his experience with the Columbus Water Works.

“We have developed over the years a culture where there is a lot of loyalty, a lot of pride in what we do,” Tant said. “Things don’t always go right. That’s true of any organization. But the one thing I’ve always been able to count on is that our staff and our employees will jump in and do whatever it takes. They made my job so much easier because of their work ethic and their caring and concern.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2011 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Columbus Water Works President Bob Tant to retire."