Wareham Sewer Commissioner Donna Bronk found her way to the Commission in the most interesting way.

Finding herself with spare time, Bronk decided several years ago to take a wastewater management course at Upper Cape Vocational Technical School in Bourne.

“It’s the great thing about being retired - you can afford to be interested in different things and try them,” she said.

She found herself pleasantly surprised.

“I never thought wastewater management could be so interesting,” Bronk admitted, “and it was eye-opening to see how important it is in the town. So many people don’t realize its importance.”

The course gave Bronk valuable insight into the "big picture" of wastewater management in town. When the Board of Sewer Commissioners was formed in 2015, Bronk decided to nominate herself. She served as the commission’s first vice chair.

Bronk, who is currently running unopposed to maintain her seat on the Sewer Commission, spent many years as a Regional Housing Manager for a Boston-based company. There she says she managed more than 2,000 units in the greater Boston area, before she decided that retirement was in the cards.

Retirement, in Bronk's case, meant over 10 years of service on Wareham’s Finance Committee, with two years spent as the chair.

Looking ahead at her next term, Bronk says that there are two big issues for the Sewer Commission to tackle. “We need to get rates fair, first and foremost,” she said. “It’s the biggest challenge. We seem to be dragging our feet a little, but it’s the highest priority.”

She describes Wareham’s antiquated piping as a nightmare.

“Every day Guy [Campinha, the director of Wareham’s Water Pollution Control Facility] sees ground water infiltration. We really need to be proactive in repairing, maintaining and replacing these pipes, especially in places like Onset and at Swifts Beach, where the pipes were first laid and where there is a lot of groundwater infiltration.”