Employee Profile: Toni Estes, Emergency Turner

Worked at Louisville Water since 2002

“I love wearing the W. I love Louisville Water Company.”

Emergency Turner Toni Estes just celebrated 23 years at Louisville Water. What started as a job to make ends meet at the right time turned into her career.

“I got laid off at the job I was at for 10 years. I was going to work here until I went back to my other job, and it just worked out. I went back to my other job for 18 months, but I stayed at Louisville Water. This was my best choice.”

Estes has spent most of her time at Louisville Water as an emergency turner, the first person to usually respond to a call.

She loves that, “You do something different every day. From main breaks to hit fire hydrants to damaged services, burst meters, small jobs, big jobs, the (emergency) turner does it all.”

And they never know just where their job will take them. Estes recently found herself near all the action at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

“I was not on the runway, but where the luggage cart comes and gets the luggage from the planes. So, I had to keep moving. I had to shut a gate (valve) off for the airport.”

She loves the thrill each day brings, and if you ask her what her favorite part of the job is, that’s an easy answer.

“Making my customers happy!”

Estes said having a reputation for good drinking water helps.

“I can always tell people that we have the best water. Customers tell me that anyway. When they go out of town, they always say our water is so different from other places,” she shared.

Speaking of different places, Estes just returned from the American Water Works Association’s national conference in Denver. She coached Louisville Water’s all-women team in a pipe tapping competition.

“This side of it, I get to show them what to do and guide them on what to do versus me doing it,” Estes said.

And she couldn’t be prouder of “The Lady Legends” as they prepare to compete again in late July.

“They knocked two minutes off their time from regionals to nationals, so now, we’re hoping to knock more time off to go back to regionals. It’s very exciting.”

It’s clear Estes landed exactly where she was meant to be.