Hill, who serves as the laboratory superintendent over the Lake Townsend and Mitchell Water Plants, doesn’t get the chance to throw on the coat and get his hands dirty much these days, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying the work he does to help keep the City’s water safe for the community.

“There’s a lot that goes into it that people don’t know about – they don’t realize how much technology goes into keeping these plants running, and all the moving parts that are going on behind the scenes…until something goes wrong, then they call us,” Hill said with a laugh. “It’s all about safety, and just having a quality product that is clean, clear, and consumable – I think that’s the most important part.”

KEEPING GREENSBORO’S WATER CLEAN

Long before he started working for the City of Greensboro’s Water Resources Department, Hill grew up in a home where his parents were big proponents of science and math – two fields that go hand-in-hand.

Throughout his schooling Hill was active in science and math, and by the time he graduated high school he had planned to go to Florida A&M University to become a pharmacist. After calculating costs and other factors, Hill changed track and landed at North Carolina A&T, where he’d attain his degree in biology.

Straight out of college Hill landed a job as a high school biology teacher, and it didn’t take long before he decided teaching in a classroom wasn’t for him. Hill made a pivot and found himself as a roster employee in the lab at Lake Townsend in 2012, and then a short time later as a full-time employee.

“It was very limited, but we were thrown into the mix a lot – we learned everything that everybody else was learning, but our hands were held a whole lot more,” Hill said. “It was very interesting from a standpoint of being immersed in everyday work life – things like bench technique or doing wet tests like alkalinity. Over the years I just became a sponge and soaked up everything.”

Hill’s experience in teaching helped him not only transition into his role with the City, but it also eventually helped him get to where he is today as the lab superintendent, he said.

Supervising, much like teaching, requires patience and a deft hand – especially when you’re dealing with the science of water treatment for 320,756 people who, as recently as 2023, averages a water demand of 34.7 million gallons per day.

At the City’s water treatment facilities, Hill and his staff – among the other lab workers around the City – test for myriad items, and regularly monitor for approximately 120 contaminants. The most common and important tests done, Hill said, are bacteriological tests, which involves visiting a location, such a restaurant or daycare, and testing water samples for coliform bacteria (an umbrella term for the everyday bacteria you don’t want to see in the water).

The variety of tests done by the City range in time and resources, but it’s the more intensive testing that Hill truly enjoys – he sees it as a challenge, he said.

“Sometimes I do have to throw a glove on and jump in the mix just to make sure I can keep my knives sharp,” Hill said. “I like the longer, more intricate tests that take more steps and processes – you have to add certain chemicals, then there’s digestion, and then wait two-to-three hours before adding another chemical. I’m a hands-on person, so it’s just more rewarding.”

VOLUNTEER COACH, FULL-TIME DAD

Hill’s job in the City’s Water Department isn’t the only rewarding endeavor he has undertaken with the City.

For the last two years Hill has volunteered many hours of his free time coaching 8-to-10 year olds as a coach in Parks and Recreation Department’s R.E.D. Zone tackle football league, as well as coaching in the inaugural season of flag football this year.

Despite having never coached organized football before, Hill was inspired to do it when his son, Mark III, showed interest in participating.

“You know how kids are, my son was like, ‘Dad can you coach?,’ and then it got to the point where he’d say, ‘I don’t want to play if you can’t coach,’ and that makes me proud,” Hill said. “Then I’d have to remind him, ‘When we hit this field I’m not your dad – you’re not getting special privileges.’ I enjoy it, I enjoy it a lot.”

Hill’s daughter, Mahlia, would also decide to cheer on her brother for one year as a member of the football cheerleading program.

During the season, once he finishes up work at 5 pm, Hill runs home to pick up his son and they get to practice and prepare for that week’s game. It’s a lot of effort and teaching, but that hard work paid off when his Wolverines 10U squad finished runner-up in the City’s new flag football league.

“It keeps me grounded,” Hill said. “It’s a heavy investment and it is time consuming, but I feel like it’s my way of giving back.”