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WaterOperator.org Blog

RCAP’s Free Quarterly Magazine is Focused on Rural Communities

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Rural Matters is the official magazine of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) It features stories and insights that highlight the challenges and opportunities facing the rural communities that RCAP works with. Rural Matters is published quarterly in both print and digital formats and RCAP offers an archive of past issues on their website. Below are links to some of the most recent issues:


2022 | Issue 1: Let’s Talk Wastewater features topics like: loan management, the water access gap, mapping a septic system on tribal lands, developing an effective sewer board, and managing wastewater in U.S. territories.


2022 | Issue 2: Let’s Talk Drinking Water features topics like: boil water advisories and orders, COVID-19’s impact on water systems, violations and how the Agreed Order process works, options for additional water supply, and Lead and Copper Rule Revisions.


2022 | Issue 3: Let’s Talk Solid Waste features topics like: purchasing a solid waste collection vehicle, how a pandemic impacts solid waste management, a story of solid waste success in South Dakota, recycling program adaptation, and the unique challenges that come with solid waste management in the Grand Canyon.


2022 | Issue 4: Let’s Talk Regionalization features topics like: winterization tips, well ownership, a regionalization success story, fleet electrification, and multiple articles that emphasize the importance of community collaboration with water and wastewater systems.


If you’re interested in contributing feedback or advertising in Rural Matters you can contact submissions@rcap.org or you can simply subscribe to receive each issue.
 

Focus on Chemical Feed Control

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Chemical dosing at the water treatment plant is a critical, but often underrated step in producing safe drinking water. Historically, process control points have focused on the hazards present in incoming source water - with emphasis on the filtration and disinfection steps to minimize microbial risks. But while many hazards do indeed enter the plant with the raw water, it is just as important to identify the multiple risks associated with treating this raw water.   

One significant hazard in the treatment of water at the plant is overfeeding, resulting in discoloration, strong smells, or health hazards at the tap. Some of the most common root causes of overfeeding problems are pump or equipment failures, variations in water temperature, and source water characteristic fluctuations, to name just a few. In addition, bringing new technology online can sometimes trigger an event as well. This is why it is important to carefully document chemical handling and feeding information specific to your system on forms such as this one from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.  

It is also essential to be on top of monitoring, chemical feed math skills and feed pump maintenance in order to correct situations as they arise (not to mention how to use activated carbon or sulfur dioxide to correct water quality issues). This resource from MASSDEP lists immediate action levels for water treatment plant chemicals. This tool from Missouri Rural Water can help you quickly size a chemical feed pump. This NCSE Tech Brief can help you calibrate a liquid feed pump. In addition, overfeed alarm systems are another solid choice for avoiding this problem. 

Finally, if and when an overfeed occurs in your system, prompt reporting can help speed up remediation. The Minnesota Department of Health provides this emergency response guide to its community PWSs in the case an event is affecting functionality or water quality. Learning who to call for help sometimes is the most difficult step in an emergency response situation, so preparing ahead can save you critical time and effort!  

*WaterOperator.org staff member Phil Vella contributed to this post.

EPA Releases Preventive Maintenance Tools for Small Systems

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USEPA has released two new/updated interactive tools to help small systems retain and organize important operator knowledge as well as keep track of regular operation and maintenance tasks. In this way, when an operator takes a vacation, retires, or leaves a system, important knowledge about the system is preserved for those taking his or her place. 

The first tool to be released is an updated version of EPA's popular Preventive Maintenance Card File tool. This 857-page easy-to-access electronic version can be tailored to a system's needs. It includes fillable pdf logs for each month as well as logs for common daily, weekly and monthly tasks. In addition, it can provide detailed information about maintenance and operation, source water, emergencies, security, treatment processes, monitoring/sampling, storage, distribution, rules/regulations, operator certification, customer complaints, technology, supplies, important people and more.

The tool can be downloaded in its entirety as a zip file, or you can download individual months/files. If your system prefers a printed format, the logs can be printed out or you can opt to print out the original 2004 Preventive Maintenance Card File for Small Public Water Systems here.

The second new tool, piloted last summer, is the Knowledge Retention Tool Spreadsheet for Small Water Systems, found here. This tool also captures site-specific information to help systems maintain water quality in times of transition, but in a spreadsheet format. Tabs providing information on source water, technology, certification, neighboring utilities, suppliers, distribution info and more provide critical information in a quick and easy to read format, all in one place. The spreadsheet also includes a daily production well log, conversion tables and flushing/backflow/valve-exercising schedules.


In a recent webinar featuring these resources, Melinda Norris from Idaho Rural Water talked about how she has seen utility records written on walls and left on dusty barn shelves, creating situations where years of knowledge are at risk of being lost. For her, theses new tools will increase access and encourage operators to record and preserve critical information for newly hired operators or just for those needing help on a daily basis. 

These tools were developed by the EPA's Workforce Group to address an identified critical area of need for small systems: preventing the loss of years of accumulated system knowledge when an operator retires or leaves a system.

Featured Video: Flow Meters for Water and Wastewater Applications

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With the wide variety of flow meters available these days, problems with flow measurement can sometimes be traced back to having the wrong technology for the job. It is important, then, for those who have their feet on the ground at the plant to know the options available.

You’ll need to consider: is closed pipe or open channel the right solution? What is the right technology to use once I have decided on open or closed pipe? What are the total maintenance costs involved with each of the decisions? This 43-minute video presents typical water and wastewater applications and flow meter solutions. It reviews theory of operations and application details to help you select the correct flow meter technology. Because, as they say, in order to manage it, you have to measure it!

Featured Video: What It Takes To Replace A Lead Service Line

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Whether your utility is considering, or actually implementing, a lead service line replacement program, this 5-minute video can help you visualize the process involved. Join Water Distribution Supervisor Mark Schweiter, from the City of Galesburg, IL, in the trenches (literally!) to learn, step-by-step, what it takes to replace a lead service line.

This video can also be shared with homeowners, local officials, community groups and other stakeholders to achieve a common understanding of the equipment, personnel, labor and costs associated with replacing lead pipes. To find out more about the City of Galesburg's Lead Service Line Replacement program, including infographics, location maps and factsheets, click here.

Top 2017 Resources from WaterOperator.org's Bi-Weekly Newsletter

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2017 was a great year for the WaterOperator.org newsletter team. We not only reached our 200th edition milestone this past fall, but we also were successful in connecting a significant number of water professionals with useful and relevant resources, resources that could be used on-the-spot to solve pressing issues, or help guide utility best practices, or help water decision-makers plan ahead for their communities. 

While many of the events, articles and resources featured in our newsletters garnered interest, here is a list of our most clicked-on resources of 2017.

Did you use one these resources at your utility this year? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Do you have a favorite "go-to" resource to share? Again, we'd love to know! Our email is info@wateropertor.org , or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter

Winterizing for Water Utilities

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A few years back, we featured a Winterizing Checklist for Water Utilities from the Indiana Section of the AWWA on this blog. As the weather turns colder once again, it's probably a good idea to review their updated checklist for ideas on how to prepare for freezing temperatures, snow, ice and sleet at your utility and around town. For even more readiness tips, take a look at this hot-off-the-press article on how to make water infrastructure winter-ready. 

Preparing for winter weather can be as simple as making sure workers have warm work clothes, but it also means that every precaution should be taken to keep excess ice off your water tower, which can be not so simple at times. And being prepared means taking a look at all aspects of your operation: hydrants, wells/pumping equipment, storage tanks, backflow, emergency preparedness, trucks/backhoes/equipment, worker needs and emergency stock items. 

Wastewater treatment plants have unique winterizing needs. Bacteria critical to the treatment process can slow down, resulting in elevated BOD and COD levels in the effluent. So, keeping bacteria warm and cozy might mean adding additional chemicals or cold weather formulations of hardy cold-resistant bacteria. And did we mention snow? Check out this presentation on how one Maine wastewater treatment plant prepares for winter. They should know! 

Finally, we all know about the neighbors who went away on vacation in the wintertime, only to return to a house with burst water pipes. You can help your community members avoid this and other winter-related mishaps by sharing this video or fact sheet. Stay warm and safe this winter! 

It's Alive! Spooky Sewer Creatures and Things That Go Bump at the Treatment Plant

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Every water system has its stories  whether a particularly forceful water main break or sewage overflow, an unwelcome water tower visitor, or a “worse day ever” inside the treatment plant.

This Halloween season, we thought we would share some of the spookiest water operator videos and news stories we have come across, all with one thing in common: they really happened! (Because we all know that truth is scarier than fiction.)

Let’s start with a quick video and resource about a rare, but certainly not unprecedented, hazard. Hopefully, you will never encounter this slow-moving fleshy blob in your wastewater treatment plant or collection system, but just in case you do, you can thank this blog for warning you!  

No, it isn't an alien from another planet. This nightmare blockage is nothing but a nest of tubifex worms. Along with red worms, blood worms and midge flies, these worms are a normal and occasional nuisance to waterwaster operators, as they can clog filters and eat good bacteria. Although it isn't easy to get rid of them, this website offers hope. 

Speaking of blobs, earlier this year a water utility worker fell off a water main and found himself stuck in a blobby, muddy trench. The more he moved, the more stuck he got. Luckily for him, his nightmare didn't last long  fellow workers quickly came to the rescue, using their knowledge of trenching and excavation safety principles.

One thing is for sure: strange encounters are never far away when you work in the water business. In fact, sometimes spooky creatures are as close as the microscope slides in your lab.

Wastewater plants in particular house microbiological zoos of the strangest kind. But don't worry about what you can't see, because these creepy-crawly microorganisms are really the good guys at treatment plants. The predatory suctoria, for example, uses its spines to suck out the nutrient-rich cytoplasm of organisms it has speared, aiding in breaking down and removing nutrients and organic matter. Or the mysterious Tardigrade (aka water bear) seen below in this video whose appearance usually indicates good BOD degradation. Water bears can survive in outer space, extreme radioactive environments and high temperatures, making them one of the "toughest animals on earth".

In addition to strange creatures, strange happenings can also be part of the day-to-day life of a water operator. This Wessler Engineering blog post entitled "Is Your Wastewater Treatment Plant Haunted? describes an acoustic phenomenon known as "water hammer" that can occur inside the walls of a home as pipe fluids suddenly stop or change direction. This same thing can occur at the treatment plant when automated solenoid valves abruptly open or close, causing a sudden loud boom or knocking. It would be enough to make any night-shift operator jump! 

Finally, we leave you with a story that is sure to give you the shivers. Recent hurricane flooding in Houston has jarred many manhole covers out of place (more than 65, in fact), and somehow a man fell into a pit that feeds underground sewer lines carrying residential wastewater. After over a week underground, the man was finally discovered by utility workers who were nearby making repairs and heard a disembodied voice crying, "I am here, I am here!". After tossing the man snacks from their lunches, rescuers were able to haul the man to the surface. Thankfully this story has a happy ending, but be sure to watch where you are walking this Halloween. 

Repairing a Live Water Main

Get out your waders, ladders, clamps and sleeves! There’s nothing quite like the excitement of repairing a water main under pressure – and nothing quite like the kind of water operator who willingly climbs into a deep hole filled with water and mud in all types of weather.

According to Colorado Springs Utilities, there is no shortage of these opportunities: more than 240,000 water main breaks occur each year in the United States, and each one has its unique challenges. But for many of these breaks, you don't need to turn off the water.

Why? Well it goes without saying that repair work should be performed, if at all possible, without interrupting service to customers. Moreover, maintaining positive pressure in the line helps the utility avoid water quality concerns, further service failures caused by valve closures and the need for additional monitoring/sampling. 

Finally, doing live repairs means the utility does not have to issue a boil order notice, which can affect customer confidence and add additional incident reporting/paperwork requirements.  

So, when done safely and correctly, live water main repairs not only make sense for everyone, but also provide a bit of excitement in the work week! 

Need a step-by-step breakdown on the process? Check out this video from the Village of Downers Grove, IL: How to Repair A Water Main Break in 8 Easy Steps

And, for your viewing pleasure, here are a selection of YouTube videos of recent live water main repairs: 

  • This video provides guidance for strategic foot placement during a live water main repair.
  •  And this video offer proof of how quickly the repair can be made!
  • And this video shows an example of a water main break you will hope to never see in person!