Featured Video: Surviving the Quake

Did you know that almost half of all Americans live in areas prone to earthquakes? Water and wastewater utilities serving this population are extremely vulnerable to damage because of their vast network of underground pipes as well as their pumps, tanks, reservoirs and treatment facilities (not to mention their dependency on electricity!). This week's featured video introduces small and medium-sized water and wastewater utilities to earthquake resilience and introduces EPA tools including the Earthquake Resilience Guide and Earthquake Interactive Maps.  

After watching this video, read about the experiences of actual water utilities that have successfully implemented mitigation measures to address this threat in the EPA's new Earthquake Resilience Guide. And if you wondering if your utility is in an earthquake hazard area, you will soon be able to use a map such as this one from the California Geological Survey to find out.  

When an earthquake strikes, it can cause breaks in pipelines, cracks in storage and process tanks and even the collapse of an entire plant. When this happens, a community can experience loss of pressure, contamination and drinking water service disruption. The first step in protecting your community is to be prepared because the faster a water or wastewater utility recovers from an earthquake, the faster the community it serves can recover. 

Featured Videos: RCAP's Technical Assistance Providers on What's Really Important About Their Jobs

Citizen Academies Teach About Critical Water & Wastewater Issues

While some water systems host open houses or group tours periodically, citizen academies offer a more intensive learning experience for residents. This experience can leverage a deeper understanding, and support, from the local community for the important and often underappreciated work operators do to protect public health. Residents, in turn, get a rare behind-the-scenes opportunity to learn about water and wastewater issues first-hand and experience how a water utility operates in real-time as it overcomes today's challenges.

Citizen academies come in all sizes and shapes. Spartanburg Water in South Carolina hosts a 6-week interactive series at the public library with sessions on source water, water quality and asset management as well as field trips to local plants. In Scottsdale, Arizona, a 5-week course takes participants inside the water facility to view demonstrations of daily operations, lab work and water main repairs. In Indiana, the town of Carmel organizes a Citizens Utility Academy that provides insight into the responsibilities and operations of not only water & wastewater, but also trash, recycling and hazardous waste disposal.

The benefits to water systems are numerous. Citizen academies offer utilities the opportunity to connect with their residents in such a way that these residents become informal ambassadors for the utility. In a sense, this connection creates trust between the utility and citizens. In addition, these academies can inspire residents to volunteer to serve on advisory boards or utility committees, or otherwise serve as a liaison between the public and the utility.

Interested in exploring the possibility of a citizen's academy for your water system? This website from the University of North Carolina School of Government includes a "how-to" program component guide as well as case studies and other resources.

Featured Videos: Small Communities Benefit From Shared Resources

The Small Communities Environmental Infrastructure Group assists small Ohio communities in finding resources to help solve their infrastructure and funding problems. These two videos feature water and sewer district officials and staff discussing the benefits of participating in SCEIG regional partnerships in order to better serve their communities. 

Testing the Link Between Wildfires and Benzene Contamination

In the weeks following the Santa Rosa, CA wildfires last October, city officials found elevated levels of benzene in water system samples taken from the nearly totally-razed Fountaingrove neighborhood. The first round of samples returned 4 results of over 500 parts per billion, with one of these at 918 parts per billion (MCL for benzene in drinking water is 1 part per billion). A second round of testing produced similar numbers over the MCL, without the higher spikes. A total of 145 samples have now shown elevated levels.

According to this article in The Press Democrat, city officials, who for months have stressed that the contamination appeared isolated to the advisory area, were taken by surprise that six of those results were from outside the existing advisory area.

With the help of a forensic chemist, who helped eliminate the possibility of petroleum leaks, the city now suspects that the most likely cause of contamination is heat damage to high-density polyethylene service lines or other plastic components (such as PVC) in the water or wastewater system. The city is enacting more extensive testing to find out if plastic laterals are responsible. Once the exact cause is identified, the city will consider solutions. Replacing the water system could cost over $20 million.

Interested in finding out more about benzene contamination in drinking water supplies, including sampling methods, treatment strategies, and private well concerns? Check out this EPA website or this Oregon Health Authority factsheet. Another useful resource is this template (from North Carolina) to be used when high levels of Benzene need to be reported to the public.

Featured Videos: Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems: Regulations, Installation, Maintenance and Inspection

Nationwide, and in Colorado, improperly functioning onsite wastewater treatment systems pose a risk to drinking water supplies. These videos from Colorado Rural Water Association inform system owners about the regulations associated with onsite systems, how the systems function, and most importantly, how to maintain and inspect individual systems to protect water quality and the environment. 

Interested in getting under the hood and seeing how a septic system works from a homeowners perspective? While every system is different, they all have the same general parts and pieces. Learn about what goes where and why from Carla Ostberg of All Service Septic & CBO Inc. in this 6-minute video from Colorado Rural Water. 

The Disinfection By-Product Challenge

Staying in compliance with Stage II DBP testing can be a challenge for many small systems. Moreover, when preventing DBP formation becomes a pressing need, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the range and cost of options out there, especially if you are trying to keep up with new technologies. Then there is the fact that solutions to DBP problems often involve several different actions or multiple steps, giving the situation an extra level of challenge.

However, before planning a remediation strategy it might be valuable to initiate a DBP profile study - testing from the source water through the treatment process, and continuing into the distribution system. Why? Because, as Justin Spears in a recent H2Outlook (Kentucky Water & Wastewater Operator's Association) article found out, sometimes the problem isn't where you think it is!

According to his article, he was all set to add a mixer to his storage tank when results from his DBP profile study showed that most of his DBPs were forming in the plant's clearwell. His problem was at the treatment plant, not in the tank! In the end, Justin solved his DBP problem quickly by using chlorine dioxide, made on site by mixing chlorine gas, which he had already in place, with sodium chlorite. However, every treatment plant and source water is different, and what worked for him might not be the best for you.

Interested in finding out more about options for DBP control? Check out this video or this website or this manual. In addition, you can choose Disinfection and Disinfection By-Products as a category in WaterOperator's document or event database to find all sorts of resources.

Need a Roadtrip Idea? Check Out These Waterworks Museums

 Are you fascinated by old steam-powered pumps and engines, or the stories that inspired ingenuity and invention in the water industry? Do you like cool old buildings? If the answer is "yes," then pack up your family and/or friends and take a road trip to one (or more) of the following waterworks museums! 

• The Waterworks Museum, Boston, MA: This museum interprets unique stories of one of the country's first metropolitan water systems through exhibitions and educational programs on engineering, architecture, social history and public health. The centerpiece of the museum is its collection of original 3-story high coal-powered, steam-driven water pumps. Admission is free (donations accepted). 
• The WaterWorks Museum, Louisville, KY: Located inside the west wing of Louisville Water Company's original Pumping Station No. 1, the WaterWorks Museum highlights Louisville Water’ Company's archive of historic photographs, films and memorabilia, some of which date back to 1860. Discover the company’s contributions to safe drinking water through its innovations in science and engineering. 
• The Shreveport Water Works Museum, Shreveport, LA: This museum, a national historic landmark, is the last known steam-powered municipal water treatment plant in the US. It was also among the earliest facilities to use chlorine in the treatment process. Today, the entire physical plant (pumps, filters and other machinery) remains in place after more than 100 years of service and is a rare example of an intact steam water works. Best of all, admission is free!
• Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, PA: The Fairmount Water Works is a National Historic Landmark, a Civil Engineering Landmark, and a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark, and was designed and constructed to provide safe, clean drinking water to a city on the cusp of remarkable growth. This museum educates citizens regarding the interconnections between their community and environment, particularly the public’s essential role in protecting and stewarding our water and natural land resources. Cost: Free.
• In the mood for overseas exploration? You might want to check out the Museum of Sewerage Science in Osaka, Japan (the third floor is dedicated entirely to advanced wastewater treatment technology), or this active steam-powered waterworks museum in Hereford, UK or these sewer museums in London, Paris, and Brussels!  

Featured Videos: Solids and Sludge Handling

How are solids handled and sludge thickened in the wastewater process? Watch this RCAP video to find out how one wastewater plant uses a dissolved air flotation thickener to settle sludge out before the digestion process and then uses a centrifuges for de-watering.  

Need to simplify the process? Check out how this small wastewater plant in Ohio reduces the free water content of its sludge - all for under $300 out of pocket cost. 

Looking for more videos on the wastewater treatment process? RCAP offers a free 7-part video series to explain the technical steps in the process of treating wastewater. 

Energy Efficiency in Action

Small systems across the country are challenged to raise revenue in order to pay for the infrastructure and water treatment upgrades necessary to meet stricter water quality regulations. However, what if this revenue shortcoming could be made-up over time within a utility itself, sometimes without raising rates? Implementing an energy audit and then applying cost-efficient energy-saving strategies may be just the ticket.

An audit or self-assessment can help staff understand how their utility uses energy as well as the impact energy-intensive processes such as pumping and aeration has on overall usage. The EPA offers a range of tools available to help with this process, including an energy use assessment spreadsheet tool.

Once an audit is complete, utilities can develop a program to reduce energy costs. RCAP suggests focusing on these five areas: benchmarking, lighting systems, HVAC systems, pump efficiency, and wastewater treatment. According to Ohio RCAP potential energy-cost reductions can range from 6 to 62 percent, with an average of less than a 1-year simple payback for communities that are actively using energy audits and energy-reduction programs.

It is always inspiring to learn about energy-saving strategies used by other systems. The wastewater plant in Copperas Cove, Texas, for example, installed new energy-efficient blowers, a modern aeration control scheme, finer screening at the headworks and a maintenance-friendly air diffusion system in order to cut their energy costs. Since their improvements, total average monthly energy costs at the plant have dropped by nearly 25%—from $22,000 per month to $16,000.

And this video shows how a utility in Evansville, IN was able to upgrade its wastewater plant without raising rates. In addition, the city became the first in the country to generate clean energy using FOG, or fats, oils and grease.

A good way to brush up on how to operate efficient small utilities is by reviewing RCAPs planning and resource guide or the EPA's Strategies for Saving Energy at Public Water Systems or Florida Rural Water's Energy Reduction Techniques for Small and Medium Systems. In addition, this handbook from South Dakota DENR guides small systems step-by-step through the auditing process and explains how to develop an energy conservation program, identify and implement energy conservation measures (ECMs), and monitor the progress and success of the implementation program.