Featured Video: Energy Efficiency at Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Energy Efficiency at Wastewater Treatment Facilities from RCAP on Vimeo.

If you're interested in getting an energy audit for your utility, RCAP staff are able to carry out energy audits for both water and wastewater utilities. To find the RCAP partner that serves your region, check their website.

Winterizing for Water Utilities

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! 

Featured Video: The Importance of an Operator

The Importance of an Operator in a Community’s Water Systems from RCAP on Vimeo.

Featured Video: Serious Play

Featured Videos: Small On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems

Sometimes wastewater treatment doesn't involve clarifiers or even treatment buildings big enough to walk around inside. Approximately 25 percent of homes in the United States are not connected to centralized sewer systems. These homes and businesses collect and treat their wastewater on their own property using systems that are referred to as onsite wastewater treatment systems, septic systems, or decentralized systems.

In some rural and suburban areas, everyone uses decentralized systems. Even in communities with sewers and a centralized treatment facility, there are often areas the sewer does not reach and where homes or businesses are on septic systems. If a community wants to manage all of its wastewater, it is necessary to address both centralized and decentralized systems.

This video is for small, rural communities that are looking for wastewater treatment options. You'll hear about the benefits of onsite systems and get a "tour" of one community's system.

Small On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems from RCAP on Vimeo.

Small, on-site treatment systems are an innovative way to treat water. They come in a variety of types and are often found in housing subdivisions, schools and small commercial centers. They have advantages for a variety of situations, especially for locations that are distant from or isolated from centralized sewer systems.

For more on operating decentralized wastewater systems, visit our documents database and search by the category Decentralized WW Systems and document type Manuals/Handbooks.

What's That Smell? Eliminating Wastewater Treatment Odors

With all this talk about public awareness of hidden water system infrastructure, it is important to point out that there are times when public awareness is definitely NOT on your side. And one of those times is when there is a stink that just doesn't go away.

Odors are generated from every phase of wastewater management including collection, treatment, and disposal, and they can cause all sorts of public relations issues, putting pressure on an utility to resolve the problem in a timely way. Certainly, managing odors is one of the most important - and yet most challenging - aspects of wastewater treatment. 

Why so challenging? Because in part there are many odor control technologies available but no single ideal solution. Some systems, like this Brownsville Public Utilities Board plant in Texas, solve odor problems by placing covers over wastewater tanks and channels and then blowing the smelly hydrogen sulfide gas through a biological tower. Others such as this Bridgeport, CN Water Pollution Control Authority plant, capture odorous offgas with coated fabric covers and treat it with a carbon system. Still others use a combination of  different measures, such as activated sludge diffusion, carbon adsorber sytems, pump station chemical feed systems, coverings and plant operation modifications. 

But fixes like these don't come easily, or cheaply. And sometimes, the problem is even more complex. Consider this story of a system in Saline, MI that has been the subject of neighbor complaints for years. Even after odor studies and abatement work, the smell just keeps getting worse. 

How can a smaller system then, with its limited funding and manpower, address odor problems effectively? The cheapest way to control odors is at their source, according to this Science Daily article, but sometimes that is simply not possible. Fortunately, researchers from the University of British Columbia may have recently developed a solution. 

Many wastewater facilities use anaerobic digestion, but is is expensive to acquire and maintain the associated odor control and biogas safety equipment needed. A much more cost-effective way to mitigate odors, these UBC researchers have discovered, is to revisit metal salts treatment. Simply adding new combinations of these common commercial metal salts during the fermentation process dramatically improves offensive odors, and also improves their ability for remove water from digested sludge. It is these unique doses/formulas and point of addition during the fermentation process that really amplifies the effectiveness of this new approach. Moreover, the cost of adopting their technique is minimal, so smaller systems can afford to test it out. 

In the meantime, if you need a quick primer on odor generation and management, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) has a 7-page factsheet explaining the problem and outlining advantages and disadvantages of various mitigation strategies. 

You can also keep an eye out for odor events right here on WaterOperator.org. For example, this Iowa training later in the month troubleshoots lagoon odor issues. Just type "odor" in the keyword search box on the event calendar page. 

Want to brainstorm with other wastewater professionals? Attend WEF's Odors and Air Pollutants Conference 2018 in Portland, Oregon in March, 2018. With sessions ranging from "Optimizing Hydrogen Peroxide Dosing" to "Odor Control Scrubber System Planning and Design," there will be many opportunities to learn in-depth solutions to any smelly situation. 

Featured Video: Nitrogen Removal in Wastewater Treatment

Nitrogen Removal in Wastewater Treatment from Steven Myers on Vimeo.

Featured Videos: Preparing Your System for Disasters & Emergencies

Preparing Your Wastewater System for Disasters and Emergencies from RCAP on Vimeo.

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

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. 

The Unique Challenges of Wildfires for Water Systems

Recent wildfires in California’s Sonoma and Napa Counties have caused loss of life and significant damage not only to over 5,700 homes and businesses, but also to critical water infrastructure in the region.

In Santa Rosa, residents have been instructed to use only bottled or boiled water for drinking and cooking. According to the city's water engineer, the system is currently experiencing unusually low water pressure, due either to high volumes being used by firefighters or damage to infrastructure. She explains that when water pressure drops below a certain level, backflow prevention devices – particularly in the higher elevations of the system – many not work properly.

Loss of pressure is only one of the many unique and harmful effects wildfire can have on water systems. This 2013 Water Research Foundation report on the effects of wildfire on drinking utilities lists many more, especially the dramatic physical and chemical effects on soils, source water streams and water quality that would necessitate changes to treatment operations and infrastructure. In fact, according to the US EPA, long-lasting post-fire impacts (especially flooding, erosion and sedimentation) can be more detrimental to water systems than the fire itself. 

The WRF report also suggests mitigation and preparedness strategies for utilities, including using fire behavior simulators to identify areas to target for fuel reduction activities, such as this goat grazing program in California. The idea behind such collaborative programs is that the less vegetation fuel available for fires to consume, the better. 

The increase in wildfire incidents such as these across the country make it all the more important for water systems of all sizes to be prepared for the unique challenges of wildfires. A good way to start your preparation is by checking out WaterOperator.org’s listing of free wildfire resources by typing in the word “wildfire” in the search box.

No time to lose? The US EPA has a page of "rip & run" resources including this Wildfire Incident Action Checklist.