December 2014
Jan. 7, Feb. 3, March 4, Apr. 1 May 6, July 1, Aug. 5 - Management Candidate School - 36 credit hours - Kennebunk, ME - JETCC
Jan. 25-28 – NEWEA Annual Conference & Exhibit - credit hours
vary by session– Boston, MA
Feb. 3-4 - MWUA 89th Annual February Meeting & Trade Show -credit hours vary by session - Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, ME - MWUA
Feb. 12 - Mobile & Remote Communication – 6 credit hours -
Houlton, ME - JETCC
Feb. 19 - Mobile & Remote Communication – 6 credit hours - Saco, ME - JETCC
Feb. 23, Mar 3, 10, 17, 24 - April 7 - 6 Tuesdays - Basic WW Training (NYSA) - 30 credit hours -Brunswick - JETCC
Feb. 25 - Hands-on Motor Maintenance-6 credit hours - Augusta, ME - JETCC
March 12 - Specialty Coatings & Surface Preparation 6 credit hours - Bangor, ME - JETCC
March 24 - Pump Maintenance & Troubleshooting (NYSA) - 6 credit hours - Bar Harbor, ME - JETCC
March 25 - Fats, Oils, Grease (FOG) Program Basics - 6 credit hours - York, ME - JETCC
March 26 - Pump Maintenance & Troubleshooting (NYSA) - 6 credit hours - Bar Harbor, ME - JETCC
April 1 & 2 - North Country Convention (NYSA) - credit hours vary by session - Presque Isle, ME - JETCC
April 14 - Basics of Operator Math - 6 credit hours - Calais, ME - JETCC
April 29 - Introduction to your Microscope - 6 credit hours - Waterville, ME - JETCC
May 6,7 & 8 - O&M of Wastewater Collection Systems - 15 credit hours - Portland, ME - JETCC
For more information on these programs, please contact the
training provider directly:
JETCC: www.jetcc.org
NEIWPCC: www.neiwpcc.org
MEWEA (formerly Maine Wastewater):www.mewea.org
MRWA: wwwmainerwa.org
NEWEA: www.newea.org
RCAP: www.rcapsolutions.org
MEDEP
is pleased to announce that Wastewater Operator Certification Exams will be
offered as Computer Based Testing (CBT) beginning in March 2015. There will be a “sunset period” where both
CBT and the traditional paper exam will be offered as we transition to the new
technology.
A
copy of Commissioner Aho’s letter and Frequently
Asked Questions concerning CBT can be found on the DEP website’s Wastewater
Operator Certification Program page: www.maine.gov/dep/water/wwoperator.
1. The jar test is used to determine the proper dosage for which chemical?
a. chlorine for disinfection
b. activated carbon for absorption of organic chemicals
c. polymer for sludge coagulation
d. lime for pH control
2. Which of the following is most resistant to disinfection?
a. Fecal Coliform
b. Salmonella
c. Protozoa
d. Spores
3. An operator who normally wastes 1500 gallons of sludge with a concentration of 3% is now able to pump sludge with a 5% concentration. How many gallons should be pumped to remove the same amount of sludge solids?
a. 600 gallons
b. 900 gallons
c. 1200 gallons
d. 1500 gallons
4. You notice a sour, septic odor coming from your secondary clarifiers. When you examine the return sludge, it is black. What would you do to fix this problem?
a. increase the number of times the clarifiers are cleaned.
b. reduce the return rate to prevent septic sludge from harming the aeration basins.
c. increase the return rate to reduce the sludge detention time in the clarifiers.
d. do nothing, this is a normal operating condition.
Thanks to all who participated in the DMR-QA Study 34. As
the new coordinator, I appreciate your cooperation during the transition
from Dick Darling’s retirement to my coming onboard with MEDEP in September and
taking over as DMR-QA program Coordinator for the State of Maine.
For 2015, I hope to manage Study 35 using electronic files as much
as possible. You should receive Study 35 packages in January or February
from the EPA by email, with mailing addresses as a back-up. For
those who prefer not to use email, you will receive the package by mail. Everyone can always send paper copies of
reports if you prefer to email.
When you are sending your reports to MEDEP, you can either email
to judy.k.bruenjes@maine.gov, or mail
to: Judy Bruenjes, Division of Water Quality Management, 17 State House
Station Augusta, ME 04333-0017 (207) 287-7806.
The EPA proposed study dates are provided below.
2015 DMR-QA Important Dates to Remember
Jan/Feb - Permittee receives DMR-QA package from EPA by mail or
email. Upon receipt of your package,
send the address verification form (first page of DMR-QA package) to MEDEP by
mail or email. List any changes to
Company Name, Contact Name/Title, or Mailing Address. If no changes, write “No changes to address
in body of the email. The form is due to
MEDEP by Mar 20.
Jan 1 to Jul 10 – Order your PT samples and perform DMR-QA
testing. All PT samples must be managed,
analyzed, reported, and otherwise handled in the same manner as routine samples
using the same staff, procedures, equipment, and sequence of analytical steps.
Send ungraded Data Reports to PT Provider upon completion.
Jul 10 - Study 35 ends. Deadline to submit ungraded Data
Report to PT Provider.
When you receive the test results from the PT Provider, fill out
the NPDES Permittee Data Report Form (applicable pages 10-13 of DMR-QA
Package). Make sure to complete
checklists to reflect Test Required and whether the results were “Acceptable”
or “Not Acceptable”. Send completed
report to MEDEP by mail or email.
NOTE: If you received “Not
Acceptable” for any analyte, notify MEDEP of the results and start to work on
your Corrective Action report to determine the cause. Order new samples of failed analytes for
retesting.
Jul 31 – By this date contract labs should have received the graded
test results from the PT Provider.
Aug 14 - Deadline for Contract labs to send graded test results to
Permittee. If you do not receive by this
date, contact your contract lab.
Aug 28 – Deadline for MEDEP to receive your Data Report. For tests that were “Not Acceptable”, the new
samples for retest should have been ordered and retest begun.
Oct
9 – Deadline to send Corrective Action report to MEDEP for failed analytes. The report should identify and report causes
and system changes to correct the discrepancies and avoid a reoccurrence. The
corrective action letter and graded retest report need to be forwarded to MEDEP
as soon as possible.
The following PT laboratories are accredited by NELAC to
participate in the DMR-QA Study:
PT Providers Chem
Micro WET
Absolute Standards, Inc., Hampden, CT X
X
Advanced Analytical Solution, Parkersburg, WV X
X
Sigma Aldrich, Laramie, WY X
X X
Environmental Resources Assoc. (ERA), Golden, CO X
X X
Phenova, Inc. Golden, CO X
X
X
NSI Lab Solutions, Raleigh, NC X
X
NYS COH Environmental Lab Approval Program, Albany, NY X
X
Questions? You can contact
Judy Bruenjes at (207) 287-7806 or email judy.k.bruenjes@maine.gov.
1. c. Jar tests are
typically used to determine the optimum dose of a polymer or other coagulant
for sludge conditioning or removal of a metal.
2. d. Some bacteria and
protozoa can form spores or cysts that can resist disinfection by
chlorine. Giardia and Criptosporidium
are examples of pathogenic protozoa that form cysts that are nor usually killed
by chlorine disinfection and can cause human health problems.
3. b. The total sludge
wasted at 3% concentration is: 1500 gal % 0.03 % 8.34lb/gal = 375.3 lbs
To
waste 375.3 pounds of sludge at 5% concentration, the number of gallons is
calculated as:
375.3
lbs. + (0.05 % 8.34 lb./gal) = 900 gallons.
This
can be simplified as: [1500 % 0.03 % 8.34] + [0.05 % 8.34] = 900 gallons
4. c. The sour, septic odor
means that the sludge is becoming anaerobic because it is sitting too long in
the clarifiers. Increasing the return
rate will move the sludge back to the aerobic conditions in the aeration tanks
and help prevent the septic conditions from happening in the clarifiers
Just a reminder that,
in order to avoid a procedural error, applicants must provide public notice
within 30 days prior to submitting their application for
permit renewal to the Department. This requirement is stipulated in our
rules at Rules Concerning the Processing of Applications and Other
Administrative Matters, 06-096 CMR 2(14)(A). Public notice of the
application, including publication in a newspaper if required, must be
completed before mailing your application to the Department. Failure to follow
this requirement of the applicable rules will result in returning your application
as incomplete for processing. If you have questions regarding public
notice or any other section of the application please call us at 287-7688 and
ask to speak with a waste discharge permit writer.
| 
