June 2017
January 12 Thru June 15, 2017 Wastewater Operator School (WOS), Southern Maine Region (meets every other Thursday, twice/month)
June 4 Thru 7 - NEWEA - Spring Meeting & Exhibit, N. Falmouth, MA., Varying TCH
June 22 - MRWA - Twenty-First Annual Lagoon Day - Jackman, ME DEP 4.75 TCH
June 27 - NEWEA - NEWWA and EPA Effective Utility Management Workshop, Holliston, MA., WW 1.5 TCH
June 27 & 28 - MRWA - EPA, RTCR, & LCR Compliance for Schools, Waterville
July 12 - NEWEA - NEWWA & NE APWA's Water Resources and Infrastructure Climate Resiliency Conference, Lowell, MA.
Sept. 20 Thru 22 - MEWEA - 2017 Fall Convention, Sunday River
1. When organic wastes are discharged to receiving waters, oxygen is depleted by:
a. Algae during the day
b. Bacteria
c. Ducks
d. Limestone Rocks
2. Employee hazards include:
a. Noxious or toxic gases or vapors
b. Oxygen deficiency
c. Physical injuries
d. All of the above
3. Hydrogen sulfide gives off an odor similar to:
a. Ammonia
b. Chlorine Gas
c. Rotten eggs
d. Decayed wood
4. Coliform bacteria are:
a. Algae
b. Coagulant aids
c. Indicators
d. Sequestering agents
5. Three waterborne diseases are:
a. Mumps, measles, colds
b. Scarlet fever, pneumonia, hay fever
c. Typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera
d. Tuberculosis, diphtheria, chickenpox
6. A cylindrical tank is 10 ft. in diameter and 20 ft. in height. What is the approximate
capacity in gallons?
a. 11,743
b. 8,200
c. 1,570
d. 1,123
7. Immediate first aid for bums is to:
a. Bandage tightly
b. Cover liberally with salve
c. Immerse in warm water
d. Flood with cold water
8. Which of the pH readings indicates an acidic wastewater?
a. 3
b. 7
c. 9
d. 12
9. If water weighs 8.34 lb./gal., how much will 7.5 gal. weigh?
a. 50.8 lb
b. 62.5 lb
c. 75.6 lb
d. 77.3 lb
10. One mL is what fraction of L?
a. 1/10
b. 1/100
c. 1/1000
d. 1/10,000
11. A possible cause of electric motor failure is:
a. Dirt
b. Moisture
c. Friction
d. All of the above
12. Your pump ran continuously for 24 hours and delivered 288,000 gal. The capacity of the pump in gpm is:
a. 100
b. 200
c. 1,000
d. 12,000
13. Approximately how many gallons of wastewater would 600 ft. of 6-inch pipe hold?
a. 740
b. 880
c. 900
d. 930
14. A water seal on a pump serves a dual purpose. It acts as a lubricant and it also:
a. Acts as a coolant to keep the pump bearing from overheating
b. Keeps gritty material from entering the packing box
c. Keeps the pump primed
d. Is a reserve water supply
15. The elevation of any pump above the source of supply should not exceed ____ft.?
a. 2.2
b. 22
c. 200
d. 224
NetDMR Update – Central Data Exchange (CDX) Part Five
We made it! Hopefully you have all successfully completed your NetDMR-CDX migration with the email you should have received on Saturday, May 20th (actually two days earlier than scheduled). If not, I recommend completing it before your next DMR is due; June 15th will be here before you know it!
The following three links should work for accessing a CDX login page (remember this is how you will access NetDMR from now on, is by logging in through CDX):
1) From the NetDMR Zendesk website: https://netdmr.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
2) CDX Directly: https://cdx.epa.gov
3) NetDMR (through CDX): https://netdmr.epa.gov
If your old bookmark isn’t working, please replace it with one of these.
If you have further questions about the migration or NetDMR in general, you can contact me: Rebecca Beam – NetDMR Coordinator – at 207-287-9034 or rebecca.m.beam@maine.gov or call your inspector.
Asset Management: A Necessity of Every Utility
When you say, what is asset management? You may get different answers depending on who you talk to. When I worked for a utility, asset management meant keeping track of the equipment and parts inventory, figuring out what we needed more of and how much money we should be asking for to get it. When I worked for a consulting firm, asset management meant inventorying a client’s assets and determining which assets needed to be replaced first. As I now sit in the regulator’s chair, I have come to understand that asset management is all of those things and more.
Asset management involves identifying what your goals are as a utility, figuring out what assets you need to achieve your goals and having a plan to ensure those assets are in place and working when you need them.
A common myth is that asset management planning is complex and requires you to document every detail of your utility. The truth is, asset management planning can be tailored to the needs of your utility. If you have an asset management program that allows you to carry out the goals of your utility, you are successfully practicing asset management.
I’ve heard the same old story dozens of times around the state: a utility choses short-term savings year after year by delaying the replacement of assets in bad shape, followed by a disaster that forces the utility to take action by hiking up users rates all at once to replace the failing system. I’ve never heard of any winners in this scenario. The utility loses the public’s confidence and the users see their utility bill jump, sometimes by double digits, to pay for the new equipment. The most frustrating part about this story is that the ending could have been a better one if the utility had just taken the time to practice good asset management.
Some operators might say “Asset management makes sense, but I don’t have time for that. I have a utility to run.” In response to that, I would say: what’s more time consuming than baby-sitting outdated equipment that has exceeded its useful life and regularly fails? What is more aggravating than getting a call in the middle of the night to come clean out a customer’s backed-up basement because a pipe collapsed? Practicing good asset management allows you to head off these issues before they arise to a crisis level and allows you to do it in an affordable manner.
In order to help utilities get an asset management program up and running, Maine DEP is offering financial incentives to create a fiscal sustainability plan (FSP) for your utility. A fiscal sustainability plan is essentially an asset management plan that takes water and energy conservation efforts into consideration, and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program is providing loan principal forgiveness to utilities who are interested in creating an FSP. The CWSRF program also has staff that are trained to answer your FSP questions and provide you with technical assistance.
The CWSRF program put out a request soliciting projects and applications for FSP funding on May 25th with an application deadline of June 23rd. Principal forgiveness is limited, so be sure to get your application in by the June 23rd deadline in order to be eligible. Questions about CWSRF program financing of an FSP should be directed to John True, 207-287-7808 or John.N.True@maine.gov.
Remember, all assets are going to eventually break down and stop working. The question is: are you going to be ready when it happens, or are you going to be left scrambling when the time comes?
Corey W. Lewis
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute
endorsement by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection of the linked
web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein.
Copyrighted material. Reprinted and edited with permission from Environmental
Leverage, www.environmentalleverage.com
Wild Weather
How can wild and extreme weather impact your plant? How can you combat problems weather can cause?
Weather is unpredictable. Extreme cold or high temperatures, excessive rain, hurricanes, blizzards or drought can all impact the conditions of the wastewater treatment plant.
Most plants were designed or have been modified to account for weather fluctuations.
They have spare parts, EQ basins, holding tanks, diversion ponds, and heaters or heat exchangers for just such occasions. While these plants have back-up provisions, others are stuck running around trying to jury rig whatever they can to limp through the sudden weather changes that can wreak havoc their plant.
Excessive rain can cause hydraulic overloads leading to solids washout. This can impact many parts of the plants. Hydraulic washout can cause problems in the primaries as well as the aeration basins. Washing out too much of the MLSS from the aeration basin, as well as the clarifiers, can cause loss of mature biomass, resulting in a younger biomass in your plant. While the carbonaceous bacteria can recover quickly, the nitrifiers, if washed out, will take quite a while to build back up to a significant number capable of handling plant influents. Waste less if this happens, and try to return more recycle if possible until you are able to recover. If you have a once-through lagoon, you can re-seed with bioaugmentation cultures, replenishing the carbonaceous or nitrifiers as necessary.
Heavy rains can cause numerous issues in lift stations for municipalities, especially those with I/I issues. Rain on roads under construction can cause high levels of oil to be washed into the collection system. This increased oil level can induce Nocardia on Microthrix to grow in your plant, since they thrive on excessive oil and grease. This can also lead to foaming problems at your plant.
Rain can also cause large chunks of grease to dislodge in the sewer lines and lift stations and make its way down to the primaries of a wastewater treatment plant. Check you primaries and adjust skimmers after a large rainfall to make sure you are pulling as much grease as possible. It may be necessary to have extra personnel come in over the weekend to pull excessive grease off the primaries to avoid Monday morning problems.
Excessive oil and grease from heavy rains can cause foaming on the aeration basin. Try to remove as much oil and grease in the primaries to avoid problems further into the plant.
Make sure collection systems are properly maintained to reduce oil and grease entering the plant in the first place.
High rains, hurricanes or flooding can cause clarifiers to washout. The beds will rise and float over the edge of the clarifier, losing a critical amount of MLSS. This will interfere with plant operations and can lead to permit violations. Having an EQ tank, diversion tank, or extra aeration basin or clarifier can help, but it needs to be empty, clean and ready when large storms are expected. The excess flow is collected during high rains in order to bleed some of the water back into the system after the rains have subsided. This is the best-case scenario and allows the plant time to recover from heavy rains without causing washout, loss of MLSS or efficiency for the plant. Many plants are not allowed this luxury.
Disinfection can also be impacted by severe weather. Municipalities and industrials that must disinfect prior to discharge are significantly impacted by hydraulic overload. If the flows are too high and run too fast through the system, especially if you have UV or ozone, you may have a hard time meeting permit limits. A typical 3-4 MGD plant can sometimes get as high as 10-15 MGD flow with heavy rains! This is incredibly hard on a biological plant to handle.
Droughts or fires on the other hand, can cause problems in the opposite extreme. Dry weather for municipalities can tend to reduce flows, which has several deleterious effects.
The MLSS will get significantly older, which allows filaments to dominate due to longer MCRT and lower F/M. When this happens, adjust the bed levels in your clarifier in order to lower your MLSS, using microscopic evaluations as a guide. If you usually run at a medium-age sludge with stalked ciliates and a few rotifers dominate, but suddenly you have only rotifers and many worms, you know your sludge age is too old and you need to increase wasting.
When droughts increase the likelihood of fire in the community you serve, there can be additional problems if fire-fighting water is introduced into the collection system. The water used to fight the fire has chemicals that can interfere with wastewater plants if flushed down the drain. These chemicals can be harsh and impact the pH and alkalinity in the system. They also may have significant BOD loading that requires adjustment to MLSS level.
Foaming chemicals may have been added to the water which can cause foaming on the aeration basins. There may be chemical additives that are toxic to the biomass or specifically to nitrifiers.
Watch your system carefully if you know water from fighting a fire was washed down the drain. After a fire, run more process control tests, and check your nutrient levels if the influent has high BOD. Look under a microscope at the bacteria and they will “tell” you what is going on before it becomes critical.
Cold weather extremes can significantly impact a wastewater plant. Did you know that for every 10 degrees in temperature the activity of the biomass changes one log growth (ten times)? The MLSS will drop as the temperatures lowers, so you will need to make adjustments during changes in temperature. Even a change from 70 degrees to 60 degrees may require an MLSS increase. If it gets really cold you may need 2-3 times the MLSS and bed height in the clarifier compared to the summer months.
Oxidation ditches have many problems in the winter months due to the fact that they have a large surface area exposed to the cold weather, causing temperatures to drop more significantly than an activated sludge plant that has deeper tanks that retain heat. In addition, they don’t have the benefit of mechanical mixers that can help by generating some heat. Microthrix parvicella, a filamentous bacteria that can cause serious foaming problems, loves cold weather and can thrive in oxidation ditches during the winter. Watch all the variables at your plant to work around these issues.
Lagoons and once-through systems have a significant disadvantage during the winter months because they cannot increase their RAS. This limits their ability to degrade BOD when the bacteria slow down due to the cold. Remember that it is always a time and numbers game in a biological system. How much time you have is limited by the size of the process equipment. You can only play with the numbers to adjust to changing conditions in the influent BOD values so far. Luckily, lagoons have the option to use bioaugmentation during the winter months and still beat the BOD game.
Extremely high temperatures can also cause problems because they affect oxygen transfer. As water warms up, it can hold less oxygen. So as biological activity increases with warmer temperatures, DO levels will drop off. This can lead to ripe conditions for filament and algae growth. Denitrification, which leads to off-gassing and subsequent solids loss if occurring in the clarifier, can also increase. You may need to increase wasting in order to adjust the bed levels in your clarifiers. In extreme cases, especially in industries such as paper mills, heat exchangers are necessary to reduce high temperatures during the summer in order to achieve biological removal.
If your plant jumps between high and low temperatures, your biomass may start to get temperamental. Any 10% temperature change is monumental to the bacteria, so try to keep this in mind when you are making adjustments. When the temperature is fluctuating, try to make any process control changes incrementally to allow the bacteria time to adjust.
If the temperature climbs over 100 degrees F , you will still get BOD degradation as long as the increase was gradual. Some plants consistently run from 115 - 120 degrees F. They may only get nominal BOD degradation and have other problems such as poor floc formation and high TSS levels, and need to carefully watch their effluent TSS levels. Polymer consumption, if used, will increase during this time as plants must add more chemical to improve settling and avoid TSS violations.
Wild weather can be tricky for the operator. Planning in advance for extremes, performing needed maintenance and preparing a Wet Weather plan can be critical. Better to prepare on a sunny day than scrambling during a deluge.
If you need assistance preparing a Wet Weather plan or have other questions, contact Judy Bruenjes at 207-287-7806, email judy.k.bruenjes@maine.gov for DEP Technical Assistance.
Answers
1. b
2. d
3. c
4. c
5. c
6. a
7. d
8. a
9. b
10. c
11. d
12. b
13. b
14. b
15. b
| 
