August 2017
Mark your Calendar for Upcoming 2017-2018 Annual Conferences
It is summer now, but not too early to plan for upcoming events. You won’t want to miss out on the annual conferences for many water/wastewater associations in Maine and New England.
Maine Water Environment Association (MEWEA) will hold its Fall Convention on September 20th -22nd at the Sunday River Grand Summit Hotel & Conference Center in Newry, Maine. More info at www.mewea.org.
Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) kicks off their 37th Annual Conference & Tradeshow on December 5th-7th at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. More info at www.mainerwa.org.
The New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) is hosting the 2018 Annual Conference & Exhibit on January 21st -24th at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston. More info at www.newea.org.
The Maine Water Utilities Association (MWUA) will hold its 92nd Annual February Meeting & Trade Show in February, 2018 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. More info at www.mwua.org.
Don’t miss the chance to get together with other water/wastewater professionals for the latest practices, technologies, training, products, services, and networking opportunities.
August 15 - MRWA - Best Management Practices (BMP) for MS4 & Non-MS4 Communities, York, WOB 3 TCH
August 22 - MRWA - Best Management Practices (BMP) for MS4 & Non-MS4 Communities, Yarmouth, WOB 3 TCH
August 29 - MRWA - Best Management Practices (BMP) for MS4 & Non-MS4 Communities, Lewiston, WOB 3 TCH
September 5, 7, 12, 14, & 19 - MRWA - VSWS / Class 1 Water Operator Exam Preparatory Course, Farmington & Gorham, WOB 25 TCH
September 12 - MRWA - Best Management Practices (BMP) for MS4 & Non-MS4 Communities, Bangor, WOB 3 TCH
September 13 - NEWEA - Industrial Wastewater Conference & Tour, Portsmouth, NH
September 20 Thru 22 - MEWEA - 2017 Fall Convention, Newry, Variable TCH's
September 26 - NEWEA - Small Community Conference, Keene, NH
November 8 - JETCC - Management Candidate School (MCS), 11 Month Training Program, Portland
December 5 Thru 7 - MRWA - 37th Annual Conference & Tradeshow, Bangor, Variable TCH's
January 21 Thru 24 - NEWEA - 2018 Annual Conference & Exhibit, Boston, Variable TCH's
February 2018 - MWUA - 92nd Annual February Meeting & Tradeshow, Portland, Variable TCH's
JETCC is pleased to announce that the 9th year of Management Candidate School will begin on November 8th in Portland. Thank you to Portland Water District for hosting the Class of 2018!
The Management Candidate School (MCS) is an 11-month training program that provides the intensive training, networking and skill-development coursework necessary to prepare the next generation of water and wastewater managers and leaders. With many of Maine's current water and wastewater managers at or near retirement age, it is hoped that the individuals who complete the MCS program will be able to continue the critical work of managing the state's water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. This exciting training program is aimed at mid-level operators with management potential.
This year’s MCS class of 19 wastewater and water operators will be graduating at the MEWEA Convention in September, bringing the total number of MCS graduates to 152.
Visit JETCC’s website at www.jetcc.org for updates.
1. Which one of the following statements is TRUE in regard to the concept of pH?
a. pH indicates the amount of total alkalinity available.
b. A raw sludge sample with a pH of 6.5 is slightly basic.
c. Bacteria in wastewater generally function well at a pH near 7.0.
d. A pH meter gives the percent hydrogen ion concentration as its direct readout value.
e. Accurate pH measurements on raw wastewater require that a 24-hours flow-proportioned sample be collected.
2. Which one of the following statements regarding facultative ponds is TRUE?
a. DO concentrations may often exceed 10 mg/L during the afternoon of a warm and sunny day.
b. The pH may fall as carbon dioxide is consumed by algae.
c. Aerobic bacteria produce oxygen that is consumed by algae.
d. A facultative pond has no anaerobic layer and no aerobic layer.
e. Facultative ponds are operated only in series, never in parallel.
3. The total solids in wastewater would be a combination of:
a. Fixed solids and settleable solids.
b. Dissolved solids and volatile solids.
c. Dissolved solids and suspended solids.
d. Suspended solids and fixed solids.
e. Fixed solids and dissolved solids.
4. What is the percent of BOD removed in a plant when the influent BOD is 245 mg/L and the effluent BOD is 22 mg/L?
a. 91%
b. 86%
c. 89%
d. 88%
e. 90%
5. A plastic float is dropped into a wastewater channel and is found to travel 10 feet in 4.2 seconds. The channel is 2.4 feet wide and is flowing 1.8 feet deep. Calculate the flow rate of this wastewater in cubic feet per second.
a. 1.0 ft³/sec.
b. 2.3 ft³/sec.
c. 4.2 ft³/sec.
d. 5.7 ft³/sec.
e. 10.3 ft³/sec.
6. What is the detention time in a stabilization pond if the influent flow rate is 0.785 MGD, the pond depth is 4.5 feet, and the pond covers 17 acres?
a. 97 days.
b. 56 days.
c. 32 days.
d. 14 days.
e. 4.2 days.
7. What is the volume of water (in gallons) in an upright 25 foot diameter cylindrical tank with a water depth of 22 feet?
a. 10,794 gallons
b. 13,750 gallons
c. 80,737 gallons
d. 90,022 gallons
e. 102,850 gallons
8. A wastewater treatment plant fed approximately 101 lbs of chlorine over a 24 hour period. The facility flow was 1.2 MGD and the measured average chlorine residual was 0.5 mg/L. What was the approximate chlorine demand, expressed in mg/L?
a. 19.0
b. 5.0
c. 0.95
d. 0.5
e. 9.5
The Department has completed its ranking of the projects that were submitted for potential 2017 Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) financing. FFY 2017 is the eighth year that federal law allows additional subsidies to be offered in the regular CWSRF program.
The 2017 CWSRF capitalization grant is $10,263,000, of which we are required to offer a minimum of 10% ($1,026,300) in additional subsidies to loan applicants; and at the program’s discretion can offer up to a maximum of $4,105,200. The Department received requests to fund 34 projects totaling approximately $51.9 million.
Additional subsidies are being offered to applicants as loan principal forgiveness (PF) in three categories; Affordability, Fiscal Sustainability Planning, and Climate Adaptation Planning. Applications with capital projects were prioritized by environmental benefit and the PF in each category offered in order of ranking, highest environmental benefit to lowest. This year the CWSRF also offered PF to applicants that did not have a capital project, but were still interested in developing a Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) or a Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP). These projects were ranked using the CWSRF affordability criteria and the available funding distributed to the applicants needing the most financial assistance first. Five applications were received from communities that were interest just FSP and/or CAP financing only. The Department is pleased that it was able to offer $3,542,062 in affordability PF to five applicants, $447,500 in fiscal sustainability planning PF to 19 applicants, and $100,000 in climate adaptation planning PF to five applicants, for a total of $4,089,562. All requests for FSP and CAP financing were met.
To receive the annual CWSRF capitalization grant, the Department must show the need for the funds in an Intended Use Plan. The Draft 2017 Intended Use Plan (IUP) is posted for public review and comment on the Department’s web site at http://www.maine.gov/dep/water/grants/srfparag.html. The draft IUP contains a ranking of the projects and the amount of loan principal forgiveness that is being offered to the applicants for affordability, fiscal sustainability plans, and climate adaptation plans. The IUP cannot be finalized until it has gone through a public review and comment period and the Department has also heard back from the loan applicants as to their intentions on accepting the CWSRF financing, principal forgiveness, and conditions.
Loan applicants have been notified of the funding package that the CWSRF is offering for their project(s) and must fax or e-mail their agreement form(s) to Brandy Piers at 287-3435 or brandy.m.piers@maine.gov. by 5 pm August 9th. The deadline for comments on the draft IUP is 5:00 pm, August 11th and should be submitted to John True at 287-7808 or john.n.true@maine.gov.
Hello NetDMR users. This month you will see two updates; one is a reminder to finish the NetDMR to CDX migration if you have not already and the second is a repeat from the beginning of the year about submitting the correct DMR for the correct year.
Update One – Migrate your NetDMR to CDX, if you have not already
The vast majority of you have already done this, but for those of you who have not, please complete your NetDMR user account migration to CDX! Even if you are the backup signatory and rarely, if ever, use NetDMR, doesn’t the point of being the backup mean that you know how to use NetDMR and can access it in case of emergency? So, for those of you who have not successfully migrated, please feel free to contact me with questions or to receive guidance (rebecca.m.beam@maine.gov).
Update Two – Make Sure You Submit the Correct Year (2017)
This is not occurring as frequently, but DMRs are still getting accidently submitted for 2016, so I decided to repeat this message:
Some facilities, but not all, have blank DMRs from when you registered for NetDMR. These DMRs were never submitted in NetDMR because DEP was in the process of transitioning to NetDMR and your facility was still submitting by paper or eDMR. We know that this has caused some confusion and we are still trying to figure out a way to get rid of those DMRs that will never get submitted. If you have some of these old DMRs from 2016 hanging around, make sure to check the year and only submit DMRs for 2017!
I have suggested before that using the Monitoring Period End Date Range can be useful when searching for your DMRs. If you do not use the Monitoring Period End Date Range on the All DMRs & Copies of Record (CORs) search page (this is the page you come to automatically after entering NetDMR from CDX), now would be a great time to start! Using the Monitoring Period End Date Range to search for your DMRs will help you to find the DMRs you are looking for, reducing chances of accidently submitting old DMRs from 2016.
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.
Certification Update – Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) or Operator of Record
If you are the Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) or Operator of Record of your facility, make doubly sure to keep your wastewater operator certificate up-to-date. Failure to renew properly could jeopardize your status as the ORC. Be mindful of the March 1 biennial renewal deadline and whether your license number is odd- or even-numbered so you know whether to renew March 2018 or March 2019.
In accordance with MRS 32, Ch. 62., §§4171 – 4182 Sewage Treatment Operators, DEP classifies wastewater treatment facilities based on the size, type, character of wastewater to be treated, and physical conditions affecting the plant. The ORC must hold a grade level equal to or higher than the classification of the plant, or be a licensed Professional Engineer.
Operators who fail to renew properly by their March 1 renewal deadline become “Inactive”. In accordance with C.M.R. 06-096 ch. 531, Regulations for Wastewater Operators, an Inactive operator cannot be the ORC. So it is especially important to be aware of the deadlines and renew your certificate on time if you are the ORC of your plant.
A facility should consider having a back-up plan in case the ORC cannot fulfill their duties, whether due to job change, retirement, illness, etc. This could mean identifying someone at the plant who is certified at the required level, a licensed operator from a nearby town, or a contract operator hired to serve as the ORC until another ORC is found.
Another thing to consider: If your back-up ORC would also be submitting NetDMR reports, make sure they are up-to-speed on the system and have a CDX account. It’s better to prepare in advance than have to scramble at the last minute to meet a reporting deadline.
Remember, holders of even-numbered certificates will be required to renew by March 1, 2018. So take a look at your wallet card today so you know your renewal deadline and make sure your plant is always covered.
If you have any questions, call Judy Bruenjes at 207-287-7806, email judy.k.bruenjes@maine.gov.
Many facilities have received their DMR-QA results from the (PT) labs and are beginning to send the results to DEP. They are not officially due until September 1, but feel free to submit early either by mail or email. The mailing address is DEP-DWQM, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.
The EPA DMR-QA Study 37 package was emailed to study participants in February. If you don’t have a copy, it can be found at this link: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-02/documents/package37_0.pdf.
Please complete pages 10-12 of this form and send to DEP together with a copy of the PT lab result for all analytes tested in your lab as follows:
- Page 10: NPDES Permittee Data Report Form – complete and sign
- Page 11: Identification of Laboratories – List all the labs you use. If you don’t know the lab code, let me know.
- Page 12: Chemistry/Microbiology Analyte Checklist – Check off the analytes required on your permit, and whether you test them in-house or analyze by a state-certified lab
- A copy of the lab results from the PT lab showing whether or not you passed each analyte tested in your lab.
Don’t worry about completing page 13 (WET Analyte Checklist) or sending WET test results to DEP. I will get the information from the WET lab directly. Also I do not need to see the results of analytes that are tested by your contract lab, such as phosphorus or low level mercury. These are covered under DHHS’ lab certification program and not part of this DMR-QA study.
If you fail any tests, let me know by letter or email as soon as possible. You will need to order retest samples from the PT lab by August 18. The retest results and a Corrective Action report are due to DEP by October 27.
You can always call or email if you have any questions or require further information, judy.k.bruenjes@maine.gov, 207-287-7806.
Answers
1. C
2. A
3. C
4. A
5. E
6. C
7. C
8. E
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