June 2018 O&M Newsletter

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June 2018

In this issue:


Calendar


June 3 Thru 6 - NEWEA - Spring Meeting & Exhibit, Newport R.I., Variable TCH

June 13 - JETCC - Lab Overview for Occasional Lab Personnel, Paris, DEP 6 TCH, WOB 6 TCH

June 13 - MRWA - Liens & Disconnections: Real Life Instruction, Caribou

June 21 - MRWA - Weather 101, Caribou, DEP 3 TCH, WOB 3 TCH

June 25 - NEWEA - Industrial Wastewater Specialty Conference & Tour, Portsmouth NH, 5.25 TCH


Monthly Problem Set / For Practice, June


1. A 50-pound container of calcium hypochlorite contains 65% available chlorine. How many pounds of available chlorine does it contain?

a. 76.9 pounds
b. 32.5 pounds
c. 17.5 pounds
d. 2.5 pounds

2. You have been given instructions to add 2 lbs of 100% chlorine to your system. You have at your disposal the compound HTH that is 65% available chlorine (Cl2). How much HTH will you add to meet the 2 lb requirement?

a. 2.0 lbs
b. 0.31 lbs
c. 3.1 lbs
d. 3.5 lbs

3. The discharge pressure gauge on a pump reads 125 psi. This is equivalent to how many feet of water or feet of head?

a. 312
b. 188
c. 277
d. 289

4. How many gallons will a 12” line 3000 feet long hold when completely full?

a. 50,000 gals
b. 17,615 gals
c. 27,630 gals
d. 3,000 gals

5. How many pounds of chlorine would you need to treat five million gallons of water and have a chlorine dosage of 2.6 mg/L?

a. 13 lbs.
b. 3.2 lbs.
c. 97 lbs.
d. 108 lbs.


$50 Million Dollar Bond to Fund Wastewater Infrastructure


On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, the Maine Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs held a public hearing on L.D. 1510, An Act to Authorize A General Fund Bond Issue to Fund Wastewater Infrastructure Projects for Ratification by Voters.  This $50 million-dollar bond, if approved, will provide grant funds for wastewater infrastructure.  The bond has broad support from a coalition of approximately 40 entities, including the Maine Water Environment Association and the Maine Rural Water Association.

If you are interested in this issue, contact your local Representative and Senator today.  Details on the bond are provided in the fact sheet below.  You can also find additional information on this issue at the MeWEA’s website here: https://www.mewea.org/#

You can find Legislative contact information at these links.

http://legislature.maine.gov/senate/find-your-state-senator/9392

http://legislature.maine.gov/house/townlist.htm

Clean Water is Worth It!


Don't Take a Bath on Your New Incubator


If you are looking to convert to the IDEXX Colilert-18® method for fecal coliform testing, make sure your water bath incubation is capable of holding the incubation temperature between 44.3 deg. C and 44.7 deg. C. If you are thinking of getting a new incubator, be sure to get a water bath, and not an air bath incubator.  Effluent testing methods are governed by rules in the Federal Register: 40 CFR Part 136.3 includes Table IA—List of Approved Biological Methods for Wastewater and Sewage Sludge. Footnote 29 specifies: “To use Colilert-18® to assay for fecal coliforms, the incubation temperature is 44.5 +/- 0.2 deg. C, and a water bath incubator is used.” So an air bath incubator will not do. 

Enterococci and e. coli methods have incubation temperature ranges of 41 +/- 0.5 deg. C and 35 +/- 0.5 deg. C respectively. Most air bath incubators can typically meet this wider temperature range, but not the tighter +/- 0.2 °C range required for fecal coliform.


New Law for Municipal Satellite Collection Systems


Earlier this year, the legislature approved LD 399 - An Act Regarding Municipal Satellite Wastewater Collection Systems.  This bill became law on April 1, 2018, and will become effective on August 1, 2018.  The new law (P.L. 2017, ch. 353) establishes new requirements for Municipal Satellite Collection Systems (MSCS).  Prior to this law, MSCS were not subject to DEP regulation.

A MSCS is a wastewater collection system, owned or operated by a municipality or a quasi-municipal entity, that directly or indirectly conveys wastewater to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) that is owned or operated by a separate legal entity.  MSCS include gravity sewers and force mains.  Maine has 42 MSCSs that discharge to 27 different POTWs.

The law requires that the MSCS submit a simple registration form to the DEP containing contact information and basic information on the size of the system along with a basic map or schematic of the system.

The law also requires that the MSCS report any unauthorized discharges to the DEP following the same 24-hour verbal and 5 day written notification procedure that licensed dischargers follow.  An unauthorized discharge means a discharge of wastewater from a MSCS to any location other than the POTW it discharges to.

All MSCS were recently notified of the new law and provided with the proper forms and DEP contacts to comply with the new law.  A copy of the law can be found here:
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP0290&item=3&snum=128


Certification Update


New Testing Center Location at UMaine Farmington!

PSI, the testing company that delivers the wastewater certification exams has extended its delivery network. Beginning June 1, Computer Based Testing (CBT) will be offered at UMaine Farmington, in addition to the existing sites in Portland, Bangor (Holden), and Portsmouth, NH.

Additionally, some sites will offer Saturday appointments. For more information on what to expect at the testing site, click here to watch this brief video. To register for a certification exam, go to the JETCC website, www.jetcc.org to download an exam application.

Did You Know about Certificate Reciprocity?

Reciprocity is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit. If you have ever moved to another state and gotten a new driver’s license without having to retake the road test, that is an example of reciprocity. Did you know that Maine has a similar agreement with other states for wastewater certification?

In accordance with the Wastewater Operator Certification regulations, 06-096 C.M.R. ch 531,
a certified operator coming from out-of-state can have their certificate accepted by Maine without them needing to take the Maine certification exam, as long as:

- The certificate is valid and the operator is in good standing
- all other requirements are met (such as education or work experience),
- the applicant got their license by passing a test in the other state, and
- the other state grants reciprocity to operators certified in Maine

To apply for reciprocity, the operator fills out the exam application form and checks the box for “Reciprocity”. The application fee for reciprocity is $125 and the form must be notarized and sent to NEIWPCC-JETCC. Upon receipt, DEP reviews the application and determines the comparable certificate level in Maine. For example, Massachusetts has 7 categories of certificates and Maine has 5 levels. DEP matches up the other state’s certification type and level with the comparable type and level in Maine.

To complete the review, DEP contacts the Certification Officer in the other state to verify that the operator is in good standing. DEP also verifies that the certificate was received by examination. Let’s say, for example, that Idaho does not require an exam to get a certificate. An operator gets a certificate then transfers it to Alaska, then applies to Maine for reciprocity. Not so fast! Maine only grants reciprocity if the certificate was obtained by exam.

DEP also reviews the applicant’s education and work experience. If Arkansas, for example allows an operator with no experience and no high school diploma to get an entry-level certificate, that operator could not receive reciprocity unless Maine’s requirements for a Grade 1 operator were met. In this case either a high school diploma or at least 2 year’s work experience without a high school diploma or GED.

Other states, such as California, have extremely rigorous requirements for certification, so there is usually no problem to get reciprocity in Maine if you hold a wastewater certificate from California.

Once DEP has granted certification by reciprocity, the operator must follow all the other Maine rules, such as biennial renewal and receiving TCHs.

How does a Maine operator receive reciprocity in another state, such as New Hampshire or Rhode Island? Can a certificate be transferred without having to take a test? Contact the Certification Officer in that state to find out how they handle reciprocity and if they will transfer your certificate to their state without examination. And once you get that other state’s certificate, don’t forget that the renewal dates and requirements will all be different, so pay special attention to deadlines.

One caveat about reciprocity…after a long Maine winter it’s tempting to want to leave the cold behind and move to Florida. However, Florida does not recognize Maine’s program, or any other program in the country, for reciprocity. So you may have to try Arizona instead.


Monthly Problem Set / For Practice Answers, June


 

1. b.  50 lb X 0.65 = 32.5 lb
2. c.  2 lb / 0.65 = 3.1 lb
3. d.  125 psi X 2.31 ft head/psi = 289 ft head
4. b.  3.14 X R X R X length X 7.48 gal/cf = 3.14 X 0.5 ft X 0.5 ft X 3000 ft X 7.48 gal/cf = 17,615 gal or 0.785 X D X D X length X 7.48 gal/cf = 0.785 X 1 ft X 1 ft X 3000 ft X 7.48 gal/cf = 17,615 gal
 5. d. 5 MG X 2.6 mg/L X 8.34 lb/gal = 108.4 lb