florida water resources journal

Two new columns are debuting in the magazine this month: FWRJ Committee Profile and WEF HQ Newsletter.

News and Features4 Building Community Consensus for a Regional Supplier—Patrick Lehman, Donald Ross,

and Michael Condran18 University of Florida Constructs Panama Canal Centennial Trail on Campus34 University of Central Florida Receives Gift for Engineering Department38 WEF HQ Newsletter52 News Beat

Technical Articles8 Strategies for Sustainable Construction Using a Unique Rating System: A Case Study—

Rebecca M. Oliva22 Priorities: Getting the Most From Your Capital Improvement Plan—Jason Destigter42 Wastewater Treatment Cost Reduction: Stabilizing Chlorine Demand in Wastewater Effluent—

Charles Nichols, David Carr, Mark Lowenstine, and Craig Fuller

Education and Training14 FSAWWA ACE Luncheon15 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium24 FSAWWA Roy Likins Scholarship29 FWPCOA Training Calendar34 FSAWWA Fall Conference Call for Papers39 TREEO Center Training47 FWPCOA State Short School48 CEU Challenge49 FSAWWA Fall Conference

Columns17 Technology Spotlight20 Spotlight on Safety—Doug Prentiss Sr.30 Certification Boulevard—Roy Pelletier31 FWRJ Committee Profile—Students and Young

Professionals Committee32 FWRJ Reader Profile—Raymond Bordner36 FSAWWA Speaking Out—Mark Lehigh53 C Factor—Thomas King

Departments54 New Products55 Service Directories58 Classifieds60 Display Advertiser Index

Editor’s Office and Advertiser Information:Florida Water Resources Journal

1402 Emerald Lakes DriveClermont, FL 34711

Phone: 352-241-6006 • Fax: 352-241-6007Email: Editorial, [email protected]

Display and Classified Advertising, [email protected] Office:

P.O. Box 745, Windermere, FL 34786-0745Web: http://www.fwrj.com

General Manager: Michael DelaneyEditor: Rick HarmonGraphic Design Manager: Patrick DelaneyMailing Coordinator: Buena Vista Publishing

Published byBUENA VISTA PUBLISHING for

Florida Water Resources Journal, Inc.

President: Richard Anderson (FSAWWA)Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority

Vice President: Greg Chomic (FWEA)Heyward Incorporated

Treasurer: Rim Bishop (FWPCOA)Seacoast Utility Authority

Secretary: Holly Hanson (At Large)ILEX Services Inc., Orlando

Moving?The Post Office will not forward your magazine. Do not counton getting the Journal unless you notify us directly of addresschanges by the 15th of the month preceding the month ofissue. Please do not telephone address changes. Email changesto [email protected], fax to 352-241-6007, or mail to FloridaWater Resources Journal, 1402 Emerald Lakes Drive, Cler-mont, FL 34711

Membership QuestionsFSAWWA: Casey Cumiskey – 407-957-8447 or

[email protected]: Karen Wallace, Executive Manager – 407-574-3318FWPCOA: Darin Bishop – 561-840-0340

Training QuestionsFSAWWA: Donna Metherall – 407-957-8443 or

[email protected]: Shirley Reaves – 321-383-9690

For Other InformationDEP Operator Certification: Ron McCulley – 850-245-7500FSAWWA: Peggy Guingona – 407-957-8448Florida Water Resources Conference: 888-328-8448FWPCOA Operators Helping Operators:

John Lang – 772-559-0722, e-mail – [email protected]: Karen Wallace, Executive Manager – 407-574-3318

WebsitesFlorida Water Resources Journal: www.fwrj.comFWPCOA: www.fwpcoa.orgFSAWWA: www.fsawwa.orgFWEA: www.fwea.org and www.fweauc.orgFlorida Water Resources Conference: www.fwrc.org

Throughout this issue trademark names are used. Rather than place a trademarksymbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, we state we are using the namesonly in an editorial fashion, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no in-tention of infringement of the trademark. None of the material in this publicationnecessarily reflects the opinions of the sponsoring organizations. All correspon-dence received is the property of the Florida Water Resources Journal and is subjectto editing. Names are withheld in published letters only for extraordinary reasons.

Authors agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Florida Water Re-sources Journal Inc. (FWRJ), its officers, affiliates, directors, advisors, members, rep-resentatives, and agents from any and all losses, expenses, third-party claims, liability,damages and costs (including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees) arising from au-thors’ infringement of any intellectual property, copyright or trademark, or otherright of any person, as applicable under the laws of the State of Florida.

Florida Water Resources Journal, USPS 069-770, ISSN 0896-1794, is published monthly by Florida Water Resources Journal, Inc., 1402 Emerald Lakes Drive, Clermont, FL 34711, on behalf of the Florida Water & Pollution Control Operator’s Association, Inc.; Florida Section, American Water Works Association; and theFlorida Water Environment Association. Members of all three associations receive the publication as a service of their association; $6 of membership dues supportthe Journal. Subscriptions are otherwise available within the U.S. for $24 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Clermont, FL and additional offices.

POSTMASTER: send address changes to Florida Water Resources Journal, 1402 Emerald Lakes Drive, Clermont, FL 34711

Volume 67 May 2015 Number 5

ON THE COVER:

Florida Water Resources Journal • May 2015 3

4 May 2015 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Building Community Consensus for a Regional Supplier

Patrick Lehman, Donald Ross, and Michael Condran

Democratic governance re-quires consent of the governed.This is never truer than whenforging a cooperative approach toregional water supplies owned andoperated by different membergovernments and serving addi-tional political entities. The suc-cess of the Peace River ManasotaRegional Water Supply Authority(Authority) has rested upon itstransparent governance, outreachto all parties, and most impor-tantly, community supportthrough a not-for-profit educa-tional organization dedicated toextolling the benefits of regionalwater supplies. The Friends ofPeace Water Inc. has been an es-sential element of the Authority’sregional governance success.

Authority Profile

The Authority was created byinterlocal agreement among fourFlorida counties—Charlotte, DeS-oto, Manatee, and Sarasota—to en-sure adequate, dependable,high-quality water supplies for agrowing population of more than

900,000 in southwest Florida. Byworking within a regional consen-sus, the Authority has met the re-gion’s water supply and created arobust and reliable system success-fully meeting the challenges ofcompleting a capital expansionprogram and constructing new in-frastructure to expand treatmentand interconnect the region’smajor water supply systems.

The Authority is a wholesalesupplier of drinking water to itsmember governments. The agencyis operated through revenue col-lected by water sales to its cus-tomers—the member counties andthe City of North Port. The missionstatement of the Authority is “toprovide the region with a sufficient,high-quality drinking water supplythat is reliable, sustainable, and pro-tective of our resources, now andinto the future.”

The Authority was createdthirty years ago in 1982. Throughthe initial decade of the Authority,the planning effort focused on in-terconnecting water systems. In1991 the privately owned water util-ity serving Charlotte and DeSotoCounties and the North Port area ofSarasota County, General Develop-ment Utilities (GDU), went into

bankruptcy. The demise of GDU ledto acquisition of the existing PeaceRiver Facility located in DeSotoCounty and the existing transmis-sion pipeline that provided serviceto the water systems within thethree counties served by GDU.

Through the 1990s the Au-thority planned for expansion of thePeace River Facility and extension ofthe transmission pipeline system toprovide increased capacity to the ex-isting water systems and to provideexpanded water service to Charlotte,DeSoto, and Sarasota Counties.

The first decade of the 2000ssaw tremendous expansion of theAuthority’s infrastructure as it pro-gressed into a major operating util-ity. The Peace River Facilitytreatment capacity was expandedfrom 12 to 48 mil gal per day (mgd)and the regional transmissionpipeline system was extended from7 mi to over 65 mi of large diametertransmission pipelines.

Friends of Peace Water

The not-for-profit, Friends ofPeace Water Inc. (Friends) has beenan essential element of this regionalgovernance success. Organized by agroup of local business leaders whorecognized the value of a reliablewater supply and its role in eco-nomic growth and prosperity,Friends advances educational op-portunities for communities tolearn about their water supply, theeffects of human behavior on thesupply, the furtherance of public ed-ucation, and the maintenance ofFlorida’s water resources.

Large, forward-looking infra-structure projects often stretch theimagination. They may seem un-necessary, or even wasteful, at thetime they are planned. The budgetsare large, and the public often fearsthat they are overblown. Cynics be-lieve that the project is just a way forinsiders to make big money or con-sider it a government boondoggle.It’s against these headwinds thatelected officials make funding deci-

sions, often for benefits they will notsee in their term in office.

To provide balance againstthese fears and support for fund-ing decisions, public supportgroups often spring up from in-frastructure users to advocate forthe projects with an organizedvoice. A number of states havesupport groups for transportationprojects, including Florida. Thesegroups are usually comprised of acore membership of corporateusers who understand the eco-nomic benefits of infrastructuredevelopment. A grocery storechain in Florida, for instance, is amember of a group called Florid-ians for Better Transportation, andsees the benefit of road infrastruc-ture to its distribution system.

The Friends group was char-tered to support opportunities forlocal communities to learn abouttheir water supply. The founders be-lieved that many people are so usedto readily available, pure water fromthe tap that few understand what isrequired to keep the water flowing.Such public ignorance is a deterrentto prudent planning and develop-ment of water supplies, and Friends’mission is to foster a better under-standing in a variety of ways.

Public EducationFriends furthers its educational

mission on two fronts. First, it hostsan annual educational event forelected officials, community leaders,citizens at large, and the media atthe Authority’s Peace River Facility.In addition to facility tours, statepolitical leaders address the impor-tance of regional water supply de-velopment. Friends raises the fundsto support the event with a cateredbarbeque that has become the hall-mark of this traditional event. Beingprivate and nongovernmental,Friends can collect and spend fundsfor events of this type that would beprohibited by a public agency.

Friends’ education missionsupports three themes:

Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority location map. Continued on page 6


! Regionalism for water resourcedevelopment and distribution

! Environmental sustainability! Managing competition among

industrial, agricultural, and pub-lic supply demands

RegionalismWater resources rarely respect

political boundaries, and muchtime, energy, and money has beenwasted in litigation by public usersover rights to water supplies. Adopt-ing a regional framework for waterresource development helps diffusethe tensions among local jurisdic-tions about water use rights. Floridalaw provides for the creation of re-gional water supply authorities byinterlocal agreement among localgovernments for the provision ofwholesale water supply to locally-owned utilities.

Friends supports, through ed-ucation, the regional governance ofthe Authority. While not everyoneagrees with all collective decisionsof the Authority, all points of vieware heard, and litigation is kept toa minimum. Friends recognizesthat these internal workings deepin the machinery of governmentare rarely understood or appreci-ated by the constituents served, andit works to highlight and celebratethese efforts. Ultimately, the con-sumer pays for water, but throughintergovernmental cooperationamong the member governments,all consumers benefit through co-

operative efforts and economies ofscale of large alternative water sup-ply projects.

Friends promotes the Author-ity’s regional approach by seekingrecognition from forward thinkingorganizations in Florida, such as1000 Friends of Florida, Audubonof Florida, and the Collins Centerfor Sustainable Florida. Recognitionby these organizations helps shoreup the political consensus necessaryfor regional governance. Friends hasprepared successful applications forrecognition of good regional gover-nance from these watchdog groups.

Environmental Sustainability

There are many instances ofconflicts between water supply de-mands and the environment, suchas the current issue between agri-cultural allocations to California’sCentral Valley and protection of theendangered delta smelt. While notas severe as the Central Valley issues,the Authority faces the same kind ofissue with its withdrawals from thePeace River. Too much withdrawalat the wrong time would have anadverse impact on the CharlotteHarbor estuary downstream.

The Authority has addressedenvironmental sustainability bybuilding the storage capacity toallow it to provide a constant supplyof water to its customers, while onlywithdrawing from the Peace Riverwhen scientists determine it is safe.The Authority’s investment in stor-age facilities represents a third of itsinvestment at the Peace River Facil-

ity. In addition, the Authority sup-ports an extensive monitoring pro-gram in the estuary to measure theeffects, if any, of its withdrawals.

Because these protective meas-ures cost the consumers money thatsome may feel is unnecessary,Friends provides an educationalevent each year for the general pub-lic at the Peace River Facility to ex-plain the issue and provide tours ofthe facilities, including its 6 bil galaboveground reservoir.

Managing Competition Friends believe that when shar-

ing water resources, the economicsof all users has to be considered infair allocation. Urban users consumeless water than agricultural and in-dustrial users in Florida, yet need tomeet higher standards for waterquality. Agricultural and industrialusers could easily be outbid for waterif it were allocated by market pric-ing; therefore, rational allocationamong these disparate users requiresan understanding of the variousconstraints and a willingness to findan optimal solution for all users.

Friends promotes the under-standing required for managingcompetition through education atits annual public event at the PeaceRiver Facility. Keynote speakers areinvited from various sectors, in-cluding government, to address thelarger regional picture in whichpublic supply is a part. Speakers,such as the state commissioner ofagriculture and the secretary of theFlorida Department of Environ-mental Protection, have providedimpetus to Friends’ message.

Collaborative Approach for Local Governments

Because elected officials fromeach member government are re-sponsive to the voters of their re-spective counties, Friends works tocreate a grass roots consensusamong voters in the four countiesthat regional cooperation is, in thelong term, best for the interests ofall and has proven to be a catalystwithin the business community forarticulating the value of water.

Water is vital to a growingeconomy. The promotion of thevalue of water to the public and po-litical leadership is critical to assur-ing a reliable, sustainable, andaffordable public water supply forthe residents and businesses in theregion. Friends has recognized thevalue of water and its need for eco-nomic growth and prosperity. Theorganization is instrumental inworking with the public, localelected officials, and business lead-ers to further the understanding ofthe importance of a sustainablewater supply for the state.

Patrick Lehman is executive di-rector of Peace River Manasota Re-gional Water Supply Authority inLakewood Ranch; Donald Ross, ischair of Earth Balance in North Port;and Michael Condran is regionalmanager–water/wastewater serviceswith Conestoga-Rovers & Associatesin Tampa. !!

Friends of Peace Water Inc. roster boardrecognizing membership.

Peace River Off-Stream Reservoir.

Adam Putnam, Commissioner of theFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, attending the barbeque.

Continued from page 4


The Envision™ sustainable infrastructurerating system is administered through theInstitute for Sustainable Infrastructure

(ISI) and designed to help users identify ways inwhich sustainable approaches can be used toplan, design, construct, and operate infrastruc-ture projects. Applying this rating system to util-ity infrastructure, such as a water resourcereclamation facility (WRRF), can provide own-ers, planners, managers, designers, and contrac-tors with a practical, numerical measure ofsustainability. Hillsborough County (County) iscurrently expanding its South County AdvancedWastewater Treatment Facility (AWTF) from 4.5to 10 mil gal per day (mgd), a construction proj-ect that totals over $68 million.

Although the project was not submittedto ISI for official verification and award, therating system was applied to the constructionphase in order to assess sustainability meas-ures carried out during this particular phaseof the project. The County retained three on-site resident observers, one of whom is cre-dentialed by ISI as an Envision SustainabilityProfessional (ENV SP). The perspective fromwhich this article was written is unique—18months of full-time construction experienceas a resident engineer on the job site, coupledwith being an ENV SP and having knowledgeof applying the rating system to other projects.This allows for the perfect marriage of con-struction knowledge and the rating system,with the benefit of identifying specific strate-gies that can be done to improve the sustain-ability of the project. This perspective leads tothe ability to align the rating-system aspectswith the dual nature of sustainability duringconstruction.

This article presents examples of how therating system can be used during utility con-struction projects to improve sustainability per-formance. For example, effective coordinationthrough the use of meetings and written plansreduces the chance of issues arising duringscheduled plant shut-downs and helps resumereliable plant operations and service for cus-tomers. The rating system provides a practicalmeasure of sustainability, making it easier to as-sess, manage, and improve the conditions ofcivil infrastructure and contribute to overall

utility sustainability. This rating system has be-come increasingly recognized by project own-ers, planners, managers, and designers as anappropriate water infrastructure rating toolsince its introduction in 2012.

A description of, and the need for, this rat-ing system are presented from various perspec-tives, and numerous strategies for sustainableconstruction through the case study example atthe AWTF are described.

Sustainable Construction Defined

In their book, Design for Sustainability, Jiand Plainiotis define sustainable constructionas “a process that is environmentally responsi-ble and resource-efficient throughout a build-ing's life cycle: from siting to design,construction, operation, maintenance, renova-tion, and demolition. This requires close coop-eration of the design team, the architects, theengineers, and the client at all project stages.”Even though they state that the process isthrough a building’s life cycle, this definition canalso be applied to the life cycle of facilities andinfrastructure, such as WRRFs, pipelines, andpump stations. Furthermore, this definitionhighlights the importance of cooperationamong all parties involved with the project at allstages.

Need for a Sustainable Infrastructure Rating System

The American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE) assessed the conditions of 15 cate-gories of civil infrastructure. To communicatethe results of its study, ASCE produced a reportcard that states that the current condition ofAmerica’s infrastructure should receive a gradeof D (poor condition). For the drinking waterand wastewater categories, leaking pipelinesand pump failures are examples contributingto this low grade. The ASCE estimates that afive-year investment of $2.2 trillion wouldbring America’s infrastructure grade to a B(good condition). It would be beneficial tohave a rating system that covers these cate-gories so that money for infrastructure proj-ects is well spent.

Water professionals familiar with the Lead-ership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED™) rating system recognize that it focuseson buildings and facilities. What LEED does notprovide is a comprehensive system to evaluatethe sustainability of civil infrastructure projects.Therefore, the Envision infrastructure sustain-ability rating system was developed by ISI inpartnership with the Zofnass Program for Sus-tainable Infrastructure at the Harvard Univer-sity Graduate School of Design. No other UnitedStates rating system covers all aspects of civil in-frastructure, so Envision was developed, in part,to fill this gap.

The Envision Rating System

This rating system has several components,including a self-assessment checklist, the ratingtool, a credential program for individuals, aproject evaluation and verification program,and a recognition program. The system is struc-tured around five categories: quality of life, lead-ership, resource allocation, natural world, andclimate and risk. The rating system’s guidancemanual contains a table of point values, whichshows the five categories and numerous credits(each row in the table is a credit). For the casestudy included here, specific strategies will bepresented that show how these Envision sus-tainability goals, or credits, can be achieved dur-ing construction.

Levels of achievement indicate how well acredit meets the criteria described in the guid-ance manual, and are arranged in increasingorder from less sustainable to more sustain-able. There are five levels of achievement, asdisplayed on the right in the table of point val-ues: improved (encouraging), enhanced (onthe right track), superior (remarkable per-formance), conserving (zero negative impacts),and restorative (restoration of resources andecological systems, economic, and social sys-

Strategies for Sustainable ConstructionUsing a Unique Rating System: A Case Study

Rebecca M. Oliva

Rebecca M. Oliva, P.E., ENV SP, is anenvironmental engineer with CDM Smith inTampa.

F W R J

Continued on page 10


tems). The higher the level of achievement ona project, the more points that are achieved fora particular credit. Once the project is scoredon the degree to which credits are met, theproject is eligible to receive an award. The ENVSP on the project team may submit the scoringand supporting documentation to ISI. The ISIassigns an ENV SV (“Verifier”) to review andconfirm the points achieved as submitted bythe ENV SP. The Verifier will then make a rec-ommendation for an award based on the per-centage of possible points achieved: Platinum(50 percent and greater), Gold (40 percent),Silver (30 percent), and Bronze (20 percent).With such a variety of ways to be sustainable, itis nearly impossible to incorporate them allinto one project to earn all of the possiblepoints.

Benefits of using the system include mar-ket recognition for high levels of achievement insustainability; demonstration of social, eco-nomic, and environmental stewardship; abilityto evaluate trade-offs and meet sustainabilitygoals; and increased potential to receive grantfunding. The rating system includes a credentialprogram for individuals, through which theycan become certified (ENV SPs and ENV SVs)to work on, submit, or verify projects for awards.

The system’s “self-assessment checklist” isan Excel-based questionnaire used to guide theinitial stages of planning for a project to be sus-

tainable. Questions are arranged by the five rat-ing system categories, and the user completesthe checklist by answering the questions as theyrelate to the project. The available responses are“yes,” “no,” or “not applicable.” The checklist ismore or less a preliminary assessment to seewhere the project stands on its sustainable as-pects, and it is used for internal purposes only(not submitted to ISI). The checklist is recom-mended to be completed prior to the projectundergoing full evaluation and scoring. Theguidance manual published by ISI assists ENVSPs with the scoring process and helps structurethe information for verification. This manualincludes detailed descriptions of all of the cred-its and the criteria that must be met within eachlevel of achievement in order to receive pointsfor that credit.

Perspectives

The benefits of the rating system can beviewed from various perspectives as follows:

Owner! Projects are to set or meet sustainability goals! Opportunity to be a “green city” ! Good public relations from Envision awards

Engineering/Design Team! ENV SPs provide services to increase sus-

tainability on projects

! Team looks beyond purely technical aspectsof the project

! Uses guidelines to meet the owner’s sustain-ability goals

Contractor ! Save money using this system and more effi-

cient methods of construction execution! Possibility to obtain more work through spe-

cialty certifications! Recognition for awards

Public! Care about the environment that citizens

breathe, see, live in, and use ! Would want to ensure the sustainable invest-

ment of tax dollars! Community priorities are addressed in civil

infrastructure projects

Regulatory! Sustainability aligns with the mission of reg-

ulatory agencies! In many cases, using sustainable methods en-

sures permit compliance

Construction Phase Focus

The rating system looks at the degree ofsustainability during the whole project or phase.It supports the idea that project sustainability iscumulative and each phase contributes to theoverall sustainability of the project. The con-struction phase is the link between the designphase and the operations and maintenance(O&M) phase. During the design phase, theteam strategizes for sustainability and may writesustainability features into specifications or in-clude sustainable aspects on the drawing sheets.Construction is where the design is imple-mented, and O&M is the actual use of the asset.It is recognized that operating the facility overthe long term has the most impact on the sus-tainability of the project; however, the focus hereis on the construction phase. In other words, theconstruction phase is short in relation to theuseful lifetime of an asset (e.g., three years ver-sus 20 years), but strategies can still be imple-mented during this phase.

Case Study Site Description

As previously stated, Hillsborough Countyis currently expanding its AWTF from 4.5 to 10mgd. This is the largest construction project theCounty has ever undertaken and the expansiondoubles the footprint of the existing plant site.The facility is located in Ruskin (southeast ofTampa) and borders residential, agricultural,commercial, and transportation types of land


Table 1. South County Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility Existing and Expanded Plant Data


use. South of the facility is a County potablewater repump station, and an office buildingneighbors the plant site to the west. Another ad-jacent property west of the plant site is a cattlefield, and further west of that is an Amazon.comdistribution center. One benefit of the projectlocation is that there are no residential zonesimmediately bordering the site. The site isunique because it is over a mile long, in a lineararrangement, and overlaps with the existingplant, making it subject to exacerbated short-term hazards. Table 1 lists the components ofthe existing and expanded plant.

With so many new structures and equip-ment, there are countless opportunities for sus-tainable construction to be practiced in the fieldat this point in the project’s life cycle.

Strategies for Sustainable Construction

The concept of the dual nature of sustain-ability during construction involves two majorcomponents: the sustainable features of the de-sign, and the sustainability during constructionactivities. It is important that sustainable fea-tures of the design are carried out during con-struction (e.g., conformance to drawings,specifications, etc.) and built as designed. Sus-tainability during construction activities in-cludes proper sequencing for maintenance ofplant operations (MOPOs), saving water andenergy using efficient methods, and appropriatefield decisions made by the contractor andother field staff. The examples that follow illus-trate both types of sustainability during con-struction.

Leadership Leads to Sustainability

Leadership is one of the five categories inthe rating system. During plant shutdowns forpipeline tie-ins, sustainable strategies would in-clude effective coordination and communica-tion among involved parties, organizedmeetings, and written plans. For change orders,the sustainable strategy would be that the ownersaves money with the reduction of change or-ders, therefore reducing the amount of workthat is not competitively bid. For scheduling andphasing of work, the MOPOs need to be care-fully coordinated for the portion of the existingplant within the construction zone. Testing andmaintenance should be logged and well-docu-mented. One example of this is how the generalcontractor performs regular maintenance onpumps and other stored equipment as stated inthe specific warranty paperwork.

For the Envision credit leadership category3.3, a project will undoubtedly be more sustain-

able if the useful life of assets can be extended.Sustainable engineering designs can find a newuse for existing unneeded plant componentsafter demolition rather than disposing of them.For example, the AWTF expansion design callsfor salvaging both existing oxidation ditches toserve as additional reject water storage in the fu-ture. Once the new bioreactor becomes opera-tional, the existing oxidation tanks can bedecommissioned, but not demolished. Newequipment, such as the bioreactor mixers andmotors, are logged in the County’s asset man-agement system. The serial number, speed,horsepower, date put into service, photographs,etc., of each individual asset is entered into theasset management system, as well as any oldasset that is being taken out of service. Thismethod assists the County not only with know-ing which assets it owns and where, but in thefuture to know which ones may be reaching theend of their useful life and may need to be re-placed. Long-term planning for asset manage-ment is essential for forecasting budget, time,and workforce constraints and needs to be in-corporated into the County’s capital improve-ment plan.

Construction projects have many partiesinvolved—owner, consulting engineering firms,general contractor, subcontractors, constructionmanager, project managers, plant manager, soilstesting firms, resident observers, and field engi-neers—and the AWTF expansion is no different.A transparent dedication to teamwork and agenuine commitment to the project’s successwill earn points for “collaboration” in the sys-tem’s leadership category. Interpretation of thedrawings, specifications, requests for informa-tion, submittals, and change proposal requestsrequire daily communication among field per-sonnel and office managers. Care must be takento use the proper channels of communicationso that work is authorized by the appropriateperson in charge.

All parties involved want to feel that theyare being kept informed on project status up-dates. Managers meet weekly at the AWTF gen-eral contractor’s trailer to discuss projectprogress, schedule, and potential challenges, in-cluding how to avoid and resolve them. Fromthose meetings, leaders manage their staff in ac-cordance with the agreed-upon items of themeeting. It is the managers’ responsibility tocommunicate information to their staff, and it isthe responsibility of field personnel to informtheir managers of any issues or questions fromthe field work. This includes clear and effectiveverbal and written communication. In short, anopen line of communication among office andfield staff is crucial to the success and sustain-ability of the project.

Materials Recycling and Control Contribute to Effective

Resource Allocation

As previously stated, resource allocation isone of the five rating system categories. Creditswithin this category encourage the efficient useand allocation of materials, energy, and water.Prior to the creation of Envision, this categorysummarized the typical idea of what sustain-ability meant: to use recycled materials, divertwaste from landfills, buy local, and reduce en-ergy and water use. However, as shown in theother strategies presented here, sustainable in-frastructure covers much more than just thesegoals.

For the typical construction practice ofdesignating a concrete spoils pile (scraps,washout, leftovers from pours, demolished con-crete, etc.), sustainable strategies would includetransporting the concrete to a recycling facility,or using it as road base. Both strategies avoid itbeing taken to a landfill. The AWTF has a desig-nated stockpile area at the north end of the sitefor excavated soils. The sustainable practice is toreuse this soil for backfill. The site contains sev-eral large bins to collect metal waste, whichavoids it being sent to landfills and also allowsthe contractor to receive a rebate check ($/lbvalue) from the recycling facility. Another ma-terials recycling sustainable strategy was thereuse of wooden forms for concrete pours in-stead of new pieces of wood each time. A rum-ble strip was placed at the main siteentrance/exit that allows soils to be vibrated offthe tires of vehicles and not leave the site.

Restorative or innovative credits could beawarded for the energy subcategory if the fol-lowing idea can be developed: since this is an ex-pansion of an existing plant, devise a way tocapture methane gas from the current treatmentprocess and use it for energy during construc-tion, such as for temporary power of construc-tion equipment. Using renewable energy in thismanner would allow the plant to be “energyneutral” by the reuse of methane gas for an in-house power plant “generator.”

Construction activities at a WRRF shouldbe planned for daylight as much as possible forthree main reasons: 1. Daylight is safer for the workers and observers

because visibility is not limited due to lack ofnatural light.

2. Organisms are not disturbed by artificial lightused during nighttime construction.

3. The energy requirement to power lights fornighttime work can be avoided.



Effective Water Management Earns Points

A well-managed water use program duringconstruction demonstrates a leader’s commit-ment to sustainability. When possible, it is bestto use reclaimed water instead of potable water.Potable water quality is not necessary for opera-tions such as hydroblasting concrete, dust con-trol, and machine washdown, so using reclaimedwater saves money. For the typical practice of re-fueling machinery (cranes, track hoes, forklifts,etc.), it is best to use double-wall fuel tanks andhave kits nearby for quick cleanup of spills, so asto not contaminate groundwater. For thewashout area for trucks, concrete scraps pile, andwhen cutting into pipelines, plastic liner systemsshould be in place to prevent groundwater con-tamination. When dealing with excessive rain,and during dewatering activities, silt fences andGeoHay bales can be used and eroded slopes canbe restored. These strategies align with ratingsystem credits RA3.1, RA3.2, RA3.3, and NW2.3.

The AWTF expansion construction site isset up where pipes of reclaimed water from the

existing plant provide service water for con-struction activities. This benefit is twofold:potable water use is avoided, and the percentageof plant reclaimed water use is increased (insteadof that water being discharged directly into thereceiving water body). A project may score highin the subcategory of resource allocation forwater if a way can be devised for the reclaimedwater to be reused multiple times within theconstruction process. For example, if a tankstructure can be filled with reclaimed water for a24-hour leak test and two days later a 30-in.pipeline needs to be pressure-tested, perhaps thatsame water can be used for both tests and grav-ity flow (preferred), or pumped from one to theother. A flow meter may be added to the hydrantfrom which the general contractor obtains re-claimed water in order to monitor how much isbeing used for these activities.

Resiliency to Hazards and Adaptation to Change Allow theProject to Overcome Challenges

The rating system recognizes the impor-tance of safety and emission reduction in sus-tainability (credits QL2.1, QL2.6, and CR1.2).

Site observers, resident project representatives,workers, and other field staff should try to avoidfall/trip hazards, inspect ladders prior to use,communicate with machine operators, have apartner for confined space entry, and wear ap-propriate personal protective equipment. Whenapplying coatings inside of a pump station orany other enclosed structure, it is important touse air exchange fans and face masks to protectthe workers within from harmful fumes andparticles. At the AWTF it was common practicefor a worker to drive around the site in a watertruck (filled with plant reclaimed water) andspray down the dirt roads for dust control ondry, windy days. This reduces the particulatematter, provides cleaner air for site personnel,and reduces air pollutants to neighboring areas.

Since this is an expansion of an existingplant, the facility must still be able to operatenormally during the construction phase. Fur-thermore, phasing out the existing systems,which are being replaced, takes careful planningand coordination since portions of the newplant are within the existing plant’s footprint.The existing plant should be resilient to the con-struction activities and be able to operate unin-




terrupted. That was not the case at the AWTF;system shutdowns, unintentional water linebreaks during excavation, and plant drain pumpstation overflows during high rain events haveall occurred, which affected normal operationof the existing plant. Having a response plan forshort-terms hazards increases the resiliency ofthe system and therefore makes it less vulnera-ble should a similar situation occur unexpect-edly in the future. Envision credits CR2.2, “avoidtraps and vulnerabilities,” and CR2.4, “preparefor short-term hazards,” illustrate that theseideas contribute to sustainability.

Recommendations

In order to put the rating system conceptinto practice, there are several recommenda-tions that any construction project could un-dertake: ! Utilize the Envision checklist at the beginning

of the project in order to consider sustainableaspects in the design phase, and later in theconstruction and O&M phases.

! Hold a preconstruction workshop with theowner, design team, site observers, contrac-

tor, and subcontractors to discuss practicalmeasures that can be implemented to im-prove sustainability.

! Include sustainable methods in specifica-tions.

! List the “lessons learned” at phase milestones;what could be done better next time to im-prove sustainability.

! Implement the strategies described through-out this document to increase the project’sscore, therefore making the project a more sus-tainable infrastructure, as recognized by ISI.

Conclusion

Where the term “sustainability” used to bea vague concept, the Envision rating system pro-vides a practical, numerical way to measure sus-tainability, and a project can be characterized byits score. Evaluating a project based on the spe-cific credits makes it easier to assess, manage,track, improve infrastructure, and ensure utilitysustainability. A higher score indicates the proj-ect is more sustainable, which could lead to bet-ter recognition and the potential for morelong-term cost savings. A major advantage ofthe rating system is that the design team mem-

bers think about the sustainable aspects of aproject earlier on than they would have other-wise. Using the plant expansion of the AWTF asa case study, numerous strategies were presentedthat encourage sustainable practices during theconstruction phase of a water infrastructureproject.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following for theirassistance: David Bloome and Lisa Murrin withHillsborough County; Michael P. Smith, JoséRodriguez, and Kevin Leo with CDM Smith;and Tom Pedersen, CDM Smith (retired).

References

• Yan Ji and Stellios Plainiotis (2006): Design forSustainability. Beijing, China Architecture andBuilding Press. ISBN 7-112-08390-7.

• Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, TheEnvision™ Guidance Manual Version 2.0,(2012).

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)Report Card for America’s Infrastructure(2009). !!


The University of Florida’s George A.Smathers Libraries, which houses the PanamaCanal Museum collection, recently constructedthe Panama Canal Centennial Trail, a 1/100thscale replica of the canal that traverses the cam-pus and is seen daily by students on their way toclass.

The $15,000 exhibit commemorates thecanal’s recent centennial anniversary, which wasin 2014, as well as showcases the transforma-tional expansion of the channel. A series of

seven informational plaques corresponding tolandmarks along the channel explain the history,engineering, and construction of the canal.

The concept for the trail evolved when thePanama Canal museum moved to the Univer-sity in 2012 and became the go-to destinationfor canal history and research.

To display the length and significant land-marks of the Panama Canal, Frank C.Townsend, F. ASCE, of Jones Edmunds and aUniversity professor, suggested bringing the wa-

tercourse to life in a small-scale model wherevisitors can see the path that ships make passingthrough the channel.

Students and visitors begin the journey atthe library, which represents the Atlantic en-trance, and follow the blue dots through thelocks found across a half-mile stretch of campusand end at the Pacific entrance, near the J.Wayne Reitz Union.

Townsend conceived and provided designassistance for the trail. Born and raised in thePanama Canal Zone, Townsend is a third gen-eration “Zonian.” Both of his grandfathersworked on the construction of the canal andwere recipients of the Roosevelt Medal, whichwas issued by President Theodore Roosevelt tocanal workers who completed two or more yearsof satisfactory service on the project.

“The completion of the Canal was compa-rable, at the time, to the lunar landing,” saidTownsend. “The trail on campus honors thelegacy of the engineers’ masterwork. For me,personally, it is a way of sharing my experienceswith the world.”

Jones Edmunds helped to sponsor one ofthe exhibit’s zones. “The Panama Canal is a mas-terful accomplishment in engineering history,and these exhibits both honor the achievementand share it with new generations,” said Bob Ed-munds, one of the founders of the Florida-basedengineering firm.

As of late March, the Panama Canal expan-sion project is 86 percent complete and is ex-pected to be finished by 2016. !!

University of Florida Constructs Panama Canal Centennial Trail on Campus



Key Largo, the largest and northernmostof the Florida Keys, is a commercial fishinghub and scuba diving mecca. Good waterquality and a healthy ecosystem are critical toits survival and a priority for the state ofFlorida. Originally installed in 2005, the KeyLargo Wastewater Treatment District(WWTD) utilized a small alternative se-quencing batch reactor (SBR) for treating theplant’s wastewater. After five years the plantwas in need of an upgrade in order to addressincreasing flow rates for the population of15,000 it now serves, and for future stringenteffluent limits.

To meet the strict nutrient limits it wasfacing and ensure the health of the localeconomy, Key Largo needed an advancedwastewater treatment solution capable ofmeeting Florida’s advanced water treatment(AWT) requirements, including nutrient re-moval, while providing process flexibilitythat results in energy savings. The districtbegan exploring options, including a five-stage oxidation ditch and SBR technologies.

In addition, the planning staff visited nearbyinstallations to see the potential technologiesin operation. Following the selection re-search, Key Largo chose the Aqua-AerobicSystems three-basin AquaSBR® sequencingbatch reactor, followed by two AquaDisk®cloth media filters (12-disk units) for its up-grade in 2010. The new system was designedto process 2.88 mil gal per day (mgd) or10,886 m3/day, average flow, and 5.75 mgd, or21,735 m3/day, peak flow (Figure 1).

The AquaSBR system operates on a sim-ple concept of introducing a quantity ofwaste to a reactor, treating the waste in an ad-equate time period, and subsequently dis-charging a volume of effluent, plus wastesludge, that is equal to the original volume ofwaste introduced to the reactor. This “fill anddraw” principle of operation involves thebasic steps of fill, react, settle, decant, andsludge waste. The system may be designed toinclude seven individual phases of operation,but the inclusion or duration of any individ-ual phase is based upon specific waste char-

acteristics and effluent objectives. Where nu-trient removal is required, a simple adjust-ment to the SBR’s operating strategiespermits nitrification, denitrification, and bi-ological phosphorus removal.

The system is designed to meet theplant’s effluent objectives of 5 mg/l biochem-ical oxygen demand (BOD), 5 mg/l total sus-pended solids (TSS), 3 mg/l total nitrogen,and 1 mg/l total phosphorus. Based on expe-rience with the plant over the past few years,Key Largo’s lead operator, Jered Primicierio,states, “What I’ve noticed with the Aqua-Aer-obic plant is that carbon usage is minimal inachieving nitrogen removal. We use the ac-tual strength of the wastewater or carbona-ceous BOD within the influent to denitrify.The standard for removing phosphorus bio-logically is around 3 mg/l, and we treat up to4 mg/l. We actually take out 4 mg/l of phos-phorus biologically, so we’re well above thestandard.”

Key Largo is able to further reduce its TSSand remove additional phosphorus with theAquaDisk cloth media filtration system featur-ing OptiFiber® media. With the outside-inconfiguration of the AquaDisk filters, influententers the filter unit and contacts the outsideof the filter disk. Filtrate passes through thepile cloth media by gravity and is removedfrom the hollow area inside the filter diskthrough a hollow shaft that supports the indi-vidual disks. As solids accumulate on the sur-face of the media, the water level surroundingthe disks rises. Once it reaches a predeterminedlevel, automatic backwashing begins. The disksrotate as backwash shoes contact the mediasurface and a vacuum is applied to remove thecaptured solids. During backwash, fibers flu-idize to provide an efficient release of storedsolids. Filtration is not interrupted and heav-ier solids settle to the bottom of the tank andare pumped to a digester or other collectionarea of the treatment plant. According to Prim-icierio, “After the treated water goes throughthe cloth media disk filters, we’re actuallyachieving a .6 mg/l in total phosphorus, andthat’s probably a two-year average.”

Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District Utilizes

Aqua-Aerobic Systems Technology

T E C H N O L O G Y S P O T L I G H T

Figure 1. Key Largo system annual data. Continued on page 18


To enhance the plant’s process controlcapabilities, Key Largo also incorporated anIntelliPro® process monitoring and controlsystem. The IntelliPro system is designed tooffer an essential link among operations,equipment, and treatment objectives. It ac-tively influences the treatment process byproactively responding to changes as theyhappen and efficiently manages overall sys-tem performance. Through the use of processinstrumentation, the system can actively con-trol process parameters within the biologicalsystem, such as dissolved oxygen (DO) andsystem mass, and even modify the cycle struc-ture. The addition of the nutrient moduleand instrumentation adds the capability ofautomatically monitoring and controlling bi-ological and chemical nutrient removal.

Key Largo noticed a drastic improvementin the monitoring and control of the biologi-cal process, which is attributed in part to theIntelliPro® process monitoring system. Themost beneficial aspect for Key Largo is the abil-ity to fully monitor the process, such as real-time oxidation-reduction potential (ORP),pH, TSS, and DO concentrations in each SBRbasin. The plant also makes use of a majorityof the system’s additional features, includingactive mass control and trending capabilities.Says Primicierio, “The other beautiful thingabout the DO control is that we’ve actuallyseen a cost savings of up to $10,000 a month inthe last year after we’ve dialed the air in, withregard to time and the DO set point.”

The health of the environment certainlyhas an economic impact on the Florida Keys.Tourism is based on snorkeling, scuba div-ing, and fishing, and many local livelihoodsdepend on the commercial fishing industryof the Keys. It is extremely important to keepthe environment clean and functioning. AsKey Largo continues to grow, the advancednutrient removal technologies and stream-lined plant optimization technologies fromAqua-Aerobic Systems will ensure that thewastewater facility will grow with it, whileprotecting the livelihood and habitat of theregion through exceptional water quality.

To learn more about these and other ad-vanced water and wastewater treatment tech-nologies from Aqua-Aerobic Systems Inc.please visit www.aqua-aerobic.com or contactthe company’s local representative in Florida,Envirosales Inc., at (863) 314-0616. !!

Technology Spotlight is a paid feature sponsored by the advertisement on the facing page. The Journal and its publisher do not endorse any product that appears in this column. If you would like to have your technology featured, contact Mike Delaney at 352-241-6006 or at [email protected].

Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District Expansion.

Two AquaDisk filters with covers.


SPOTLIGHT ON SAFETY

Doug Prentiss Sr.

Some of you may be aware that the FWEASafety Committee is now under new lead-ership and is actively seeking new mem-

bers and participants. The committee is nowchaired by Judd Mooso of Destin Water Users,and Scott Holowasko, with Gainesville RegionalUtilities, serves as the vice chair.

The committee will meet once each yearduring the Florida Water Resources Conference(FWRC) and, at the conference in 2016, it plansto begin offering safety training classes with con-tinuing education units. The instructors will bemembers of the committee and attendance willbe included with registration to the conference.

This year, FWRC will be held May 3-6 atthe Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando. The com-mittee will meet on Monday, May 4, at 1 p.m., inBonnaire Room 5 and 6.

Our goal is to gather utility professionalsfrom around the state in an effort to beginbuilding a network of folks who have responsi-bility for the safe operation of their water andwastewater facilities. The role of safety in ourprofession can be a daunting task, so it is ourambition to invigorate the committee and poolour resources to enable us to reach out and helpeach other along the way. This will be a great op-portunity to get involved by becoming a volun-teer so we can begin to discuss topics of interestand plan for the way forward.

This article is our initial effort to determinethe level of interest. It is not our intent to bur-den anyone with extra work, but rather to es-tablish an atmosphere that allows us to discussany safety issues our companies may face. Ulti-mately, we’d like to be able to provide each other

with ideas, templates, and business practicesthat have proven successful in our experience.

The FWEA Safety Committee goals are:! Increase membership and participation in

the committee.! Provide safety-related information useful to

FWEA members.! Align safety committee activities with FWEA

goals and objectives.

Please stop by the meeting if you areinterested; we’d love to meet you. If you

have any questions, contact Judd Mooso, the FWEA Safety Committee chair, [email protected] or at 850-337-3915.

Doug Prentiss Sr. provides a wide range ofsafety services throughout Florida. !!

FWEA Safety Committee Begins New Leadership



Aging water and wastewater infrastruc-ture, managing capital costs, and theability to fund capital programs, are is-

sues that are continuously ranked by water andwastewater utility leaders as the top five indus-try issues in Black & Veatch’s annual report,“Strategic Directions: U.S. Water Industry.”

The urgency of the highlighted issuesdemonstrates the growing need for compre-hensive asset management programs and solu-tions around the prioritization andoptimization of capital expenditures.

Good practice asset management focuseson balancing performance, cost, and risk. Ad-ditionally, a critical component in any assetmanagement program is the development andproper implementation of a robust capital pri-oritization and optimization process.

Over the course of the past decade, Black &Veatch has developed an innovative budget pri-oritization and application process that uses ad-vanced analytics to quantify and optimizeplanning outcomes that explicitly take into ac-count uncertainty and risk.

This article provides an overview of theprocess and highlights the following:! How the process supports improved utility

decision making

! How improved decision making enhancesvalue from infrastructure investments andnew plant and system improvements

! Examples from a recent utility capital plan-ning engagement

Building an improved understanding ofrisk and how that risk can impact a utility bothfinancially and in other ways (such as environ-mental impacts, safety, etc.) is a key outcome ofthe process.

Capital Prioritization and Planning

The goal of the budget prioritization andoptimization process is to minimize long-termsystem costs, while maintaining high levels ofservice and mitigating unacceptable systemrisks. Figure 1 is a high-level flowchart of thecapital prioritization and optimization processused to achieve this goal. Each of the steps inthe flowchart is described in the subsectionsthat follow the figure.

Project Identification and JustificationProject identification is a key step to en-

sure that projects are identified in a manner

consistent to capture both the full costs andbenefits associated with each improvement orchange to an asset or system. Identified projectstypically have several investment drivers, suchas growth, regulatory, safety, efficiency or costsavings, repair and rehabilitation, and customerservice.

The prioritization and optimizationprocess has the flexibility to include all of thesedifferent types of projects. Projects are gatheredfrom the current capital improvement plan(CIP), master plans, asset management systems,and condition assessment evaluations.

Once the candidate projects are deter-mined, a data-collection step validates the in-puts that will later be used in the prioritizationprocess. This helps assure that assumptions arevalid, realistic, and reasonable. The requiredskill sets that are necessary for this project iden-tification and assumptions evaluation includeengineering, regulatory, commercial/financial,and utility asset management.

Priorities: Getting the Most From Your Capital Improvement Plan

Jason DeStigter

Jason DeStigter, P.E., is a manager withinBlack & Veatch’s asset management practicein Overland Park, Kansas.

F W R J

The capital prioritization and optimizationprocess described helps utilities achieve balanceamong performance, cost, and risk through objectiveinvestment planning.

Figure 1.

Project AssumptionsOnce each project is identified, an associ-

ated assumptions form is completed as part ofthe capital prioritization process. A template wasdeveloped to consistently and transparently de-velop the assumptions necessary for each proj-ect and it’s tailored to each utility performingthis process. Additionally, this form serves as animportant quality control tool as it ensures as-sumptions are reviewed prior to their use in thefinancial templates.

The form contains a section for qualitativeand quantitative assumptions for each project.Qualitative assumptions are based on the maindrivers for each utility to complete a project, in-cluding planning criteria assumptions (e.g., reg-ulatory, safety, service level, environmental,criticality, etc.). Each planning criterion is thenscored using predefined scoring scales and def-initions.

Quantitative assumptions include capitalcosts, operations and maintenance (O&M) costs(before and after the project is completed),growth rates, potential revenues (if any), failurecosts (including lost revenue), and failure prob-ability curves. Assumptions are commonly de-veloped using the results of conditionassessments and by obtaining feedback fromutility staff during a series of assumptions formworkshops.

Financial Efficiency Simulation and RankingThe process links each project assump-

tions form to a financial template that is usedfor Monte Carlo simulations, which calculatethe range of net present value (NPV) cost foreach project through its life cycle. The proba-bilistic results generated by the financial tem-plates form the basis for prioritizing thefinancial efficiency and cost-effectiveness ofprojects. Rather than single-point estimates,the results are probability distributions of pro-jected NPV costs, such as the one depicted inFigure 2.

In Figure 2, the x-axis of the probabilitydistribution shows the range in NPV capitalcosts for the project given a designated plannedinstallation year. The y-axis of the distributionshows the relative probability of a certain costoccurring. Input distributions for the followingassumptions are included in the financial tem-plate for each candidate project (note: not allprojects will include values for all of these as-sumptions):! Capital cost! O&M before project install! O&M after project install! Revenue (linear, nonlinear, rate, and volume

basis)! Failure consequence

A benefit of this process is the ability toevaluate ranges of potential costs and evenavoided costs (e.g., failure costs). By modelingthe full range of consequences, project risk ex-posure can be evaluated and quantified for de-cision making purposes.

In order to take into account the magni-tude and probability of cost risk, several finan-cial efficiency parameters are calculated. Thesefinancial efficiency parameters help organizethe probabilistic results into results that can beeasily compared across projects for comparisonand prioritization.

The first parameter is the expected finan-cial efficiency of the project that measures aratio of the NPV benefit of the project com-pared to the project cost. Risk exposure is meas-ured by calculating a risk-mitigated ratio forthe project that looks at the extremes of the

probability distribution of NPV results. Thismetric measures the amount of risk or uncer-tainty mitigated by implementing the project.

The prioritization process is also used toidentify projects where the financial benefits donot necessarily outweigh the costs of doing theprojects. Projects such as these may have addi-tional factors other than cost that risk influ-encing their selection, such as safetyconsiderations or regulatory constraints. Thesefactors are taken into account during the prior-itization process through the balanced score re-sults discussed later, as well as by constrainingthe optimization model.

For each project, the optimization modelincludes constraints on the earliest available in-stall year and the latest required install year toallow for qualitative drivers to schedule proj-ects. The next section discusses in further de-

Figure 2. Example Probability Distribution

Table 1. Criteria Weighting Factors




tail the optimization model.

Prioritization and Timing of Projects

One of the valuable aspects of the finan-cial efficiency approach is that the financialtemplates and assumptions forms are able toevaluate a wide variety of project installationyears in a relatively short amount of time

through simulations. At this step in the opti-mization process, projects are timed so thatutility risk tolerance levels are not exceeded.

The optimization model uses the combi-nation of the budget scenario and nonfinancialplanning criteria constraints with the NPV re-sults to maximize the NPV benefit for the util-ity given these constraints. In other words, itchecks every combination of project installa-tion dates that will:! Maximize NPV benefit ! Stay within the annual budget and schedule

constraint levels for each scenario

The NPV benefits and budget/scheduleconstraints are achieved using a genetic algo-rithm software tool. Similar to the @Risk™Monte Carlo simulation software, the optimiza-tion process uses an off-the-shelf MicrosoftExcel™ add-on software module (Evolver™) toperform the genetic algorithm. The modulesoftware is a companion tool to the simulationsoftware as part of the Palisade’s Decision ToolsSuite, which is an integrated set of programs forrisk analysis and decision making.

Project timing optimization is then con-ducted for all projects to arrive at a portfolio

Table 2. Example Financial Prioritization Results



optimization result. Particular focus is given toinvestments that have a significant budget im-pact or are being considered for delay beyondtheir planned installation date due to utilitybudget constraints.

The projects are first scheduled based onthe risk tolerance levels of the utility. Once allprojects are within the defined risk tolerance,projects are scheduled based on the maximumfinancial benefit to the utility. The result is atarget schedule without regard to budget con-straints. Next, budget constraints are incorpo-rated into the scheduling process and anychanges to install years due to budget con-straints are then recalculated.

In addition to prioritizing projects usingfinancial efficiency, the planning criteria areused to balance all relevant nonfinancial issues.Each project is scored against each planning cri-terion using a scale of 1 to 10, with standarddefinitions and scoring scale for each criterion.The score is then multiplied with the applica-ble weighting percent for that criterion to cre-ate a balanced scorecard result for the project.Table 1 provides an example of the criteriaweighting factors that a utility can use when de-veloping the balanced scorecard.

The final step of the prioritization processis to incorporate planning criteria scores, proj-ect rankings, and budget constraints into theimplementation schedule.

Process Results

As described previously, the prioritizationprocess involves combining project prioritiza-tion based on financial risk with project prior-itization using a balanced scorecard approach(financial efficiency and planning criteria).Table 2 shows the expected outcome NPV re-sults for a subset of projects for a recent client.

The combination of the quantitative andqualitative results provides a balanced scorecardevaluation for each project. Each project is eval-uated using a weighted criteria matrix scoringprocess. In the example in Table 3, four plan-ning criteria are used in the scoring process: ! Financial efficiency! Regulatory and environmental! Safety! Customer service

Each criterion is defined at the beginningof the prioritization process before the as-sumption forms are completed.

Financial efficiency is evaluated using thefinancial evaluation template, and the otherthree criteria are scored when the assumptionsform is complete. Prioritization results are usedto derive the capital plan schedule in order to

Figure 3. Example Prioritization Results

Table 3. Example Project Rankings



schedule projects to minimize financial risk,while at the same time taking into account thenonfinancial project drivers. Table 3 is an ex-ample of the project ranking table results andFigure 3 visually compares project scores for anumber of example projects.

The prioritization model is used to calcu-late the risk-weighted 40-year net NPV of fu-ture cash flows for several scenarios of the fullportfolio of capital projects, including: ! Run-to-failure scenario – assumes projects

are delayed until assets fail or installation isrequired for another reason (e.g. regulatoryconstraint)

! Current CIP scenario - if the existing CIP isimplemented as planned

! Optimized CIP scenario – if the recom-mended capital schedule using the opti-mization results is followed

Figure 4 calculates the risk-weighted fi-nancial results for all three capital scheduleslisted. The Current CIP has an expected out-come of $76 million in risk-weighted NPV sav-ings ($247 million minus $171 million resultsin $76 million in NPV cost savings), while theoptimized CIP scenario results in an expectedoutcome of $89 million in risk-weighted NPVsavings ($247 million minus $158 million).

The current CIP shows a 31 percent re-duction in NPV cost compared to the run-to-failure scenario, while the optimized CIP has a36 percent reduction. The 5 percent additionalreduction, or $13 million, represents a 36 per-cent decrease in overall system risk through op-timization of the current CIP, demonstratingthe value of performing capital optimizationeven with the same budget constraints.

The results noted in Figure 4 show the riskreduction from a risk-weighted financial per-spective. The next set of example results incor-porate the nonfinancial criteria, in addition tothe financial efficiency results.

The planning criteria score other risks tothe utility that are difficult to quantify from afinancial perspective. For many utilities, theseinclude well-established triple-bottom-linescoring criteria. Figure 5 shows the financialand nonfinancial risk reduction for an exampleportfolio of projects and compares it to cumu-lative capital expenditures by year.

As part of the capital planning process, it isvaluable to understand the risk of delaying aproject so that this risk can be considered inmaking budget decisions. Figure 6 is an exam-ple of what is developed to understand andquantify this risk for each project.

Implementation ScheduleOne of the final results of the prioritiza-

Figure 5. Portfolio Risk Reduction Compared to Cumulative Capital Spend

Most of the forecasted risk reduction achieved by the investments occurs in the first part of the study pe-riod, while more steady risk reduction occurs during the second half of the period. This validates thatnear-term capital dollars are being utilized on the projects and assets that expose the utility to the mostrisk, while projects with less or no risk are scheduled later in the study period.

Figure 4. 40-Year Net Present Value Cost Comparison for the System


tion process is an optimized implementationschedule and project rankings that meet utilityrisk tolerance levels, achieve maximum cost ef-fectiveness, and incorporate budget constraints.

The planning criteria scoring matrix is usedto calibrate the scheduling of projects to ensurethat nonfinancial criticality scores are incorpo-rated in the planning process appropriately. Forsome clients, the balanced scorecard prioritizationresults are used as the primary prioritization andoptimization metric to drive the capital planschedule. Figure 7 shows an example implemen-tation schedule for the optimized CIP.

For this example, since the budget con-straint is based on an existing CIP, the optimiza-tion model allows for unused funds to be carriedover from year to year. A corresponding set ofprioritization results (similar to the exampleNPV and balanced scorecard tables and figures)match the optimized schedule shown in figure 7.

Conclusion

Good practice asset management pro-grams strive to optimally balance performance,


Figure 6. Project Delay Impact

The figure shows the NPV cost of a two-year delay (moving from the optimized blue curve to the grey‘two-year delay’ curve). As the project is further delayed, the NPV of cost will approach the run-to-failure cost range (red-dashed curve). Continued on page 28


Figure 7. Capital Schedule: Optimized CIP Under Budget Constraint

The stacked bar charts in the figure break down the total capital cost by the various assetclasses shown in the legend. The red curve shows the budget constraint used in the opti-mization process.

cost, and risk across the enterprise. Throughgood practice asset management, decision mak-ing is made more objective and investments arebetter aligned with the utility strategic plan.

Capital prioritization enables objective deci-sion making because it is driven by explicit finan-cial risk results and a balanced scorecard thatincorporates nonfinancial project and systemdrivers.

The incorporation of budget constraintsand integration with a utility financial/ratemodel enable the prioritization and optimiza-tion process and help drive integrated planningacross the utility. The results provide an impor-tant bridge between a utility financial plan (typ-ically focused on balancing cost) and thebalancing of system risk and performance,along with customer cost impacts.

Ultimately, the entire process helps utilitymanagement take a long-term and objectiveview towards achieving value for customersthrough the balancing of performance, cost,and risk. The water utility client referenced inthis article, for example, identified more than$10 million in savings through capital prioriti-zation, without affecting risk levels. !!


FWPCOA TRAINING CALENDARSCHEDULE YOUR CLASS TODAY!

* Backflow recertification is also available the last day of BackflowTester or Backflow Repair Classes with the exception of Deltona

** Evening classes

*** any retest given also

May4-7 ....Backflow Tester ........................................Deltona ............$375/405

18-21 ....Backflow Tester ........................................St. Petersburg ....$375/405

18-22 ....Stormwater Level C, B ..............................Deltona ............$260/280

29 ....Backflow Tester Recert*** ........................Deltona ............$85/115

June8-12 ....Wastewater Collection C, B ....................Deltona ............$325/355

15-18 ....Backflow Tester ........................................St. Petersburg ....$375/405

22-26 ....Wastewater Collection A..........................Deltona ............$275/305

22-26 ....Water Distribution 1 ................................Deltona ............$275/305

22-26 ....Stormwater A ............................................Deltona ............$275/305


July6-10 ....Reclaimed Water Field Site Inspector ....Deltona ............$350/380

13-15 ....Backflow Repair ........................................St. Petersburg ....$275/305


27-30 ....Backflow Tester ........................................Deltona ............$375/405

You are required to have your own calculator at state short schools

and most other courses.

Course registration forms are available at http://www.fwpcoa.org/forms.asp. For additional information on these courses or other training programs offered by the FWPCOA, please

contact the FW&PCOA Training Office at (321) 383-9690 or [email protected].



1. What is the best parameter to useindicating that trouble is starting in ananaerobic digester?

A. Increase in carbon dioxideB. Decrease in pHC. Increase in sludge volumeD. Increase in volatile acid/alkalinity

relationship

2. If polymer consumed in a belt filter press(BFP) is identified to be about $25 perdry ton, is this an acceptable cost ofpolymer usage for a BFP?

A. No, it is way too high.B. Yes, this is acceptable.C. There is not enough data to calculate

this parameter.

3. Which of the following is a harmfulphysical agent to microbiology?

A. Hydrochloric acid B. MethaneC. Solvents D. Temperature

4. Which term is most related to vectorattraction reduction in an aerobicdigester?

A. SettleometerB. PathogenC. Specific oxygen utilization rate

(SOUR)D. Food-to-mass ratio (F/M)

5. What safety precaution should be takenwhen starting a positive displacement pump?

A. The discharge valve should be closed.B. The inlet valve must be grounded.C. The discharge valve must be opened.D. There should be no people near the

pump.

6. What is the system called that requiresproper documentation associated with theperson who collects samples, the personwho receives the samples in the lab, andthe lab technician who performs the tests?

A. Sample performanceB. Chain of custodyC. MappingD. Sample journal

7. What is a typical percent volatile contentof activated sludge mixed liquorsuspended solids for municipal activatedsludge processes?

A. 5 to 15 percentB. 30 to 40 percentC. 50 to 60 percentD. 70 to 80 percent

8. Of the items in the list of answers, whatmay be the FIRST corrective action takento resolve suspended flocculationconditions in a secondary clarifier if themicroscopic exam reveals an abundanceof filamentous organisms?

A. Decrease the dissolved oxygen (DO)B. Increase the DOC. Increase the waste activated sludge

(WAS) rateD. Reduce the return activated sludge

(RAS) rate

9. What 15-minute test will help to identifythe concentration of aeration mixedliquor suspended solids (MLSS) orthickened sludge from a gravity beltthickener system?

A. Laboratory total suspended solids(TSS)

B. SettleometerC. Centrifuge spindownD. Sludge judge

10. A spray field has a total of 25 acres and isdivided into four equal zones. Only onezone may be operated at a time and thepermit states that no more than 4 in. ofwater can be applied to the zone. Howlong can a zone be operated at a rate of0.5 mil gal per day (mgd) before it mustbe rotated to another zone?

A. 48 hours B. 1.4 daysC. 4.2 days D. 144 hours

Answers on page 62

Readers are welcome to submitquestions or exercises on water or wastewater treatment plantoperations for publication inCertification Boulevard. Sendyour question (with the answer) or your exercise (with the solution) by email to:[email protected], or by mail to:

Roy PelletierWastewater Project Consultant

City of Orlando Public Works DepartmentEnvironmental Services

Wastewater Division5100 L.B. McLeod Road

Orlando, FL 32811407-716-2971

Certification Boulevard

Roy Pelletier

SEND US YOURQUEST IONS

Test Your Knowledge of Operations and Utility Management Topics

Check the ArchivesAre you new to the water and wastewater field? Want to boost your knowledge

about topics youʼll face each day as a water/wastewater professional?All past editions of Certification Boulevard through 2000 are available on the Florida

Water Environment Associationʼs website at www.fwea.org. Click the “Site Map” buttonon the home page, then scroll down to the Certification Boulevard Archives, locatedbelow the Operations Research Committee.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS?

FWRJ COMMITTEE PROFILE

Affiliation: FWEA

Current chair:Danielle Bertini, Carollo Engineers

Scope of work:To develop and implement programs to

increase the activity and membership of studentsand young professionals within the association.We support and invest in our students and youngprofessionals by hosting the Student DesignCompetition (SDC) and Poster Competition,awarding the Norm Casey Scholarship, selectingthe YP of the Year, and coordinating various YPevents throughout the state.

Recent accomplishments:This past year, our committee has focused on:

• Establishing a stronger connection withcolleges throughout the state.

• Providing more guidance to faculty advisorsand students earlier in the competitionprocess.

• Connecting students with industryprofessionals and/or local utilities.

We have accomplished these bystreamlining the information given to thestudents and by reaching out to local utilitiesand industry professionals to provide problemstatements or act as a mentor. Committeemembers have also visited most universities topromote the SDC .

Last year, the University of South Florida(USF) and the University of Miami (UMiami),won first place in their categories at the SDC.We sent both teams to the Water Environment

Federation Technical Exhibition andConference (WEFTEC) to participate in thenational competition. The USF took first placein the wastewater category and UMiami tookfourth place in the environmental category.Florida teams continue to do well inrepresenting the state at the national level!

This is also the first year we are hosting theS&YP Poster Competition at the Florida WaterResources Conference (FWRC). Students andyoung professionals will be presenting theirprojects and research outside the exhibit hall.Poster themes will include wastewaterengineering, water resources, and otherenvironmental/sustainability topics.

Current projects:Lindsay Marten, with Stantec in Sarasota,

was recently selected as the 2015 YP of the Year.Lindsay was recognized for her dynamicleadership and involvement with FWEA thispast year and her potential as a future FWEAleader. She will be representing Florida at thenational AWWA/WEF YP Summit in 2016.

The S&YP Committee will also be hostingseveral events on Monday, May 4, 2015, at

FWRC:• Student Design Competition • Career Panel/Resume Workshop (part of the

SDC)• First Annual S&YP Poster Competition• Joint AWWA/FWEA YP Social

Future work:Our goals for 2015/2016 include:

• Continuing to provide guidance andassistance to local universities.

• Expanding our student outreach efforts tograde school students.

• Promoting both engineering andnonengineering career tracks.

• Hosting a student paper competition at the2016 FWRC.

• Fundraising so we can continue to offerbenefits to our participants/award winners

Committee members:• Tim Ware, vice chair, American Water• Kristiana Dragash, director at large, Carollo

Engineers• Rebecca Oliva, past chair, CDM Smith• Isaac Holowell, CDM Smith• Samantha Hanzel, Greeley & Hansen• David Hernandez, Hazen & Sawyer• Kristen Andre, Arcadis• Lauren Davis, Arcadis• Matt Munz, MWH• George Dick, University of South Florida• Yanni Polematidis, CDM Smith• Samantha Nehme, Stantec !!

This column highlights a committee, division, council, or other volunteer group of FSAWWA, FWEA, and FWPCOA.

Students and Young Professionals (S&YP) Committee

Tim Ware and Danielle Bertini, committee vice chairand chair.

Kristiana Dragash, winner of the2014 YP of the Year award.University of Florida Team. University of Miami team.



FWRJ READER PROFILE

Raymond BordnerRetired

Work title and years of service.I worked for City of St. Petersburg as the

water distri-bution supervisor and retired after37 years of service. For the past nine years Ihave worked part time for Pinellas TechnicalCollege as an instructor for the Public WorksAcademy. I teach classes for the academy’s cadetprogram and for the water distributionapprenticeship program.

What does your job entail? As a water distribution supervisor my

responsibilities included the field servicesdivision (meters, backflow prevention, andreclaimed water), valve and hydrantmaintenance, new small services, andhorizontal directional drilling sections. At thePublic Works Academy I instruct academy

cadets on all classes that pertain to waterdistribution.

I am also an instructor for FWPCOA on-the-road classes for water distribution, level twoand level three, and classes for backflowassembly tester certification and backflow repairand maintenance certification. I attended thefirst backflow assembly tester certification classtaught in Florida at the University of FloridaTraining, Research, and Education forEnvironmental Occupations (TREEO) Centerin 1979.

What do you like best about your job?Water distribution has been my livelihood

and passion for the past 46 years. As aninstructor I really do enjoy passing on what Ihave learned over the years to those who arecurrently oversee the maintenance andoperation of water distribution systems, as wellas those who protect distribution systems fromcross-connection through backflow preventionprograms.

What organizations do you belong to?I have been a member of FWPCOA since

1982 serving the association and its members ascommittee chair of the Systems OperatorsCommittee for over 10 years. I also serve on theEducation Committee and BackflowCommittee. I am an honorary life member ofthe association and had the honor of serving asits president in 2011 and 2012.

I hold an active Florida Department of

Environmental Protection (FDEP) Class1 Distribution System Operator LicenseNo. 0016478. I have served on the FDEPTechnical Advisory Committees and amcurrently serving on the Exam ReviewCommittee, Office of CertificationPrograms for Water Distribution.

How has the organizations helped yourcareer?

The FWPCOA has played a key rolethroughout my career as a waterdistribution operator. Networking withother dedicated and professionaloperators from around the state hasprovided me with a wealth of informationin the professional operation andmaintenance of water systems,information and support that can only begained through personal contact withother dedicated and knowledgeableoperators.

What do you like best about theindustry?

I was born and raised in Florida andhave seen many changes in the state’swater environment. Having theknowledge and understanding that thereare so many dedicated and professionalmembers of FWPCOA, FSAWWA, andFWEA who work around the clock toprotect Florida’s water and ensure thatthere will be plenty of clean safe water forfuture generations who visit or who callFlorida their home is heartening.

I’m proud that I have had theopportunity to play a small part inprotecting our drinking water supplies asthat water flows through a waterdistribution system so no one who visitsor resides here will have to ask, “Is thewater I am about to use safe?”

What do you do when you’re notworking?

My life outside my profession is myfamily. I cannot spend enough time withmy grandchildren, John Ray and Katie.They have a special way of making methink that I am younger than I am and Ienjoy every minute of time I have withthem.

I also enjoy ridding my HondaShadow on back roads, relaxing andrefreshing my spirit with the windblowing in my face while enjoying ourbeautiful state. !!


Student researchers at theUniversity of Central Florida(UCF) College of Engineering werevery lucky this St. Patrick’s Daywhen they were visited by the JonesEdmunds cofounder and director,Bob Edmunds.

Edmunds arrived at UCF onMarch 17 with a wealth of infor-

mation to share as a guest lecturerduring Dr. Steve Duranceau’s envi-ronmental systems engineering de-sign class. In addition to hisengineering expertise, Edmundsalso presented a check from hisfirm for $15,000 to the Universityof Central Florida Research Foun-dation in support of environmen-

tal engineering research.Jones Edmunds’ partnership

with the engineering departmentdates back more than a decade. Inthe past 10 years, it has contributednearly $100,000 toward UCF’s re-search in water quality, treatment,storage, and distribution ofportable water systems.

“It has sincerely been a pleas-ure to work with the University ofCentral Florida for all these yearsand see our relationship continueto grow,” said Edmunds. “Our firmis constantly impressed by the workof these students and proud to con-tribute to their education. We lookforward to seeing the impact theyhave in the field of environmentalengineering.”

The firm and the university’sengineering team recently workedtogether on the design of the PolkCounty Imperial Lakes WaterTreatment Plant. Soon after it wasplaced into operation, Duranceauand several of his students touredthe facility. The university helpedwith the pilot testing for the plant’streatment technology, which was agood way to “close the loop” withthe students and let them see thefinished product.

University of Central Florida Receives Gift for Engineering Department

Dr. Steve Duranceau (middle left) receives check from Bob Edmunds (middle right).


Every ten years theFlorida Section ofAWWA gets the op-

portunity to host the Association’s RegionalMeeting of Section Officers (RMSO). It was ourturn again this year, and on March 25-27, wetook the opportunity to show off Florida andthe section.

The AWWA structure has its 43 sectionsgrouped into five regions in North America.Florida is a part of Region II, along with the fol-lowing sections in the southeast region: NorthCarolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, West Vir-ginia, Alabama-Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia,and Kentucky-Tennessee.

What is RMSO you ask? It’s a great oppor-tunity! And it’s a yearly opportunity for sectionleadership to meet with AWWA staff and othersection leaders from our region. These meetingsare one of the most important tools for gainingupdated information on AWWA and sharing

ideas with other sections. This year was certainlyno different.

Planning for this event started at the 2014Florida Water Resources Conference andramped up at our Fall Conference at the end oflast year. With so many locations throughout thestate to choose from for the meeting site, it wasa difficult decision to settle on one. Grace Johns,the current FSAWWA vice chair, had such visionand passion to have the event in Key Largo thatwe choose it by a unanimous decision. Gracetook the lead and treated everyone to a beauti-ful location and perfectly planned event. Thankyou, Grace! Our guest section leaders andAWWA staff were given a front-row seat to someof the best natural scenery and entertainmentFlorida has to offer.

On Wednesday, March 25, as everyone ar-rived, the Florida Section hosted a meet andgreet reception. We were trolleyed over from thehotel to a glass-bottom boat to take us to ourdestination. As we floated on top of the crystalclear water and glided across the Molasses Reef,we were treated to a beautiful display of coral,fish, turtles, and even a shark. There were a lot ofoohs and aahs from all. It was a great opportu-

nity to relax and get to know other section lead-ers in a casual, laid-back atmosphere.

The meetings kicked off first thing Thurs-day morning with an informative presentationby AWWA Treasurer David Rager on “AWWA2020 : A Path to One AWWA.” His talk was basedon the AWWA strategic plan and its five mainpillars:! First, that sections are AWWA’s primary busi-

ness partner. ! Second, that AWWA is a provider of total

water solutions. ! Third, that while AWWA is a North Ameri-

can association, its impact is felt globally. ! Fourth, that utilities are core members.! And lastly, that this would be a plan for all of

AWWA.

Most of the rest of the day was dedicated tosection members sharing ideas about member-ship and education. This is one of my favoritecomponents of RMSO. These sharing opportu-nities have transitioned from annual reports ofgeneral section activities to topical, focused dis-cussions. The quality of information shared hasled to greater adoption of new ideas, programs,

Mark LehighChair, FSAWWA

Florida Section AWWA Hosts RegionalMeeting of Section Officers

FSAWWA SPEAKING OUT

Viewing sea life through the glass bottom boat. Attendees share their ideas at one of the meetings.


and initiatives among the sister sections. Theseare the ideas and programs that work—thethings that the other sections are doing that aresuccessful and bring value back to the member-ship.

This is the true value of RMSO and why it’ssuch a successful event. You leave re-energized,with a handful of ideas and opportunities toserve your members. You build relationshipswith the other sections in your region that con-tinue throughout the year. The ideas are not justshared; sections make them a reality by sup-porting and assisting each other to become“One AWWA.”

The evening was capped off with a recep-tion and dinner at Snooks Bayside Restaurant.The weather was perfect, the sunset was gor-geous, the food was tasty, and the fellowship wasenjoyed by all 96 attendees. It was simply a per-fect location and a great event hosted by the sec-tion. Thanks again to Grace Johns for taking thetime to plan and coordinate this event and toHazen and Sawyer for supporting her.

Early Friday morning the sections assem-bled again for an informative presentation onbranding and a legislative update from AWWADeputy Executive Director Tom Curtis. Tomprovided a recap of the recent DC Fly-In, whichis held every year to inform new legislators inWashington about drinking water issues. Hepointed out some the key issues on Capitol Hill,chanting his mantra “Free WIFIA.”

The event was capped off with a silent auc-tion to raise money for Water For People. Barika

Poole coordinated this effort and brought inmany eclectic, Florida-made and Florida-themed items, from art work and jewelry to anautographed picture of Dale Earnhardt Sr. tocraft beer and wine. We also offered items fromsome of the countries where Water For Peoplehas its projects. The Puerto Rico Sectionbrought a bottle of Rum that kicked off a bid-ding war and was won by a Florida Section rep-resentative. This was a fun and successful eventthat raised over $1500.

On a side note, we missed seeing Christo-pher McGinness, our section services managerfrom AWWA. He was pulled away by a last-minute, but very welcome new addition to hisfamily! Congratulations Christopher, from theFlorida Section and all the members of RegionII.

I’m looking forward to the meeting nextyear and the opportunity to renew old friend-ships, build new ones, and steal some more greatideas! !!

FSAWWA staff and officers, and meeting attendees, at the hosted dinner.Tom Curtis had the honor of sounding the ship’s hornat sunset.

Items available for bid at the Water For People auction.


Barry Liner and Sam Jeyanayagam

In excess, nutrients can be harmful waterpollutants. Nutrients are found in agriculturaland home fertilizers, as well as agricultural op-erations. Sources include confined animal feed-ing operations, industrial pretreatment facilities,septic systems, and water resource recovery fa-cilities (WRRFs), as well as municipal and in-dustrial stormwater runoff.

According to the U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA), more than 100,000 mi2 ofrivers and streams, close to 2.5 million acres oflakes and ponds, and more than 800 mi2 of baysand estuaries are affected by nitrogen and phos-phorus pollution. Excess nutrients can lead toalgal blooms, which can produce toxins and re-sult in hypoxic zones. Algal blooms cost thetourism industry some $1 billion annually.These substantial impacts are the reason regu-latory nutrient limits are expanding across thecountry.

Nutrient Removal at WRRFsNutrient management begins with nutri-

ent removal to meet permit requirements. TheWRRFs can achieve very low nutrient dischargesthrough a variety of processes, primarily bio-logical nutrient removal (BNR), physical sepa-ration, and chemical methods. Mosttechnologies capable of removing both nitrogenand phosphorus utilize BNR, which relies onbacteria to transform nutrients present in waste-water. In BNR, bacteria are exposed to the in-fluent from primary treatment. The selection ofa BNR process should be based on influent flowand loadings, such as biochemical oxygen de-mand (BOD), nutrient concentrations, andother constituents, as well as target effluent re-quirements.

Select species of bacteria can accumulatephosphorus, while others can transform nitro-gen, and a few can do both. Achieving significantreductions in both nitrogen and phosphorus re-quires careful design, analysis, and process con-trol to optimize the environment ofnutrient-removing organisms. The uptake of nu-trients and growth of microorganisms could beinhibited by a limiting nutrient, available carbon,or other factors, including oxygen levels.

Some nutrient removal systems rely on twoseparate processes for nitrogen and phosphorusremoval. In some cases, BNR is used to removethe majority of nitrogen and phosphorus, andthen chemical methods are used to further re-duce phosphorus concentrations. Mainstreamnutrient treatment takes place within the typicalplant process flow. However, sidestream treat-ment refers to liquid resulting from biosolidstreatment (anaerobic digestion and dewatering)that is intercepted with an additional treatmentgoal—to remove nutrients from a concentratedstream and minimize mainstream impacts. Likemainstream nutrient treatment processes, side-stream treatment can also vary from biologicalto physical and chemical removal methods.

Nitrogen RemovalNitrogen can be removed from wastewater

through physiochemical methods, such as airstripping at high pH, but it is more cost-efficientto use BNR. Conventionally, this method utilizesthe natural nitrogen cycle, which relies on am-monia-oxidizing bacteria to transform ammo-nia into nitrites (NO2-) after whichnitrite-oxidizing bacteria form nitrates (NO3-

)—a process called nitrification. Other speciesof bacteria can transform these compounds intonitrogen, a harmless gas (N2)—a process calleddenitrification. Nitrification can occur in the

aeration basin together with BOD oxidation, asthey both require aerobic conditions. In con-trast, denitrification takes place in an anoxic re-actor with the nitrate providing the requiredoxygen. As denitrification occurs, nitrogen gasis produced and released safely into the atmos-phere, where nitrogen gas is more abundantthan oxygen. Nitrogen gas is inert and does notpollute the atmosphere.

When performing biological nitrogen re-moval, it is important that the activated sludgehas enough available carbon to sustain denitri-fication. The bacteria that mediate denitrifica-tion need carbon to build new cells as theyremove nitrogen. This means that utilities mustmake decisions on how best to use the carbonfor the combinations of nutrient removal/re-covery, energy generation, and/or recovery ofvalue-added nonnutrient products.

The nitrogen removal rate is also depend-ent on the amount of time that sludge spends inthe reactor (solids retention time), the reactortemperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and in-hibitory compounds. Optimal conditions differfor nitrification and denitrification, but bothcan be carried out simultaneously in the sameunit if anoxic and aerobic zones exist. Someprocess configurations, such as oxidationditches and sequencing batch reactors, combinenitrification and denitrification within a singletank, while others incorporate two separatestages. Nitrogen removal processes can also bebroken down into two categories based onwhether bacteria are suspended within the wastestream or fixed to media. Examples include in-tegrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) anddenitrification filters.

A method of nitrogen removal that hasgained favor over the past decade is deammoni-

Turning a Pollutant Into a Resource: An Overview of

Nutrient Removal and Recovery at Water Resource Recovery Facilities



fication, a two-step process that avoids nitrateformation. Aerobic ammonia oxidation to ni-trite occurs in the first phase, then nitrogen gasis produced through anaerobic ammonium ox-idation, also known as Anammox, which is a bi-ological process carried out by specializedbacteria that oxidize ammonia, and nitrite isused as an electron acceptor (oxygen source)under anaerobic conditions.

Phosphorus RemovalUnlike nitrogen, phosphorus cannot be re-

moved from wastewater as a gas. Instead, it mustbe removed in particulate form through chem-ical, biological, or hybrid chemical–biologicalprocesses, or nanoprocesses. Nano methods in-volve membranes and include reverse osmosis,nanofiltration, and electrodialysis reversal.Chemical methods (chem-P) typically utilizemetal ions, such as alum or ferric chloride.These compounds bind with phosphorus andcause it to precipitate and be removed by sedi-mentation and filtration. Chemical methods areinfluenced by a number of factors, including thephosphorus species, choice of chemical, chemi-cal-to-phosphorus ratio, the location and num-ber of feed points, mixing, and pH.

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal(EBPR, or bio-P) relies on phosphorus-accumu-lating organisms (PAOs) capable of removingphosphorus in excess of metabolic requirements.While many factors impact the EBPR process,the two most important requirements are avail-ability of a readily biodegradable carbon source(food) and cycling of the PAOs between anaero-bic and aerobic conditions. In the anaerobiczone, PAOs take up and store carbon. The energyrequired for this is obtained by releasing inter-nally stored phosphorus. In the subsequent aer-obic zone, the stored carbon is assimilated andthe energy is used to uptake excess phosphorus.

Consequently, the design and operation ofEBPR systems must consider the availability of areadily biodegradable carbon source (such asvolatile fatty acids) and the integrity of theanaerobic zone by eliminating dissolved oxygenand/or nitrate contributions from the influent,return streams, and backflow from the down-stream aerobic zone. As with biological nitrogenremoval, oxygen levels, solids retention time, andtemperature play an important role in EBPR ef-

ficiency. It is common practice to add a standbychemical system to account for poor EBPR per-formance. Many existing biological nitrogen re-moval processes can be modified to removephosphorus by adding an anaerobic phase.

However, economic and environmentaltrade-offs exist, such as greenhouse gas produc-tion in the form of nitrous oxide, as well as in-creased energy demands. Nutrient removaltechniques can also affect biogas productionand dewatering. The dewatering process is neg-atively affected by bio-P. During anaerobic di-gestion, flow from the bio-P process candecrease the efficiency of dewatering and re-quire additional polymer as a coagulant, partic-ularly when there are fewer beneficial metalions, such as iron and aluminum.

From Removal to RecoveryBeyond simply removing nutrients,

WRRFs also can reclaim nutrients. Recovery notonly prevents nutrients from entering water-bodies, but provides a supply of these essentialresources. The most straightforward way of re-covering nutrients is through biosolids. The EPAestimates that the approximately 16,000 WRRFsin the United States generate about 7 milliontons of biosolids. About 60 percent of thesebiosolids are beneficially applied to agriculturalland, with only 1 percent of crops actually fer-tilized with biosolids. However, generating solidfertilizer from biosolids is the most commonmethod of nutrient recovery from wastewater.

Wastewater operations that have adoptedthe “principles of becoming a utility of the fu-ture” are using the nutrient removal process toproduce marketable products beyond simplebiosolids, including nutrients, energy, electric-ity, and vehicle fuels. Phosphorus used for fer-tilizer is a finite resource, with some estimatingthat demand will outpace supply within the next

Nutrient removal is an essential part of wastewater treatment to help prevent algal blooms, as shown in this 2011satellite photo of an especially severe case in Lake Erie. (Credit: MERIS/NASA; processed byNOAA/NOS/NCCOS)



century. In a similar vein, ammonia is producedvia the Haber-Bosch process, which consumesnatural gas (a nonrenewable resource), is an en-ergy-intensive process, and is associated withgreenhouse gas emissions. Interest in recoveringnutrients from wastewater has increased overthe last decade. However, the maturity of nutri-ent recovery technologies varies, and each hasits advantages and disadvantages.

Sidestream treatment of sludge and sludgeliquor, where nutrients are more concentrated, isgenerally the preferable target for nutrient recov-ery, but resource recovery complexity can varywidely depending on local conditions. In additionto nutrients, there are other types of products thatcan be recovered, such as metals, heat, and potableor drinking water, which may bring financial re-wards and benefits to help offset utility costs.

These are some nutrient-based and otherresources that can be recovered at a WRRF:! Solid fertilizer from biosolids

o Land application of biosolids recycles ni-trogen, phosphorus, carbon, and othermacronutrients.

o Soil blends and composts are potentialphosphorus recovery products.

o Incinerator ash is also a source of phos-phorus for recovery.

! Solid fertilizer from the treatment process

o Struvite precipitation and recovery. By thismethod, both phosphorus and ammo-nium can be simultaneously recovered,producing a high-quality fertilizer fromsome sidestream systems.

o Other methods of phosphate precipitationsuch as brushite are also becoming common.

! Water reuseo Irrigation with reclaimed water can have

some nitrogen and phosphorus benefits.! Chemical recovery

o Structural materials can be obtained fromcarbonates and phosphorus compounds.

o Proteins and other chemicals, such as am-monia, hydrogen peroxides, and methanol,can be recovered.

o Solids can be stored for future mining.

A Roadmap to Nutrient RecoveryWith the complexity of nutrient removal

and recovery alternatives available, utility staffmay wonder how to move forward to addresscurrent needs or plan for future impacts of nu-trient limits. The Water Environment Federa-tion (Alexandria, Va.) has released a NutrientRoadmap to support the movement towardsmarter and sustainable nutrient managementin the context of each WRRF’s specific regula-tory climate and stakeholder preference. The

roadmap provides a straightforward, high-levelframework for planning, implementing, andevaluating different steps of a net-zero nutrientdischarge strategy and can be found atwww.wef.org/nutrientroadmap.

Note: The information provided in this articleis designed to be educational. It is not intended toprovide any type of professional advice includingwithout limitation legal, accounting, or engineering.Your use of the information provided here is volun-tary and should be based on your own evaluationand analysis of its accuracy, appropriateness for youruse, and any potential risks of using the information.The Water Environment Federation (WEF), author,and the publisher of this article assume no liability ofany kind with respect to the accuracy or complete-ness of the contents and specifically disclaim any im-plied warranties of merchantability or fitness of usefor a particular purpose. Any references included areprovided for informational purposes only and do notconstitute endorsement of any sources.

Barry Liner, Ph.D., P.E., is director of theWater Environment Federation (WEF) Water Sci-ence & Engineering Center. Sam Jeyanayagam,Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, is chair of the WEF NutrientRoadmap publication task force. !!


The operation of wastewater treatment fa-cilities requires significant expense, espe-cially when the facilities must provide

public access reuse or advanced wastewatertreatment-quality water. The highest expensesare normally for power, operations, equipmentmaintenance, and chemicals. If the facility uti-lizes sodium hypochlorite for primary andresidual disinfection, these are often the highestchemical costs. A new low-cost addition at PolkCounty’s Northeast Regional Wastewater Treat-ment Facility (Facility) has lowered the con-sumption of disinfection chemicals, whilemaintaining a more constant residual. The Fa-cility has been able to stabilize chlorine demandand lower the total chlorine demand, while notsignificantly modifying the existing infrastruc-ture. Additional benefits include lowered main-tenance costs and lower algal growth. The smalladdition to the Facility is the EnvironmentalControl Company’s floating balls, also known asshade balls, to cover the chlorine contact basins(see photo).

Chlorine Demand Before Shade Balls

The Facility is an existing wastewatertreatment facility rated for an average annualtreatment capacity of 6 mil gal per day (mgd),capable of treatment with effluent dischargingbelow 5/5/5/3 mg/l as five-day carbonaceousbiochemical oxygen demand (CBOD5), totalsuspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN),and total phosphorous (TP). The Facility cur-rently treats an annual average daily flow of 2.5

mgd, with peak month averages approaching3 mgd.

The wastewater effluent from the Facilityhas average effluent qualities of 1/0.5/4/1.5 mg/las defined previously. The contribution of am-monia as nitrogen averages approximately 0.1mg/l, which is especially important to note dueto its high consumption rate of chlorine. Dur-ing the past two years, the Facility has had anaverage total chlorine use of approximately 18.2mg/l +/- 7.2 mg/l (1.96 sigma), with an effluentresidual averaging 3 mg/l. This equates to a con-sumption of 15.2 mg/l with greater than 50 per-cent variability. Removing the months ofJanuary and February 2013 due to assisting afacility owned by others that was known to havehigher than typical ammonia and CBOD5 lev-els, the average total chlorine use was approxi-mately 17.5 mg/l +/- 5.9 mg/l. This wouldequate to a consumption of 14.5 mg/l with 47percent variability over a two-year period. Fig-

ure 1 shows the monthly average chlorine useas a dosage (mg/l) before the shade balls wereinstalled. The months of January and February2013 were removed due to an unusual eventwhen the Facility treated flow from anothersource that required higher than normal chlo-rine utilization.

With chlorine demand and variability sohigh and with minimal inorganic demand, Polk

Wastewater Treatment Cost Reduction: Stabilizing Chlorine Demand in

Wastewater EffluentCharles Nichols, David Carr, Mark Lowenstine, and Craig Fuller

Charles Nichols is a regional wastewatertreatment supervisor, David Carr is awastewater treatment plant operator, andMark Lowenstine is the water andwastewater manager with Polk CountyUtilities in Winter Haven. Craig Fuller, P.E., isa senior water and wastewater engineer atAECOM in Bartow.

F W R J

Figure 1. Chlorine Dose at Facility Without Shade Balls


County decided to investigate options for de-creasing the total chlorine demand. The Countyconsidered installing an overhead shade at theFacility to decrease the temperature and ultravi-olet (UV) consumption of chlorine. The Countyhas installed an overhead shade at the NorthwestRegional Wastewater Treatment Facility (North-west Facility) with good results, and the Countydesired to implement similar measures through-out its service area. At the Facility, the chlorinecontact basins had a much larger footprint thanthe Northwest Facility, and the installation of anoverhead shade would have been much more ex-pensive. The County found a less invasive optionby contacting a neighboring utility. The City ofLakeland (City) had been utilizing the floatingballs to limit algal growth in a basin within theCounty. The City had decided to decommissionthe use of the balls, and the County requested theuse of the balls for trial purposes. By insertingthe floating balls into the chlorine contact at theFacility, it had hoped to accomplish similar re-sults to the overhead shade, but found that addi-tional benefits were gained and results werebetter than expected.

Chlorine Calculations

The County’s chlorine use at the Facility isattributable to disinfection and maintenanceuse. Disinfection chlorine consumed in a con-tact basin is attributable to the initial demand (CBOD5, inorganics), evaporation losses (off-gassing), UV losses, and losses due to oxidationof unwanted material growth in the basin. Theinitial demand was already minimized throughtreatment process optimization in the chlorinecontact basin, but the other losses were still af-fecting the operational stability of the Facility.

The initial demand can be directly meas-ured by comparing the dose to the residual im-mediately after dose. Before the shade balls wereput into the Facility, the average dosage was de-sired to be approximately 13.5 mg/l, leaving an8 mg/l just after dose. The target set point waselevated due to changing field conditions toleave an effluent residual of 3 mg/l, which re-sulted in an actual average dosage of approxi-mately 17 mg/l. The average instantaneouschlorine demand was calculated to be approxi-mately 5.5 mg/l under normal conditions. Itshould be noted that the maintenance amountaverages about 0.5 mg/l for cleaning other partsof the plant, such as the tertiary filters and clar-ifiers.

The next type of loss that can be estimatedis evaporation. Utilizing Raoult’s Law of partialpressures and Off-Site Consequences Analysis(OCA) Guidance (Kirk-Othmer), which is amodified version of Mackay and Matsugu’s cal-

culations for evaporation, the average amountof chlorine lost due to evaporation can be esti-mated. The calculations assume an average con-centration in the contact basin of 8 mg/l, a watertemperature of 27°C, and an average wind speedof 10 mi per hour (mph), which are similar con-ditions to the average in Davenport.

The chlorine average loss due to evapora-tion is estimated to be approximately 1.1 mg/l. Itshould be noted that this calculation assumesthe evaporation losses of water to be relativelyinconsequential compared to the losses of chlo-rine (Sung, H.M.); it should also be noted thatthe main contributor to the losses is wind. Al-though temperature plays a role, it is relativelyconstant. While vapor pressure of chlorine in-creases at elevated temperatures, the solubilitycapabilities of water increases. If the water tem-perature increases 10°C (a greater variabilitythan exists in the effluent), the losses only in-crease by 0.5 mg/l. However, if the wind speedincreases by 10 mph, the losses increase by 0.8mg/l. The following equation shows examplecalculations:

E = Evaporation rate in lb/minU = Wind speed in m/sM = Molecular weight of compoundA = Area of exposed liquid surface in ft2

Pv = Partial vapor pressure of compound evap-orated

T = Absolute temperature in kelvin

To calculate the partial pressure usingRaoult’s Law, the vapor pressure of chlorine atthe known temperature must be considered.Utilizing the Air Liquide Encyclopedia, the purevapor pressure is 7 bar (5,250 mmHg). With amol fraction of 2.03 X 10-6, the partial pressureof chlorine gas is approximately 0.011 mmHg.

The other losses (UV and oxidation of un-wanted materials) can be grouped together asthey are interrelated. The UV and nitrates pres-ent in effluent wastewater cause growth to occur,while the UV also reacts with the chlorine to de-crease the residual. From the previous equationsand known information, the following can bededuced:

Total chlorine average: 17.5 mg/lMaintenance use: 0.5 mg/lInitial/instantaneous demand: 5.5 mg/lEvaporation losses: 1.1 mg/lEffluent residual: 3.0 mg/lAdditional losses: 7.4 mg/lTotal Chlorine Consumption: 14.5 mg/l

This leaves an average of approximately 7.4mg/l of chlorine consumed by UV or oxidationof material growth. Both UV consumption andthe evaporation consumption are highly vari-able and depend on atmospheric conditions.

Theoretical Calculations for Shade Ball Addition

The addition of the shade balls had someapparent benefits. The majority of the chlorinecontact basin liquid was shaded from sunlight,resulting in lower temperatures and lower UVlight exposure. Reviewing literature from themanufacturer, the balls would cover 91 percentof the surface where they are applied, effectivelyallowing only 9 percent of the water to be ex-posed to UV light. The added benefit was thatwith only 9 percent of the water surface beingexposed, there was significantly less area for thechlorine to off-gas from the liquid where theballs are present. This would notably decreasethe variability of evaporation losses and de-crease the consumption of chlorine. Based onthe area exposed and the decreased chlorine de-mand, it is estimated that the average chlorinelosses from evaporation should decrease fromapproximately 1.1 mg/l to 0.2 mg/l, or a reduc-tion of 0.9 mg/l in chlorine demand.

The UV and other materials demandshould decrease by at least the same level. As-suming that the UV losses were decreased by thefractional area where the shade balls were added,it is expected that the UV demand will dropfrom 7.4 mg/l to 1.9 mg/l, or a reduction of 5.5mg/l in chlorine demand.

Adding the chlorine consumption savingstogether, it is estimated that the shade ballswould save approximately 6.4 mg/l of chlorine.This would be a drop in total chlorine con-sumption from 14.5 mg/l to 8.1 mg/l (excludingthe effluent residual). Decreasing outside de-mands, such as UV and evaporation, shouldalso decrease the variability of the chlorine de-mand. As demonstrated previously, the chlorinedemand had a variability of 47 percent withintwo standard deviations. If the variability of de-mand decreases by the amount of liquid ex-posed, the theoretical variability in chlorinedemand should drop to 12 percent of the de-mand value. That should result in a chlorine de-mand decrease from 14.5 +/- 5.9 mg/l to 8.1 +/-1.5 mg/l, excluding effluent residual.

Shade Ball Results

At the start of September 2013, the shadeballs were installed and it was almost immediatelynoted that the chlorine residual stayed much


more constant. Due to the tighter controls, the ef-fluent residual is now 4 mg/l rather than the ex-pected 3 mg/l and the dose set point residual isnow 5.5 mg/l with a dosage of 11 mg/l. From Sep-tember 2013 through the end of December 2013,the chlorine use and flow was tracked to deter-mine the demand. Removing the 4.0 mg/l averageresidual from the calculations, the total chlorinedemand is now 7.3 +/- 1.0 mg/l for the four-month period, including 5.5 mg/l of instanta-neous chlorine demand. The results were betterthan calculations predicted, but it is possible thata 12-month period will have a closer correlationto the expected 8.1 +/- 1.5 mg/l. It is also possiblethat the majority of the evaporation and UV ex-posure was occurring where the shade balls wereadded. The following is the estimated breakdownof chlorine uses after the shade ball’s addition:

Total chlorine average: 11.3 mg/lMaintenance use: 0.5 mg/lInitial/instantaneous demand: 5.5 mg/lEvaporation losses: 0.2 mg/lEffluent residual: 4.0 mg/lAdditional losses: 1.3 mg/lTotal Chlorine Consumption: 7.3 mg/l

Figure 2 illustrates the monthly averagechlorine use as a dosage since the shade ballswere added.

The average savings of 6.2 mg/l of chlorine(17.5 mg/l versus 11.3 mg/l consumption) repre-sents a daily savings of nearly 129 gal per day(gpd) of chlorine solution (12 percent wt/vol). Ata low cost of $0.70/gal, this represents a yearlysavings of nearly $33,000. The balls have a 10-yearwarranty and are replaced if there are any issueswithin the life of the ball. This would represent achemical savings of $330,000 over a 10-year pe-riod, even if the chlorine cost did not increaseand the influent flow remained unchanged.

The improved operational performance atthe Facility is as important as the cost savings.The shade balls have tightened the chlorine con-tact control capability, leaving only 17 percentof the previous deviation in chlorine demand.This is a decrease in deviation from +/- 5.9 mg/lto only +/- 1.0 mg/l, increasing the operationstaff ’s confidence in the Facility to provide waterwith adequate chlorine residual.

It has also been noted that the maintenanceon the chlorine contact basins has decreased.Previously, a tank had to be taken down for pre-ventative maintenance and scrubbed one dayper month to remove iron deposits, algaegrowth, and dirt that had accumulated. Thetime it took to scrub a tank was approximatelyfour hours. The tanks are now taken down oneday every two and a half months, but do not

Figure 2. Chlorine Dose at Facility With and Without Shade Balls

Figure 3. Chlorine Dose at Southwest Facility With and Without Shade Balls





need to be scrubbed. They are also taken downto remove dirt or sand deposits from the floorthat may have blown in, and the time has de-creased to only about one hour of work. Thisrepresents a decrease of about 43 hours/year formaintenance. At a loaded cost of roughly$25/hour, that represents a yearly savings of over$1,075 and, more importantly, it allows staff tocomplete tasks that may be of higher priority.

The cost to purchase the shade balls wouldhave been only $4,700, or $2.45 per sq ft of sur-face area. To keep the shade balls within thebasin, a vertical grate was installed in each chan-nel of the chlorine contact basin upstream of theoverflow weir. The grate allows water to flowthrough it, limiting excessive forces and keepingthe balls in their floating position. The total costwould have been less than $10,000 for all equip-ment and installation if performed by a con-tractor. The cost savings in chlorine alone paysfor the ball installation in less than one year.

With the positive results observed at the Fa-cility, Polk County implemented the use ofshade balls at the Southwest Regional Waste-water Treatment Facility (Southwest Facility) atthe start of 2014. The total average chlorine

dosage at the facility was 18.8 mg/l from Jan. 1,2012, through Dec. 31, 2014. After adding theshade balls, between Jan. 1, 2014, and Sept. 30,2014, the average chlorine dosage had droppedby 1.0 mg/l to 17.8 mg/l.

In late September 2014, additional changeswere made to the biological treatment process,changing how the return activated sludge (RAS)was sent back to the activated sludge process at theSouthwest Facility. The RAS changes resulted in1.3 mg/l less chlorine demand for a total savings of2.3 mg/l. The chlorine dosage at the Southwest Fa-cility averaged 16.5 mg/l between Oct. 1, 2014, andDec. 31, 2014. Figure 3 depicts the savings, alongwith the deviation in demand for those periods.

Note that in the first month of 2015, the bio-logical treatment process was notably changed atthe Southwest Facility, altering anoxic return andproviding for an environment that would allow si-multaneous nitrification/denitrification. The re-sult of the changes was a decrease in chlorinedemand of an additional 2.3 mg/l. The resultingmonthly average chlorine dosage decreased from18.8 mg/l to 14.2 mg/l between 2012 and 2015.The total decrease in chlorine demand at the facil-ity resulted in a savings of approximately 61gal/day or an annual savings of $15,600.

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Jake Rohrich,operations director for Polk County Utilities, forhis support of this project. Without him, the in-vestigative work and installation would not havebeen possible.

References

• Northeast Regional Wastewater Treatment Fa-cility Staff – Jason Jennings, Jeff Goolsby, andJames Hickman.

• Southwest Regional Wastewater Treatment Fa-cility Staff – Todd Potter, William Altman, JamesHall, William Mack, and Cynthia Sammons.

• Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of ChemicalTechnology, 4th ed., Wiley, New York, 1991.

• Mackay, D. and Matsugu, R., “EvaporationRate of Hydrocarbon Spill on Water andLand,” Canadian Journal of Chemical Engi-neering, p. 434, Vol 5., 1973.

• Sung, H.M., “Accidental Releases Analysis forToxic Aqueous Solutions,” Trinity Consult-ants, 1998.

• Air Liquide Gas Encyclopedia, Chlorine/Dichlo-rine Gas, Vapor Pressure Graph, 2013. !!


Earn CEUs by answering questions from previous Journal issues!

Contact FWPCOA at [email protected] or at 561-840-0340. Articles from past issues can be viewed on the Journal website, www.fwrj.com.

Members of the Florida Water &Pollution Control Association (FWPCOA)may earn continuing education unitsthrough the CEU Challenge! Answer thequestions published on this page, basedon the technical articles in this month’sissue. Circle the letter of each correctanswer. There is only one correctanswer to each question! Answer 80percent of the questions on any articlecorrectly to earn 0.1 CEU for yourlicense. Retests are available.

This month’s editorial theme is,Operations and Utility Management.Look above each set of questions to seeif it is for water operators (DW),distribution system operators (DS), orwastewater operators (WW). Mail thecompleted page (or a photocopy) to:Florida Environmental ProfessionalsTraining, P.O. Box 33119, Palm BeachGardens, FL 33420-3119. Enclose $15for each set of questions you choose toanswer (make checks payable toFWPCOA). You MUST be an FWPCOAmember before you can submit youranswers!

___________________________________________SUBSCRIBER NAME (please print)

Article 1 ________________________________________LICENSE NUMBER for Which CEUs Should Be Awarded

If paying by credit card, fax to (561) 625-4858

providing the following information:

___________________________________________(Credit Card Number)

___________________________________________(Expiration Date)

1. Including ALL months during the two years preceding this evaluation,

a. average Northeast Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (NE Facility) totalchlorine dosage was 15.2 mg/l.

b. average NE Facility chlorine demand was 18.2 mg/l.c. NE Facility chlorine demand variability exceeded 50 percent.d. average NE Facility effluent residual chlorine exceeded 3.0 mg/l.

2. Theoretically, it was anticipated that addition of the shade balls would reduce NEFacility chlorine losses by evaporation by ___ mg/l.

a. 0.2b. 0.5c. 0.9d. 1.1

3. Which of the following is not listed as a benefit of shade balls at the NE Facility?a. Reduction in trihalomethane formation potentialb. Reduction in chlorine purchase costc. Reduction in chlorine contact basin maintenanced. Reduction in the variability of chlorine demand

4. The greatest reduction in chlorine dosage at the Southwest Regional WastewaterTreatment Facility resulted from

a. the addition of shade balls.b. process changes involving return activated sludge.c. a switch from liquid to gas chlorine supply.d. a reduction in plant flow.

5. The idea to use shade balls at the NE Facility chlorine contact chamberoriginated with a

a. successful experiment installing overhead shade for the chamber.b. neighboring utility.c. marketing call.d. trade journal article.

Wastewater Treatment Cost Reduction: Stabilizing Chlorine Demand in

Wastewater EffluentCharles Nichols, David Carr, Mark Lowenstine, and Craig Fuller

(Article 1: CEU = 0.1 WW)

Operators: Take the CEU Challenge!



The PekaSys Bubbler from Anuabatches treatment in cycles, including aerobic andanaerobic steps, to clean water and reduce total ni-trogen for residential and commercial applica-tions. As a sequencing batch reactor, it allows thetreatment steps to occur in the same chamber.Smart controls automatically adjust aeration,which optimizes treatment, saves energy, and pre-vents sludge bilking. Flexible tank configurationsinclude retrofitting to existing tanks or failed sys-tems. Its single treatment chamber saves space. Itprovides total suspended solids of less than 10mg/l and greater than 50 percent total nitrogen re-duction. (www.anua-us.com)

!The bioForce liquid from Chempace Corp.

contains a blend of highly active microorganismseffective in degrading a wide range of organicwaste found in many applications, such as house-hold and institutional, wastewater treatment, andodor control. The bacteria consortia have beenchosen for their accelerated degradation capabil-ities of organic compounds, such as grease, fats,proteins, starches, sugar, and cellulose, Regular uselowers biochemical oxygen demand and chemicaloxygen demand. It controls odors through a dual-odor control elimination package, as the microbesdigest the odor-casuing substitutes while the freshfragrance deodorizes the area of use. It is nontoxicand biodegradable. (www.chempace.com)

!The drivers app from Clear Computing,

which runs on Apple and Android devices, givesdrivers a real-time route list for service stops andwork orders, with all the information needed tocomplete and update the status of each job. In-cluded are voice directions from the current loca-tion for each stop, maps, and update forms for keyoperational fields, including quantity, units serv-iced, and start/end times. It includes customeremail notification of service completion and gen-erates reports for profit and loss by stop. Updatesflow immediately to the back office with comple-tion date and time. Service verification statementsare available for emailing to customers.(www.clearcomputing.com)

!Forbest Products Co. created the FB-

PIC3688 pan-and-tilt pipe inspection camera sys-tem that allows users to take panorama pictures,with remote directional control for over 20,000continuous hours. It comes with 400 ft of 9-mmfiberglass cable and a reel with meter counter and2-in. waterproof 360/180-degree pan-tilt high-res-olution color camera head with zooming that canwork under the water no more than 30 meters. Theheavy-duty waterproof control box includes a 10-

New Products


in. LCD color screen with USB and built-in SDcard for recording. The built-in rechargeable bat-tery pack lasts about three hours.(www.forbestusa.net)

!IM-Series injection-molded septic and

potable water tanks from Infiltrator Systemshave integral heavy-duty lids, structurally rein-forced access ports, reinforced structural ribbingand fiberglass support posts to provide additionalstrength. They require no special installation,backfill, or water filling procedures. The tanksprovide strength in a two-piece design that effi-ciently nests for reduced shipping costs and localassembly. Available septic and pump tanks includethe IM-1530 and IM-1060 septic tanks, and theIM-540 pump tank. Potable water tanks are NSF61 certified, designed for buried water tank appli-cations, and available in 552, 1,287, and 1.787-galcapacities. (www.infiltratorsystems.com)

!The Pipemaster, a manually operated, high-

pressure hose rotating system from Hammelmann Corp. is used to remove both softand very hard deposits from the insides of pipesand pipelines, including those with bends and ver-tical sections. As an alternative to self-rotatingnozzles, rotary action is achieved by rotating thehigh-pressure hose. A high-pressure supply hoseline is fixed between the pump and the rotary jointon the rotating unit. A second hose is connected tothe rotary joint and runs via the deployment unitinto a protective base to the positioning device.The rotation of the second high-pressure hosearound its longitudinal axis is affected by a chaindrive from a pneumatic motor to the rotary joint.The rotation speed can be adjusted by throttlecheck valves. Actuating the control lever of theunit causes the hose to start rotating, which pro-duces the deployment motion. (www.hammel-mann.com)

!The Depth Ray liquid level monitoring and

control system from Eldredge Equipment Serv-ices provides continuous display and control oftank liquid levels during loading and unloadingusing contact, noncontact radar, and ultrasonictechnology. Systems can be used in vacuum/pres-sure and nonpressure tanks from 4 to 66 ft. Theycan be powered by 12-volt DC, 120-volt AC orbattery/solar. Installation doesn’t require tankentry. The digital LED display is mounted in aNEMA 4 enclosure for outside or cab mounting.It has controls for opening and closing valves orsounding alarms. A 500-ft-range wireless remotecontrol unit is available. (www.depthray.com)

!The JetScan Mini video nozzle from

Envirosight can be deployed in pipes from 6 to10 in. in diameter and gives sewer cleaning crewsvisual feedback to select the proper tools,troubleshoot backups, identify buried safetyhazards, and document successful cleaning. Thedevice captures HD video footage fromunderground pipes for offline tablet viewing. Itrecords up to 8 hours of 720 pixel HD MPEG

video to an onboard 32 GB SDHC memory card,which is easily removed to view video on an iPador other DSHC-compatible device.(www.envirosight.com) !!

February rainfall was above average across muchof the South Florida Water Management District(SFWMD), with a significant portion falling the lastday of the month.

Significantly, the Kissimmee basins continuedtheir trend of above-average rainfall feeding LakeOkeechobee. Rainfall for the month north of the lakewas about double the historical average for February.The two basins received 5.13 and 4.20 in. of rainfallrespectively, representing 216 percent and 184 percentof average for the month.

“Above-average Kissimmee rainfall continues tocontribute to the already high lake stages,” said JeffKivett, SFWMD division director of operations, en-gineering and construction. “Operations continuemoving water south of the lake, and the District hasincreased pumping at temporary water storage areaswhere possible.”

District-wide, 3.07 in. of rain fell during Febru-ary, representing 135 percent of average, or 0.80 in.above average. February 28 saw a District-wide aver-age of about 1 in., or about a third of the month’srainfall. Areas of eastern Palm Beach County experi-enced local maximums of 10 in. that day.

Lake Okeechobee also received above-averagerainfall, with 2.94 in. of direct rainfall, representing138 percent of average, or 0.81 in. above average. Thelake stood at 14.71 ft national geodetic vertical datum(NGVD) today, which is 0.20 ft above its historic av-erage for this time of year and nearly a ft higher thanthis time last year.

Most of the remainder of the District also sawabove-average rainfall in February. Martin and St.Lucie counties, among the wettest areas of the 16-county district, saw 4.65 in. of rain, representing 185percent of average, or 2.14 in. above average. TheSouthwest Coast and East Caloosahatchee received119 percent and 105 percent of average rainfall, re-spectively. Big Cypress Preserve was one of the fewareas to receive below-average rainfall, with 1.70 in.representing 77 percent of average, or 0.51 in. belowaverage.

!The St. Johns River Water Management Dis-

trict is partnering with the city of Vero Beach on aproject to help improve water quality in the IndianRiver Lagoon.

The Vero Beach Hybrid Septic Tank EffluentPumping System (STEP) project will reduce nutrientsflowing to the lagoon. The STEP project will divertseptic system effluent, currently entering the ground-water along the Indian River Lagoon, to a central fa-cility for treatment, preventing up to 40,500 poundsof nutrients per year from entering the groundwater.By reducing septic effluent and associated nutrientsfrom entering the groundwater, less nutrients flow tothe lagoon from septic systems near the shallow estu-ary.

News Beat




The FWPCOA held itsspring short schoolMarch 16-21 in Ft.

Pierce. I was honored to be among those givingback to our industry by teaching and passing onsome of our mentionable experiences. We will for-ever keep the unmentionable ones to ourselves.

The school’s utility maintenance class is con-tinuing to grow in popularity, and David Patchukihas now added a level II certification. The hands-onalignment training was one of the many impressivelessons offered. More than a few of the studentscommented about the added value they would takeback to their utility. I will also take this opportunityto mention that Dave is the new state chair of theUtility Maintenance Committee.

Classes on water distribution, stormwater,wastewater collection, utility management, back-flow preventer training, backflow preventer repair,electrical basics, and reclaimed water were also of-fered. I was once again impressed by the dedicationof the instructors—they are the volunteers thatmake FWPCOA work. Many of those instructorswere taking their vacation time to teach classes tothe new generation of utility managers. We had ap-proximately 240 students and greatly appreciatethose utilities that sent them.

I spent some time talking to the students aswe passed each other in the hall. I was glad tosee them exchanging ideas and “talking shop.” Ihave always said the students go back to theirutilities with more than just the new knowledgeof the classes they attend; we also teach a phi-losophy of dedication and caring that we hopewill guide the environmental caretakers of thefuture.

The students were all noteworthy, but myspace is limited. I met Darin Lajoie from Welling-ton who has worked for utilities for over 20 yearsand now has a diversified background. I spoke withBill Peters from Palm Bay, a maintenance superin-tendent, who was interested in all factions of theutility management class. Chris Woolweaver fromthe Ft. Lauderdale area took the stormwater classstriving to get all the certifications available to helphim move up in the field. Of course, Brad Hayesfrom FWEA was there with his troops. Brad isnever at a loss for words and is one of those man-agers who pushes his workers to attend classes inorder to better themselves and their utility.

I also spent some time with young and en-ergetic instructors teaching for their first or sec-ond time at a short school. Kendra Phillips fromHillsborough County Utilities is just what theindustry needs. Full of ideas and willing to shareher knowledge while learning what we all get

from teaching, Kendra is a good example of thenew generation of leaders that will take overfrom us tired old dinosaurs. Thanks from all ofus at FWPCOA to those utilities who loan ustheir talented supervisors and staff members tospend time teaching.

I can’t mention a short school without talkingabout Shirley Reeves. Shirley worked through a badcase of a cold, the flu, or the black plague to put upwith the thousands of questions that came fromstudents and instructors. Some were good ques-tions, some were just whining, and some camefrom people in the wrong class (like the lady look-ing for the tax seminar). Thanks to Shirley, we con-tinue to have an education office that runs like awell-oiled machine.

As for me, I truly love teaching. I get so muchfrom students who enjoy the learning experienceof an FWPCOA short school. I strive to infuse asense of environmental responsibility into thosestudents who attend my classes. I have spent manya Patron-induced night of writing course materialand looking for videos to match. Actually, any ex-

cuse to drink tequila works for me. A frequent comment from many students was

not getting their books early enough. I know thatmany utilities have students who still have booksfrom previous years who could share them until thenew students attend class. At my office I have set upa working library of old training manuals for theemployees to use to study, and I would encourageother utilities to do the same. Having a book a fewweeks prior to the class would help the students andencourage an exchange of knowledge before theyattend the short school.

Our next big state-sponsored event will be thefall short school. There are scholarships availablethat cover the cost of the short school and expensesup to $800. Each year, your region can award ascholarship (Pat Robinson Award) to a deservingmember. If you know someone to be nominated,or believe you are that person, please contact yourregion director.

If you are interested in a great learning envi-ronment shared by others in our industry, I hope tosee you there. !!

Thomas KingPresident, FWPCOA Anatomy of a Short School

C FACTOR

The project will save residents thousands ofdollars by connecting their septic tanks to a cen-tral sewer system, as compared to the costs of tra-ditional septic-to-sewer conversion projects.Residents will be allowed to keep their septicdrainfields in place in the event of temporarypower outages that would impact the STEPpumping system.

"Vero Beach has for years been interestedin promoting and improving water condi-tions in the lagoon," said Vero Beach ViceMayor Jay Kramer. "However, when it cametime to look at the costs of removing septicsystems from the river, the community wasconcerned about the high costs. The STEPsystem really saved us; we can now be envi-ronmentally active while keeping the costsdown for the community."

According to William Tredik, leader of theDistrict's Indian River Lagoon Protection Ini-tiative, "Reducing nutrient inputs from allsources is critical to the recovery and futurehealth of the Indian River Lagoon, Groundwa-ter is continually entering the lagoon and im-provements that reduce the flow of nutrients tothe lagoon from groundwater are an importantpart of the overall solution."

The total cost of the project will be$885,000, with the District providing $292,050of the funding.

!The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer De-

partment (WASD) has awarded Woolpert a five-year contract, with one five-year option to renew,to provide consulting services relating to capacitymanagement, operations, and maintenance(CMOM) programs. Woolpert will work withWASD to review, modify, and develop the CMOMplans and programs as required by the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region IV’sconsent decree. Woolpert’s CMOM programs willtake into account the vulnerability of the facilitiesto climate-change impacts such as sea level rise,storm surge, wind, and flooding. Woolpert willalso ensure that the programs and plans are con-sistent with EPA’s guidance and are completed andsubmitted within the specific deadlines on theconsent decree.

!Gov. Rick Scott has announced the reap-

pointments of Charles “Chuck” Drake andFrederick “Fred” Roberts Jr. to the St. JohnsRiver Water Management District.

Drake, 56, of Orlando, is the vice presidentand a hydrogeologist with Tetra Tech Inc. He cur-rently serves as a member of the National GroundWater Association and previously served as an ex-ecutive committee member for the American In-stitute of Professional Geologists. Drake receivedhis associate’s degree from Valencia CommunityCollege and his bachelor’s degree from the Uni-versity of Florida. He is reappointed for a term be-ginning March 27, 2015, and ending March 1,2019.

Roberts, 36, of Ocala, is an attorney withKlein and Klein LLC. He currently serves as thevice chair of the College of Central FloridaFoundation board of directors and the chair ofthe Boys and Girls Club of Marion CountyBoard of Directors. Roberts received his bach-elor’s degree from the University of Florida andhis law degree from the Stetson University Col-lege of Law. He is reappointed for the same termas Drake.

The appointments are subject to confirma-tion by the Florida Senate. !!


New ProductsContinued from page 52

ENGINEERING DIRECTORY

Tank Engineering And ManagementConsultants, Inc.

Engineering • InspectionAboveground Storage Tank Specialists

Mulberry, Florida • Since 1983863-354-9010

www.tankteam.com

ENGINEERING DIRECTORY

EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORY

EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORY

CentralFloridaControls,Inc.

Instrumentation CalibrationTroubleshooting and Repair ServicesOn-Site Water Meter CalibrationsPreventive Maintenance ContractsEmergency and On Call ServicesInstallation and System Start-upLift Station Controls Service and Repair

Instrumentation,Controls Specialists

Florida Certified in water meter testing and repair

P.O. Box 6121 • Ocala, FL 34432Phone: 352-347-6075 • Fax: 352-347-0933

www.centra l f lor idacontrols .com

CEC Motor & Utility Services, LLC1751 12th Street EastPalmetto, FL. 34221

Phone - 941-845-1030Fax – 941-845-1049

[email protected]

• Motor & Pump Services Test Loaded up to 4000HP, 4160-Volts

• Premier Distributor for Worldwide Hyundai Motors up to 35,000HP

• Specialists in rebuilding motors, pumps, blowers, & drives

• UL 508A Panel Shop, engineer/design/build/install/commission

• Lift Station Rehabilitation Services, GC License # CGC1520078

• Predictive Maintenance Services, vibration, IR, oil sampling

• Authorized Sales & Service for Aurora Vertical Hollow Shaft Motors

Motor & Utility Services, LLC

Posi t ions Avai lable

Utilities Treatment Plant Operations Supervisor$54,099 - $76,123/yr. Assists in the admin & technical work in the mgmt,ops, & maint of the treatment plants. Class “A” Water lic. & a class “C”Wastewater lic. req. with 5 yrs supervisory exp.

Utilities Treatment Plant Will Call Operator$18.29-$28.38/hour. Part time. Must have passed the C drinking water orwastewater exam.Apply Online At: http://pompanobeachfl.gov Positions are open untilfilled. E/O/E

Town of OaklandUTILITY DISTRIBUTION TECHNICIAN I The Town of Oakland is recruiting for a full-time Utility DistributionTech. 1. Requires HS diploma/equivalent, valid FL CDL class "B" license,Level 3 FDEP Water Distribution License. Other equivalent combinationsof education, training and experience in Public Utilities or Public Worksoperations will be considered. Three years work exp. a plus.

Open until filled. Compensation commensurate with experience. Send resume to HR Director Tonna Duvall at: [email protected] dial direct 407.656.1117 x2102. EOE; M/F/D/V; DFWP

PUMP MECHANIC & FIELD TECHNICIANVERTICAL TURBINE-HORIZONTAL SPLIT CASE-END

SUCTION PUMPSTITUSVILLE SALES SERVICE & REPAIR CENTER/

386-690-1075

WASTEWATER PLANT SUPERVISORThe City of Lakeland is seeking a Wastewater Plant Supervisor. The Salaryis $44,803.20 - $69,513.60 annually (DOE). This is skilled and technical workin the operation and maintenance of the City’s wastewater treatment plants.Requires a high school diploma from an accredited school or a G.E.D. andthree (3) years of wastewater plant operations experience. Must possess andmaintain a state of Florida Class “B” wastewater plant operator certification.Continuous – Position may close at any time without notice. Applicants mustcomplete an online application at: http://www.lakelandgov.net/employmentservices/employment-services/job-opportunities

Field Inspector 1Pinellas County Government is seeking to hire two “Field Inspector 1”candidates to conduct cross-connection inspections. Must possess at least2 years experience in cross-connection control and possess and maintaina valid Florida Driver’s License. Highly desirable: Current certificate froman approved training facility as a "Reclaimed Water Field Site Inspector",and 1 year experience as a cross connection inspector or backflow pre-vention assembly tester. Apply by: May 9, 2015. To apply visit:https://Employment.PinellasCounty.org. Ph: 727-464-3367.EOE/AA/ADA/DFW/VP. Certain service members and veterans, and thespouses and family members of the service members and veterans, receivepreference and priority in employment by the state and are encouraged toapply for the positions being filled.

City of Tampa Engineer IIThe City of Tampa is currently recruiting for an Engineer II.

Primary responsibilities include: performing professional level work inengineering in the Engineering Division of the Water Department.

Apply onlinehttp://apps.tampagov.net/appl_personnel_job_openings/job_detail.asp?posting_id=3462


EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORYShowcase Your Company in the

Engineering or Equipment & Services Directory

[email protected]

Contact Mike Delaney at 352-241-6006

C L A S S I F I E D S


City of LargoWASTEWATER

COLLECTION TECHNICIAN IProgressively intensive manual labor work in the collection ofwastewater. An employee in this position is responsible for performing awide variety of skilled to semi skilled tasks, and performing any otherwork in connection with the sanitary wastewater collection system

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: High School Diploma or GeneralEducation Diploma (G.E.D.); Class "B" CDL with Tanker endorsement(CDL),FWPCOA Wastewater Collections "C" Certification; CPR/FirstAid Training

Full time, excellent benefit packageOnline applications only: www.largo.com/jobs

Director of Public Works & UtilitiesThe City of Newberry seeks an enthusiastic, dynamic leader for its Utility& Public Works department that has a strong background in utility &public works operations. Position is responsible for the City’s electric,water, and wastewater utilities (1,900 customers), and streets & drainage,solid waste, mosquito control, and cemetery.

Ideal applicant must have ten (10) or more years of progressivelyresponsible related experience in a managerial or leadership capacitywithin public utilities or utility enterprises.

Applications and full job description are available online at www.ci.newberry.fl.us or call 352-472-2161 ext 112.

Wastewater Plant Operator C License Marathon, Florida Keys

Category: Full-Time

Description: This position is responsible for wastewater treatment plantoperation and process control data collection and reporting, ensuring thatthe plant operates within the required State of Florida Department of En-vironmental permit standards.

Miscellaneous: Email application/resume to [email protected] or faxto 305-289-4143. See website for full description: www.ci.marathon.fl.us

Licensed Water Plant OperatorThe North Springs Improvement District is seeking for Water Plant Op-erators. Must possess Class C or higher FL Drinking Water license.Trainees with sufficient education & training may be considered .Please email Mimi Ortega at [email protected] with your application.

Posi t ions WantedPHILIP LEON – Holds a Florida dual license, B Water and C Wastewaterwith 14 years experience. Prefers the Tampa Bay area, Brandon, Lakeland,Plant City but is willing to relocate. Interested in overseas employment aswell. Contact at 5404 Boca Grande Circle, Dover, Fl. 33527. 772-485-2775

RACHEL WOOD – Seeking a Water/Wastewater Trainee position. Haspassed tests and needs plant hours to obtain license. Prefers Orange, Semi-nole, Volusia, or Brevard County. Contact at 298 Hickory Ave,, Oak Hill,Fl. 32759. 386-847-1814

ClassifiedAdvertising Rates

Classified ads are $20 per line for a 60character line (including spaces andpunctuation), $60 minimum. The price includespublication in both the magazine and our Website. Short positions wanted ads are run onetime for no charge and are subject to editing.

[email protected]

Looking For a Job? The FWPCOA Job Placement

Committee Can Help! Contact Joan E. Stokes at 407-293-9465 or fax 407-293-9943 for more information.

From page 30

1. D) Increase in volatile acid/alkalinity relationshipBecause the alkalinity is so high in an anaerobic digester, the pH is slow changing and thedigester will basically go “sour” before the pH begins to drop. This is why the acid/alkalinityratio is the best process tool to use to monitor the performance efficiency of anaerobic digestion.

2. B) Yes, this is acceptable.An acceptable cost of polymer used per dry ton (dt) processed in a BFP depends on the typeof sludge and sludge conditioning process. Typically, with anaerobically digested sludge,acceptable polymer consumption is about $25 per dt processed, although more polymermay be used to create higher cake solids. Even with the increased cost for the additionalpolymer, the overall cost of operation may be reduced due to hauling higher cake solids, lesswater to haul, and the lower cost per dry ton.

3. D) TemperatureThese other agents can certainly be harmful to microbiology; however, they are chemicaland not physical agents.

4. C) Specific oxygen utilization rate (SOUR)Vector attraction reduction is related to volatile solids reduction, which identifies long-termstability of the conditioned sludge. The SOUR test is the one most used to determine thevector attraction reduction performance of aerobically digested sludge. The maximum SOURvalue allowed to meet vector attraction reduction for Class B standards is 1.5 mg/hr/gm totalsolids, providing that the total solids (TS) content is no more than 2 percent TS.

5. C) The discharge valve must be opened.If a positive displacement pump is started with the discharge valve closed, severe damage canoccur within the pump and discharge piping. This can be a very dangerous condition, aspieces of the pump, pipe, or devices on the pipe (like pressure gauges) can become projectiles.

6. B) Chain of custodyChain of custody (CoC) refers to the chronological documentation, or paper trail,showing the seizure, custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of physical orelectronic evidence; in this case, samples from a water or wastewater facility.

7. D) 70 to 80 percentYounger sludge will generally have a higher volatile content, while older sludge willhave a lower volatile fraction of the mixed liquor total suspended solids.

8. B) Increase the dissolved oxygen (DO)Typically, filamentous microorganisms grow rapidly when the aeration DO is low—maybe between 0.4 to 0.8 parts per million (ppm)—and possibly accompanied with alow F/M ratio. Because filaments are strict aerobes, increasing the aeration DO above0.8 pp and maybe to about 1.5 ppm, they will NOT decrease the filament growth rate;however, it will increase the healthy floc former growth rate, and the overall ratio offilaments to floc formers will decrease.

9. C) Centrifuge spindownA centrifuge spindown test takes about 15 minutes and provides excellent indication ofsolids inventory. Comparing spindown test results to laboratory total solids testing canidentify increasing or decreasing solids concentration. The centrifuge is not intended toreplace a laboratory TS (or TSS) test, but only to supplement the lab data with quickindicators for field process control parameters.

10. B) 1.4 daysStep 1: 25 acres divided by 4 zones = 6.25 acres per zone1 acre = 43,560 ft2

Step 2: 4 in. divided by 12 in. per ft = 0.333 ft of water applied per zone

Step 3: 6.25 acres x 43,560 ft2 per acre = 272,250 ft2 x 0.333 ft of water applied per zone= 90,659.25 ft3of water applied per zone

Step 4: 90,659.25 ft3 x 7.48 gal per ft3

= 678,131.19 gal of water applied per zone, applying 4 in. of water

Step 5: 678,131.19 gal of water per zone divided by 500,000 gal per day flow rate= 1.356 days

Editorial CalendarJanuary ......Wastewater TreatmentFebruary ....Water Supply; Alternative SourcesMarch ........Energy Efficiency; Environmental StewardshipApril............Conservation and ReuseMay ............Operations and Utilities Management;

Florida Water Resources ConferenceJune ..........Biosolids Management and Bioenergy ProductionJuly ............Stormwater Management; Emerging Technologies;

FWRC ReviewAugust........Disinfection; Water QualitySeptember..Emerging Issues; Water Resources ManagementOctober ......New Facilities, Expansions, and UpgradesNovember ..Water TreatmentDecember ..Distribution and Collection

Technical articles are usually scheduled several months in advanceand are due 60 days before the issue month (for example, January 1 forthe March issue).

The closing date for display ad and directory card reservations,notices, announcements, upcoming events, and everything elseincluding classified ads, is 30 days before the issue month (for example,September 1 for the October issue).

For further information on submittal requirements, guidelines forwriters, advertising rates and conditions, and ad dimensions, as well asthe most recent notices, announcements, and classified advertisements,go to www.fwrj.com or call 352-241-6006.

Aqua - Aerobic ..................................19Auto Meg ..........................................54Blue Planet ........................................61Brown & Caldwell ..............................13CEU Challange ..................................48Conshield/Permaform....................20,46Crom..................................................50Data Flow ..........................................45Evoqua ..............................................41Florida Aquastore ..............................52Fluid Control ......................................32FSAWWA Ace ....................................14FSAWWA Call For Papers....................34FSAWWA Confernce ..........................49FSAWWA Likins ..................................24FWPCOA Region IV ............................47FWPCOA Training ..............................29Garney ................................................5Gemini Group ....................................35GML Coatings ..............................12,27Hudson Pumps ..................................33

Hydro International ............................28ISA ....................................................15LFManufacturing................................51Mathews..............................................9PC Construction ................................54PCL....................................................21Reiss Engineering ..............................40Stacon ................................................2Stantec ..............................................16Treeo ................................................39USA Blue Book ....................................7Wade Trim..........................................53Xylem ................................................62

FWRC PROGRAM ADVERTISER INDEXAtkins ..................................................4Florida Gateway College ....................19Hanson ..............................................25MAXEFF ............................................26Ovivo ..................................................9Raven ................................................16

Display Advertiser Index

February 2014

Certification Boulevard Answer Key


florida water resources journal

Documents