Mill Creek WWTP and MWRD's Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility
Cincinnati, Ohio and Denver, Colorado
The business novel The Goal was used as guidance for the optimization/continuous improvement work at the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) and greater Denver’s Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (MWRD). The work at both utilities has been successful. Increased capacity and better and more stable performance has been realized at MSD’s Mill Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant while decreasing operating expenses; better and more stable performance has been realized at MWRD’s Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility. Source: WEFTEC 2008 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Energy Savings, Improved Effluent, Improved Sludge Quality, Increased Plant Capacity, Plant Optimization | No Comments »
CUPSS (“Check-Up Program for Small Systems”) is an asset management software tool for very small drinking water and wastewater systems. It allows system managers to evaluate their system to determine the most efficient, lowest cost approach to maintaining the desired level of service over the long term. This stand-alone, user-friendly software helps systems meet their public health goals and maintain compliance with environmental regulations. Specifically, CUPSS can help small water and wastewater systems to realize the following benefits: (i) better communication between utility staff and decision makers; (ii) migration from crisis management to informed decision making; (iii) more efficient and focused utility operations to achieve an optimal level of service; and, (iv) improved financial management and strategic planning to make the most use of limited resources. The software program is designed to help a utility answer five core questions: “what is the current state of my assets,” “what service level do my customers require,” “which assets are critical to sustained performance,” “what are my best capital improvement and operations and maintenance strategies,” and “what is my best long-term funding strategy.” No other free or commercially available product duplicates these features or is tailored to the unique needs of this audience. The CUPSS project was jointly undertaken by U.S. EPA/OW/OGWDW and U.S. EPA/OW/OWM, with input from a 50-member steering group, including representatives of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, the National Rural Water Association, various environmental finance centers, state agencies, and local utilities. Source: WEFTEC 2008 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Improved Financial Managemen and Strategic Planning, Migration from Crisis Management to Informed Decision Making, Optimize Level of Service, Possible Benefits: Increased Communication | No Comments »
Population growth and improving standards of living, coupled with dramatically increased urbanization, are placing increased pressures on available water resources, necessitating new approaches to urban water management. The tradition linear “take, make, waste” approach to managing water is increasingly proving to be unsustainable as it is leading to water stress (insufficient water supplies), unsustainable resource (energy and chemicals) consumption, the dispersion of nutrients into the aquatic environment (especially phosphorus), and financially unstable utilities. Different approaches are needed to achieve economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Fortunately a toolkit consisting of stormwater management/rainwater harvesting, water conservation, water reclamation and reuse, energy management, nutrient recovery, and source separation is available to allow more closed loop urban water and resource management systems to be developed and implemented. Water conservations along with water reclamation and reuse (multiple uses) are becoming commonplace in numerous water-short locations. Decentralization, enabled by new, high performance treatment technologies and distributed stormwater management/rainwater harvesting, is furthering this transition. Likewise, traditional approaches to residuals management are evolving as higher levels of energy recovery are desired and nutrient recovery and reuse is to be enhanced. A variety of factors affect selection of the optimum approach for a particular urban area, including local hydrology, available water supplies, water demands, local energy and nutrient management situations, existing infrastructure, and utility governance structure. A proper approach to economic analysis is critical to determine the most sustainable solutions. Stove piping within the urban water and resource management profession must be eliminated. Adoption of these new approaches to urban water and resource management can lead to more sustainable solutions, defined as financially stable, using locally sustainable water supplies, energy neutral, providing responsible nutrient management, and with access to clean water and appropriate sanitation for all. Source: WEFTEC 2008 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Energy Management, Nutrient Recovery, Rainwater Harvesting, Source Separation, Stormwater Management, Sustainability, Water Reclamation and Reuse | No Comments »
Tennessee Valley Authority
Knoxville, Tennessee
National estimates indicate that approximately 80-90% of the electricity utilized at water and wastewater facilities is attributable to pumps and blower motors. The Tennessee Valley Authority and our power distributors are helping our water and wastewater customers and other industrial users save energy by assessing their pumping systems using the US Department of Energy (DOE) Pumping System Assessment Tool (PSAT) which was developed by Don Casada. TVA has partnered with DOE to provide in-depth training in utilizing PSAT at several locations throughout the TVA service region. TVA is also conducting assessments at customer facilities at their request. PSAT identifies energy savings opportunities in pumping systems and quantifies those opportunities in both dollars and electrical energy savings. Although PSAT does not tell how to improve systems, it does prioritize improvement opportunities. When the opportunities are implemented, the results are often decreased maintenance and repair costs and increased production and energy savings. Source: WEFTEC 2008 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Energy Savings, Increased Plant Efficiency, Pump Optimization, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions | No Comments »
As the global population grows the demand for natural resources – oil, water and minerals -
continues to increase. In recent years many water utilities have experienced rapid growth as
cities and municipalities across the world try to manage the increasing demand for potable water
as supplies dwindle. Global climate change and development of large metropolitan areas in dry
areas such as the Western United States and Australia have also boosted the demand for water.
This paper will discuss how five water utilities have chosen to meet increasing demands by
implementing advanced recycled water treatment to provide an alternative source for a variety of
novel applications, and will provide ideas for other utilities facing similar conditions. Source: WEFTEC 2008 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Advanced Recycled Water Treatment Technologies, Water Reclamation | No Comments »
Alexandria Sanitation Authority
Alexandria, Virginia
The world’s focus on sustainability is increasing at a rapid rate. Over the last year on the World
Wide Web, searches for key words like “Sustainability” and “Green” have risen 165%. People
are beginning to question our civilization’s behavior over the last century and whether our quest
for advancing our species can be maintained. We as an industry of public servants are also
questioning some things that were previously held as fact:
• Clean water professionals are environmentalists by trade. We already practice sustainability… right?
• Our treatment plants were designed and constructed to protect the environment. That means their sustainable… right?
• We are primarily non-profit, focusing on providing service to our rate payers in the most cost effective manner. That’s sustainable… right?
Since focusing on sustainability causes you to look at the most core elements of your business, it is a pretty overwhelming task. This paper will attempt to tell a story about one clean water plant’s stepwise journey towards sustainability. Source: WEFTEC 2008 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: 100K-500K, Sanitary Sewer, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Energy Efficiency, Increased Plant Efficiency, Plant Sustainability | No Comments »
Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Prichard
Prichard, Alabama
To comply with a State issued Consent Decree, the Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Prichard, AL had to replace or repair 1,000 private sanitary sewer laterals to reduce inflow and infiltration that was leading to sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). The anticipated cost of this effort was expected to be between $800,000 and $1 million, a significant amount for a community with a median household income of less than $20,000. Early struggles with excessive paperwork, inadequate equipment, and inexperienced personnel led to concerns by the State about the lack of progress. A revised strategy that simplified analysis and streamlined work was developed. The results were a 30 percent reduction in inflow and infiltration at a cost of $550,000. Overall SSO volumes were reduced by 95% and the number of recurring SSOs dropped from eight to one. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Sanitary Sewer, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Reduced Inflow and Infiltration, Reduced Sanitary Sewer Overflows | No Comments »
Boston Water and Sewer Commission
Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston Water and Sewer Commission has been implementing various combined sewer separation projects throughout the City of Boston in order to significantly reduce combined sewer overflow frequency and volume to Boston Harbor. Two of these project areas include the completed South Dorchester Bay area and the Reserved Channel area which is currently under final design. Both of these project areas include ultra urban, primarily residential, watersheds within the city that are currently being served by combined sewers with installations that date back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The Reserved Channel Project area, located in South Boston, and the Dorchester Bay Project Area are approximately 365 acres and 2,700 acres respectively. The sewer interceptor systems currently serving these areas surcharge during wet weather events and the combined sewer overflows then need to be rerouted to outfall pipes that discharge to Boston Harbor. It is evident that early identification and removal of as much stormwater inflow as possible is a key part of the success of both sewer separation projects. It is evident that the removal of as much storm water inflow as possible is a key part of the success of both sewer separation projects. For the ultra urban areas, simply installing storm drains and picking up existing catchbasins does not appear to be enough to significantly reduce the CSO frequency and volumes to meet the long term control plan goals. It makes good sense to investigate, identify, and remove as many impervious areas as possible to reduce storm water inflows to the sewers. This approach leads to the need for a comprehensive look at reducing stormwater from private property such as roof areas, parking lots, and other impervious areas that can be removed from the sewer system to reduce storm water inflow to the sewers. A cost/benefit analysis should be performed that evaluates this additional level of separation as well as alternatives such as increasing interceptor capacity, limiting upstream wastewater flows and providing in-line or off-line CSO storage. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Sanitary Sewer, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Reduced Inflow and Infiltration, Reduced Sanitary Sewer Overflows | No Comments »
A project team from the Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) Collection Systems Committee (CSC) developed the Private Property Virtual Library (PPVL) to be a resource of private property program-related resource materials available through the internet. Following the development of the PPVL and its launch in May 2007, a second project phase was undertaken to update/expand the library and to provide public outreach opportunities by conducting a webcast, conference presentations and a WEFTEC workshop. Since private property continues to be at the forefront of issues that public utilities are facing, the development and maintenance of the PPVL will be an on-going effort for the CSC. This paper includes a summary of the PPVL collection built to date, including participating utilities and an overview of the type of private property programs that these utilities have established, and an outline of the CSC project team’s plan for sustaining these efforts in the future. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Sanitary Sewer, Water Treatment | Tags: Beneficial Database, Improving Knowledge, Innovative Idea | No Comments »
City of Westlake
Westlake, Ohio
The City of Westlake, Ohio has a program to remove Inflow and Infiltration (I/I) from both their public and private property segments of the sewer system. Specifically, the private property program uses residential dye testing to identify houses that have downspouts that contributes water into the sanitary sewer system. Historically, houses that test positive are scheduled for rehabilitation using a lateral liner from the mainline sewer to the house. A liner is inserted into the sanitary lateral which prohibits any stormwater or groundwater from entering the lateral. During the installation of the liners, it was found that a more detailed testing of the house would have shown that the deficiencies could have been corrected with cheaper, spot repairs or other methods of rehabilitation may have been more effective. The more detailed testing included dye testing as many downspouts as possible on the home being tested, and using two Closed Circuit Television Camera for the inspection The sanitary pipe layout is also identified to provide a more detailed knowledge of how the sanitary and storm pipes cross over each other. The CCTV cameras were installed in both the storm and sanitary sewer and advanced to the lateral of the test house. Subsequent testing followed by using a push camera in the lateral and recreating the test, further isolating the deficiency on the property. From this information the City was able to isolate which downspouts could be spot repaired, eliminating lateral lining rehabilitation resulting in a cost savings to the City. The detailed testing methods of both Phase I and II eliminated 70% of the lateral linings. Estimated cost per house for lining was $8000.00. In an area with 100 homes, in which 40% were positive, reducing 70% of the lateral lining is significant in terms of cost and additionally, accurately solving the problem. At the conclusion of the program, the City accurately identified private properties with inflow, removed stormwater from the sanitary sewer, minimized lateral rehabilitation and construction disruption, and provided overall project cost savings. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Sanitary Sewer, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Minimized Lateral Rehabilitation, Reduced Inflow and Infiltration | No Comments »