February 2014

wso
WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

TM
Managing Our Most Valuable Resource

February 2014
www.wsomag.com
TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE:
Particle analyzer from Fluid Imaging

Page 24
TECH TALK:
Value of an energy audit

Page 36
Nothing Left to Chance

Page 6
Stacy Cheevers Plant Manager Lowell, Ark.
THE BEAVER WATER DISTRICT TAKES SPECIAL CARE OF SUPPLY VOLUME AND QUALITY
WINNING THEM OVER:
Education by superhero
Page 32
Contents
February 2014
QUALITY LEADERS
Operator: Strength in Numbers

BY ANN STAWSKI
Page 20
Doug Strempek engaged innovation to improve water information systems and enhance resources as IT coordinator in Norridge, Ill.
Agency: Covering the Territory
Page 14
The Washington County Service Authority uses aggressive system upgrades and current technology to cut water losses and improve operating efciency.
BY JIM FORCE
ON THE COVER: The people of northwest Arkansas can have the utmost condence in their water supply. Thats because Stacy Cheevers and the team at the Beaver Water District go several extra miles to make sure the water is safe, plentiful, and available. (Photography by Samantha Baker)
Plant: Nothing Left to Chance

BY JIM FORCE
Page 6
The Beaver Water District safeguards supply volume and quality with a variety of protective measures and a lot of staff initiative.
ON TAP Page 3
TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE Page 24
TECH TALK Page 36
Who Looks Out for You?
It takes more than just water professionals to run an efcient, customer-focused water system. Remember your allies in other city departments.
BY TED J. RULSEH, EDITOR
Whats in Your Water?
A digital particle analyzer from Fluid Imaging helps water system operators monitor, identify and quantify nuisance algae and particulate matter.
BY TED J. RULSEH
Getting a Handle on Energy
Theres a simple process for cutting your treatment plants energy usage: benchmark, audit, implement and monitor.
BY JENNIFER GUNBY
@ WSOMAG.COM Page 5 Visit daily for news, features and blogs. Get the most from WSO magazine. BRIGHT IDEAS Page 10
PRODUCT FOCUS Page 26
WORTH NOTING Page 38 People/Awards; Education; Events
Distribution Systems
BY CRAIG MANDLI
Coming Next Issue: March 2014

FOCUS: Tanks, Structures and Components
On Tap: Water interns and apprentices Quality Leaders Plant: Fifteen years of excellence in St. Paul, Minn. Quality Leaders Plant: Partnership recognition at Shady Lane (Pa.) treatment plant Quality Leaders Plant: Facility upgrades in North Chicago, Ill. Technology Deep Dive: LED UV transmittance measuring device from Aquionics Bright Ideas: Innovative infrastructure funding in Lowell, Mass. Sustainable Practice: Filter/backwash energy savings in Freehold Township, N.J. Winning Them Over: Water internships in Denton, Texas
Sticky Solution
A magnetic mounting system let a Southern California water district continue accepting wireless communication antennas after it banned welding and epoxy on tanks.
BY DAVID KLEIN
CASE STUDIES Page 30
Distribution Systems
BY CRAIG MANDLI
INDUSTRY NEWS Page 31 WINNING THEM OVER Page 32
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE Page 12
Shining Example
Sacramento uses solar photovoltaic arrays at drinking water treatment plants to offset energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
BY LISA BALCERAK
Quack and the Pack
A team of superhero characters helps a Montana city deliver messages about wise water use and pollution prevention to school children.
BY LINDA J. EDMONDSON
Changing With the Times

BY BOB KENDALL
Page 19
The industry is growing and evolving, and so is your trade show.
PRODUCT NEWS Page 34 Product Spotlight: Space station inspired TOC analyzer provides timesaving online analysis
BY ED WODALSKI
ON TAP
BY TED J. RULSEH, EDITOR
Who Looks Out for You?

It takes more than just water professionals to run an efcient, customer-focused water system. Remember your allies in other city departments.
It could be the mayor, city manager or counlike to say Ive never met a top-ight water (or wastewater) operator who cil member who make it a point to stay up to wants all the credit for him/herself. Teamwork is in the DNA of the date on what your department is doing and water industry and of the professionals who make the systems work. share your achievements with other decisionBut its easy to forget that teamwork extends beyond department makers. It could even be the community resiboundaries. Professional associations like AWWA and its state sections dent/customer who is knowledgeable enough, exist in part because utilities can gain from helping each other solve comconcerned enough and vigilant enough to call mon problems. And within utilities (at least the municipal variety), teamin and report a suspected main break, or a probwork between departments is essential. lem around a reservoir intake, or some other issue, so you can take action For instance? Well, the re department depends on the water departbefore something serious occurs. ment to keep water pressure up and re hydrants owing. The water department relies on the police to prevent vandalism, on public works to care for the streets under which the he water department relies on the police to prevent vandalism, lines run (and often to service the distribution system), on the city council to approve essential equipon public works to care for the streets under which the lines run, ment purchases and facility upgrades, and so forth. on the city council to approve essential equipment purchases
Outside the lines
and facility upgrades, and so forth.

It takes all departments and all kinds of people to make a water system work at its best. In a word, it takes a community. Who are the allies of your water system? Tell us their stories by sending a note to editor@wsomag.com. I promise to respond, and well share your accounts in a future issue of WSO. wso
So its tting that this issue of WSO highlights an outstanding operator who isnt even in the water department, yet has major positive impact on his communitys water system and (though they surely never notice) on the people the utility serves. Doug Strempek is IT (information technology) coordinator for the village of Norridge, Ill. He may not know a pressure relief valve from a high-service pump, but he knows his business and how it can help the water system team. Thanks to him, the water department has a more efcient billing system, better inventory tracking, a paperless information system, better monitoring of customers water usage and much more. And even though he is not a water operator, the Illinois Section American Water Works Association (ISAWWA) saw t to present him with its 2013 Young Professional Excellence Award, recognizing his service to the groups technology committee.
Its your magazine. Tell your story.

WSO welcomes news about your water system for future articles.
Send your ideas to editor@wsomag.com
You have friends

Who in your community is helping you? If theyre in back ofce roles like IT, they might be lending you a hand without you even knowing. Maybe its the GIS people who help you locate and label infrastructure so its easy to nd assets when you need to. Maybe its the street workers who call and let you know when a valve box cover is sinking too far below the pavement surface.
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February 2014
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Were met with a new challenge each day. Whether its the sewer or water department ... we take our jobs very seriously, and Jeff Chartier the key thing is knowing that were in An Original Environmentalist SUPERINTENDENT compliance and not polluting our waters. Town of Bristol (N.H.) Sewer
and Water Department
Read about original environmentalists like Jeff each month in Treatment Plant Operator.
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HOUSE OR INFRASTRUCTURE?
Raleigh Pump Station Secret Revealed

Prepare to be intrigued. This house with a door to nowhere that no key will t in is actually a booster station in Raleigh, N.C. Find out why the city decided the station should blend in with its neighbors, and learn how the house has taken the Internet by storm. www.wsomag.com/featured
OVERHEARD ONLINE
The greatest benet of P3s is they force proponents to consider the lifecycle costs of each system over the length of the contract.
DROUGHT CONDITIONS
California Delivers Reused Water

In water-conscious California, every drop of H2O is valuable even water thats reused in toilet-to-tap programs. Learn more about the worlds largest M AP water purification plant and find out what a CO U planned expansion might mean for the state, RT ES Y especially considering current record O F N DM drought conditions. CU N L www.wsomag.com/featured
Public-Private Partnerships Alleviate Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Decits
www.wsomag.com/featured
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
From Buddy To Boss

When operators advance from crew to supervisor, the transition might be less about job duties and more about the challenge of managing former colleagues. Management training could be the ticket to a smooth adjustment. Find out how specialized classes can keep your crew running like a well-oiled machine. www.wsomag.com/featured
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NOTHING LEFT TO CHANCE

The Beaver Water District safeguards supply volume and quality with a variety of protective measures and a lot of staff initiative
STORY: JIM FORCE PHOTOGRAPHY: SAMANTHA BAKER
QUALITY LEADERS
PLANT
he people of northwest Arkansas can have the utmost condence in their water supply. Thats because the Beaver Water District (BWD), serving Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale and Rogers, goes several extra miles to make sure the water is safe, plentiful and available even after natural disasters. Redundancy, multiple barriers and a proactive approach are hallmarks of the district. Were very proactive on water quality, says Stacy Cheevers, water treatment plant manager. Not only quality and quantity, but with a lot of critical industries located here, we maintain the ability to produce water in any conditions. The preparedness includes multiple disinfection steps. The process is protected by on-site power generators, and plans are in the works to expand emergency generating capacity.
Meeting a need
The districts history goes back more than 50 years. Seeing the need for a long-term supply of affordable water, community leaders worked to establish the Beaver Lake Reservoir. The dam that created the reservoir and the rst water treatment plant were completed in the mid-1960s. Since that time, the Beaver Water District has expanded facilities and improved to keep up with increased demand and stricter water standards. Today, the district acts as a wholesaler, providing water to a total population of 320,000. Raw water is drawn from the reservoir through a pair of intakes (one built in 2006) and is pumped 2 1/2 miles to the treatment facilities: the Joe M. Steele and Hardy Croxton water plants, the latter recently expanded. The two plants have 140 mgd capacity. The plants use nearly identical treatment processes. The raw water, pretreated with chlorine dioxide, passes through a splitter box and ow metering and is distributed to the various trains within the treatment facilities. A rapid-mix occulation process is powered by energy efcient four-stage vertical mixers (Philadelphia Mixing Solutions and Lightnin/ SPX Corp.). Alum and ferrous sulfate are added as coagulants; polymer can be added in cold weather if necessary. Operators can add chlorine at the rapid mix step as a secondary disinfectant if the pre-oxidation process is turned off. Lime is used to adjust pH after the single rectangular sedimentation basin. Settled water moves on to tri-media lters. At the Steele plant, the
The intake pipes at the treatment facilities start water on its journey to the 320,000 people served by the Beaver Water District.
Team members like Jim Johnson, instrument technician (using an electrical tester from Fluke), strive toward a goal of doing better than the required standards.
We have an in-house goal of being better than the standards. We hold ourselves more accountable than the regulations do.
STACY CHEEVERS
shallow-bed Leopold lters use anthracite and sand over garnet. Croxton uses the same media, but has deep-bed lters (Degremont/PatersonCandy underdrains). The water is chlorinated, then ows to a 12-milliongallon clearwell before distribution. Fluoride is added at the clearwell entrance, which will be expanded in the future. At the sedimentation basins, longitudinal collectors capture sludge, which is blown down to the solids handling facility. Solids are gravity thickened, mechanically dewatered on centrifuges (Hiller) and taken to a City of Fayetteville land application site.
Beaver Water District, Lowell, Ark.

FORMED: | 1959 TREATMENT CAPACITY: | 140 SERVICE AREA:
Barriers protect quality

The districts water system is big on barriers. Disinfection is of utmost importance as evidenced by the three disinfection points in the process and the chlorine dioxide used to meet and exceed disinfection byproduct requirements. We have an in-house goal of being better than the standards, says Cheevers. We hold ourselves more accountable than the regulations do. On DPBs, the districts goal is 80 percent of the maximum contaminant level (MCL). Taste and odor are watched carefully. We actually have our own taste and odor panel, involving employees, for early detection purposes, Cheevers reports. We dont want any residual chlorite taste or odor issues. Typically, we have only one event per year, and that is when the lake turns over. The natives are used to that. The team operates the l-
mgd Wholesale provider to Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale POPULATION SERVED: | 320,000 SOURCE WATER: | Beaver Lake Reservoir TREATMENT PROCESS: | Conventional INFRASTRUCTURE: 2 intakes, chlorine dioxide pretreatment, 2 1/2-mile intake line to treatment plants SYSTEM STORAGE: | 12 million gallons ANNUAL BUDGET: | $21 million ($11.5 million operation and maintenance) WEBSITE: | www.bwdh2o.org
ters so that the nished water exhibits better than standard turbidity, typically in the range of 0.015 to 0.02 NTU. The treatment processes are designed with future water-quality issues in mind. The treatment plants have capability to add activated carbon for additional purication, although that process has not been required. The rapid-mix occulation/settling sequence is housed in a single structure, as is the sedimentation basin. That design saves money, and the close proximity to the oc basins prevents oc damage.
HONORED FOR SERVICE

While the Beaver Water District produced excellent water throughout 2013, two of its chief personnel received prestigious honors. Alan Fortenberry, CEO, was inducted into the Glen T. Kellogg Water & Wastewater Hall of Fame by the Arkansas Water Works and Water Environment Association (AWW&WEA) for outstanding service and dedication to the industry. Fortenberry has had one of the more varied careers among Hall of Fame members. With more than 40 years experience in the water industry, he has worked for a state regulatory agency and a private consulting engineering rm, and for the past 22 years on the public utility side. Stacy Cheevers, plant manager, was named Water Manager of the Year by the AWW&WEA. He joined the district in 1991 and has been involved in the operation and maintenance of the districts Joe M. Steele and Hardy Croxton treatment plants. As part of a management team that includes Fortenberry, Larry Lloyd, chief operating ofcer, and Bill Hagenburger, engineer, Cheevers manages a staff of 31 in the operations, maintenance and electrical/ instrumentation departments. He submits a yearly budget, coordinates in-house projects, oversees water treatment procedures and ensures that water-quality requirements are met at all times. Among other achievements, he was named the 2008 Agriculture Leader of the Year by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, 2005 Northwest District Water Operator of the Year by the AWW&WEA, and 2005 Grower of the Year by his poultry integrator. In 2008, his family was named the Washington County Farm Family of the Year by the Arkansas Farm Bureau.
A occulation basin at the Beaver Water Districts treatment facility.
To ensure continuity in case of storms or other disasters, the systems are equipped with standby generators (Kohler). Were entering a predesign study for additional generator capacity, says Cheevers. We havent been hit yet, but ice storms and tornadoes are all around us. We want to be able to survive such an event. Current generator capacity is 6 MW, and the district is looking to add 4 MW to accommodate expected growth in water demand.
Pure dedication
Cheevers, named Arkansas Water Operator of the Year in Alan Fortenberry, Beaver Water 2013 by the Arkansas Water Works District chief executive ofcer. and Water Environment Association, has worked with the district for 22 years, rst as an electrician on a construction project, then as head of the instrumentation and electrical department, and for the past 12 years as plant manager. He holds Grade IV (highest) Water Operator Treatment and Distribution licenses and a Master Electrician license in Arkansas. His background in electrical work has come in handy as the district expanded facilities and added treatment capacity.
The new raw water intakes required multiple underground power feed lines for system redundancy, he says. The plants backup generators are tied to underground feed lines as well, so they can operate in case the commercial power supply should go down.
Beaver Water District team members include, front row, from left: Taddy Nordyke and Amy Wilson; second row: Kevin Oxford, Cindy Harp and Candy Kelly; third row: Jesse Burch, Frank Blowers, Rick Sims, Sabrina Bowman, Nicole Bridges, Colene Gaston and Lenny Millar; back row: Damon Hoops, Danny Dearing, Jon Rogers, Jim Johnson, Mindi Dearing, Pat Bates, Steve Russell, Stacy Cheevers, Kayla Mhoon, Randy Paris, Dean Ward, Chris Kollman and Bill HagenBurger.
Cheevers credits his staff for successful completion of numerous projects. The team includes Dean Ward, operations supervisor; and Bob Evans, Rob Turner, Danny Phipps, Brandon Scott, Alan Littrell, Drew Dickey, Roger Huddleston, Dustin Mayhew, Jesse Burch, Mike Smart and Randy Paris, operators.
then Mechanic 2, and work their way up. Within the last couple of years, the district has built a new administrative center that earned LEED Gold certication, largely for energy efciency, health and wellness of staff and customers, and use of recycled resources. Cheevers and his staff took responsibility for the electrical systems and building inspection and reviewed construction drawings.
We send our people to pump school, but most of what we learn is by experience. New people coming in start at Mechanic 1, then Mechanic 2 and work their way up.
STACY CHEEVERS
Proactive maintenance
Im proud of what our staff has done, he says. We operate as efciently and independently as we can. We now do a lot of the work in-house that we used to contract out. For example, with a 12-member maintenance staff and mechanics, the district pulls and services its own pumps, and that includes doing all the electrical work. Maintenance supervisor is Lenny Millar, and the mechanics are Kevin Oxford, Rick Sims, Cary Davis, Frank Blowers and Kelly Payne. The instrumentation and electrical group includes Jon Rogers, supervisor; Damon Hoops and Rob Bottoms, electricians; and Jim Johnson and Patrick Frizzell, instrument technicians. We send our people to pump school, but most of what we learn is by experience, Cheevers says. New people coming in start at Mechanic 1,
Another example of staff initiative is an oil analysis program conducted with ExxonMobil. The treatment plants include 112 occulation drives and 21 vertical turbine pump motors. The equipment runs around the clock, and the pump motors operate in extreme temperatures. We approached ExxonMobil to determine a lubricant solution that could safely extend oil drain intervals, enhance operational efciency and save on oil change costs, says Cheevers. After reviewing the operation, ExxonMobil engineers recommended transitioning the plants occulation drives to a premium-performance synthetic oil designed to provide protection in demanding applications. They also recommended a routine schedule of oil analysis to monitor the condition of the machines components and in-service lubricant. As a result, the district achieved four years of reliable service from the occulation drives without an oil change after the oil transition. Mean(Continued on page 11)
BRIGHT IDEAS
Sticky Solution
A magnetic mounting system let a Southern California water district continue accepting wireless communication antennas after it banned welding and epoxy on tanks
BY DAVID KLEIN
Epoxy would have taken much longer; three to ve days to prep, apply and let it cure and then test it. It just took two days to install the Magnemount system. At a cost of $5,000 to $7,000 a day, its a big savings. Its cost-effective.
Magnetic mounting of tank-based communication antennas shortened installation time and saved money for the Otay Water District.
BRANDON DIPIETRO
Goodman Networks is the vendor for AT&T Mobility in San Diego. When that company wanted to expand its coverage by attaching eight antennas to an Otay Water District tank in Jamul, Calif., Irish was charged with nding a system that met all the specications. He recommended the Magnemount Antenna System from Metal & Cable Corp.
Noninvasive solution
The Magnemount system is a permanent, noninvasive technology for securing antennas to steel surfaces. It is designed to accommodate the curvature of water tanks. Because the system relies on magnets to attach the materials, no welding or epoxy coating is needed. DiPietro noted that a layer of factory-installed Mylar lm between the magnet and the steel tank keeps stray voltage from getting into the tank and damaging the coating system. Installation typically takes a day
or two, rather than four or ve days using epoxy. Antennas are attached to 12-foot masts made of anodized extruded aluminum using 300 grade stainless steel U-bolts so that rust is not a concern. The Magnemount system is available in ve basic designs. The one selected for the Otay district project was the Side Tank Mount (STM) all eight antennas were attached to the side of the tank near the top of the steel structure. Wind was the governing factor in this case, says Al Di Donato, a structural engineer and owner of Di Donato Associates. Antennas are like sails in the wind. We have wind gusts here up to 80 miles per hour. They can shake the entire tank. Taking that into consideration, Di Donato recommended the contractors install three magnetic plates for each antenna rather than the customary two plates.
10
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAI IRISH, GOODMAN NETWORKS
he Otay Water District in southern California has 39 water tanks to serve its 200,000 customers, and 13 of them have wireless communication antennas attached. Due to environmental and safety issues and concerns about damage to its tanks from welding and epoxy, the district now requires all new antennas mounted to its tanks to be installed using a magnetic mounting system or a nondestructive alternative. The district also upholds those standards when any antenna is modied or replaced and when a tank is painted. It costs half a million dollars to paint a water tank inside and out, says Brandon DiPietro, inspector supervisor for the district. He notes that welding can damage a tanks interior coating and that hiring a diver to repair that damage is costly. The use of epoxy to attach antennas is also an issue. They have to grind through the exterior paint, says DiPietro. You have expansion and contraction issues, and eventually the epoxy mount needs to be replaced. Antennas mounted with epoxy have been known to fall off towers, according to Tai Irish, senior project manager at Goodman Networks, a telecommunications network services company. He described one such incident in which Everything on the tower was on the ground. The epoxy failed.
PRODUCT: | Magnemount MANUFACTURER: | Metal
Antenna System
& Cable Corp. USER: | Otay (Calif.) Water District APPLICATION: | Secure communication antennas to water towers BENEFITS: | Permanent, non-invasive, cost-effective
(Continued from page 9)
The magnetic mounts accommodate the curvature of water tanks. No welding or epoxy is needed for installation.
Handling the weight

Every 24-inch-square plate in the mounting system is secured with 24 magnets. Each magnet provides 100 pounds of vertical pull and 33 pounds of shear strength. Using three plates for each antenna provided 7,200 pounds of vertical pull and 2,400 pounds of shear strength, far more than needed to hold the 8-foot panel antennas and the remote radio units (RRUs) AT&T added to each antenna. The RRUs added 110 pounds of weight to each mast. Bob Sabb, construction manager for AT&T in San Diego was not concerned about the added weight. You can load these things up with weight, and we did, he says. It was a substantial load. Di Donato, who hadnt worked with the Magnemount system before, notes that the third plate may have been a bit of overkill but, I put in a safety factor. I am condent it will hold. The installation proceeded without difculty, according to Dennis Ferquez, construction supervisor for Aliantel, the rm hired to install the equipment. Using a man-lift, two workers completed the job in two days. It was a lot quicker than using epoxy and a lot less work, notes Ferquez. He also found that the system provides a quick and easy way to remove the antennas temporarily for maintenance or for tank painting. Irish observes, There was no prep involved; no grinding down, no painting. DiPietro says the time saved by using the magnetic system instead of epoxy also saved money. Epoxy would have taken much longer; three to ve days to prep, apply and let it cure and then test it, he says. It just took two days to install the Magnemount system. At a cost of $5,000 to $7,000 a day, its a big savings. Its cost-effective. Sabb was impressed with the clean and efcient installation and especially with the systems noninvasive character: It doesnt damage the water tank like welding can. You reduce the risk of damage dramatically. All it takes is one bad welder and I buy a water tank. And I am not interested in buying a water tank. ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Klein is president of Metal & Cable Corp., a supplier of communication antenna components and antenna mounting systems for steel structures, including water tanks. He can be reached at david@ metal-cable.com. wso
Staff members including Frank Blowers, maintenance mechanic, get credit for many projects that have improved district facilities performance.
Change is inevitable. We need to be proactive, exible and adaptable.
STACY CHEEVERS
while, drain intervals were extended to more than three years on the vertical turbine pump motors. We reduced annual oil consumption by 81 percent, says Cheevers. That, plus reduced labor, has saved us $13,000 to $14,000 a year.
Whats next?
Like most water districts, Beaver Water saw development and construction decline during the recession, but the pace is beginning to accelerate again. The area is home to Wal-Mart, the University of Arkansas and the popular Crystal Bridges art museum. Cheevers expects FEATURED PRODUCTS FROM: demand for water to continue Fluke Corporation increasing: We probably wont see 425/347-6100 www.uke.com the levels of development we saw before the recession, but housing Hiller Separation & Process is picking up again. We are con855/556-5707 www.hiller-us.com tinuing to grow. As in the past, Beaver Water Inlco Degremont Inc. 800/446-1151 District will be prepared. Our www.degremont-technologies.com challenge will be to meet new regulations probably ones that we KOHLER Power Systems 800/544-2444 dont even know about yet, says www.kohlerpower.com Cheevers. The stage two Disinfection Byproducts Rule is just Leopold - a Xylem Brand 704/409-9700 starting to come in, and so is the www.fbleopold.com next round of sampling for the Philadelphia Mixing Solutions rule on unregulated contaminants. 800/956-4937 But with all the preliminary actions www.philamixers.com weve taken, I expect well be in SPX good shape. Change is inevitable. 888/649-2378 We need to be proactive, exible www.spxprocessequipment.com and adaptable. wso
WSO welcomes stories

about your plant and system innovations for future Bright Ideas articles. Send your suggestions to editor@wsomag.com or call 715/277-4094.
11
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE
Shining Example
BY LISA BALCERAK
The solar panels were installed under a power purchase agreement in which the city buys electricity at an agreed-upon rate.
Sacramento uses solar photovoltaic arrays at drinking water treatment plants to offset energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
hanks to a power purchase agreement with a solar energy company expected to cost less than buying that same power from SMUD. The utiland incentives from the local electricity provider, the City of Sacraity also expects to pay lower demand charges to SMUD over time. mento (Calif.) Department of Utilities expects to save up to $57,000 The exact amount of savings depends on future rate increases by a year and prevent 54 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions SMUD, but even if grid power rates remained unchanged for the next 20 over the next 20 years by using solar energy. In 2007, the city council adopted its rst sustainOperators are part of our key stakeholders because they have ability master plan, setting greenhouse gas emission to live with the project and operate the plant. reduction goals. The city manager identied solar DAVE HANSEN power projects as one way to achieve those goals. That years, the water utility would still pay less for the electricity generated by same year, project rebates with Sacramento Municipal Utility District the solar arrays, Christensen says. At an estimated annual rate increase of (SMUD) started a revolution in solar energy in the city that continues 3.5 percent on grid power, the water utility could save up to $57,000 annually. today. Once the city saw success with four solar arrays on buildings, the To serve a population of 466,500, the Sacramento water utility operdrinking water utility jumped in. ates two conventional drinking water treatment plants (Sacramento and There was a push in our department to nd green energy sources, Fairbairn) that produce a combined average of 120 mgd. Twenty-seven wells says James Christensen, senior electrical engineer with the Department produce an additional 25 mgd. Surface water from the Sacramento and of Utilities, which provides water to the city. But we had to identify projAmerican Rivers is combined with groundwater before being treated and ects that wouldnt have a negative impact on the overall operations and distributed. The staff of 141 includes operations, distribution and mainmaintenance of the drinking water treatment system. tenance. The annual operations and maintenance budget is $100 million.
Cooperative contract

about your green and environmentally progressive initiatives for future Sustainable Practice articles. Send your suggestions to editor@wsomag.com or call 715/277-4094.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SACRAMENTO DEPARTMENT OF UTILITIES
Sacramento signed a power purchase agreement with SolarCity, leasing the land to the company, which designs, constructs and maintains the solar arrays for 20 years. The city buys the generated power at an agreed-upon rate with a 2 percent annual escalator,
Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant operators like Ray Smith and Amy Kral play an integral role in suggesting and implementing energy projects.
12
Ample space
Ample space was available for the solar arrays, which ultimately were placed on the open areas above two underground storage tanks next to the treatment plants. There were initial concerns that the weight of the arrays might be dangerous to the tanks below. Our structural engineers evaluated the storage tanks to make sure the weight above wouldnt cause a failure, says Dave Hansen, supervising engineer. Even the Department of Health was involved to ensure there were no water-quality issues with having the array in that location. In April 2013, two solar arrays of xed, ground-mounted panels, went online to provide a total of 1,485 kW DC power. One array includes 1,428 Yingli Green Energy solar panels and a 300 kW Solectria Renewables inverter; it generates up to 371 kW DC, or 3 percent of the Sacramento treatment plants energy needs. The second array includes 4,284 Yingli panels and two 500 kW Xantrex inverters (Schneider Electric) that generate up to 1,114 kW DC, 12 percent of the Fairbairn plants needs.
Operators as stakeholders
Operations and maintenance staff were active in every step of planning and execution for the solar arrays. Operators are part of our key stakeholders because they have to live with the project and operate the plant, Hansen says. We denitely wanted their input as early as possible. There were preliminary meetings with maintenance, operations and engineering staff to review the expectations and rationale for the project. Once construction began, the maintenance team supported the SolarCity staff, such as when tying into medium-voltage switchgear. As part of the power purchase agreement, SolarCity paid Sacramentos staff costs to help manage the project, get the plans through city council and coordinate construction. Project managers worked with operators daily to make sure the solar array installation wasnt affecting day-to-day water treatment operations. At times, the installers had to shut off power and do cutover connections, and that had to be coordinated with maintenance staff. Throughout the project, operators were eager to learn how the construction would affect their responsibility to provide a reliable water supply to the community. The operators saw the advantage to saving energy and doing things that benet the environment. They are always open to new ideas, says Hansen. But they wanted to make sure they could still operate the plant, which is their primary concern. Everyone was aware of that goal and worked hard to make sure that happened. It was a big team effort. wso
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13
COVERING THE TERRITORY

The Washington County Service Authority uses aggressive system upgrades and current technology to cut water losses and improve operating efciency
STORY: JIM FORCE PHOTOGRAPHY: EARL NEIKIRK
QUALITY LEADERS
AGENCY
The Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant has three sedimentation basins like this one. A recent upgrade has substantially increased capacity.
Our water quality is as good or better than we were achieving with the old process. Were delivering exceptional water at this point.
ROBBIE CORNETT
he hilly terrain and rural character of Washington County in far southwest Virginia can be deceiving. Beneath the ground runs a 900-mile-long water distribution system, closely monitored with state-of-the art software and upgraded with new piping. The results are already saving the Washington County Service Authority (WCSA) and its customers both water and money. Under the direction of general manager Robbie Cornett, the utility, based in Abingdon, is in Phase 2 of a three-phase project to replace miles of aging 2-inch galvanized pipe. It has also divided its 300-square-mile service area into a series of subdistricts to help monitor water usage more precisely and identify leaks and inefciencies. At the same time, the utility has constructed a new raw water intake on the Holston River, nearly doubled the capacity of its water treatment plant, and replaced manual meter reading with radio-based reading technology. We gure the galvanized pipe was costing us as much as $1.4 million a year, and weve identied four areas that have been accounting for more than half our water losses, says Cornett. Other benets of the new pro-
grams include a 33 percent reduction in meter reading staff, an 11 percent increase in water and sewer revenue, and the elimination of all but two of the 12 substandard pumping stations the old system used.
Spread-out system
Washington County lies in the southwest corner of the state, where Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina come together. Were closer to ve other state capitals than we are to Richmond [Virginias capital], says Cornett. Its a rural area, dotted with small population centers like the towns of Abingdon, Glade Spring and Damascus. In utility circles, people are amazed that we only have 23 customers per mile of pipe, Cornett says. Dramatic elevation changes require pressure reduction and pumping stations along the water distribution system. Raw water comes from several sources: the Holston River, two large springs in the Mill Creek and Taylors Valley communities and, until recently, a small well in Mendota that has been phased out in favor of purchased water. On the river, the Middle Fork intake structure (rated at 6.6 mgd) and the South Fork intake (12 mgd, under construction at press time) supply river water to the Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant, which has just undergone a $26.8 million capacity expansion. The two intakes give us redundancy, in case we need to take one down for maintenance, or for water-quality reasons, says Cornett. Sodium permanganate is added at both intakes, reducing the risk of disinfection byproducts. At the plant, the water is treated in a occulation-sedimentation process, followed by ltration, disinfection and uoridation. The recent expansion added tube settlers (Meurer Research) to the downstream end of the existing sedimentation basins to improve the quality of the water passing to further treatment. The tube settlers do a good job of collecting oc, says Cornett. The coagulant that best suits our water is Delpac 20/20 by USALCO. Adsorption clariers (WesTech Engineering) were added to bring capacity from 6.6 mgd to 12 mgd. Water ows by gravity from the sedimentation basins, so an energy-efcient intermediate booster station has been added to lift the water to the adsorption clariers (see sidebar). Finally, four anthracite media lters were added, bringing the total to eight (seven by Severn Trent and one by Leopold, a Xylem Brand). The clearwell and the nished water pumping station were doubled in size. Chlorine (stored at the plant in one-ton gas cylinders) and uoride are added as the treated water leaves the plant.
Washington County Service Authority, Abingdon, Va.

FOUNDED: | 1976 SERVICE AREA: | 300
square miles people SOURCE WATER: | Holston River, two springs, some purchased water TREATMENT CAPACITY: | 12 mgd INFRASTRUCTURE: 900 miles of water lines, 24 storage tanks, 52 pumps at 26 stations SYSTEM STORAGE: | 13.6 million gallons EMPLOYEES: | 70 ANNUAL BUDGET: | $12 million (water operations) KEY CHALLENGE: Updating infrastructure, educating customers on the value of water WEBSITE: | www.wcsa-water.com
POPULATION SERVED: | 45,000
15
LEADERSHIP TEAM
An experienced team leads the 70-member staff at the Washington County Service Authority. Robbie Cornett, general manager, relies on Don Cole, water treatment manager; Joe Baldwin, chief operator, Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant; April Helbert, P.E., manager of engineering services; Mark Osborne, P.E., technical manager; Johnny Lester, maintenance manager; Kim Harold, controller; and Holly Edwards, customer service manager.
Ronnie Cornett, general manager, Washington County Service Authority.
Peak performance
The new equipment went into operation early last summer, and all processes have been performing well. Our water quality is as good as or better than we were achieving with the old process, Cornett says. Were delivering exceptional water at this point. They certainly are. For the third straight year, though in the midst of a major renovation, the Middle Fork plant achieved the highest possible ranking (20 in the judging criteria) in operations excellence for water utilities from the Virginia Department of Health. The plant was one of 22 conventional plants out of 130 that received a gold award in 2012. That followed gold awards in 2010 and 2011. The water from WCSAs springs is naturally pristine and requires little treatment beyond precautionary disinfection. Reservation Spring produces about 900,000 gpd. Chlorine, stored in 50-pound cylinders, is added at the point where the water enters the distribution system. This is one of the few springs in Virginia that is not under the inuence of surface water, explains Cornett. Its very high quality. We use it for entering the various water tasting contests. (WCSA nished fourth among 100 entries in the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Awards competition in 2004.) The elevation of the spring eliminates the need for pumping: the water ows by gravity to a number of customers in one of the small communities WCSA serves. The other spring delivers 1.8 mgd and requires treatment, as regulators have declared it to be affected by surface water. A small membrane plant (Koch Membrane Systems), one of the rst in Virginia, has been in operation since 1999. WCSA owns the plant with a neighboring utility and has received excellent water quality, although the facility is due for upgrading and replacement in ve to six years.
The Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant team includes, from left, Joe Baldwin, chief operator; Beverly Hall, Class 1 operator; Don Cole, water production manager; and Gary Vanhuss, compliance manager.
16
One of the two turbines (Cornell Pump Company) that are housed in the Energy Recovery Building at the Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant, which has a 12 mgd capacity.
Gary Vanhuss collects a water sample in one of the six occulators at the Middle Fork plant.
ENERGY BOOST
The Washington County Service Authoritys expanded Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant features more capacity and demonstrates innovative energy recovery as well. At the point where raw water enters occulation, pressure reduction was required. The agency installed a pair of Francis turbines that generate electrical energy from the water passing through the valves and use a pressure-reducing valve as a backup. The turbines operate like a centrifugal pump in reverse, explains Robbie Cornett, general manager. Water hits the impeller, which then turns the motor and generates electricity. Francis turbines date to inventions in the mid-1800s and are common in water projects. A spiral casing surrounds the runner blades and directs the energy of the owing water onto the blades. The units have a total generating capacity of 150 kW. The electricity powers the utilitys intermediate booster pump station. As Cornett explains, an adsorption clarier has been added downstream of the existing sedimentation basins. Water ows by gravity out of the basins and needs to be lifted to the clarier before it moves on to the ltration and disinfection. We are powering the pump station entirely from the turbines, Cornett says.
Galvanized pipe issues

Improvements to the water management system have involved more than upgrades to the intake and treatment facilities. When Cornett joined the agency in the early 1990s, he was quick to recognize the harmful impact the 2-inch and smaller galvanized pipe was having on the system. Forty percent of all our connections were served by the galvanized pipe, he remembers. We had numerous customer complaints about lack of water pressure or poor-quality water even colored water that would ruin a load of clothes in a washing machine. Ultimately, the agency committed to addressing the issue. As a stopgap, small blow-off valves (Cla-Val) were installed so that operators didnt have to go into the eld to turn water on or off. The blow-offs allowed automatic ushing of the system at night so that customers would get the best-quality water when they started their day. In addition, to deal with pressure drops, WCSA installed 12 booster pump stations along the lines. While these measures eliminated most
It became obvious that we needed to become more aggressive than wed been in the past in replacing this pipe, Cornett says. Much of it wouldnt have been capable of providing service to anyone in another 10 years. The project unfolded in three phases. WCSA tackled the most difcult replacement areas rst. Those included the towns of Abingdon and Glade Spring, along with areas near and next to the city of Bristol populous areas where lines run under streets and private property. Using open-cut methods for the most part, Our goal is to convey information about water use to our workers removed the galvanized lines and replaced customers such as the time of day, how much theyre them with PVC for smaller diameters and ductile iron for larger. using and why they should consider reconguring their plumbing. Phase 1 involved installation of about 30 miles (3 ROBBIE CORNETT percent) of the system, not including service lines, complaints, WCSA undertook a full-scale study of the galvanized pipe which added 10 miles. The replaced pipe serves about 8 percent of WCSA issue, analyzing leaks and breaks and the overall impact on the utility, customers. The pipe removed from service wasnt inventoried but may especially costs. According to the agencys calculations, 86 percent of all have been greater than the number of miles installed, explains Cornett. system leaks and breaks could be traced to the galvanized piping. That In some cases, it was a matter of jumping taps from the old galvagure was later validated in an independent review of the system by The nized line to a new line that had been installed in recent years the old Lane Group engineering consultants. galvanized line was just never abandoned. It was a major undertaking,
17
FEATURED PRODUCTS FROM:

CLA-VAL
949/722-4800 www.cla-val.com
Cornell Pump Company

503/653-0330 www.cornellpump.com 800/433-2682 www.ge-ip.com
GE Intelligent Platforms
Innovative Controls
865/671-7700 innovativecontrols.com
Koch Membrane Systems

888/677-5624 www.kochmembrane.com 704/409-9700 www.fbleopold.com
Leopold - a Xylem Brand Beverly Hall gathers water samples from taps connected to various water streams going to and from the plant.
Meurer Research, Inc.
SCADA system (GE Intelligent Platforms, integrated by Innovative Controls) that has eliminated tank level issues and helps identify where breaks have occurred in the system. That has helped reduce water losses, as has refurbishment or installation of 16 new pressure-reducing valves throughout the system to cope with elevation changes.
The Middle Fork Water Treatment Plant is served by two separate intakes to provide redundancy in case of a source water quality issue or the need for maintenance.
303/279-8431 www.meurerresearch.com
Severn Trent Services
866/646-9201 www.severntrentservices.com
USALCO
410/354-0100 www.usalco.com
(See ad page 19)
WesTech Engineering, Inc.

801/265-1000 www.westech-inc.com
Loss control
WCSA was also invited to take part in a beta study of new AWWA water audit software, a result of Cornetts participation on the associations Water Loss Control Committee. The software was free, and we now use it to track real and apparent water losses and monitor our improvement efforts, Cornett says. It has allowed us to test and validate the accuracy of our data. In another move to enhance efciency and improve system data, WCSA subdivided its service area into 30 smaller district metered areas. Customers in these areas are coded so that the team can monitor water use more closely and compare water use versus sales. Were still validating data, but what weve found so far is that four of these smaller districts account for more than half our water loss, Cornett says. Two are older parts of the system, and the other two are industrial parks. When staff members looked more closely at the water usage patterns, they realized that the industrial areas had the biggest concentration of unmetered re lines, and that as industries expanded, contractors had been inadvertently tying into re lines for process water, dust control and other uses. That led the agency to use clamp-on meters to try to measure ows. Our goal is to convey information about water use to our customers such as the time of day, how much theyre using and why they should consider reconguring their plumbing, Cornett says. The water loss program has also led WCSA to monitor its own water usage and optimize where possible. We installed meters at all 26 of our lift stations and at all our facilities including the treatment plant, Cornett says. We found we use about 3 million gallons a month on average, not including the blow-offs on the galvanized lines. It was an eye-opener! wso
but Phase 1 was completed at the end of 2012 and went well. Its early, but were already seeing a decrease in leaks and breaks and improved water line production. WCSA advertised for bids on Phase 2 last fall and hoped to seek bids on Phase 3 by the fall of 2014.
Embracing automation
WCSA improvements dont stop at xing pipes. Cornett and his team launched other programs to make the system more efcient and enhance customer value. Automation is one area. A few years ago we realized that most of our water meters were 20 to 40 years old, says Cornett. We were reading them manually, and over a 300-square-mile area, it took six people two months to completely read the system. Also, many meters were not correctly sized for the application. Since then, WCSA has adopted a radio-read system and a meter calibration and validation program. We were able to reduce our meter reading staff from six people to four, reassigning the other two to a different department, says Cornett. The agency also regularly checks the larger meters for accuracy, randomly checks residential meters, and remains on alert for any meters reading zero usage for several consecutive months. SCADA represents another enhancement. In 1998, we had no SCADA system, so we began implementing one, says Cornett. Before, our pumps ran on timers set by the operators, and tank levels were determined by visual observation, twice a day. Some tanks ran dry, others overowed. It was an inefcient and ineffective way to run a system. It took six years, but today WCSA is equipped with a fully operational
18
Changing with the Times

The industry is growing and evolving, and so is your trade show
BY BOB KENDALL
uring late winter 1981, the first annual Liquid Waste Haulers Equipment & Trade Show was held in Nashville, Tenn. The show was promoted to the 12,000-some readers of the recently launched Midwest Pumper. That very rst show was a huge success lauded by the couple hundred people who attended and a few dozen exhibitors. The following year, the Liquid Waste Haulers Bob Kendall, Equipment & Trade Show would see its rst name Expo co-founder change. The change was subtle: we only added one word International. Because, after all, we didnt want to shun our friends from Canada. In 1984, COLE Publishing launched an additional title Cleaner aimed squarely at sewer and drain cleaning contractors. This meant the show had now become more than just a liquid waste event. It would take more than a decade, but in the mid-1990s the International Liquid Waste Haulers show again changed its name. This time, we would fully encompass everything we stood for The Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International. May no man, woman, child, country or profession ever be excluded again! So we thought. The event would continue to grow, eventually hundreds of attendees became thousands, and dozens of exhibitors became hundreds. The Expo hopped through several cities ow, after more than Nashville, Biloxi, New Orleans, Dallas, Fort Worth and Louisville. 20 years, it is time to We even tried a few western destinamake another name tions and visited Las Vegas, Palm change. Were not just a Springs, Phoenix and Long Beach. show for pumpers and Now, after more than 20 years, cleaners weve grown it is time to make another name change. Were not just a show for and evolved into so much pumpers and cleaners weve more, and so have you. grown and evolved into so much more, and so have you. The industry and profession has surpassed what many of us could have ever imagined way back in 1979, when Pumper was delivered to mailboxes across a few Midwestern states. In 2015, the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International will become WWETT the Water and Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport show. A little better snapshot of what we have become and where we are heading. Its a show for an entire industry of hard-working people who maintain the ow in our sewer and water infrastructure, properly treat and dispose of wastewater, keep water safe, and our environment healthy. We havent forgotten our roots, we just planted them a little deeper and thanks to you theyll always have water. See you at WWETT 2015. wso
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19
While not a water operator by profession, Doug Strempek put his IT skills to work to improve operations in the Village of Norridge.
QUALITY LEADERS
OPERATOR
STRENGTH
IN NUMBERS
STORY: ANN STAWSKI PHOTOGRAPHY: TAYLOR GLASCOCK
Doug Strempek engaged innovation to improve water information systems and enhance resources as IT coordinator in Norridge, Ill.
hat Doug Strempek doesnt know about water systems, he makes up for with his ability to integrate technological advancements in his community. Im not a water guy, but what I do helps advance the systems and increases efciencies, says Strempek, IT coordinator for the village of Norridge, Ill. For 14 years, Strempek has focused on improving the villages computer systems to enhance efciencies in water management, while meeting customer needs and adapting to technology changes and advancements. He also learns from others through service, by heading a state AWWA section technology committee, and through his work with a consortium of Illinois communities sharing knowledge and resources on geographic information systems (GIS).
Doug Strempek, Village of Norridge, Ill.

POSITION: | Information EXPERIENCE: | 14
Quick start
Norridge, a community of 14,500, receives its water from nearby Chicago and delivers an average of 1.5 mgd to residents and businesses. The village operates three storage facilities one water tower and two aboveground storage tanks with 2.25 million gallons total capacity. In 1999, Strempek did part-time administrative work for the village before beginning studies for his MBA degree at Dominican University in River Forest. The village hired him as IT coordinator the following year. Basically, I was looking at a startup in terms of the computer systems, he says. I was able to chart projects, coordinate the implementation, put it all into action and then manage all upgrades. It is very satisfying to see how far weve come with putting new, more efcient systems in place. Strempek quickly identied computer systems and programs in need of upgrades or complete overhauls. His rst two goals were to update the billing process and the villages administration software, both seriously outdated. Those projects were key to enhancing water department services. He viewed the challenges as opportunities.
Technology Coordinator years EDUCATION: Bachelors and MBA degrees, emphasis on computer information systems, from Dominican University, River Forest, Ill. MEMBERSHIPS: | Illinois Section AWWA GOALS: Implement new technology to improve processes and increase service quality
Strempek rst targeted the billing system, an outdated postcard system with signicant inefciencies. He was instrumental in the launch of a new invoicing system and remote meter reading. The village then added a point-of-sale (POS) register that enables electronic uploading of information and real-time delivery of that information. POS systems store information, and the software can be programmed to create detailed reports, track inventory, improve the accuracy of information and grow with the business. The system helps the Norridge water department track customer payments, respond to inquiries and access account information. Before the
21
PERSONAL ISSUES
Despite his successes as IT coordinator for the Village of Norridge, Doug Strempek faced a few obstacles while deploying technology in a close-knit community. The system upgrades included a new online bill pay and cash management system with automatic check scanning. Most people recognize the check scanning technology from television commercials, says Strempek. Its when the newlyweds, still in their formal clothes, photograph checks on their smartphones and then send the les directly into their bank account. The software for Norridge follows basically the same process with customer payment checks received by the water department. Once logged, the checks are scanned and routed through an automated clearinghouse. While the process is quick and easy, some residents still preferred going to the village hall and interacting with people to pay their bills. If you push too much technology too quickly, you may alienate people, Strempek says. You really need to assess the dynamic between the technology and how it will t in the community. Its a challenge, but if done right, you will have success. More people are becoming computer-savvy, but just because you implement software and provide training, doesnt mean they will ock to it. The learning curve is sometimes high and acceptance is iffy. He found, however, that once people have time to acclimate to technology, they understand and appreciate its benets. Doug Strempek, left, shown with water system operator Joe Spain, led an upgrade and overhaul of the villages billing system and administrative software, both essential to water operations.
POS, administrative staff manually performed these time-consuming tasks, some of which required rekeying of information that could lead to data entry errors, says Strempek. The new system was a signicant time-saver and increased our administrative staffs efciency. The village also has a SCADA system that allows water department staff members to monitor water pumping stations, water storage and the security system in real time from any location using smartphones. The new system also helped Norridge move toward a paperless environment. We worked to reduce time waste, like walking around with actual books to reference information, Strempek says. We now access the computer system to locate information and can assist customers quickly.
Before long, Strempek extended his inuence beyond village borders. Co-worker Joe Spain, a member of the Illinois Section American Water Works Association (ISAWWA), invited him to join the groups technology committee (T-CON), thus exposing him to the water industry and enabling him to learn more about the water department. After attending a meeting, Strempek liked what he saw and joined the committee, becoming its only non-water person. He quickly understood the dynamic between technology and the water system operations. I was the only exclusive IT person on a technology committee for an industry in which I had a lot to learn, he recalls. It was a great learning experience for all of us. Its a two-way street where we share a lot of information, and the education is invaluable.
Updating systems
Strempeks second signicant project was updating the alienate people. You really need to assess the dynamic software used in the water department and across other departments. He took off-the-shelf software and custombetween the technology and how it will t in the community. ized it for specic needs including tracking inventory and DOUG STREMPEK monitoring usage. The village had an automatic meter reading (AMR) system in place for more than a decade, but with the softHe now chairs the committee, which hosts an annual conference and ware upgrade, the water department could access the information in real meets monthly. They are a very productive group of people coming time and identify problems early. In several cases, leaks or malfunctions together and working toward common goals, he says. Serving the comin unoccupied buildings were agged when the meters began showing mittee helps him stay on top of trends. He shares his successes with memirregular usage. The water department notied the building owners and bers and applies what he learns from them to new projects in Norridge. the problems were corrected quickly, saving energy and resources. Shifting technology Strempek nds numerous benets in two-way communication for The villages AMR system will soon go through a software upgrade, water monitoring. With customers who have high usage, you can set the and meanwhile Strempek is involved in another major initiative. In 2007, reading to occur more frequently, he says. We also work with customers Norridge became part of the GIS Consortium (GISC) of 23 Illinois municto monitor water usage if their property will be vacant for an extended ipalities working to develop GIS solutions. The communities involved period. Weve been successful in identifying usage spikes or other probhave broad backgrounds in GIS technologies and share an objective: to lems and alerting customers.
If you push too much technology too quickly, you may
22
Strempek (left) and Spain use the new SCADA system that has helped the village make strides toward a paperless environment.
Hiring a GIS resource for Norridge would not have been cost-effective. As part of the consortium, we have power in numbers and scale.
DOUG STREMPEK
achieve the full benets of GIS by maximizing value while reducing cost and risk. Norridge, the smallest community in the group, joined after independently working on GIS with an engineering rm. The village recognized the advantages of a fully integrated GIS program in which it shares costs and resources with its neighbors. Hiring a GIS resource for Norridge would not have been cost-effective, says Strempek, who represents the village on the consortium. As part of the consortium, we have power in numbers and scale. Norridge is working on a project to interface GIS with the AMR. By tying all systems together from meter reading to billing to sharing of police department information the village will be able to access more data and provide better information. Strempek anticipates this will lead to greater communication between departments. If the meter transmission unit isnt relaying information, the system will try to plot other units in the surrounding areas to identify any common issues, Strempek says. It may be a simple interference in the area like a pile of leaves or new construction that is blocking the signal. Tying GIS into all the systems from the water department to the police department to administrative tasks offers the village one common
location from which we can retrieve data and solve issues. It will eliminate the need for multiple databases.
Earned recognition
For his work on behalf of Norridge and the T-CON committee, the ISAWWA honored Strempek with its 2013 Young Professional Excellence Award, acknowledging commitment to the organization and the water profession. Strempek is simply glad to be able to help a community he loves. He considers it important for smaller communities to share information instead of going it alone. If youre doing an upgrade, learn from other communities, he says. Do surveys. Ask other people who have done what youre looking to do. Approach the organizations and committees that are there to help you. Strempek says Norridge has the advantage of learning from the growing pains of its larger neighbors: We learn to adapt what they did and what ts for us. The technologies he put in place have brought efciencies that position Norridge to succeed in the 21st century. wso
23
TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE

1) A syringe pump (upper right) feeds water at a measured rate into the particle counting system. 2) Algae images created by the particle analyzer from a sample drawn from a drinking water reservoir.
1 2
Whats in Your Water?

A digital particle analyzer from Fluid Imaging helps water system operators monitor, identify and quantify nuisance algae and particulate matter
BY TED J. RULSEH
hen algae bloom in a reservoir or other surface water source, the result can be taste and odor issues and customer complaints. It then becomes important to identify the exact cause and start treatment. Its better still to be able to see such a problem coming and take preventive action. The FlowCAM digital imaging particle analyzer from Fluid Imaging Technologies simplies and speeds up the process of identifying and quantifying nuisance algae, taste and odor algae, and toxic cyanobacteria. It helps water system personnel reach conclusions much faster and with greater certainty than they could by traditional means. The system automates the process, freeing personnel for other tasks. It can also interface with laboratory information management systems (LIMS), taking even more staff time out of the equation. Lew Brown, technical director with Fluid Imaging, talked about the technology in an interview with Water System Operator.
points of each species, which from a statistical standpoint does not yield very good condence when youre talking about a sample from a reservoir that may contain a billion gallons of water.
wso: In contrast, how does FlowCAM technology do the identication and counting? Brown: As water passes through a ow cell, the device snaps a picture of it. It then segments out each particle, stores that particles image, and performs up to more than 30 measurements on it. When that process is done, you can use mathematical ltering to bin each type of image into a category. So for instance, you can separate Anabaena, which is a bluegreen cyanobacteria, from other organisms that have different shapes. The device can do so much so fast without an operator that you can identify thousands of particles in minutes, where manually you could identify tens of particles in hours. wso: How are samples fed to this instrument? Brown: The typical practice is to take grab samples from different parts of the reservoir. Then you pipette water from a sample into the device. It has a pump that pulls the sample through the ow cell. Depending on what youre looking for and the magnication you choose, you can process several milliliters per minute, versus the small amount on a microscope slide. Once you set it up, you can just let it run. If you want
wso: What has been the traditional method for identifying and counting algae? Brown: The way its typically done, if its done at all, is with human beings looking through microscopes. You put a drop from a sample on a microscope slide and someone tediously goes through and counts the microorganisms. That is very labor-intensive and is prone to error. More signicant is that a technician spends an hour to gather maybe 50 data
24
PHOTO & GRAPHIC COURTESY OF FLUID IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES INC.
more data points, you can let it run longer or process more samples. If you want, you can hook the unit up to a pipeline and slipstream off that to do inline analysis. The only issue is that when youre looking for taste and odor algae, different parts of the reservoir will have different concentrations. There may be a cove thats especially prone to certain types of algae. So the advantage of processing individual grab samples is in being able to measure those specic areas.
wso: Is there any kind of check and balance on the systems accuracy? Brown: We save every particle image, and users can interact with them on the screen. If someone would ever question the data, they can go back and look. For example, they can click on the lter for Tabellaria, and it will show all the images the system classied as Tabellaria. Its not a black box. You basically have an audit trail.
wso: How can this technology help head off a taste or odor event? wso: What is the value of sending the data to a LIMS? Brown: The way these events happen is that you get an algae bloom Brown: By receiving the summary data, the LIMS can watch the you go from a low to a very high concentration in a short time. If you trends. If it sees an increase in certain types of particles, that can trigger sample and monitor regularly, you have a chance of looking at the trend. You see an increase in taste and The whole idea is to reduce the amount of data an actual odor algae and you can stop it before the bloom haphuman has to look at while increasing condence in the results. pens and it really becomes a problem. For example, LEW BROWN you can take Sundays run, Mondays run, Tuesdays run, Wednesdays run, plot them out in Excel, and look at the sample-toan alarm, which sends someone to actually look at the data. Then the utility sample trend. can take action if needed. The whole idea is to reduce the amount of data
wso: In simple terms, how does this technology work?

Brown: The object is to restrict the particles to a certain area so the system can focus on them. Think of it as a microscope with a very narrow rectangular ow cell perpendicular to the optical axis. On one side of that ow cell is a ash LED that acts as a strobe light, and on the other side is a camera that looks through the microscope optics. As the particles ow by, we synchronize the ash and the camera acquisition to freeze a picture of the microscopes eld of view containing liquid and particles. That image is digital. We then do gray-scale thresholding that isolates the particles from the background. So if an image frame has only one particle, we isolate that particle, cut it out like a cookie cutter and save just that part of the image. That greatly reduces the amount of data the system has to store.
an actual human has to look at while increasing condence in the results.
wso: What other applications does this system have on the drinking water side? Brown: You can use it to monitor lter performance. If you have a large lter thats supposed to lter down to a certain particle size, you could take regular samples or have an inline sampler below the lter and just watch the trend. If all of a sudden you start seeing big particles where you shouldnt see them, maybe you have a lter break. That needs to be detected early, and time is of the essence. wso
wso: How are the particles identied after they are imaged? Brown: At the same time we store the image, we run image processing algorithms to do the measurements. We measure spherical diameter, length, width, circularity, color, transparency there are more than 30 parameters we can measure. Each image is then stored in what we call a collage le, and for each image there is a row in a spreadsheet that contains all those measurements. In our VisualSpreadsheet software, we present the images so the user can look at them. They can go in and say, Find me all images between 10 and 20 microns in diameter. Boom, there they are on the screen. With all those image parameters, users can construct lters that look for specic types of images. Then they can go into one of the collage les of images, click on six or seven and select Filter Like Selected. The system then performs statistical pattern recognition and nds all those similar images. wso: Does the analysis tell how many of each kind of organism
are present? Brown: Yes. It gives you a concentration in particles per milliliter. And because you get that number based on a much larger statistical sample than you would have by manual methods, you get higher condence in the results.
Clamp-on Flow Switch
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wso: What does the report to users look like? Brown: A lter tab on the main window lets them view the species present and the concentrations. They can export that data directly into Excel and then into a LIMS. Typically what they want to know is the concentration of each species. They can graph that over time by taking several samples and putting them on a time clock.
www.greyline.com 888-473-9546 info@greyline.com
25
PRODUCT FOCUS:
BY CRAIG MANDLI
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
AMI/AMRs
Multi-sensor atmospheric monitor
The G460 multi-sensor atmospheric monitor from GfG Instrumentation has a concussion-proof boot and a dust- and water-resistant housing. It has fully automatic calibration, one-button operation, a top-mounted display, interchangeable battery packs and a highly congurable smart sensor design. Data logging and event logging are standard. 800/959-0329; www.gfginc.com.
Fittings
PVC coated conduit and ttings
Calbond PVC-coated conduit and conduit ttings from Calpipe Industries are compliant to industry standards set forth by UL6, NEMA RN-1 and ANSI C80.1. Fittings are double-coated with a nominal 0.002-inch urethane on the interior and exterior before a 0.04-inch PVC coating is applied to the exterior. All conduit bodies are supplied with PVC-coated cast-iron covers with an integrated O-ring seal. 800/225-7473; www.calpipe.com.
Intelligent ushing station

Eclipse i-Series intelligent ushing stations from Kupferle Foundry incorporate a chlorine analyzer and programmable logic controller to sample water and ushes only when disinfectant residuals fall below a programmed minimum level. This ensures that residuals remain above the safe minimum while conserving water. The PLC captures all relevant residual and ushing data, which can be retrieved or transmitted via SCADA. Units can be used for both free and combined chlorine and can be customized. 800/2313990; www.hydrants.com.
Drives
Medium-voltage VFDs
The M2L 3000 medium-voltage variable-frequency drive from Benshaw is designed for industrial applications. Its topology, a modular multilevel converter (M2LC), is powered by state-of-the-art hardware and software control and is energy efcient and arc-resistant. 412/968-0100; www.benshaw.com.
Eddy current drive

Eddy current drives from DSI Dynamatic include an EC-2000 controller that enables digital or analog integration with digital process control systems, SCADA systems or PLCs. A exible keypad enables simple and intuitive programming of control parameters and digital display of any two of several status parameters. The drives convert the constant-speed rotary energy of a standard motor to precisely controlled speed or torque without signicant electrical conversion. No harmonic distortion or audible noise is created. The equipment operates in normal ambient conditions without auxiliary cooling or special power supply. 800/548-2169; www.dynamatic.com.
Disinfection chemical metering system

Packaged skid disinfection chemical metering systems from seepex eliminate engineering, procurement, assembly and commissioning of ow control systems. Skids are delivered complete, with controls and all necessary chemical-resistant components packaged into a single unit. Self-priming NSF/ANSI 61-certied metering pumps assure precise dosing without pulsation or vapor lock. Systems can be wall or oor mounted. 937/864-7150; www.seepex.com.
Versatile AC drive
Couplings
Brass coupling
The Cambridge coupling from Cambridge Brass connects any two pipes of differing sizes and materials. It can attach to any pipe material through a wide range of sizes, reducing repair time and inventory. Installation requires minimal tools. 800/724-3906; www.cambridgebrass.com.
Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 750 Series AC drives from Rockwell Automation are designed for ease of use, simple integration and application exibility. With a power range of 0.75 to 1,500 kW and 400/480 and 600/690 volt capability, the drives offer predictive diagnostics and built-in protection. They have a slot-based hardware architecture that lets users select option cards to suit an application and expand the drive for future needs. 414/382-2000; www.rockwellenergycalc.com.
Direct groove, two-piece coupling

Rigid and exible Advanced Groove System couplings from Victaulic are designed for piping systems up to 60 inches, install in less than an hour and offer pressure ratings up to 350 psi. 610/559-3300; www.victaulic.com.
Versatile drive unit

Drive units from WesTech Engineering are delivered to the job site as completely assembled and shoptested units, ready to install. They offer exibility of design that allows engineers to select drives that closely match process and mechanical requirements. 801/265-1000; www.westech-inc.com.
26
Leak Detection Equipment

Leak correlation device
The TriCorr Touch correlator from Fluid Conservation Systems uses an Automated Filter Intelligence System (AFIS) that increases leak location accuracy. It uses information from acoustic leak noise sensors placed at intervals along a pipeline. The unit automatically runs 55 lter combinations on the correlation data, allowing the device to check the quality of the results and optimize lter settings as required, until the clearest and most accurate result is presented. It has a VGA touch screen and easy data entry. A high-contrast mode is available for clear visibility in bright sunshine. 800/531-5465; www.fluid conservation.com.
slingers on both ends for IP54 protection. Designed for pump OEMs and aftermarket replacement, they suit centrifugal, turbine, sump and process pumps. P-Base and C-Face catalog motors are available from 1 through 200 hp at 3,600 and 1,800 rpm. 888/637-7333; www.usmotors.com.
Motor and Pump Controls

Pump station level controller
The PSL 5.0 pump station level controller from Greyline Instruments includes a noncontacting ultrasonic sensor and can be connected to a loop-powered pressure sensor for redundant sensing in applications with foam or grease. It continuously recalibrates the pressure sensor and automatically switches back and forth from ultrasonic to the pressure sensor as required. Calibration and relay set points are entered through a keypad and menu system. An automatic pump run time logging and reporting system helps operators plan pump maintenance and identify lazy pumps before they fail. 888/4739546; www.greyline.com.
Water communication module

The 100W water communication module from Itron, when deployed with an integrated leak sensor, monitors a utilitys entire distribution system around the clock, acoustically surveying system integrity. It helps locate small leaks before they become large or lead to main breaks. 509/924-9900; www. itron.com.
Pump control panel

The 331-SV pump control panel with Station View duplex pump controller from PRIMEX Controls covers three phases and three voltages, operating with oats, a level transducer or both. A clear graphic display, simple-to-operate controller and intuitive menu allow operators to t and click the appropriate overload modules into the starter. 800/746-6287; www.primexcontrols.com.
Quad-path ultrasonic water meter

The 280W-CI commercial and industrial grade ultrasonic water meter from Spire Metering Technology has wide dynamic range and leakage detection capabilities. With no moving parts, quad-path ultrasonic technology and IP68-rated heavy-duty enclosure, it exceeds ISO4064 Class D/AWWA C750. Quad-path technology improves accuracy and reduces straight-pipe run requirements. It is unaffected by magnetic interference. 888/738-0188; www.spiremt.com.
Automated pilot control

The 420-DC automated pilot control from Singer Valve offers programmable span and speed control via USB cable and software, allowing easy eld calibration using a laptop and standard USB connection. The motor actuator responds to a 4-20 mA signal and can be programmed for pressure changes. It requires less than 2 amps to operate, making it suited for solar powered self-contained stations. With IP68 certication, it can be submerged in water to a depth of 7 feet and operate for 24 hours. 888/764-7858; www.singervalve.com.
Motors
Shaft grounding ring handbook
The 36-page AEGIS Shaft Grounding Ring Motor Repair Handbook from Electro Static Technology describes best practices for protecting motor bearings from electrical damage. It explains how to diagnose bearing damage caused by variable-frequency drives and explains in detail best practices for preventing such damage to motors of various sizes and horsepower ratings. It is available in PDF format for downloading at www.est-aegis.com/bearing. 866/738-1857; www. est-aegis.com.
Pump process control software

Pump Genius process control software from WEG Electric Corp. can alternate and control up to six pumps, reducing system operation and maintenance costs while increasing process accuracy and protection. The software can be applied to any system that requires constant ow or pressure and works with the CFW11 drive to control system processes. 800/275-4934; www.weg.net/us.
Thrust pump motor

Vertical normal thrust (HP shaft) enclosed fan-cooled (TEFC) catalog motors from Nidec Motor Corporation have NEMA premium-efciency levels, 50 Hz/60 Hz capability, cast-iron bearing caps and shaft
(continued)
27
PRODUCT FOCUS:
Pipe Parts/Components
Mortar application pump
The M680 Mortar Pump from Graco reduces labor for projects such as resurfacing cement so that protective coatings or linings can be applied. It speeds surface preparation by allowing contractors to spray heavy materials onto the surface, rather than trowel them on. It works with abrasive materials such as cementitious coatings, epoxy-based mortars, nonskid coatings, and polymers with llers such as glass ake, silica or sand. With a high-velocity circulating ush, it is easy to clean. 612/623-6000; www.graco.com. and chemicals. A simple design reduces maintenance. Accurate, repeatable, nonpulsating, low-shear ow suits multiple applications. The compact units are available in motorized and nonmotorized models. Packing or mechanical seals are available to control leakage. Units are offered in ow rates to 50 gpm and pressures to 600 psi. 877/486-6966; www.moyno.com.
Drill-powered hydrostatic test pump

The DPHTP500 drill-powered hydrostatic test pump from Reed Manufacturing Co. uses a corded drill with 1/2-inch chuck, or a 1/2-inch cordless 18-volt or higher drill capable of 1,500 rpm. Use of a cordless drill for power keeps weight off the pump, making it lightweight and portable. The included quick-disconnect hose allows the pump to be set near the work instead of being held close to the work. The pump can be run with the drill motor in forward or reverse. The pumps are designed for pressure testing residential and commercial water systems and have ratings of 500 psi and 1.3 gpm. 800/666-3691; www.reedmfgco.com.
Pumps
Multistage pump
VR Series stainless steel vertical multistage pumps from Franklin Electric deliver clean water under pressure at temperatures -5 to 250 degrees F. All models are constructed of 316 stainless steel. They are available in ratings from 8 to 60 gpm and 0.75 to 10 hp delivering up to 750 feet total dynamic head. The inline conguration of suction and discharge connections simplies installation. 260/824-2900; www.franklin-electric.com.
Valves
Wedge valve
Flow Control Series 2500 wedge valves from AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company are available in 2- to 66-inch diameters. Their unobstructed waterways reduce pumping costs and allow for pigging. A ductile iron body and bonnet enhance strength and durability; units are lighter than castiron valve. A fusion-bonded epoxy coating inside and out resists corrosion. A ductile iron wedge is fully encapsulated in EPDM rubber to eliminate leakage. 800/326-8051; www.american-usa.com.
Portable non-clog pump

The Dri-Prime NC150 pump from Godwin, a Xylem brand, delivers non-clog performance, high efciency and energy savings. The compact pump has ow capabilities up to 1,767 gpm and discharge heads up to 195 feet. It uses Flygt N-technology with a self-cleaning impeller. The automatic self-priming system primes and reprimes from dry up to 28 feet without operator assistance or foot valve control. It can be customized with a diesel engine or electric motor on a highway trailer or skid mount, or in a quiet enclosure. 800/2478674; www.godwinpumps.com.
Two-way diaphragm valve

The Type 2030 pilot-controlled diaphragm valve from Burkert Fluid Control Systems has a piston actuator and diaphragm seal. The two-way diaphragm valves with PVC or PVDF bodies provide high ow rates and chemical compatibility. Only the diaphragm and valve body contact the uid. External pilot pressure is connected to the piston actuator to actuate the valve. The ow-optimized and zero-dead-volume valve body enables high ows. 800/325-1405; www.burkert-usa.com.
Economical multistage pump

The e-HM stainless steel series horizontal multistage pump from Goulds Water Technology a Xylem Brand, offers a broad hydraulic range, and a variety of conguration options, helping users improve performance and reduce carbon dioxide emissions and costs. Made of AISI 316 stainless steel, it is available in six models as well as a one-piece or sleeve design. Its high-pressure boosting capabilities and space-saving footprint make it suitable for a variety of applications. It has a maximum ow rate of 127 gpm; a balanced impeller reduces axial thrust by 40 percent; and a 20 percent thicker stainless steel pump body enhances durability and reliability. 866/325-4210; www.goulds.com.
All-plastic control valve

The Model 2060 2-inch anged plastic control valve from Collins Instrument Company has a body of PVDF or polypropylene and an actuator/yoke of glass-lled polypropylene. It can be equipped with a pneumatic positioner, a positioner with integral I/P or an electric actuator. It has a 2-inch body with 150 psi at-faced ANSI anges, and accommodates 300 psi maximum operating pressure at ambient temperature. 979/849-8266; www.collinsinst.com.
General utility pump

General Utility Pumps from Moyno are designed for water sampling
28
Heavy-duty pinch valve

Heavy-duty pinch valves from Flowrox offer dual closing of the valve sleeve on the centerline of the valve for accurate ow control and low stress on the rubber sleeve. Sleeve materials include styrene-butadiene, natural or gum rubber, Hypalon, nitrile, EPDM, butyl, polyurethane, hydrogenated nitrile, uorine rubber and chloroprene rubber. All sleeve materials and all sizes and pressure classes are available with a SensoMate sleeve-wear monitoring system. The valves have an enclosed stainless steel stem that isolates the stem from process media and ensures smooth and easy operation. 410/636-2250; www.owrox.us.
Electric modulating actuator

CMA Series electric modulating actuators from Rotork Instruments are sized for linear, quarter-turn, and rotary operation in pump, damper and control valve applications requiring precise position control and continuous modulation. They are powered by single-phase or direct current, eliminating air hoses and compressors. Setup and conguration is via push buttons and an internal six-segment LCD display. 336/659-3493; www.rotork.com.
Swing check valve

The AWWA swing check valve from Val-Matic Valve & Manufacturing Corp. for water and wastewater applications prevents backow by automatically closing when uid reverses direction. It has a ductile iron disc that swings open upon pump startup. When closed, the valve provides a tight shutoff through a eld-replaceable stainless steel seat. Valves are available with three closure options (lever and weight, air cushion, lever and spring) and in 2- to 24-inch and 30- to 48-inch sizes. 630/941-7600; www.valmatic.com. wso
FREE subscription to Treatment Plant Operator at www.
Wafer check valve

WCV Series wafer check valves from Hayward Flow Control have all thermoplastic molded construction, including angle seat and disc design for high ows. The valves t ANSI 150 and PN10 anges and are available in PVC and CPVC in 2- to 8-inch diameters with a maximum pressure rating of 150 psi nonshock at 70 degrees F. 888/429-4635; www.haywardowcontrol.com.
Plug valve
The Ballcentric plug valve from Henry Pratt Company is available in sizes from 3 to 36 inches. The round port design on 3- through 20-inch units reduces uid ow resistance, resulting in better ow characteristics and less pressure drop across the valve. There is no debris buildup on the plug because it is hidden from the ow. This also allows for in-line pigging. A large nominal port design means low erosion, long service life and reduced pumping costs. 877/436-7977; www.henrypratt.com.
tpomag.com
High-performance valve actuator

The 1/4-turn high-performance valve actuator from K-TORK Actuators & Controls International has only one moving part. It can operate ball, buttery and plug valves in treatment facilities and can be retrotted to an existing valve without removing it from the pipe. Controls include a mechanical hand wheel and push-button manual override, feedback switches and transmitters, high-visibility valve position indicators, open/close controls, and precise modulating controls for pneumatic, analog and bus-network control and monitoring. 214/343-9980; www.ktork.com.
Rubber check valve

Series 700 ProFlex rubber check valves from Proco Products control back pressures cost-effectively. They are fully passive, requiring no maintenance, outside power source or manual assistance. They provide direct replacements for ap-type check valves and can handle large obstructions without jamming or having swing gates bind open. 800/344-3246; www. procoproducts.com.
29
CASE STUDIES:
BY CRAIG MANDLI
VFDs maintain constant water pressure, eliminate water hammer

Problem
To handle growing water demands, the City of Cottonwood in the arid central highlands of Arizona devised a strategic water management plan that included creating a modern municipal water system with monitoring, control and pumping technology. The unusually high well-to-customer ratio presented piping and pumping challenges in accommodating more than 28 wells. Previously a 20 psi pressure change constantly stressed the pipe, creating leaks and water hammer on more than 100 miles of pipe. reaches maximum speed, the lag pump starts, maintaining pressure within 2 to 3 psi.
RESULT
With the constant-pressure design, the average pipe pressure stays in a 60 to 65 psi range. One or more pumps are online at all times to keep the system pressurized, cutting down on leaks by reducing pipe fatigue and system damage. The design stabilized pipe pressure and nearly eliminated water hammer. Water main leakage decreased substantially, which means less time spent digging up and repaving roads to make repairs. 800/432-6367; www.danfossdrives.com.
Solution
Instead of turning pumps on and off, causing the 20 psi differential, the city converted nine sites from a xed-speed hydropneumatic system into a duplex variable-speed, constant-pressure system using Danfoss VLT AQUA variable-frequency drives (VFDs). Using only the built-in Smart Logic Controller (SLC), the drives were programmed to operate in a lead, lag and duplexing sequence. When the lead pump
Water district upgrades to advanced metering analytics system

Problem
When the Bethpage (N.Y.) Water District began improving its metering system three years ago, its main motivations were to improve efciency and customer service with more advanced technology and gain more visibility into operations.
Check out the latest Product & Industry
Solution
The district replaced all of its 9,300 endpoints with Badger Meter products and installed the companys ORION advanced metering analytics system and ReadCenter Analytics Pro software. The system uses 5/8-inch Recordall Disc Series meters and 1-, 1 1/2- and 2-inch E-Series ultrasonic stainless steel meters with high-resolution encoders, as well as Badger Meter compound, turbine and re service meters. Other components include gateways, and Trimble Ranger hand-held units with ORION transceivers to conrm endpoint installations.
at wastewaterpr.com
Your online source of the newest products and information for the liquid waste industry
NEW S
RESULT
The district can now detect leaks more quickly and easily. The systems two-way functionality streamlines and automates nal billing and allows it to be handled remotely. The district captures more revenue, as hourly data can be used to detect when meters are under-registering and when accounts become inactive. Estimated payback on the investment is ve years. 800/876-3837; www.badgermeter.com. wso
30
NEWS
INDUSTRY
Xylem donates pumps to Global Water Center
EJ products compliant with Safe Drinking Water Act

EJs line of re hydrants and gate valves are compliant with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. A provision of the legislation requires all products in contact with drinking water to have a maximum lead content of 0.25 percent for all wetted components.
Xylem donated pumps and products used in the Global Water Centers HVAC systems. The Milwaukee, Wis., facility backed by The Water Council is helping position the region as a global capital for freshwater research and technology. The seven-story Global Water Center houses 25 organizations, including a mix of international corporations, academic institutions, startup businesses and support organizations.
Mueller Water Products plant receives OSHA recognition

The Mueller Water Products plant in Albertville, Ala., received Star certication from the United States Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Star level is the highest recognition presented by OSHAs Voluntary Protection Program.
FCI releases product and services catalog

Fluid Components International released its latest products and services catalog CD. The free catalog is available by visiting the companys website, www.uidcomponents.com/cd.
Firestone Building Products names distributor

Firestone Building Products named the Pond Pro sales group as distributor of its pond lining and geomembrane products.
Wisconsin PSC honored for excellence

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2013 WaterSense Excellence award. The PSC was recognized for increasing public awareness of the WaterSense brand and benets of water efciency for water utilities via press releases, newsletters, radio advertisements and online. PSC staff also gave presentations and worked with water utilities looking to promote water efciency.
AEA Investors acquire Siemens Water Technologies

AEA Investors acquired the municipal, industrial and services water and wastewater treatment operations and assets of Siemens Water Technologies for 640 million Euros (approximately $860 million U.S. dollars). Dr. Lukas Loefer, CEO, and his management team will remain.
SJE-Rhombus names sales representative

SJE-Rhombus named Fluid Solutions Sales Agency as its product representative in Atlantic Canada, including New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Shawn Davidson, founder and principal of Fluid Solutions, has 30 years experience in the water industry. Shawn Davidson
WaterTAP Ontario names marketing manager

WaterTAP Ontario named Kerry Freek manager of marketing and communications. She will promote Ontario as a water hub and strengthen communications between utilities and water technology companies.
HOBAS Pipe certied for Canada drinking water

HOBAS Pipe USA gained inclusion on the Bureau de normalization de Quebecs (BNQ) list of certied products, processes and services. BNQ is a member organization of the National Standards System of Canada and acts as a partner to business, industry, public and regulatory bodies for the purpose of improving the quality of products, processes and services, as well as their acceptance in all markets.
RIDGID launches enhanced website

RIDGID launched www.ridgid.com, a single, global company website with responsive design that enables it to work on an Internet-enabled device. The website dynamically scales larger and smaller, depending on the device and its orientation, and enables users to review, rate and ask questions about specic products.
Hoffman enclosures receive design award

Hoffman enclosures from Pentair Equipment Protection placed rst in the industrial enclosures category for the 2013 Control Design Readers Choice Awards. This is the 13th consecutive year Hoffman has received the award.
Engineering America spins off process equipment business

Engineering America, provider of liquid storage and process equipment, will spin off its water and wastewater process equipment business to focus on its storage tank business. The new independent company, Great Northern Environmental, will specialize in water and wastewater treatment equipment sales and serve as sales agent for Engineering Americas various tank and aluminum dome products.
Bilcos single-leaf smoke vents receive UL approval

The Bilco Co.s Type SV single leaf, automatic smoke vents received UL approval per the UL 793 standard for automatically operated roof vents for smoke and heat.
Environmental Express acquires Daniels Scientic

Environmental Express acquired Daniels Scientic, supplier of certied sample collection containers.
Grundfos celebrates 40th anniversary

Grundfos celebrated 40 years of operations in the United States with the unveiling of a commemorative sculpture at its facility in Fresno, Calif., in November. The Denmark-based pump manufacturer expanded to the U.S. in 1973, growing from an ofce in Fresno to more than 1,300 employees in ve locations nationwide. wso
Yaskawa names distributor

The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America named DRV of Pittsburgh, Pa., its medium voltage drive distributor in the United States.
31
WINNING THEM OVER
Quack and the Pack are featured in a variety of the citys communication materials.
Quack and the Pack

A team of superhero characters helps a Montana city deliver messages about wise water use and pollution prevention to school children
BY LINDA J. EDMONDSON
t may not take a superpower to manage a citys drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities, but the Public Works Department in Billings, Mont., recently drew on the appeal of superhero characters to deliver its water conservation and management story to grade schools. A superpower team, Quack and the Pack, is featured on a new
ity. The characters are becoming important tools for teaching the importance of stormwater pollution prevention to grades K-6 emphasizing protection of rivers, streams and lakes, and tying back to drinking-water quality.
Historic beginnings
Billings was founded in 1882 as a railroad town, named for Fred-
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AURA LINDSTRAND
We prefer to use the term wise water rather than water conservation. Water conservation implies that water we use from the Yellowstone River is permanently removed or lost from the water cycle, which is incorrect.
MIKE RUBICH
website as part of the citys Municipally Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) education component to inform residents about source water protection and water qual-
erick H. Billings, a former president of the Northern Pacic Railroad. It was nicknamed the Magic City for its rapid growth. The city maintains rapid growth and a
strong economy. Billings is the only Montana city with a population of more than 100,000. The Yellowstone River is the drinking water source for some 163,000 residents in the metropolitan area. The citys rst waterworks was created more than 125 years ago, delivering around 150,000 gpd of untreated water through 5.25 miles of pipe. The plant has seen many upgrades and expansions since and today provides conventional treatment of up to 65 mgd.
Wise conservation
Area students are rst exposed to water conservation in grade 4 and so are highly receptive to messages about improving the environment by the time they visit the drinking water plant. Tours start
Students at Saturday Live, an annual school district fundraiser held at a city park, try their hand at ooding the town by pumping water into a hands-on ood model.
with a classroom visit from the Public Works staff and reinforce the schools water curriculum. To make tours more meaningful, we take the AWWA Story of Drinking Water handout to the classrooms so students can walk through that self-paced lesson before they come for a tour, says Mike Rubich, P.E., water production superintendent. As many as 500 kids take tours each year. Our operations supervisor, Tom Ross, leads plant tours for the younger kids, says Rubich. If its an older group or college class, I usually conduct the tour to discuss the science of water treatment and the challenges of producing and delivering highquality drinking water. Our treatment technicians also help with tours on occasion. The hour-long
32
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Aura Lindstrand, environmental coordinator, presents a wise water program at Miles Avenue School.
tours often host groups of homeschooled students. The departments goal is to educate on how the plant operates and on the importance of using water wisely. We prefer to use the term wise water rather than water conservation, Rubich says. Water conservation implies that water we use from the Yellowstone River is permanently removed or lost from the water cycle, which is incorrect. Production and deliv-
ery of drinking water consumes large amounts of energy, much of it generated from nonrenewable resources. Wise water use ensures that we also dont use any more energy than necessary.
Collaborative effort
Community education is a collaborative effort between the Water Production and the Environmental Affairs Divisions of the Public Works Department. The Environ-
mental Affairs team regularly staffs a water education booth at Saturday Live, an annual school district fundraiser held at a city park. They also deliver a classroom curriculum that includes an overview of the importance of drinking water, wastewater treatment and stormwater management. Quack and the Pack were unveiled online in March 2013 as part of the MS4 education program. Quack is a super mallard duck with six superpower sidekicks targeted to fourth- and fth-graders, each focused on a minimum control measure, says Rubich. For instance, Magnetic Quack uses his powers of attraction for all things, not just metal to get people involved in keeping their water clean. The www.billingsquackpack. com website offers games, facts about water, downloadable teacher resources and water-related games for kids as young as 6 years old. We are tracking activity and trafc to see how frequently students and teachers access the site and
will be looking to develop some sense of return on investment, Rubich says. The department uses Quack and The Pack at community events, such as the Montana Fair and the Science Expo. Kids can win one of The Pack a rubber duck if they can ood the town by pumping water into a hands-on ood model. Delivering drinking water is what Rubich calls a silent service. Yet resident satisfaction surveys show that the water system always comes out on top among city services. This superpower department plans to bring its educational message to schools for years to come. wso

about your public information and education efforts for future Winning them Over articles. Send your suggestions to editor@wsomag.com or call 715/277-4094.
33
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
BY ED WODALSKI
NEWS
Meter turbine owmeters Vision Series turbine owmeters from Badger 1|Badger
Meter are designed for ow measurement of low-viscosity and nonaggressive liquids. The meters comply with the lead-free provisions of the United States Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and are bisphenol A (BPA) free. 800/876-3837; www.badgermeter.com.
PRODUCT
Space station inspired TOC analyzer provides timesaving online analysis

The 9210 online total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer from OI Analytical, a Xylem brand, is designed for routine monitoring and regulatory compliance in process water streams. The analyzer provides real-time data and visibility of natural organic matter (NOM) during the treatment process, enabling operators to adjust and control the coagulation, occulation and disinfection steps. The development of this analyzer grew out of a project with NASA, says John Welsh, product line manager for OI Analytical. Its used on the International Space Station as a means to monitor the water they reclaim and use to produce potable water. The 9210p measures TOC using the heated persulfate wet oxidation technique, developed by Dr. Alan D. Fredericks, a research scientist in the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M University, now with OI Analytical. Most organic compounds dissolved in water can be oxidized by heated sodium persulfate. OI Analytical introduced the rst commercial TOC instrument based on the technique in 1972. The technique is approved for SDWA regulatory compliance monitoring using USEPA-approved methods 415.3 and SM 5310C. Two instruments are available for TOC analysis of surface water, groundwater and nished drinking water: the Aurora 1030W laboratory TOC analyzer and the 9210p online TOC analyzer. A comparative study demonstrated that the 9210p online analyzer obtains data that is comparable and consistent with grab samples from a 1030W laboratory analyzer. The advantage of an online system is quicker analysis, Welsh says. Theres virtually no lag time between collecting the sample,
2|Anua zero-energy bioltration system 3|Rotork explosion-proof actuators
The Compact Monal zero-energy bioltration system from Anua uses granular, high-density peat media to remove odors, VOCs, sul-
fur and nitrogen-based compounds. The system also uses shell-based media to maintain a neutral pH within the prepackaged biolter. 800/7872356; www.anua-us.com.
ExMax quarter-turn, explosion-proof actuators from Rotork Schischek are designed for use in Ex areas for all gases, mists, vapors and
dust. The 90-degree turn damper and valve electric actuators have a temperature range of -40 to 50 degrees C (-40 to 122 degrees F) and watertight IP66 ratings. Options include spring-return conguration, stainless steel housing, two external auxiliary switches, terminal box, safety temperature trigger and manual override. 336/659-3493; www.rotork.com.
4|Redline high-speed wireless system
The Redline Transport Gateway (RTG) Connect high-speed wireless system from Redline Communications is designed to securely connect industrial SCADA systems, providing real-time data collection from and control of devices such as programmable logic controllers, remote terminal units, natural gas meters and pump controllers. 866/6336669; www.rdlcom.com.
6|Rockwell Automation electronic overload relay 7|Palmer Wahl custom dial faces
The Allen-Bradley E300 electronic overload relay from Rockwell Automation integrates communications, including EtherNet/IP,
5|Greyline multi-sensor area-velocity owmeter
The AVMS 5.1 multi-sensor area-velocity owmeter from Greyline Instruments is designed for municipal stormwater, combined efuent, raw sewage and irrigation water. The owmeter uses three submerged ultrasonic sensors to continuously measure velocity at different points in the channel and provide an average velocity reading for ow monitoring. One of the sensors also can monitor the water level or a separate, noncontacting ultrasonic level sensor can be used in the system. 888/473-9546; www.greyline.com.
current-measurement technology and I/O options in a modular design. The dual-port EtherNet/IP option enables overload relays to be daisychained and eliminates the need for an Ethernet switch. 414/382-2000; www.rockwellautomation.com/industries/water.
Custom dial faces from Palmer Wahl Instrumentation Group are available on bimetal and direct drive dial thermometers and pressure gauges with screw-on bezels. Custom options include dial scales with different units of measure, color scales, high visibility markings, color
2 4 6 1 3 5
34
preserving the sample, transporting the sample to a laboratory, analyzing the sample and getting the data. Sometimes with online applications youre limited in amount of space you have, he says. The 9210p analyzer is 19 inches high by 12.25 inches wide, 12.25 inches deep and weighs 24 pounds. Measurement ranges from 5 to 250 ppm carbon. Most TOC online analyzers also require a xed gas of 9210 online TOC analyzer from some sort, Welsh says. Our OI Analytical, a Xylem brand analyzer produces its own its built into the instrument. In operation, samples are drawn into the 9210p at userdened time intervals from a ll and spill sampling system. Phosphoric acid is introduced into the syringe to sparge and remove the inorganic carbon (TIC) content. The TIC-free sample is transferred into the reaction chamber and oxidized at a programmed temperature up to 212 degrees F (100 degrees C). Organic compounds are oxidized and converted to CO2, which is measured by a solid state, non-dispersive infrared (SSNDIR) detector to calculate TOC content. Results for each sample are shown on the touch-screen display and can be output to a SCADA system, PC via Ethernet connection, relay/alarm closure or as a 4-20mA analog signal. 800/653-1711; www.oico.com.
9|Ergodyne head protection
The Skullerz head protection line as well as the Skullerz 8950 bump cap and 8960 bump cap with LED lighting from Ergodyne are designed for applications with overhead hazards that do not require a hard hat. The hats protect workers from bumps, bruises and cuts. They feature a anged shell that expands or contracts to t the workers head for a secure t. Thermo-formed foam and a ventilated shell provide optimized breathability. The shell can be removed for cleaning. 800/2258238; www.ergodyne.com.
10|Sensorex direct t replacement probes 11|FreeWave wireless I/O networking
S420 Series probes from Sensorex Corp. are designed as a direct replacement for Strantrol pH and ORP probes. Made of CPVC, the chemically resistant probes have a measurement range of 0-14 pH or -1,000 to 1,000 mV for ORP, temperature range of 0 to 50 degrees C (32 to 120 degrees F) and maximum pressure of 100 psig. The threaded 1/2inch NPT connection enables inline installation. Both probes are available with 30-inch or 10-foot cable. 714/895-4344; www.sensorex.com.
pie-wedge sectors, bands or lines. Warnings or quick reference instructions for operators or QR codes are available. 800/421-2853; www.palmer wahl.com.
WaveLine 10i, Class 1, Division 1 (C1D1) certied high-performance wireless I/O networking from FreeWave Technologies is designed for applications in hazardous environments in the water and wastewater industries. The system monitors pressures, temperatures and liquid levels, while eliminating the need for conduit and installation outside of the C1D1 area. 800/548-5616; www.freewave.com.
8|HEMCO chemical-resistant fume hood
12|Telog wireless pressure relief valve monitoring
The Aire-Stream Fume Hood from HEMCO is made of chemical-resistant, ame-retardant, nonmetallic composite resin materials and features unitized construction that does not require screws, bolts, rivets or metallic hardware to assemble. The molded, one-piece, seamless fume chamber has covered corners for easy cleaning and light reectivity. The hoods are UL 1805 certied and available in 48-, 60-, 72- and 96-inch widths in either constant air volume or restricted bypass models. 800/7794362; www.hemcocorp.com.
The Ru-32 remote telemetry unit from Telog Instruments monitors the event switch on the pressure relief valve as well as the pressure at the valve, providing event history data that is time-stamped to one-second resolution. Data can be uploaded daily to a host computer or in response to specic alarm conditions, such as pressure trips or valve open duration. The external antenna can be mounted to the underside of a nonmetallic meter box or attached to the top of a metallic meter vault door. The optional burial antenna can be installed below road or sidewalk surfaces. 585/742-3000; www.telog.com. (Continued on page 37)
10
8 7
12 11
35
TECH TALK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RANDY BRAILEY
Energy Management is an ongoing process. Monitoring energy consumption is important to lowering energy bills.
Johnson County (Kan.) has set priorities for energy efciency and energy bills. Recent green infrastructure projects at the Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin Wastewater Treatment Plant provide an estimated $250,000 in annual savings.
Getting a Handle on Energy

Theres a simple process for cutting your treatment plants energy usage: benchmark, audit, implement and monitor
BY JENNIFER GUNBY
The more detailed your information, the more productive your benchmarking will be. While you can often complete benchmarking for little or no cost, the addition of submetering can increase accuracy.
Energy audit
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) provides a standardized procedure for energy audits that includes guidelines for different levels of audits. These levels range from a walk-through audit to a detailed survey and analysis audit. The higher-level, detailed audits provide an in-depth analysis, creating recommendations with a more rened cost/benet analysis. Recommended ECMs can generally be categorized as retrots or behavior changes. Retrots such as high-efciency lighting and variable-frequency drives can have fast payback. Others require longer-term investments and can be included in your plants capital improvement plans. Behavior changes can include specic actions within the plant, such as implementing an energy management plan or shutting down computers at night. They can also be policy-related: requiring equipment for a life cycle cost rather than rst cost when it is being replaced, and negotiating a rate structure with the local utility that includes voluntary peak load shedding.
he U.S. EPA estimates 30 to 40 percent of a municipalitys energy consumption is for treating water and wastewater. Thats a total of $4 billion annually nationwide. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), meanwhile, states that electricity represents about 75 percent of the cost of municipal water processing and distribution. How does a utility manage energy usage to reduce consumption at the water treatment plant without sacricing water quality or adding timeconsuming steps for staff? The rst step is benchmarking establishing total consumption and comparing it to similar facilities. Second is an energy audit. This is a study that quanties the energy consumption of your individual systems, identies the energy conservation measures (ECMs) you could take to reduce consumption, and estimates the cost to implement the ECMs. The nal step is the one least followed through: implementation.
nowing how much energy your plant uses and how to reduce consumption only gets you so far. To save energy and money, you need to implement the changes.
Implementation
Knowing how much energy your plant uses and how to reduce consumption only gets you so far. To save energy and money, you need to implement the changes. Every excuse has been used: Budget approval is a hassle, hiring contractors is time-consuming, the savings wont come back to your department, its too hard to change peoples behaviors. But efforts to change and investments in more efcient equipment are the only route to savings. For example, Johnson County (Kan.) Wastewater (JCW) implemented a cogeneration system at its Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin Wastewater
Benchmarking
Benchmarking lets you compare your treatment plant to others and monitor your progress on energy savings year to year. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a voluntary program created by the EPA, provides guidance and a free online benchmarking tool to help you track energy use and costs. Theres even an ENERGY STAR program specic for drinking water systems that will help you to compare your plant with your peers.
36
Treatment Plant in 2011. This system converts methane gas produced by the anaerobic digesters to electricity to be used by the treatment plant, says Susan Pekarek, chief engineer for JCW. This has resulted in an annual savings of about $250,000 by producing power to be used on site.
(Continued from page 35)
Follow a process
While no two energy efciency projects are the same, there is a basic process common to many successful projects. To help see your energy audit through to implementation, the DOE offers a guide under its Industrial Technologies Program (ITP): Guiding Principles for Successfully Implementing Industrial Energy Assessment Recommendations. While targeted to industrial manufacturers, the process and advice are essentially the same for water treatment plants. After implementation, it is important to monitor your results: Energy efciency is an ongoing process. Plants should track and compare the energy consumption to look for anomalies and additional opportunities to save energy. The best single number to watch is kilowatt-hours (kWh) per million gallons treated. Reducing energy consumption is the best rst step and can be followed by a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The process is the same: benchmark, audit, implement and monitor. Reductions can be accomplished through additional retrots, changes in behavior and onsite renewable energy generation. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jennifer Gunby is a project manager with GBA Architects Engineers Energy Group, headquartered in Lenexa, Kan., and with ofces in Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado and Illinois. She can be reached at 913-577-8375 or jgunby@ gbateam.com. wso
NEWS
13|Smith & Loveless system controls
QUICKSMART system controls from Smith & Loveless is a PLC-based controller designed to monitor and adjust pump station functions. Features include digital maintenance log, I/O status, Spanish language mode and help functions. Other features include alarm management, wet well level simulation, pump on/off levels, prime mode selection, environmental system set points and optional STATIONCOMM integration. 800/898-9122; www.smithandloveless.com.
PRODUCT
14|Schneider Electric mobile programming app 15|YSI orthophosphate analyzer
The Altivar 212 mobile programming app and drive to iPad converter cable from Schneider Electric enables users to perform Altivar 212 and S-Flex drive programming through Apple iPads. The free app, which can be downloaded from Apple iTunes, contains menu-driven parameter sets that walk users through the drive conguration process. 888/778-2733; www.schneider-electric.us.
The P 700 IQ orthophosphate analyzer from YSI, a xylem brand, can be used as a stand-alone analyzer or with other
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January/February 2012
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sensors in an IQ SensorNet 2020 XT continuous monitoring and control system. The analyzer can be used throughout a wastewater treatment plant to measure orthophosphates (also known as soluble reactive phosphorus and commonly referred to as phosphate), from pre-sedimentation to the biological tanks and efuent. 800/8974151; www.ysi.com.
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BRIGHT IDEAS:
Automated meter reading in Davie County, N.C.

Page 36
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE:
Plant upgrades in Rockville, Md.

Page 30
GREAT!
STORY: TED J. RULSEH PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN BORGE
TASTES
Water plant supervisor Kris Knutson adjusts an ozone gas feed valve. Ozonation has helped Moorhead Public Service correct recurring odor issues caused by source water variation. (Gas owmeter by ERDCO Engineering Corporation, valve by Modentic Industrial Corp.)
Technology and teamwork help Moorhead Public Service deliver consistently high-quality water from a highly variable source in Minnesotas Red River
TECH TALK:
Keys to success with wireless SCADA

Page 38
Troy Hall Water Division manager Moorhead, Minn.
Tastes Great!
MOORHEAD PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERS HIGH-QUALITY WATER FROM VARIABLE SOURCES
Page 10
QUALITY LEADERS
PLANT
he Red River is best known for periodic oods that afict North Dakota, most notably around Grand Forks. Much farther south, in Moorhead, Minn., the river is known for something else, though mainly to the staff at the water treatment plant. Up here, its not a big river, says treatment plant operator Dan Haman. Local events can have a large impact on it. A rain event can often wash interesting water into the river, especially if the weather has been dry for a while. Years ago, that led to complaints from customers about odor and bad taste in the water coming from the tap. That no longer happens. In 1995, Moorhead Public Service added ozonation to its treatment process, and it proved to be a reliable cure. In fact, for the past two years, Moorheads water has been voted the best tasting in the state in a competition held by the Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association. Troy Hall, Water Division manager, credits the treatment technology, along with a talented operations team, with keeping the process on track. When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to see atlines everything just humming along, says Hall. Through teamwork, thats what weve accomplished.
Variable source
What the Moorhead team calls the North Treatment Plant (10 mgd capacity) was built in 1995. The old 6 mgd treatment plant is now rarely used: The staff operates it periodically just to make sure it remains functional and available for emergencies. When the plant operates, it treats well water only. The new plant, with 10 full-time and two part-time staff members, was designed specically to deal with variable source water in the Red River. The utility also draws well water from the Buffalo Aquifer, but the river provides about 85 percent of the source water on an annual basis. Theres a reason its called the Red River, says Nate Halbakken, lead treatment plant operator. Which is to say its not what one would call
POSTERS
Starting At
THE MPS TEAM
Staff members at the Moorhead Public Service water treatment plant are: Troy Hall, Water Division manager, 19 years of service, Class A license Kris Knutson, water plant supervisor, six years, Class A Nate Halbakken, lead water treatment plant operator, nine years, Class A Jason Yonke, lead water treatment plant operator, 14 years, Class A Gena Dahl, water plant chemist, four years Dan Haman, water plant operator, six years, Class C Daryl Brahos, water plant operator, four years, Class C Christopher Capecchi, water plant operator, one year Christopher Knutson, water plant operator, one year, Class D Alan Neer, water plant operator, four years, Class A Leslee Storlie, part-time water plant operator, one year Kevin Young, part-time water plant operator, one year
When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to see atlines everything just humming along. Through teamwork, thats what weve been able to accomplish.
TROY HALL
Water treatment plant operator Dan Haman adjusts gas ow on ozone generator from WEDECO, a division of Xylem.
Hall cites SCADA work as an example of the teams cooperation. For the past decade, we have done all our SCADA work internally, he says. Its not a perfect SCADA, but it has been built by people who really care about the end result. When we want to make a change in how a process works, we all work together. Ive done some SCADA work in the ofce. Kris and Dan have done screen development for various purposes. It has evolved almost entirely inhouse. We also select and install our own instrumentation.
Problem solvers
Teamwork has helped the Moorhead staff resolve a variety of process issues. Several years ago, pH variability was a constant challenge. Working together, staff members made the correction by installing pH probes, making plumbing changes, and doing SCADA programming. In another instance, rising non-carbonate hardness in the Red River was taking a toll on the soda ash feed pumps. A former operator located a peristaltic pump model (Watson-Marlow) that appeared better suited to the task. Operators, an instrument technician and electricians from the utilitys electrical side worked together to test and install the new pumps. In a few months, we went from having to service the pumps every week to having almost no problems, says Haman. Another improvement involved installing a meter in the intake line to sample Red River water for conductivity as a way to predict total hardness in the river in real time. The team did the job, including data analysis and SCADA programming, entirely in-house, installing a used instrument purchased on the Internet for a few hundred dollars. Future plans include installing instrumentation at the river pumping station, about three miles (two hours of in-pipe travel time) from the plant. Im excited about that, says Haman. Well be able to see changes in the water before it gets to the plant and so deal with them more effectively. Hall calls it a privilege to lead a staff with many and diverse talents. The strengths of our people make it all work, he says. We try our best every day to use the strengths of the people we have. The results show up daily in the water glasses of Moorhead residents. wso
Part-time water treatment plant operator Leslee Storlie uses a Thermix stirrer from Thermo Scientic Water Analysis in a lab testing protocol. Members of the MPS Water Division team are, back, from left, water plant staff members Dan Haman, Kris Knutson, Nate Halbakken, Troy Hall, Jason Yonke, Chris Knutson, Alan Neer, Chris Capecchi and Daryl Brahos; front row, distribution crew members Jared Heller, Chris Perlichek, Matt Andvik, Phil Shequen and Matt Mehl.
Moorhead (Minn.) Public Service

FOUNDED: | 1896 POPULATION SERVED: | 42,000 TERRITORY: | Cities CAPACITY: | 16
SYSTEM STORAGE: | 7.9 SOURCE WATER: | Red TREATMENT PROCESS: INFRASTRUCTURE:
KEY CHALLENGE: | Source ANNUAL BUDGET: | $4.5
of Moorhead and Dilworth, Oakport Township mgd million gallons River (85%), Buffalo Aquifer (15%) Lime/soda ash softening, ozonation, dual media ltration 190 miles of water mains, three water towers, two ground storage tanks, two reservoirs on plant sites water variability million (operations)
activated carbon were fed at the river pumping station, but at times that wasnt enough. When taste and odor problems arose, complaint calls came in bunches.
Reliable process
The MWH engineering rm (then known as Montgomery Watson) designed the new treatment plant. The Moorhead team has steadily improved on the design with instrumentation and updates to the SCADA system, originally supplied by Instrument Control Systems (ICS). One river pump station and two well pump stations deliver raw water directly into the plant. The waters mix in an inuent chamber, and the ow then enters two 5.5 mgd softening basins (Inlco Degremont). Typically, only one basin operates at a time, and when both operate, they work in parallel. Water in the basins is fed with lime and soda ash, along with ferric sulfate as a coagulant and polymer for occulation. Ammonia is also added in the softening stage for bromate control in the downstream ozonation process. The WEDECO ozonation/recarbonation chamber (Xylem) has six cells fed with variable amounts of ozone and carbon dioxide, depending on raw water conditions. Residual ozone is sampled at various points in the chamber. Before nal ltration, uoride is added, along with sodium hexametaphosphate for heavy metal sequestration and corrosion control. The
plants four dual-media lter cells each hold two feet of anthracite coal atop 12 inches of sand. The ltered water goes to the clear well, where chlorine is fed to combine with ammonia and form chloramines for disinfectant residual. The water is then delivered to the reservoirs and water towers (7.9 million gallons total system storage).
Ozone does it
WEBSITE: | www.mpsutility.com
clean. The Red is subject to wide variations in organic matter and hardness, related to weather and the nature of the watershed, Hall observes. Normal ows range from about 3,000 to 5,500 cubic feet per second. The main feeder streams include the Otter Tail River, with generally high water quality; the Bois de Sioux River, with very poor water quality; and the Wild Rice River. Every river system that feeds the Red is variable, depending on how much rain were getting at the time, says Hall. At the old treatment plant, which used lime and soda ash softening and dual-media ltration, the wide source water variations overwhelmed the process. At the time, the source water included about 60 percent river and 40 percent well water. Potassium permanganate and sometimes
Hall notes that ozonation is KRIS KNUTSON the key to odor and taste control. We ozonate at very high pH [at times 11 or higher] so that we benet from some advanced oxidation, he says. Ozone has been a really big improvement since it came online in 1995. It helps break down the organic material. Sometimes we feed CO2 with the ozone as the pH is dropping down close to that of the product water. That helps with taste and odor, too. But it wasnt technology alone that conquered the variability of Red River water. The plant staffs diligence had a lot to do with it. Since we started this plant, we have probably doubled or tripled the amount of online instrumentation, says Hall. Our SCADA gives us a lot of information about water quality and whats happening in the process, and were constantly trying to improve that. The systems programmable logic controllers and other control hardware are from Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation), and the SCADA software is from IntelliSys Inc. Online instrumentation in the treatment plant and water system includes:
We dont like to keep secrets between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCADA. As a supervisor, I try to involve the operators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up.
Water from Moorhead, Minn., won the rst two Best in Glass taste competitions held by the state section of the American Water Works Association at its annual conference in September in Duluth. The event includes a vendor show where water samples from communities that enter the competition are subjected to a taste test and a popular vote among the attendees. The eld is narrowed to the top three vote-getters, which go to a second round of tasting by a panel of three from Minnesota section members and a celebrity judge. In both 2009 and 2010, we won both the popular and the panel vote, says Troy Hall, Water Division manager for Moorhead Public Service. The ofcial winner is the sample selected by the panel of judges. Another honor awaits: The plant is to be featured during 2012 on an episode of the Discovery Channels Dirty Jobs program, showing the process of cleaning the softening basins. Says Hall, It has been a fun year.
Water Division manager Troy Hall
The strengths of our people make it all work. We try our best every day to use the strengths of the people we have.
TROY HALL
The SCADA is programmed with the U.S. EPA ozone contact time (CT) requirements for disinfection. The ozone analyzers feed data directly into the SCADA, which calculates the actual CT value in real time. In operations, we adjust the ozone, pH or whatever parameter is necessary to make sure the actual plant CT value is above the EPA requirements, says Haman. Once we meet the disinfection requirement, 99 percent of the time the odor and taste issues are taken care of.
MORE INFO:
Emerson Process Management
800/854-8257 www.raihome.com 800/553-0550 www.erdco.com 800/227-4224 www.hach.com
35
OI Analytical
800/653-1711 www.oico.com
(See ad page 29)
ERDCO Engineering Corporation
Rockwell Automation
Hach Company
414/382-2000 www.rockwellautomation.com
Three total chlorine analyzers from Wallace & Tiernan (Siemens Water Technologies Corp.) Monochloramine/ammonia analyzer, five pH monitors, and eight turbidimeters from Hach Company Two pH controllers (CO2 auto control), four ozone analyzers and two conductivity meters from Rosemount Analytical (Emerson Process Management) Organic online analyzer from s::can Measuring Systems Benchtop lab equipment includes a turbidimeter and spectrophotometer from Hach Company, total organic carbon analyzer from OI Analytical, an IC chromatograph from Dionex, now sold as Thermo Scientic Water Analysis, and an Orion pH meter from Thermo Scientic Water Analysis. The team tests raw water for hardness and alkalinity every four hours and tests the nished water every eight hours. The ozone analyzers test the water in the ozone contact chamber every 20 seconds. Ozone dosage is adjusted manually based on monitoring for ozone residual. We have to adjust the ozone feed rate as water quality changes on a good day, just a couple of times; on a bad day, once an hour or more, says Haman.
As a team
The staffs success derives in part from the team atmosphere its leaders try to create. Theres a lot of overlap in the way we do things a lot of cross-training, notes Kris Knutson, water plant supervisor. We dont like to keep secrets between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCADA. As a supervisor, I try to involve the operators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up. Halbakken adds, We communicate with each other. If one of us sees a problem, we alert the others. Everybody is always looking to keep the best product going out of the plant at all times. If that means someone has to be called at three in the morning to deal with a problem, everybodys open to that. Everyones willing to help out. Notes Haman, We try to work to each others strengths and shore up our weaknesses. For example, Nate is better at plumbing than I am, so Ill give him plumbing jobs. In turn, he can give me data to analyze to nd out when is the best time to order lime. We each have our little projects and our specialties.
s::can Measuring Systems

888/296-8250 www.s-can.us
ICS Healy-Ruff
763/559-0568 www.icshealyruff.com
Siemens Water Technologies Corp.

866/926-8420 www.water.siemens.com
Inlco Degremont, Inc.
804/756-7600 www.degremont-technologies.com
Thermo Scientific Water Analysis

800/225-1480 www.thermoscientic.com/water
IntelliSys, Inc.
800/347-9977 www.intellisyssoftware.com
Watson-Marlow Pumps Group

800/282-8823 www.wmpg.com
The CoMag magnetite ballasted system from Siemens is designed for high-rate clarication of industrial and municipal water and wastewater. The system uses magnetite to ballast conventional chemical oc for enhanced settling rates and increased performance of wastewater and water treatment operations, while reducing capital and life cycle costs. 815/623-2111; www.water.siemens.com. wso
Siemens magnetite ballasted system
Modentic Industrial Corp.

www.modentic.com.tw
Xylem
MWH Global
303/533-1900 www.mwhglobal.com
704/409-9700 www.xyleminc.com
Reprinted with permission from WSO / Month 0000 / 2012, COLE Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562 / 800-257-7222 / www.wsomag.com
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TM

January/February 2012
www.wsomag.com
BRIGHT IDEAS:
Automated meter reading in Davie County, N.C.

Page 36
Water plant supervisor Kris Knutson adjusts an ozone gas feed valve. Ozonation has helped Moorhead Public Service correct recurring odor issues caused by source water variation. (Gas owmeter by ERDCO Engineering Corporation, valve by Modentic Industrial Corp.)
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE:
Plant upgrades in Rockville, Md.

Page 30
TECH TALK:
Keys to success with wireless SCADA

Page 38
Troy Hall Water Division manager Moorhead, Minn.
Tastes Great!
MOORHEAD PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERS HIGH-QUALITY WATER FROM VARIABLE SOURCES
Page 10
GREAT! GREA
STORY: TED J. RULSEH PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN BORGE
TASTES
Technology and teamwork help Moorhead Public Service deliver consistently high-quality water from a highly variable source in Minnesotas Red River
When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to see atlines everything just humming along. Through teamwork, thats what weve been able to accomplish.
TROY HALL
QUALITY LEADERS
PLANT
he Red River is best known for periodic oods that afict North Dakota, most notably around Grand Forks. Much farther south, in Moorhead, Minn., the river is known for something else, though mainly to the staff at the water treatment plant. Up here, its not a big river, says treatment plant operator Dan Haman. Local events can have a large impact on it. A rain event can often wash interesting water into the river, especially if the weather has been dry for a while. Years ago, that led to complaints from customers about odor and bad taste in the water coming from the tap. That no longer happens. In 1995, Moorhead Public Service added ozonation to its treatment process, and it proved to be a reliable cure. In fact, for the past two years, Moorheads water has been voted the best tasting in the state in a competition held by the Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association. Troy Hall, Water Division manager, credits the treatment technology, along with a talented operations team, with keeping the process on track. When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to see atlines everything just humming along, says Hall. Through teamwork, thats what weve accomplished.
THE MPS TEAM

Staff members at the Moorhead Public Service water treatment plant are: Troy Hall, Water Division manager, 19 years of service, Class A license Kris Knutson, water plant supervisor, six years, Class A Nate Halbakken, lead water treatment plant operator, nine years, Class A Jason Yonke, Y Yonke, lead water treatment p reatment lant o reatment p lant perator, 14 years, 14 y 14 years, Class A Jason Yonke, lead water treatment plant operator, 14 years, Class A Gena Dahl, water plant c lant hemist, four y lant c our years our y years Gena Dahl, water plant chemist, four years Dan Haman, water plant o lant perator, six y lant o ix years, ix y years, Class C Dan Haman, water plant operator, six years, Class C Daryl Brahos, water plant o lant perator, four y lant o our years, our y years, Class C Daryl Brahos, water plant operator, four years, Class C Christopher C Christopher apecchi, water plant o lant perator, one year lant o y year Christopher Capecchi, water plant operator, one year Christopher Christopher K nutson, water Christopher Knutson, water plant operator, one year, Class D Alan Neer, water plant o lant peralant o Alan Neer, water plant opera tor, four years, Class A Leslee Storlie, part-time water Leslee Storlie, part-time water plant operator, one year Kevin Young, Y Young, part-time water Kevin Young, part-time water plant operator, one year
Hall cites SCADA work as an example of the teams cooperation. For the past decade, we have done all our SCADA work internally, he says. Its not a perfect SCADA, but it has been built by people who really care about the end result. When we want to make a change in how a process works, we all work together. Ive done some SCADA work in the ofce. Kris and Dan have done screen development for various purposes. It has evolved almost entirely inhouse. We also select and install our own instrumentation.
Problem solvers
Teamwork has helped the Moorhead staff resolve a variety of process issues. Several years ago, pH variability was a constant challenge. Work Working together, staff members made the correction by installing pH probes, making plumbing changes, and doing SCADA programming. In another instance, rising non-carbonate hardness in the Red River was taking a toll on the soda ash feed pumps. A former operator located a peristaltic pump model (Watson-Marlow) that appeared better suited to the task. Operators, an instrument technician and electricians from the utilitys electrical side worked together to test and install the new pumps. In a few months, we went from having to service the pumps every week to having almost no problems, says Haman. Another improvement involved installing a meter in the intake line to hardsample Red River water for conductivity as a way to predict total hard analyness in the river in real time. The team did the job, including data analy sis and SCADA programming, entirely in-house, installing a used instrument purchased on the Internet for a few hundred dollars. Future plans include installing instrumentation at the river pumping station, about three miles (two hours of in-pipe travel time) from the plant. Im excited about that, says Haman. Well be able to see changes in the water before it gets to the plant and so deal with them more effectively. Hall calls it a privilege to lead a staff with many and diverse talents. The strengths of our people make it all work, he says. We try our best every day to use the strengths of the people we have. The results show up daily in the water glasses of Moorhead residents. wso
Variable source
What the Moorhead team calls the North Treatment Plant (10 mgd capacity) was built in 1995. The old 6 mgd treatment plant is now rarely used: The staff operates it periodically just to make sure it remains functional and available for emergencies. When the plant operates, it treats well water only. The new plant, with 10 full-time and two part-time staff members, Water treatment plant operator Dan Haman adjusts gas ow on ozone generator from was designed specically to deal with variable source water in the Red WEDECO, division of Xylem. River. The utility also draws well water froma the Buffalo Aquifer, but the river provides about 85 percent of the source water on an annual basis. Theres a reason its called the Red River, says Nate Halbakken, lead treatment plant operator. Which is to say its not what one would call
LASER REPRINTS
Starting At
Water Division manager Troy Hall
Moorhead (Minn.) Public Service

FOUNDED: | 1896 POPULATION SERVED: | 42,000 TERRITORY: | Cities CAPACITY: | 16
Members of the MPS Water Division team are, back, from left, water plant staff members Dan Haman, Kris Knutson, Nate Halbakken, Troy Hall, Jason Yonke, Chris Knutson, Alan Neer, Chris Capecchi and Daryl Brahos; front row, distribution crew members Jared Heller, Chris Perlichek, Matt Andvik, Phil Shequen and Matt Mehl.

We dont like to keep secrets between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCADA. As a supervisor, I try to involve the operators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up.
Water from Moorhead, Minn., won the rst two Best in Glass taste competitions held by the state section of the American Water Works Association at its annual conference in September in Duluth. The event includes a vendor show where water samples from communities that enter the competition are subjected to a taste test and a popular vote among the attendees. The eld is narrowed to the top three vote-getters, which go to a second round of tasting by a panel of three from Minnesota section members and a celebrity judge. In both 2009 and 2010, we won both the popular and the panel vote, says Troy Hall, Water Division manager for Moorhead Public Service. The ofcial winner is the sample selected by the panel of judges. Another honor awaits: The plant is to be featured during 2012 on an episode of the Discovery Channels Dirty Jobs program, showing the process of cleaning the softening basins. Says Hall, It has been a fun year.
The strengths of our people make it all work. We try our best every day to use the strengths of the people we have.
TROY HALL
of Moorhead and Dilworth, Oakport Township mgd million gallons River (85%), Buffalo Aquifer (15%) Lime/soda ash softening, ozonation, dual media ltration 190 miles of water mains, three water towers, two ground storage tanks, two reservoirs on plant sites water variability ANNUAL BUDGET: | $4.5 million (operations) WEBSITE: | www.mpsutility.com
SYSTEM STORAGE: | 7.9 SOURCE WATER: | Red TREATMENT PROCESS: INFRASTRUCTURE:
activated carbon were fed at the river pumping station, but at times that wasnt enough. When taste and odor problems arose, complaint calls came in bunches.
Reliable process
The MWH engineering rm (then known as Montgomery Watson) designed the new treatment plant. The Moorhead team has steadily improved on the design with instrumentation and updates to the SCADA system, originally supplied by Instrument Control Systems (ICS). One river pump station and two well pump stations deliver raw water Part-time water treatment plant directly into the plant. The waters mix in an inuent chamber, and the operator Leslee Storlie uses a Thermix stirrer from Thermo Scientic ow then enters two 5.5 mgd softening basins (Inlco Degremont). Typi Water Analysis in a lab testing cally, only one basin operates at a time, and when both operate, they work protocol. in parallel. Water in the basins is fed with lime and soda ash, along with ferric plants four dual-media lter cells sulfate as a coagulant and polymer for occulation. Ammonia is also each hold two feet of anthracite ozoadded in the softening stage for bromate control in the downstream ozo coal atop 12 inches of sand. The nation process. ltered water goes to the clear well, The WEDECO ozonation/recarbonation chamber (Xylem) has six where chlorine is fed to combine cells fed with variable amounts of ozone and carbon dioxide, depending with ammonia and form chloraon raw water conditions. Residual ozone is sampled at various points in mines for disinfectant residual. The the chamber. water is then delivered to the reshexametaBefore nal ltration, uoride is added, along with sodium hexameta ervoirs and water towers (7.9 milphosphate for heavy metal sequestration and corrosion control. The lion gallons total system storage).
The SCADA is programmed with the U.S. EPA ozone contact time (CT) requirements for disinfection. The ozone analyzers feed data directly into the SCADA, which calculates the actual CT value in real time. In operations, we adjust the ozone, pH or whatever parameter is necessary to make sure the actual plant CT value is above the EPA requirements, says Haman. Once we meet the disinfection requirement, 99 percent of the time the odor and taste issues are taken care of.
MORE INFO:
Emerson Process Management
800/854-8257 www.raihome.com 800/553-0550 www.erdco.com 800/227-4224 www.hach.com
OI Analytical
800/653-1711 www.oico.com
(See ad page 29)
ERDCO Engineering Corporation
Rockwell Automation
Hach Company
414/382-2000 www.rockwellautomation.com
KEY CHALLENGE: | Source
As a team
s::can Measuring Systems

888/296-8250 www.s-can.us
clean. The Red is subject to wide variations in organic matter and hardness, related to weather and the nature of the watershed, Hall observes. Normal ows range from about 3,000 to 5,500 cubic feet per second. The main feeder streams include the Otter Tail River, with generally high water quality; the Bois de Sioux River, with very poor water quality; and the Wild Rice River. Every river system that feeds the Red is variable, depending on how much rain were getting at the time, says Hall. At the old treatment plant, which used lime and soda ash softening and dual-media ltration, the wide source water variations overwhelmed the process. At the time, the source water included about 60 percent river and 40 percent well water. Potassium permanganate and sometimes
Ozone does it
Hall notes that ozonation is KRIS KNUTSON the key to odor and taste control. We ozonate at very high pH [at times 11 or higher] so that we benet from some advanced oxidation, he says. Ozone has been a really big improvement since it came online in 1995. It helps break down the organic material. Sometimes we feed CO2 with the ozone as the pH is dropping down close to that of the product water. That helps with taste and odor, too. But it wasnt technology alone that conquered the variability of Red River water. The plant staffs diligence had a lot to do with it. Since we started this plant, we have probably doubled or tripled the amount of online instrumentation, says Hall. Our SCADA gives us a lot of information about water quality and whats happening in the process, and were constantly trying to improve that. The systems programmable logic controllers and other control hardware are from Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation), and the SCADA software is from IntelliSys Inc. Online instrumentation in the treatment plant and water system includes:
The staffs success derives in part from the team atmosphere its leadICS Healy-Ruff ers try to create. Theres a lot of overlap in the way we do things a lot 763/559-0568 Siemens Water Technologies Corp. of cross-training, notes Kris Knutson, water plant supervisor. We dont www.icshealyruff.com 866/926-8420 like to keep secrets between positions. We expect all our operators to be www.water.siemens.com Inlco Degremont, Inc. very familiar with the SCADA. As a supervisor, I try to involve the oper804/756-7600 Thermo Scientific Water Analysis ators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or www.degremont-technologies.com 800/225-1480 whatever happens to come up. www.thermoscientic.com/water Halbakken adds, We communicate with each other. If one of us sees IntelliSys, Inc. 800/347-9977 Watson-Marlow Pumps Group a problem, we alert the others. Everybody is always looking to keep the www.intellisyssoftware.com 800/282-8823 best product going out of the plant at all times. If that means someone has www.wmpg.com to be called at three in the morning to deal with a problem, everybodys Modentic Industrial Corp. www.modentic.com.tw Xylem open to that. Everyones willing to help out. 704/409-9700 Notes Haman, We try to work to each others strengths and shore up MWH Global www.xyleminc.com our weaknesses. For example, Nate is better at plumbing than I am, so Ill 303/533-1900 give him plumbing jobs. In turn, he can give me data to analyze to nd www.mwhglobal.com out when is the best time to order lime. We each have our little projects rom Wallace Wallace & Tiernan (Siemens W (Siemens and our specialties. Three total chlorine analyzers from Reprinted with permission from WSO / January 2012 / 2012, COLE Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562 / 800-257-7222 / www.wsomag.com Water Technologies Corp.) nalyzer, five pH monitors, and and eight eight Monochloramine/ammonia analyzer, urbidimeters from Hach Company turbidimeters Two pH controllers (CO2 auto control), four ozone analyzers and two conductivity meters from Rosemount Analytical (Emerson Process Management) Organic online analyzer from s::can Measuring Systems s::can Measuring Systems Benchtop lab equipment includes a turbidimeter and spectrophotometer from Hach Company, total organic carbon analyzer from OI Analytical, an IC chromatograph from Dionex, now sold as Thermo Scientic Water Analysis, and an Orion pH meter from Thermo Scientic Water Analysis. The team tests raw water for hardness and alkalinity every four hours and tests the nished water every eight hours. The ozone analyzers test the water in the ozone contact chamber every 20 seconds. Ozone dosage is adjusted manually based on monitoring for ozone residual. We have to adjust the ozone feed rate as water quality changes on a good day, just a couple of times; on a bad day, once an hour or more, says Haman.
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Worth Noting
PEOPLE/AWARDS
The Oklahoma Water Pollution Control Association recognized three employees at the City of Lawton, Okla., water treatment plant. Scott Golden won the Stapley Award as the most impressive candidate interviewed in water treatment. Lyn Kisner was named laboratory technician of the year and George Spicer was named newcomer of the year. Dr. Yongheng Huang, associate professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University, received the Rudolfs Industrial Waste Management Medal from the Water Environment Federation. The Atlantic Canada Water and Wastewater Association Silent Hero Award went to Floyd Anderson, Port aux Basques Water Treatment Plant operator. Fayette County, Ga., hired Steven Lee Pope as water system director. Pope previously was special projects and compliance technical service manager for Rockdale County. WSO welcomes your contribution to this listing. To recognize members of your team, please send notices of new hires, promotions, service milestones, certications or achievements to editor@wsomag.com.
WSO invites your national, state or local association to post notices and news items in the Worth Noting column. Send contributions to editor@wsomag.com.
EVENTS
Feb. 18
Illinois Rural Water Annual Conference, Efngham, Ill. Visit www. isawwa.org.
Feb. 24-27
Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis. Visit www.pumpershow.com.
Feb. 25-28
AWWA-WEF Utility Management Conference, Hyatt Regency Savannah, Savannah, Ga. Visit www.awwa.org.
Feb. 26-27
International Conference on Stormwater and Urban Water Systems Modeling, Marriott Courtyard Toronto Brampton. Visit www.chiwater.com.
March 17-20
Illinois Section AWWA WATERCON 2014, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Springeld, Ill. Visit www.isawwa.org.
March 24-27
2014 California-Nevada Section AWWA Spring Conference, Disneyland Hotal, Anaheim, Calif. Visit www.ca-nv-awwa.org.
March 25-27
EDUCATION
AWWA
The American Water Works Association is offering these courses: Feb. 12 The Future of Direct Potable Reuse as a Water Supply Webinar March 5 Infrastructure Renewal and AWWAs BNL Modeling Tool Webinar March 10-14 2014 Membrane Technology Conference, Las Vegas, Nev. March 19 Part 1: Communicating with Customers about Lead and Lead Service Lines Webinar Visit www.awwa.org.
EnergySMART 2014 Conference, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia. Visit www.energysmartconference.com.
March 25-28
Wisconsin Rural Water Association 2014 Annual Technical Conference, Hyatt/KI Convention Center, Green Bay. Visit www.wrwa.org.
March 26-28
GLOBE 2014 Conference, Vancouver (British Columbia) Convention Centre. Visit www.2014.globeseries.com.
March 30-April 2
AWWA Sustainable Water Management Conference, Curtis Hotel, Denver, Colo. Visit www.awwa.org/Sustainable14.
Alabama
The Alabama Rural Water Association is offering a Hands-On Pump O&M and Electrical Troubleshooting course Feb. 19 in Lineville. Visit www.alruralwater.com.
March 28 PWS Compliance, North Little Rock Visit www.sautech.edu/aeta. The Arkansas Rural Water Association is offering these courses: Feb. 19 Water Loss/Leak Detection/Energy Conservation, Salem Feb. 25-27 Intermediate Treatment, Lonoke March 11-13 Basic Distribuition, Arkadelphia March 12-13 Water Specialized Training, Clarksville March 25-27 Basic Treatment, Lonoke Visit www.arkansasruralwater.org.
Arkansas
The Arkansas Environmental Training Academy is offering these courses: Feb. 19-21 Intermediate Water Treatment, Fayetteville Feb. 26 Basic Water Math, Jonesboro Feb. 27 Applied Water Math, Jonesboro Feb. 28 PWS Compliance, Jonesboro March 5-7 Intermediate Water Treatment, Camden March 1-15 Advanced Water Treatment, Internet March 11-14 Basic Water Math (Night Class), Fort Smith March 11-15 Water Supply Protection Specialist, Lafayette March 12-14 Basic Water Distribution, Paragould March 15-30 Advanced Water Distribution, Internet March 18-21 Applied Water Math (Night Class), Fort Smith March 26 Basic Water Math, North Little Rock March 27 Applied Water Math, North Little Rock
California
The California-Nevada Section of AWWA is offering a Backow Refresher course Feb. 21 in Rancho Cucamonga. Visit www.ca-nv-awwa.org.
Florida
The Florida Section of AWWA is offering these courses: Feb. 28 Florida AWWA eLearning, online March 31 Florida AWWA eLearning, online Visit www.fsawwa.org.
38
Illinois
The Illinois Section of AWWA is offering these courses: Feb. 19 WATERCON Exhibitors Webinar, online March 5 WATERCON Exhibitors Webinar, online Visit www.isawwa.org. The Environmental Resources Training Center at Southern Illinois University. is offering these courses: March 4-7 Cross Connection Control, Moline March 31 Class B Water Operations 1, Geneva April 1 Class B Water Operations 2, Geneva April 2 Class A Water Operations 1, Geneva April 3 Class A Water Operations 2, Geneva April 15-18 Cross Connection Control, Lake Bluff May 19-23 Wastewater Short School, Edwardsville Visit www.siue.edu/ertc.
Professional Development is offering these courses: March 3-4 Understanding Water Chemistry for Practical Application, Madison March 24-28 Cross-Connection Control and Backow Prevention, Madison Visit www.epdweb.engr.wisc.edu. The Wisconsin Rural Water Association is offering these courses: Feb. 19 Meters/Conservation, Fennimore Feb. 26 Meters/Conservation, Green Bay Feb. 27 Meters/Conservation, Plover March 5 Meters/Conservation, Burlington Visit www.wrwa.org. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is offering these courses: Feb. 18 Zeolite Softening, Volatile Organic Compound and Iron Removal Certication, West Bend Feb. 20 Lime Softening Certication, West Bend Feb. 25 Groundwater Supply and Distribution Certication, Madison March 3 Cross Connection Control Assembly Tester Certication, Plover March 6 Regional Utility Management Training, Watertown March 11 Surface Water Certication, Fond du Lac Visit http://dnr.wi.gov. wso
Michigan
The Michigan Section of the AWWA is offering these courses: Feb. 25-26 Borchardt Conference for drinking and wastewater treatment, Rackham Graduate School, Ann Arbor. Feb. 27 Cross Connection Seminar Basic, Lansing March 4-6 Short Course in Water Chemistry, East Lansing March 4-6 Basic Math and Hydraulics Short Course, Gull Lake March 11-13 Water Treatment Short Course I, Gull Lake March 25-27 Limited Treatment Short Course I & II, Higgins Lake Visit www.mi-water.org.
New Jersey
The New Jersey Agricultural Research Station is offering these courses: Feb. 12-13 Ladder Logic: Water/Wastewater Electrical Training, New Brunswick Feb. 27 Math Refresher for Water and Wastewater Operators, Extension Conference Center, New Brunswick March 11-13 Operation and Maintenance of Pumps, New Brunswick March 25-26 Management Skills for Supervisors, New Brunswick March 28 Effective Emergency Commiunications, New Brunswick Visit www.cpe.rutgers.edu.
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Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Environmental Training Center is offering these courses: Feb. 14 Open Exam Session, Tulsa Feb. 19 General Refresher for Water Operators, Tulsa Feb. 19-20 C Water Operator, Tulsa Feb. 25-27 D Water and Wastewater Operator, Tulsa March 4-6 D Water and Wastewater Operator, Stillwater March 7 Open Exam Session, Tulsa March 14 Open Exam Session, Stillwater March 18-20 D Water and Wastewater Operator, Tulsa Visit www.accuratelabs.com.
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Texas
The Texas Water Utilities Association is offering its Annual School 2014 on March 2-5 in Corpus Christi. Visit www.twua.org.
Utah
The Intermountain Section AWWA is offering a Legal and Regulatory Affairs Leadership Forum on Feb. 13 in Salt Lake City. Visit www. ims-awwa.org.
Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin Madision Department of Engineering
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WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

Managing Our Most Valuable Resource

TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE:

Particle analyzer from Fluid Imaging

Value of an energy audit

Nothing Left to Chance

Stacy Cheevers Plant Manager Lowell, Ark.

WINNING THEM OVER:

Operator: Strength in Numbers

Agency: Covering the Territory

Plant: Nothing Left to Chance

TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE Page 24

TECH TALK Page 36

Who Looks Out for You?

Whats in Your Water?

Getting a Handle on Energy

PRODUCT FOCUS Page 26

WORTH NOTING Page 38 People/Awards; Education; Events

Coming Next Issue: March 2014

CASE STUDIES Page 30

INDUSTRY NEWS Page 31 WINNING THEM OVER Page 32

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE Page 12

Quack and the Pack

Changing With the Times

The industry is growing and evolving, and so is your trade show.

Who Looks Out for You?

Outside the lines

and facility upgrades, and so forth.

Its your magazine. Tell your story.

You have friends

wsomag.com February 2014

AllMax Software, Inc. ............... 33

Blue-White Industries ...............

Greyline Instruments Inc. ........ 25

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Managing Our Most Valuable Resource

Every day is Earth Day.

FREE subscription at www.tpomag.com

WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

Raleigh Pump Station Secret Revealed

California Delivers Reused Water

Public-Private Partnerships Alleviate Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Decits

From Buddy To Boss

Emails & Alerts Join the Discussion

wsomag.com February 2014

NOTHING LEFT TO CHANCE

WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

Beaver Water District, Lowell, Ark.

Barriers protect quality

HONORED FOR SERVICE

A occulation basin at the Beaver Water Districts treatment facility.

WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAI IRISH, GOODMAN NETWORKS

PRODUCT: | Magnemount MANUFACTURER: | Metal

(Continued from page 9)

Handling the weight

Change is inevitable. We need to be proactive, exible and adaptable.

WSO welcomes stories

WSO welcomes stories

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SACRAMENTO DEPARTMENT OF UTILITIES