Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine May-June 2010

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:50 PM Page 1

# $ # ! $ # $ $ ! # $ " " $ " # " ! ## ! $ " # $ " $ # " #$ ! $ " !$ !$ "

# #! " $ " # $ " #$ #! "! " $!# $ $

# " $ # ! " #$ "! ! " ! #! $ $

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:51 PM Page 2

Polymer Preparation

– with ProMinent Experts E xper ts in in Chemical Chemical Feed Feed and and Water Water Treatment Treatment

Economical Polymer Preparation Solutions

ProMinent®

®

ProMix

for emulsion and liquid polymers

TOMAL®

®

®

Polymore for emulsion and liquid polymers

ProMinent®

®

®

Ultromat

TOMAL®

continuous flow polymer systems

®

®

PolyRex

for powdery and liquid polyelectrolytes

DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY:

3!.3/-

%15)0-%.4 ,)-)4%$

Toll Toll Free: Fre e: eMail: e M a i l: www. w w w.

CANADA CANADA 1- 8 8 8 -70 9 -9 9 3 3 1-888-709-9933 a l e s @ p r o m i n e n t .c a sales@prominent.ca s p r o m i n e n t .c a prominent.ca

USA USA Phone: Phone: (4 (412) 12) 7 787-2484 87-24 8 4 e eMail: Mail: sales@prominent.us s a l e s@ p r o m i n e n t .u s w www. w w. p prominent.us r o m i n e n t .u s

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 10-06-09 4:14 PM Page 3

Ultrameter II™ 6Psi Now Features: bluDock Enabled TM

bluDock™ Wireless Data Transfer (optional)

LSI and Hardness Calculator

Visit us at AWWA ACE

Booth #249 www.myronl.com

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:51 PM Page 4

Contents ISSN-0835-605X May/June • 2010 Vol. 23 No. 3 Issued June 2010 ES&E invites articles (approx. 2,000 words) on water, wastewater, hazardous waste treatment and other environmental protection topics. If you are interested in submitting an article for consideration in our print and digital editions, please contact Steve Davey at steve@esemag.com. Please note that Environmental Science & Engineering Publications Inc. reserves the right to edit all text and graphic submissions without notice.

FEATURES 7 9 12 14 16 18 20 22 26 30 33 36 50 52 54 56 58 62 64 67

Page 20

Page 51

An above and below ground perspective on corrosion – Editorial comment by Steve Davey New technology used to inspect Halifax watermain while its still in service - Cover Story Controlling hazardous conditions in ozone disinfection rooms Durham replaces road culvert, while improving fish passage CFB Trenton uses ultrafiltration to process aircraft washwater DEPARTMENTS Measuring water and wastewater levels with radar Cluster wastewater treatment system for BC lodge Product Showcase . . . 49, 70-73 Super-oxygenation as a solution to odour control and corrosion Environmental News . . . 74-82 The economics of sustainable development planning Managing stormwater with subsurface infiltration systems Professional Cards . . . . . . 74-82 Keeping Cambridge’s sewage pumping station on track Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 A new twist to an old technology for replacing culverts Closing the wastewater recycling loop Manitoba’s new Environmental Amendment Act closes the regulatory gap Controlling algae in UV disinfection chambers A cost-effective solution for continuous emission monitoring systems Anaerobic treatment of food and beverage wastewater A package plant approach to decentralized wastewater treatment Fluid modeling improves wastewater treatment plant design Water Research Foundation issues report on residential water usage trends

Storage Tanks, Containment and Spills Section 39 40 42 43 44 46

Containing spills during railway car transfers Retractable odor-control covers improve access to wastewater tanks Enclosing the Laguna Beach water reservoir Fiberglass storage building for septage equipment Professional refuelling reduces risk Using cisterns for low pressure water systems in First Nations communities 48 New floating tile system available in Canada

PAGES 39-48

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:52 PM Page 5

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:52 PM Page 6

We’re all about water treatment ITT Water & Wastewater brings you the world’s best ozone treatment and ďŹ ltration systems as well as the most effective integrated water solutions.

OZONE GENERATORS

Chemical-free water treatment WEDECO Ozone Generators eliminate pollutants, coloured substances, odours, and microorganisms without creating harmful byproducts. t $PNQBDU EFTJHO SFEVDFT PWFSBMM GPPUQSJOU t -PX DBQJUBM JOWFTUNFOU BOE PQFSBUJOH DPTUT t %SBTUJDBMMZ SFEVDFE PYZHFO EFNBOE EVF UP IJHI P[POF QSPEVDUJPO DPODFOUSBUJPO t 3FEVDFE FOFSHZ DPOTVNQUJPO QFS VOJU P[POF QSPEVDUJPO t 6ONBUDIFE SFMJBCJMJUZ

UNDERDRAIN TECHNOLOGY Promotes trouble-free operation

Leopold Underdrain technology features a unique water recovery channel for superior air scouring and water backwash performance that cleans the media better. t #SPBEFS BJSnPX SBOHF UP TDGN TG t *NQSPWFE BJS TUBCJMJUZ VOEFS BMM PQFSBUJOH DPOEJUJPOT XJUI BMM PSJmDFT QSPWJEJOH VOJGPSN BOE DPOUJOVPVT BJSnPX t -PXFS XBUFS NBMEJTUSJCVUJPO MFTT UIBO UPUBM

Integrated solutions that deliver real operational, business and environmental results. Technology that you can tap into, and capitalize on. www.ittwww.ca

THE PUMPING SOLUTION

THE FILTRATION SOLUTION

THE BIOLOGICAL SOLUTION

THE OZONE & UV SOLUTION

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:52 PM Page 7

Comment by Steve Davey

An above and below ground perspective on corrosion

M

otorists plying Canada’s salt-drenched winter highways are only too aware of the severity of the corrosion process.

Every spring, thousands of car enthusiasts sink into deep depression when they wash off the winter grime and discover the gleaming surfaces, so lovingly polished in the fall, are now dull or even pockmarked with rust blisters.

Their tarnished status symbols are hastily taken in for detailing, or in the worse cases, a bodyshop for rejuvenation. There, shop owners eagerly greet the spring with open arms and a fresh cost-estimate pad.

Vehicles later emerge like metallurgical Phoenixes, their gleaming appearance somewhat anesthetizing the pain caused by the large charge card bill. Thus, corrosion must wait another year to ravage its next hapless car buff.

Unlike cars, which are still revered by a large segment of the population, watermains, sewers and stormwater culverts, though vital to our very existence, lack glamour and prestige. Therefore, they are usually taken for granted by society, until they fail.

Water and wastewater pipelines typically account for 80- 90% of total system construction costs.

While automobiles can be repeatedly undercoated, waxed and repaired,

piping systems must be effectively protected from corrosion when they are installed. Unfortunately, many piping systems leak and or even fail long before their predicted lifespans, because of a lack of knowledge of the corrosion process, when they were installed.

A greater understanding of aggressive soils, corrosive water, cathodic protection, impressed current usage, barrier coatings, or other prevention techniques, is required, so systems can be installed and operated without fear of premature failure or unexpected maintenance costs.

An article in this issue from ECO Oxygen Technologies (see page 22) describes how super-oxygenation can be used to prevent corrosion in sewers, as well as in other areas within wastewater conveyance and treatment operations, such as head works facilities and primary clarifiers.

In this issue, contributing author Al Tenbusch states that “public works officials are dealing with a massive infrastructure network that has served us well, and is in need of replacement despite the shortfall in funds to fix every failing culvert. The service life of numerous drains is being extended by many means, some more effective than others, to mark time until funds are available for eventual replacement. Extending service life of failing culverts is not the solution. It is important to re-

place failing and failed culverts as soon as possible to protect associated structures from premature failure.”

In his article, he describes how a new culvert replacement technology is saving money and reducing disruption to the public during re-construction (see page 36).

While not glamorous subjects, effective corrosion control measures and innovative infrastructure rehabilitation technologies can save hundreds of millions of dollars annually as well as creating growth opportunities for the companies that develop them.

This is certainly the hope of the Ontario government, which recently introduced its Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act to encourage the creation and export of innovative clean water technology, promote water conservation, attract economic development, and create jobs.

Canada’s municipal engineers and politicians must have the foresight to embrace locally-developed technology and products. Unfortunately, too often in the past, Canadian companies, like our actors and musicians, have had to search elsewhere for fortune and fame.

Steve Davey is editor and publisher of Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine. E-mail: steve@esemag.com

Steve enjoying his own “metallurgical Phoenix”- a 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Lovingly rebuilt, only the hood remained unscathed by rust. www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 7

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:52 PM Page 8

Letters to the Editor Dear Steve: Editor and Publisher STEVE DAVEY E-mail: steve@esemag.com Consulting Editor

TOM DAVEY

Sales Director PENNY DAVEY E-mail: penny@esemag.com Sales Representative DENISE SIMPSON E-mail: denise@esemag.com Accounting SANDRA DAVEY E-mail: sandra@esemag.com Circulation Manager DARLANN PASSFIELD E-mail: darlann@esemag.com Production Manager CHRIS MAC DONALD E-mail: chris@esemag.com

Technical Advisory Board Jim Bishop Stantec Consulting Ltd., Ontario Bill Borlase, P.Eng. City of Winnipeg, Manitoba George V. Crawford, P.Eng., M.A.Sc. CH2M HILL, Ontario Bill DeAngelis, P.Eng. Associated Engineering, Ontario Marie Meunier John Meunier Inc., Québec Peter J. Paine Environment Canada Environmental Science & Engineering is a bi-monthly business publication of Environmental Science & Engineering Publications Inc. An all Canadian publication, ES&E provides authoritative editorial coverage of Canada's municipal and industrial environmental control systems and drinking water treatment and distribution.

Readers include consulting engineers, industrial plant managers and engineers, key municipal, provincial and federal environmental officials, water and wastewater plant operators and contractors.

Information contained in ES&E has been compiled from sources believed to be correct. ES&E cannot be responsible for the accuracy of articles or other editorial matter.

Articles in this magazine are intended to provide information rather than give legal or other professional advice.

Articles being submitted for review should be e-mailed to steve@esemag.com.

Canadian Publications Mail Sales Second Class Mail Product Agreement No. 40065446 Registration No. 7750 Undeliverable copies, advertising space orders, copy, artwork, proofs, etc., should be sent to: Environmental Science & Engineering, 220 Industrial Pkwy. S., Unit 30, Aurora, Ontario, Canada, L4G 3V6, Tel: (905)727-4666, Fax: (905) 841-7271, Web site: www.esemag.com Printed in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without written permission of the publisher. Yearly subscription rates: Canada $75.00 (plus HST).

8 | May 2010

The paper in the September 2009 issue of ES&E on "How to remove perfluorinated acids from water and wastewater streams", by Kaya Forest and Sierra Rayne, is an extremely timely paper.

Thank you for publishing this research.

The class of "fluorinated chemicals" referred to as perfluorinated alkyl (PFA) compounds are extremely resistant to biological and chemical attack. This is due to the strength of the carbon-fluorine bond. It is this property that made these chemicals so useful to industry (in the first place) and a bit of an environmental problem (later on, when it was noted that they did not break down in the environment and were bioaccumulative).

One important member of the PFA family is perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a substance used in fume suppressant formulations for the metal finishing industry and for chromium plating specifically. Fume suppressants which contain PFOS, when added to a chromium electroplating bath, reduce the surface tension of the plating solution and thereby significantly reduce the release of chromic acid (a hexavalent chromium compound) mists from the plating process to both the workplace environment and the general environment.

Chromium platers will add the appropriate dose of fume suppressants based on tank (i.e., solution) volume and a typical fume suppressant addition is 0.2% by volume.

For the highly stable PFOS molecule, if it will not break down in the acidic and highly oxidizing chromic acid plating solution, then it is not likely to break down in the environment.

Plating will also typically involve rinsing operations and eventually these rinsewaters require treatment for metal removal in order for the plater to meet provincial or municipal effluent limits (e.g., City of Toronto Sewer Use Bylaw).

PFOS will ultimately end up in rinsewaters sent to on-site wastewater treatment.

The conventional treatment of rinsewaters at metal finishing operations is physiochem hydroxide precipitation (which generates a metal-hydroxide sludge) and release of the treated water to sewer. The PFOS molecule is not broken down by this treatment process and will be released to

sewer and, eventually, the wastewater treatment plant.

At wastewater treatment plants employing secondary treatment (i.e., the activated sludge process), again, the PFOS molecule is unlikely to be attacked biologically and will either report to the sludge fraction or be released in the final effluent.

That the PFOS issue is of importance is acknowledged by environmental agencies and jurisdictions in other countries which have phased out the use of PFOS in products. For Canada, the PFOS regulations promulgated by Environment Canada in 2008 ("Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and its Salts and Certain Other Compounds Regulations") now require that metal finishing operations using PFOS in fume suppressant formulations stop the use of the PFOS containing formulations by 2013.

These regulations also apply to other sectors which use PFOS and the reader is referred to these regulations for more information.This is a very timely study and excellent information which I have shared with my US colleagues.

Peter J. Paine is Senior Program Engineer with Environment Canada.

E-mail: peter.paine@ec.gc.ca

Dear Steve: I have only had the joy of driving a snowmobile once in my life. Reading your March/April Editorial Comment makes me think that only once will suffice!

You have written a great piece that shows the link between engineering technology and the simple fact that we are all just human. My bigger interest is to know at what point did the expletives begin flying up to the gods of “Murphy” – or was it a matter of just laughing at how incredibly bad everything went?

Chris MacEachern, CH2M HILL

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:53 PM Page 9

Pipeline Inspection

New technology used to inspect Halifax watermain while still in service By Allison Psutka

T

he first field trial of PipeDiverTM, a high-tech pipe-condition diagnostic device designed to be inserted directly into a fully operating water main, took place in a trench dug in a narrow two-lane in Nova Scotia. It would then swim through the pipeline while detecting damaged sections, until it was retrieved at the other end of the pipe.

The launch tube was fitted to a newlyinstalled hot tap outlet, and final checks confirmed that the trial was a “go.” Engineers watched anxiously, because success was critical to Halifax Water. They suspected that several pipe sections of the transmission main had suffered corrosion damage, putting the pipeline at risk of failure. Until now, they hadn’t been able to inspect this line because they could not take it out of service or dewater it, both previously necessary for this type of inspection technology.

PipeDiver offered a way to assess the condition of the pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe, without taking the pipeline out of service.

Assessing pipeline condition with RFTC The PipeDiver was developed by the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC), a Mississauga-based firm specializing in developing large-diameter water and wastewater pipeline condition assessment solutions. The Nova Scotia field trial harnessed patented Remote Field Transformer Coupling (RFTC) technology, developed to accurately establish the baseline condition of pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP), commonly used by utilities throughout North America and other parts of the world.

The RFTC system works by accurately assessing the condition of the prestressing wire wrapped around and imbedded within concrete pipe during manufacture. Breaks in this pre-stressing wire that would normally be undiscovered can be reliably detected by the RFTC technology. Producing an electromagnetic field amplified by the prestressing wires within the pipe, the system detects, measures, and quantifies www.esemag.com

Setting up the PipeDiver.

signal distortion caused by broken prestressing wires, recording the precise location of breaks along the pipeline.

Originally used with manually-operated mobile inspection units wheeled through dewatered pipelines, RFTC has been used to successfully inspect over 4,000 km of PCCP pipelines. The first unmanned RFTC system was developed in 2005. It was a remote-controlled fourwheel-drive vehicle with onboard RFTC electronics that included CCTV capability, which enabled the internal condition of 24" and larger pipes to be observed

and recorded.

Today, a miniaturized unmanned RFTC system is capable of inspecting lines as small as 16" in diameter.

The PipeDiver inspection tool used at Halifax was developed to enable RFTC inspections of 24" to 48" diameter PCCP pipelines. The tool can be inserted and extracted by either attaching specially designed tubes to flanged outlets at either end of the pipeline, or by inserting it into an open channel or chamber, and retrieving it from a similar opening or continued overleaf...

May 2010 | 9

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:54 PM Page 10

Pipeline Inspection

Tracking the PipeDiver from above ground.

reservoir. Its flexible and modular design allows it to navigate through most butterfly valves and bends in the pipeline.

Preventing catastrophic pipe failure Halifax Water’s big worry was that pipe corrosion was so extensive that it might lead to a catastrophic pipe failure.

Corrosion and breakage of the highstrength pre-stressing wires that reinforce the pipe will compromise the integrity of the pipe, and occasionally

Connecting the launch sleeve to the hot tap.

Carrying the PipeDiver.

lead to violent ruptures in which large amounts of high-pressure water are released. Failures like these can threaten public safety, cause widespread property damage, and create extensive service interruptions.

A total of 97 pipe lengths were RFTC-inspected in the Halifax field trial, and data analysis revealed 11 pipes with wire breaks ranging from 5 to 25 breaks per pipe. With this information,

Halifax Water made a decision to commit $1.5 million to renew the defective pipeline, without being forced to take the entire pipeline out of service and dewater the line beforehand.

Allison Psutka is with the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company.

E-mail: apsutka@ppic.com

HOBO U30-GSM REMOTE MONITORIN MONITORING G SYSTEM W Web-based eb-based Outdoor Out do or E Environmental n vir onmen tal Monitoring M onit or ing

Measurements

Wireless HOBO U30/GSM remote

Temperature

monitoring with integrated GSM remote communications

Relative Humidity Rainfall Soil Moisture

Wi-Fi

Wind Speed & Direction

HOBO U30/WiFi remote monitoring with integrated Wi-Fi communications

Leaf Wetness PAR Solar Radiation

Advanced Standalone HOBO U30/NRC (USB) monitoring data logging weather station

Pulse Input Analog Input Barometric Pressure

for fo or mor more e information: info ormation: www www.myhoskin.com/onset-outdoor.pdf .myhosk in.com/onset-outdoor.pdf

Hoskin Scientific Ltd. 10 | May 2010

www.hoskin.ca www ww w..hoskin.ca Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:56 PM Page 11

n o i t a z i m i t p o r e t l i " O F O D

W L

FRYHU

DQ

WHU SHUIRUPDQFH DW DQ The Diagnosis: 'HWHULRUDWLQJ Ă&#x;O SODQW 6L[ FHOO EOOH ZDWHU WUHDWPHQW

H[LVWLQJ SRWDE HU DUHD RI P RSHQ WRS JUDYLW\ Ă&#x;OWHUV WRWDO Ă&#x;OW quirements: A turn-key eq Customer Re OWHU PHGLD Ă&#x;OWHU UHWURĂ&#x;W SURYLGLQJ JUHDWHU Ă&#x;DFLW\ EHG GHSWK WR LQFUHDVH Ă&#x;OWHU FDSDVK YROXPH HIĂ&#x;FLHQF\ UHGXFWLRQ RI EDFNZ LV HVVHQWLDO DGGLWLRQ RI DLU VFRXU FDSDELOLW\ OH ([SHGLWHG FRQVWUXFWLRQ VFKHGX RI D e mmendation: ,QVWDOODWLRQ HUGUDLQ Reco G FRPSOHWH FXVWRP HQJLQHHUHG XQODU Ă&#x;OWHU X Q D U J

H O E L W V\VWHP ZLWK D FRPSD PHGLD GHVLJQ Filter Optimization Solution:

P VWWHHP V 6\\V DLQ 6\ GUDL GHUGU 8QGH 3KRHQL[ 8Q :, 3K $: KH $ 7K 7 LQFUHDVHG /RZ SURĂ&#x;OH JUDYHO IUHH GHĂ&#x;VOLWJHQU ĂŒP

HGLD EHG

IUHHERDUG DOORZLQJ GHHSHU UH ,Q Ă&#x;OWHU GLVWULEXWLRQ WHVWWLRLQQJ E HJIXRDUDQWHHG

DIWHU XQGHUGUDLQ LQVWDOOD DLU VFRXU XQLIRUP EDFNZDVK Ă RZ GLVWULEXWLRQ HU PHGLD GHVLJQ 6LWH VSHFLĂ&#x;F GHHS EHG Ă&#x;ROWOX

PH 8)59

ĂŒ KLJKHU XQLW Ă&#x;OWHU UXQ Y HGXFHG EDFNZDVK LPSURYHG Ă&#x;OWHU HIĂ&#x;FLHQF\ U ROXPH UDWH GHFUHDVHG EDFNZDVK Y FW FRPSOHWHG 5DSLG WXUQ NH\ LQVWDOODWLRZQ LWĂŒK SLQU REMXH GJHW

DKHDG RI VFKHGXOH DQG

www.awifilter.com .com

30 YEARS

At AWI we focus on granular media water filtration. We have over thirty years of experience working with consulting engineers and water plant operators providing filter optimization solutions. We provide the technical expertise, products and services to improve water treatment processes for industrial and municipal water and wastewater treatment plants.

1-866-755-7377

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:56 PM Page 12

Disinfection

Controlling hazardous conditions in ozone rooms

By Piyush Patel

O

zone hazards are not well known because it was rarely used in industry in the past.

Now, however, it is increasingly replacing chlorine as a disinfectant in water treatment plants, due to the many advantages it offers.

Ozone was first used in water treatment in the late 1800s. It is a highly toxic, dangerously reactive, oxidizing gas with greater disinfection effectiveness than chlorine against bacteria and viruses. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommends the following time-weighted average exposure limits for ozone: heavy work 0.05 ppm; moderate work 0.08 ppm; light work 0.1 ppm; for two hours or less exposure time, heavy/moderate/light work loads 0.2 ppm. Its carcinogenicity designation is A4 (not classifiable as a human carcinogen).

Ozone is not combustible, but pure ozone poses a serious fire and explosion risk by reacting with combustible materials. The ozone molecule is composed of three oxygen atoms; it is an unstable gas that decomposes slowly to oxygen, with a half-life of three days at 20°C and three months at –50°C. The rate of decomposition is increased by light, trace organics, nitrogen oxides, mercury vapour, peroxides, metals, and metal oxides.

It is a strong oxidizing agent, forming oxides with iron, manganese and sulphur in water to form insoluble metal oxides, which can be removed easily by post-filtration. Ozone is manufactured on demand using an on-site ozone generator.

Ventilation is one of the effective methods to control hazardous conditions involving ozone. The ozone generator and associated equipment should be housed in a separate room, preferably in separate buildings, and the ozone room/building should have a separate ventilation system.

Designing for ozone ventilation The upgrade project at the Holmedale Water Treatment Plant in Brantford, Ontario, designed by R.V. Anderson Associates, includes an ozone facility for disinfection. The ozone room will be ventilated by a two-stage system, for nor12 | May 2010

Holmedale Water Treatment Plant.

mal and emergency ventilation.

Under normal conditions, the general system will provide at least three air changes per hour. In the event of an ozone leak, the emergency ventilation system will be automatically activated by a monitoring system when the gas concentration exceeds 0.05 ppm. The emergency system will provide at least 30 air changes per hour in the room.

Exhaust vents will discharge air well away from any air intakes, and will be installed vertically down to 150 mm from the finished floor level of the room to exhaust the ozone, which tends to settle at a low level. The exhaust fan will be an up-blast, roof-mounted unit which will throw the ozone-contaminated air high above the building to allow more time for decomposition. Supply air will be provided by a roof-top, indirect gasfired air-handling unit.

The room will be ventilated with 100% outside air with no recirculation.

The air-handling unit will consist of two supply fans: one for normal ventilation, the other for emergency ventilation. The system is designed to maintain a temperature of 18°C in winter for normal conditions, and 10°C in an emergency condition. The ozone room exit door will open into a vestibule (air lock), which will be continuously pressurized by a separate, small, make-up air unit in order

to avoid the spread of ozone to other areas of the building. The ozone generator will also be interlocked with a gas monitoring system to shut down in an emergency.

Good engineering practices must be applied to control hazardous conditions.

Gaskets, piping, and sealing compounds must be made of compatible materials.

Ozone piping should be kept as short as possible and properly supported. Piping should be protected from shock and vibration.

People working with ozone should be properly trained about its hazards and safe use. No welding, cutting, soldering, drilling, or any other work should be allowed without inspection and a permit.

The complete system and piping should be purged to remove any traces of ozone before any kind of maintenance or project work is performed. It should be checked regularly for leaks.

Keep the ozone room clear of all kinds of combustible materials, and avoid electrical sparks and intense light flashes. Regular testing of the controls is required to make sure they are working properly.

Piyush Patel is with R.V. Anderson Associates.

E-mail: ppatel@rvanderson.com

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:56 PM Page 13

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:56 PM Page 14

Infrastructure

Durham replaces road culvert while improving fish passage By John Semjan and Paul Villard

I

n the fall of 1998, SRM Associates was retained by the Regional Municipality of Durham in southern Ontario to carry out a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment for the reconstruction and widening of Taunton Road, in the City of Oshawa.

The results of the assessment had shown that the road widening, from Townline Road to approximately 200 metres west of Grandview Street, required the extension of an existing 48.7-metrelong culvert, which conveyed flow from Harmony Creek.

SRM’s transportation structures department was assigned the task of extending the existing 5.5 m span by 3.3 m rise cast-in-place concrete box culvert, which was generally in good condition.

To accommodate a future road widening to six lanes, an extension of 10.8 metres upstream (north) and 16 metres downstream (south) was required.

Although the existing structure provided a large waterway opening, the typical flow passing through it was small and dominated by sheet flow (approximately 1 m wide by about 20 mm deep), thus providing limited diversity with respect to fish habitat. Additionally, the culvert outlet was perched about 350 mm above the surface of the watercourse downstream, thereby impeding fish passage.

SRM met and worked with Central Lake Ontario Conservation, the Ontario

Upstream (north) end of box culvert.

14 | May 2010

Ministry of Natural Resources, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, to obtain the requisite environmental permits prior to construction. As a condition of regulatory agency approvals for the recommended culvert extensions, SRM was advised that the impediment to fish passage through the existing portion of the culvert would need to be addressed.

Replacing the existing structure, which was in good order, was not feasible, given the anticipated cost and construction logistics. The existing culvert would have to be modified.

After considering various engineering alternatives to improve fish passage through the culvert, Geomorphic Solutions, a recent addition to The Sernas Group, were asked to develop a design that would restore low-flow fish passage in a manner acceptable to the permitting agencies. Their background review indicated that culvert modifications, incorporating cobble and boulder-sized stones placed strategically to mimic natural channels, would provide the best opportunity to improve fish passage.

Mimicking natural channels Reviews of previous fish passage restoration efforts revealed that there was limited integration of natural channel design and geomorphic concepts. It is well known that bed materials in natural channels self-organize to develop bedforms and structure that reduce near-

bed velocities, increase depth during low-flow conditions, create micro-pools and low-velocity resting areas, and, finally, produce a more stable bed.

The consulting team developed a design that mimicked these natural conditions to provide a relatively natural flow field through the culvert and improve local fish habitat. More specifically, bedforms, including rock clusters and transverse ribs anchored by large keystones, were integrated into the design of the invert slab modifications.

Rock clusters are hydrodynamic features that tend to develop around single or multiple keystones. Smaller materials collect in the lee of clusters. Imbrication along the front face and tails of smaller sediments provides a hydrodynamic shape. These bedforms create low-velocity rest areas on the leeside, reduce the likelihood of entraining smaller bed materials, and provide additional boundary roughness to dissipate energy.

Transverse ribs are linear bedforms that develop near-perpendicular to the flow field, and tend to have a spacing that is positively related to the grain size of the largest sediments. The scaling is in the order of 10 times the particle height. This provides a condition of wake separation, thereby maximizing roughness and flow resistance.

The placement of rock clusters and transverse ribs followed “identified nat-

Invert slab following installation of rock clusters and transverse ribs, and prior to culvert activation.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:56 PM Page 15

Infrastructure ural scaling rules,” and, therefore, a more “natural” flow field was created within the culvert. Given that bedforms are self-maintaining features, it is anticipated that this design will last a very long time.

Further to the invert slab modifications, which extend through the existing culvert and the upstream extension, the invert elevation of the downstream extension was stepped down 100 mm below the existing invert at the outlet of the existing structure. An embedment of 300 mm at the new outlet was also designed to help maintain “natural” stream bed characteristics and eliminate the barrier to fish passage.

To facilitate installation, detailed drawings of the transverse ribs and rock clusters were developed. Still, due to the unique nature of the treatment, there were difficulties in relaying to the contractor the need to place the rock in strict accordance with the design drawings so that the treatment would provide the expected function. To minimize the likelihood of construction issues for similar projects in the future, it is recommended that contractors be screened or pre-qualified to ensure past experience in habitat restoration projects.

Additionally, it is recommended that the work be supervised by an individual with an understanding of hydrodynamics and geomorphology for the duration of construction.

The permitting agencies required confirmation that fish passage was improved as a result of design implementation. A five-year, rather than the typical two-year, monitoring plan was developed to assess the success of the design. Monitoring included an assessment of the flow fields through the culvert, an evaluation of fish passage potential, and the survivability of the installed bedforms.

To date, two years of monitoring have been completed, with a total of five site visits from 2008 through 2009. During one site visit annually, the design elements were photographed and the bed was surveyed. In addition, water depths were measured throughout the culvert, as well as time-averaged downstream velocities. In total, 53 paired depth and velocity measurements were collected around and between the bedforms to aswww.esemag.com

Figure 1. Measured water depths and velocities on September 24, 2008.

sess the changes in flow characteristics.

Flow depths were in the range of 0.04 m to 0.16 m, and downstream velocities in the range of –0.02 m/s (backwater eddy) to 0.42 m/s.

Figure 1 shows numerous low-velocity refuges for fish, areas with upstream velocities, and areas of accelerated downstream velocities, which demonstrate that fish habitat has been diversified. Pathways with deeper flows and lower velocities provide improved fish passage, and the barrier to fish passage at the downstream end of the culvert has been mitigated, thus providing a connection between the upstream and down-

stream reaches.

Although a few keystones have been lost as a result of high-flow events, well over 90% of the bed is still in place.

Despite the need for minor restoration at the end of the monitoring period, the project to date has met the anticipated design outcome.

John Semjan, P.Eng., is with SRM Associates (a member of The Sernas Group Inc.). Paul Villard, Ph.D., P.Geo., is with Geomorphic Solutions.

E-mail: jsemjan@srmassociates.org or pvillard@geomorphicsolutions.ca

May 2010 | 15

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:57 PM Page 16

Filtration

CFB Trenton uses ultrafiltration to process aircraft washwater

U

nder its sustainable development initiative, Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) is taking all the required measures to ensure that defence activities will have minimal environmental impacts and will not compromise the needs of future generations.

Installation of an ultrafiltration (UF) system to deal with aircraft washwater at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, in southern Ontario, is an excellent example of DND’s commitment to the environment. Since 2002, the system has processed and recovered more than 5.5 million litres of aircraft washwater and collected 340,585 litres of hazardous waste.

During the aircraft washing process, particulates such as dirt and sand, as well as oil and grease, accumulate in the collected washwater. The filtration system breaks down the chemical emulsion and separates oil from water mixed with the cleaning product, which could be reused if required. The washwater is collected in a 60,000-litre underground tank outside the hangar. Every three to four weeks, about 40,000 litres of wastewater collected in this tank are processed and treated.

The process prevents corrosion and keeps aircraft ready for their next service; this includes the Hercules that serve in Afghanistan.

The filtration system eliminates the need for wastewater to be transported for disposal by a licensed handler. Recovered washwater is sent to the CFB wastewater treatment plant for further treatment.

Ultrafiltration Ultrafiltration is an industrial process in which semi-permeable membranes are used to separate water and some dissolved low-molecular-weight materials from a mixture that requires processing.

The goal of the process is to fractionate the original process stream into a concentrate stream and a very low concentration permeate stream.

A significant feature of UF is its ability to separate and, through recirculation, to concentrate certain molecules in con16 | May 2010

Tubular membrane ultrafiltration treatment system.

Process tanks.

tinuous systems. Treatment is a pressurized process. A low pressure of 5 - 150 psig separates the contaminants of concern from aqueous solutions using semipermeable membranes. Solvent and any dissolved component that pass through the membrane are known as permeate.

Components that do not pass through are known as retentate.

Concentrate is disposed of by the most economical means, or further processed if it contains valuable material. The permeate stream is normally discharged to a sanitary sewer, or recycled to rinse systems, since it is relatively clean.

The membranes of the UF system installed at CFB Trenton are tubular.

Process fluid is circulated through these membrane tubes under pressure. Oil is

retained and the water is separated from the mixture. The treatment package, consisting of prefiltration followed by a UF system, removes particulates down to 400 microns, as well as the hazardous contaminants.

Ultrafiltration is not fundamentally different from reverse osmosis, microfiltration or nanofiltration, except in terms of the size of the molecules it retains. The greatest need for this type of filtration is when the contaminated water can be reused, or recycled, following the separation of contaminants.

For more information, E-mail: ihassas@filterinnovations.com

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 10-06-08 5:08 PM Page 17

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:57 PM Page 18

Instrumentation

The benefits of measuring water and wastewater levels with radar

M

easuring liquid levels can be very difficult, especially in water and wastewater applications, where obstructions, foam, floaters, and confined spaces are the norm.

While mechanical instruments are still widely used to control levels in the municipal market, they have given way to newer technologies utilizing electronic control functions. Advances such as bubblers, hydrostatic/differential pressure, RF admittance/capacitance, and ultrasonics, have become part of the lexicon of level applications.

Even so, technological evolution is relentless, and these technologies are becoming displaced in turn by other solutions. In this article, we will compare and contrast one of the most common level technologies in use today, non-contact ultrasonic, with the fastest-growing technology in the marketplace — radar.

Ultrasonic level technology Sound, the basis for an ultrasonic level transmitter, is a mechanical form of energy that propagates by vibrating the molecules within a vapour space. In municipal applications, this is the vapour space above the liquid. Conditions within this space, as well as the surfaces that the ultrasonic signals contact, including false targets, have significant impact on the propagation of sound and the accurate transmission and collection of echoes.

Sound travels at approximately 1,000 ft/sec at sea level, and the accuracy of an ultrasonic transmitter is directly based on the consistency of this speed. If vapour space conditions change propagation speed, transmitter accuracy will be affected.

Level measurement technology based Liftstation/Wet Wells Digesters Clear wells Sludge storage Fuel storage PAC tanks Sand filter beds Elevated storage tanks

27 foot deep wet well with Strobe.

on sound waves has become known generically as “ultrasound” (higher than human hearing, more than 20 kHz), although in actual implementations, the transducer can be in a frequency range anywhere from approximately 5 kHz (within the range of human hearing, i.e., “sonic”) to 100 kHz or higher.

Low-frequency transducers, which are generally very large and expensive, are used for long-range applications and those where the sound must penetrate dirty, dusty environments, such as bulk solids.

Transducers in the 80-100-kHz range are much smaller and offer better resoluChemical Storage – Day and bulk tanks Sumps Scum pit Open channel flow Bar Screens Lime or carbon slurries Equalization basins Nutrient removal systems

Some of the applications where radar is being used.

18 | May 2010

tion and accuracy than their lower-frequency cousins. However, high-frequency sound is highly attenuated (weakened) as it propagates through the vapour space, “sees” smaller targets/disturbances, and is more easily absorbed or disturbed by surface conditions.

The most common transducer is a compromise between the two frequency extremes and generally resides in the 4070-kHz range. This range yields a compromise of size, cost, maximum range (attenuation), and vapour space performance (penetration).

The rise of radar We are all familiar with radar, which is used in microwave ovens, for tracking airplanes, and by the police for catching us speeding down the road. Radar is a form of electromagnetic energy which propagates over long distances, even through a vacuum, and at the speed of light, which is approximately one million times faster than the speed of sound.

Radar has also been used to measure level for more than 30 years. Early designs were heavy, large, expensive, power-hungry and complex, but numerous advances in technology have led to the development of a modern radar transmitter that is small, light, inexpensive, loop-powered and easy to use. The new designs are making this technology competitive with other, more common level measurement technologies such as ultrasonic.

The newest 24V DC, loop-powered, through-air radar transmitters operate by launching tens of thousands of high-frequency (generally 6.3 or 26 GHz) bursts of electromagnetic energy through the air. The high-frequency, electromagnetic signals travel easily over long ranges, and measurement is virtually immune to such common process conditions as wind, temperature and vapour gradients, moderate foam, and turbulence.

Output of electromagnetic energy at the antenna of a radar transmitter is typically around 1 mW, ensuring low power consumption, safety, and non-interference with other nearby instrumentation.

This is hundreds of times less than the

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:57 PM Page 19

Instrumentation pense. However, as the technology evolved and innovations were applied, the cost started to creep down. As of two years ago, a radar transmitter could be purchased for between 1.5 times and twice the cost of an ultrasonic. For more difficult applications, radar became a viable choice and adoption of the technology accelerated.

Today, the Model R82 from Magnetrol is a high-performance radar transmitter that is available for under $1,000, which puts it very much in line with

two-wire-style ultrasonic transmitters.

Radar is extremely well suited for use in municipal applications, as waterbased materials provide outstanding reflective properties. In addition, radar transmitters, depending on frequency and style, are virtually immune to process conditions such as condensation, fog, vapour gradients, grease layers, ice, wind, rain, and radiant heating.

For more information, E-mail: kmartyn@magnetrol.com

Pulsar horn.

output of a typical cell phone, for example. After the signal is launched into free space, it travels through the air until it reaches the media surface and is reflected back.

The strength (amplitude) of the reflection off the media is directly related to the dielectric value of the media. Very low dielectrics, like hydrocarbon, reflect very little of the signal. High dielectrics, the most common form in water and wastewater applications, are extremely good reflectors and return a much higher percentage of the signal.

After being reflected, the signal begins its return path until it is received at the transmitter. The dielectric scale parallels, to a great degree, the conductivity scale.

The newest and most advanced signal processing techniques, such as ETS (equivalent time sampling), are used to capture these high-speed electromagnetic events in real time (nanoseconds) and reconstruct them into an equivalent time (milliseconds), producing outstanding resolution and accuracy.

Radar has inherent advantages; it can operate without the presence of any atmosphere (in a vacuum). In addition, electromagnetic energy has the ability, depending on its transmitting frequency, to penetrate materials such as foam.

Cracking the cost barrier Why is ultrasonic currently the dominant through-air technology? The answer is simple: cost.

Radar transmitters, when first introduced, were five to six times more expensive than ultrasonic, and while many recognized the benefits of radar, they were unable to justify the additional exwww.esemag.com

A New Level of Thinking A new energy is flowing at Delcan Water.

We have always been at the forefront of providing government and corporate clients in Canada and around the world with the highest level of engineering expertise and services.

Now, Delcan Water offers even broader capabilities with the establishment of Delcan IWS (Intelligent Water Systems), which offers leading edge design and implementation of automation, network and information management systems; expertise that complements Delcan Water’s established reputation for engineering services.

Delcan Water also benefits from even greater global resources with our new alliance to DHV Netherlands. DHV is an international leader in water technologies having provided integrated solutions to over 1,000 plants worldwide.

Contact us today and learn more about how you can benefit from the new ideas that are flowing at Delcan Water.

0 5 5"8" t . " 3 , ) " . t -0 / % 0 / t / * " ( " 3 " '" - - 4 t $ " -( " 3 : t 7" / $ 0 6 7 & 3 t 7 * $ 5 0 3 * "

Delcan Water 625 Cochrane Drive, Suite 500, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9R9 Tel: 905.943.0500 Fax: 905.943.0400 water@delcan.com

www.delcan.com

May 2010 | 19

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:57 PM Page 20

Small Scale Wastewater Treatment

Cluster wastewater treatment system for BC lodge

B

rew Creek Lodge in British Columbia consists of a number of buildings which sprawl throughout a multi-acre site which is located on a flood plain, with a creek meandering through the middle.

Potable water is supplied from a well installed in an unconfined aquifer. All wastewater flows are regrouped and treated by an advanced treatment technology. The treated effluent is dispersed to two preferred locations, as identified in the environmental engineering study of the site.

In order to house Olympic athletes in 2010, the buildings needed to be expanded to accommodate as many as 70 guests. This expansion significantly increased the production of wastewater to be treated, so rehabilitation of the existing treatment system was required.

The owners of Brew Creek Lodge wanted to find an “eco-efficient” solution that met the following conditions: • An eco-friendly system that preserved the sensitive environment and the

With a potentially high groundwater level at the sites, Ecoflo concrete tanks were selected.

Brew Creek Lodge.

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:57 PM Page 21

Small Scale Wastewater Treatment groundwater.

• A low-consumption energy solution that remained operational even during power outages.

• A treatment system that discreetly fit in with the immediate environment of the site.

As occupancy is quite variable at any lodge or inn, the treatment system had to be able to handle peaks without compromising performance, while maintaining reasonable operational costs.

After evaluating a number of treatment technologies, MB Telder Engineering concluded that the most suitable technology for this site was the Ecoflo® Biofilter. The company chose a modular system option. Treatment units would be clustered on the property in three treatment plant locations, minimizing piping runs and site disruption during construction, and favouring the utilization of existing infrastructure.

With a potentially high groundwater level at the sites, Ecoflo concrete tanks were selected to enable in-ground installation, which minimized the visual impact.

While a passive treatment system can

result in a bigger footprint than an active treatment system, the below-grade layout reduced the impact. Native vegetation was used to screen out at-grade features, and no trees were removed during the installation. This was a worthwhile trade-off and the site layout was able to take advantage of gravity flow wherever possible to minimize the requirement for pumps.

Key considerations the project had to address were: • Minimal power consumption or minimal need for stable power availability.

• Minimal use of pumps.

• Minimal visible footprint.

• No odour, no noise.

• High reliability, ease of operation and maintenance.

• Minimal impact on the existing natural setting of the retreat.

Performance assessment by independent testing facilities demonstrated the capacity of the Ecoflo system to handle a multitude of loading conditions.

The passive treatment process and residual storage volume afforded by the treatment tanks, coupled with the few

required pump tanks, were advantageous because power failures are fairly common in this area. The lodge does have backup power, but the treatment system and operational capacity are not adversely affected by power outages.

The treatment technology allows the owner of Brew Creek Lodge to reuse the existing dispersal areas, with significant improvement in effluent quality. For the new low-pressure dispersal field closest to the drinking water well (which meets provincial setback requirements), it ensures that the drinking water source is not at risk.

Ecoflo Biofilters produce no process noise or odour. The system is naturally ventilated without a fan, which helps maintain aerobic conditions in the filter and avoid the release of odours. Consistently high-quality output minimizes the risk of contamination. The modular nature (clusters) of the treatment technology allows for effective tailoring of size and location of the treatment modules to fit the constraints of any property.

For more information, E-mail: dioa3@premiertech.com

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:57 PM Page 22

Odour and Corrosion

Super-oxygenation as a solution to wastewater system corrosion and for odour control By Kevin Jacobs

O

dour emissions and corrosion inherent in wastewater conveyance and treatment, which present formidable challenges to wastewater managers and offence to nearby residents, are largely due to the limited solubility of oxygen in water. These organically polluted waters readily consume the very limited dissolved oxygen (DO) levels available in the carriage water, causing anaerobic conditions to persist.

Indoles, skatoles, mercaptans and, most significantly, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) are produced in the complete absence of DO and nitrates in the carriage water. These products are volatile compounds and are noxious even at very low concentrations. Unfortunately, an increase in temperature results in an increase in bacterial activity, while DO solubility decreases, creating conditions that exacerbate odour generation.

Further compounding the problem is the associated corrosion that results

22 | May 2010

In order to prevent corrosion from occurring, odour must first be prevented.

when additional biological activity converts the malodorous H2S into sulphuric acid (H2SO4). Corrosion occurs downstream of the zone of H2S formation if the wastewater biota has access to ambient oxygen in the available head space.

The combination of the biota with oxy-

gen oxidizes the H2S to H2SO4, which will corrode concrete and steel.

The average citizen rarely sees wastewater conveyance pipelines and treatment facilities. As most pipelines are buried, effects of corrosive environments are not easily monitored. Unfor-

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:58 PM Page 23

Odour and Corrosion tunately, in many cases a sewer line collapse provides the first indication of a problem. It then costs the local municipal government a great deal of unbudgeted money for repairs, and the local populace much inconvenience.

Preventing odour before corrosion In order to prevent corrosion from occurring, odour must first be prevented. Two approaches are available to mitigate malodorous gaseous emissions. The first is to allow odour-causing compounds to form and then provide treatment. The second is to prevent the formation altogether.

If the first approach (which is the most common in wastewater treatment today) is employed, a wastewater operator is left to treat odour using costly and potentially hazardous chemicals, or enclosing head spaces and scrubbing the foul off-gases. This approach does not address the corrosive by-products.

The second approach is to prevent conditions favourable to H2S formation. The efficient addition of pure oxygen to wastewater is the simplest and most effective way to do this.

ECO2 SuperOxygenation technology is a preventative form of treatment for odour control. The system provides odour and corrosion control at the force main discharge by sustaining aerobic conditions throughout the force main, and preventing the formation of H2S. This problem is exacerbated in long force mains due to high microbial oxygen uptake rates, long retention times, and low DO levels. Since anaerobic conditions are precursors to H2S formation, a logical solution to its control is to induce aerobic conditions. This is accomplished by using the technology to dissolve pure oxygen into a wastewater side stream, which is blended back into the force main flow. Additionally, H2S that has already been generated upstream of the force main will be microbially consumed in this aerobic zone.

Suitable applications for super-oxygenation In Saskatchewan, the City of Regina embarked on a new commercial and residential project to add 2,500 single family homesites, 1,500 townhome sites, and 38 acres of office park space, in a project known as Harbour Landing. To accommodate this new development, a dedicated sewage lift station had to be constructed.

To prevent odours and protect the force main line from corrosion, planners chose to install an ECO2 SuperOxygenation system. The system was designed and installed to add 280 pounds of pure oxygen per day to the flow from Harbour Landing. As the development grows, the system will continue to provide effective results with no increase in operating costs.

Gravity sewers can also lend themselves to super-oxygenation for odour prevention because of the low gas exchange rate at the surface associated with deep, low-velocity interceptors. The gas exchange across the air/water interface in a sewer is dependent on the water velocity and depth, so in sewers with low water velocities and deep liquid depth, the rate of gas exchange is low, limiting DO absorption from the overlying air.

However, a significant advantage is gained if super-oxygenation is used for treatment because of the favourable economics of pure oxygen compared with chemical oxidant alternatives.

Similarly, odorous conditions at the head works of a treatment plant can be prevented by super-oxygenation of the influent continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 23

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:58 PM Page 24

Odour and Corrosion

Odour prevention in the primary clarifier depends on a sufficient increase in influent DO to a concentration greater than that consumed in passage through the primary clarifier.

sewer at a point at least 15 to 30 minutes’ travel time before arriving at the plant. This allows complete biological oxidation of any existing H2S in the wastewater before it reaches the treatment plant, and prevents additional H2S formation.

The head works facility of most

WWTPs is the first point of entry into the treatment process. Large solids are generally screened out of the flow at this point, causing turbulent conditions. This turbulence provides a large interfacial surface area for any dissolved H2S to become easily stripped to the atmosphere.

Once it is airborne, odour problems can

be severe, and will also lead to severe corrosion.

Removing dissolved sulphides, as well as preventing additional sulphides from forming before the plant influent hits the bar screens in the head works, will prevent odours and corrosion.

Primary clarifiers are often the major sources of odour. The main causes of such problems are: • High BOD concentrations. • Long detention times. • Lack of oxygen transfer across the quiescent surface. • Anaerobic conditions. • H2S accumulation. • Volatile nature of H2S. • Extreme olfactory offence of low levels of H2S. • Efficient stripping of obnoxious volatiles in discharge weirs.

Odour prevention in the primary clarifier depends on a sufficient increase in influent DO to a concentration greater than that consumed in passage through the primary clarifier. Provision of 20 to 30 mg/L dissolved oxygen will maintain oxic conditions and preclude H2S generation in the bulk water, while allowing

T Tailor-made Ta solutions ffo for all your metering needs - ! + ! (, # ( ' ! ( $# $ %)"%' - % # " ( & !' # ''$& ' # %( ' $# ( %&$ '' )' " ! & .

( - ' & & # !, $# )& ( $# $& ', $% & ( $# # " #( # # & & '

*** $ #" )# & $" #'(&)" #( ( $# $ #" )# & $"

24 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:58 PM Page 25

Odour and Corrosion bacterial oxidation of H2S flux from the sludge layer into the bulk water. In addition, a direct reduction in DO consumption will occur in the aeration tank in proportion to the DO consumed in the primary clarifier.

Thus, there is now the possibility of achieving odour prevention with no net increase in oxygen demand and no need for costly tank covers and the extraction and scrubbing of foul off-gases.

The challenges and resulting costs of odour treatment are well known in the

wastewater industry. Unfortunately, the cost of infrastructure repair and replacement is not so easily quantified. In many cases, municipalities that expect their wastewater infrastructure to last for periods of 50 or more years are experiencing unexpected failure much sooner.

The need for economical and effective technology for odour and corrosion prevention and control is becoming more urgent. Public intolerance of odours near wastewater treatment plants or conveyance operations is increasing.

At this critical time, super-oxygenation technology is available to prevent odour production and corrosion of the infrastructure. The low cost of pure oxygen also gives it a substantial advantage over the use of alternative oxidizing chemicals.

Kevin Jacobs is with ECO Oxygen Technologies. E-mail: mmohlenbrink@eco2tech.com

Manitoba announces changes to its sewage ejector phase-out program New options are now available for rural Manitoba homeowners with existing sewage ejectors. Homeowners considering transferring, or subdividing, a property may now apply to Manitoba Conservation to retain an existing sewage ejector following property transfer or subdivision, provided the sewage ejector is: • not located within an environmentallysensitive area • located on a minimum of 10 acres • in compliance with all other regulatory requirements Homeowners selling their property may also apply to transfer the responsibility of phasing out the ejector to the new homeowner, or to extend the time available for the phase-out.

This amendment responds to the concerns of rural homeowners, while continuing to ensure the protection of human health and the environment.

Sewage ejectors are used by homes with septic tanks that are divided into two compartments. Liquid overflows into the second compartment and a liquid level control starts a pump that pumps the liquid from the tank out onto the fields through a special ejector pipe. This pipe is designed to drain back into the ground after the pump shuts off so that the system does not freeze up in the winter.

For more information, visit www.manitoba.ca.

www.esemag.com

!JC?L QMJSRGMLQ GL WMSP NPMACQQ ?SRMK?RGML

1GLEJC 1MSPAC -EASURING TECHNOLOGY FOR SAFE EFl CIENT WATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT s !NALYZERS AND SENSORS CUSTOMIZED TO YOUR SYSTEMS PROCESSES s .3& #ERTIl ED &LOW SOLUTIONS s 7IDE RANGE OF ,EVEL INSTRUMENTATION s 0APERLESS 2ECORDERS VISUAL SAFETY DATA MANAGERS s !UTOMATED PROCESS 3OLUTIONS s #ALIBRATION 6ERIl CATION 3ERVICES 5 + IS ,IFECYCLE -ANAGEMENT 4RY ONE OF ITS FUNCTIONS FOR $0## WWW CA ENDRESS COM DEVICEVIEWER %NDRESS (AUSER #ANADA ,TD 3UTTON $RIVE "URLINGTON /NTARIO , , :

4EL

&AX INFO CA ENDRESS COM WWW CA ENDRESS COM

May 2010 | 25

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:58 PM Page 26

Environmental Management

Sustainable development: Putting numbers on the idea

By Robert Noël-De-Tilly and Bernard Lefrançois

T

here is much talk about sustainability these days, with political leaders, heads of companies, and the news media adding to the chorus. While many members of the environmental professions agree with the sentiment, they deal in hard numbers and sound science, and may find there are few tools they can apply in their work to support sustainability principles.

This is particularly true when it comes to property development, which involves making decisions that involve trade-offs and, sometimes, an effort to find the best solution.

Just how does one wrap a spreadsheet around the concept of sustainability? The answer is important not just to guide decision-making, but to do it in a way that is quantifiable and defensible so that property owners can demonstrate to stakeholders the reasons for their choices.

A changing concept To understand the application of sustainability principles to environmental work, it is important first to understand how the concept has evolved.

The idea of sustainable development stems from the recognition that economic activity must be carried out in ways that respect the integrity of the environment, while promoting social equity. It is currently defined as development that meets the needs of the present while not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Accordingly, a commonly used approach to sustainable development involves three aspects: economic, social, and environmental. All three are important to a project’s success.

If its proponents cannot show that the project will work from a monetary point of view, they will have difficulty raising

BIOLAC® Wastewater Treatment System The Biolac System is an innovative activated sludge process using a long sludge age process to create an extremely stable, easily operated system.

financing or generating a profit when it is completed. If social needs are not met, the project may run into local stakeholder opposition, which may translate into lack of support from political leaders, again making it hard to raise money or attract buyers or tenants. Failing to address environmental concerns will mean regulatory delays and denials, as well as opposition from environmental stakeholders and organizations, making the project unattractive to buyers and tenants.

Sustainable development can be thought of as a “triple bottom line” in which the evaluation of a project’s success goes beyond the financial profit or loss, to evaluating its success from an environmental perspective, and also how it meets the needs of people. Or, it can be seen as a three-legged stool — all three legs are important, and, if one is shorter than the others, the stool doesn’t

Two thirds of the earth’s surface is covered by water.

The rest is covered by SEW-EURODRIVE.

The capabilities of this unique technology far exceed ordinary extended aeration treatment. The Biolac System offers high BOD removal, complete nitrification and the formation of a very stable waste sludge.

The Biolac System’s design ensures the lowest-cost construction and guarantees operational simplicity. With in-ground basin construction, the Biolac System’s various components combine to produce excellent quality effluent at the lowest total plant cost.

Manufacturers and machine builders in C Canada anada and ar around ound the w world orld look to to SE SEW-EURODRIVE W-EURODRIVE for for integrated integrated dr drive ive solutions and around-the-clock around-the-clock service service and support. support.

W With ith three three Canadian Canadian assembly plants plants and mor more e in inventory ventory than all our ccompetitors ompetitors - we we are are the nation’s nation’s leading supplier of gear geared ed mot motors, ors, speed reducers reducers and electronic electronic controllers. controllers.

For For the ccomplete omplete solution, call

www.parkson.com • Canada@parkson.com Tel 514-636-8712 • Fax 514-636-9718 205-1000 St-Jean • Pointe-Claire, QC H9R 5P1

D Driving riving the world world 210 Walker Walker Drive Drive Bramalea, Bramalea, ON L6T 3W1 TTel: el: e (905) 791-1553 FFax: ax: (905) 791-2999 Email: mar marketing@sew-eurodrive.ca keting@sew-eurodrive.ca Website: Website: www.sew-eurodrive.ca www.sew-eurodrive.ca

An Axel Johnson Inc. Company

26 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:58 PM Page 27

Environmental Management the prospect for sustainability performance.

A comprehensive analytical framework can lead to sound decisions in which principles on sustainable development can be implemented at the project level. This process will enhance the understanding of the sustainability issues, which will, in turn, position the project proponents so that they can engage more proactively with their stakeholders, better manage their risks, and ultimately improve the overall performance of their Property development must meet economic, social and environmental needs.

Photo by Carl Friesen

work and can be unstable.

The challenge for the environmental professions is finding a practical, workable way to determine ahead of time whether all three “legs” will be of an appropriate “length” — in other words, whether all three aspects of sustainability are being adequately addressed.

Frameworks have been developed by several institutions to address this issue, including the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC, 2004), the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD, 2008), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2006) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2001), as well as performance indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2006) and the Equator Principles (2006).

These call for the need to tackle sustainability issues in a more pragmatic and transparent fashion.

The difficulty is in implementing these frameworks at the project level and during the design phase. Organizations need tools to evaluate project proposals effectively and efficiently with a comprehensive sustainability approach.

Such an evaluation process needs to be: • Easy to understand and communicate; • Defensible and transparent to the stakeholders; • Flexible so that both quantitative and qualitative information can be processed; • Balanced and comprehensive regarding the sustainability principles; • Specific to the organization and its activities; and, • Pragmatic, so it can support sound decisions based on a rigorous evaluation of www.esemag.com

project.

A five-stage process Golder Associates Ltd. has developed a decision-making software program called GoldSET© (Golder Sustainability Evaluation Tool).

The decision-making involves a fivestage process: 1. Site description. Setting out a description of the site helps conceptualize site conditions and determine the key issues the project must address. It includes continued overleaf...

Levelogger Proven to be Worth its Weight in Gold

Dependable Water Level Datalogger Maintenance Free Design Lifetime Calibration Backwards Compatible 3 Year Warranty Real-Time View The Levelogger Gold is a self contained water level datalogger, which is completely designed, developed and manufactured in-house, in the tradition of all Solinst high quality products. The Levelogger Gold uses infra-red data transfer, providing the flexibility of installing by use of a simple wireline or by using a Direct Read Cable to surface.

The Levelogger Gold includes a pressure transducer, temperature thermistor, 10 year lithium battery (based on 1 reading per minute), and internal datalogger with a capacity of 40,000 temperature and water level datapoints.

User-selectable Sampling Schedule 10 Year Battery (1 reading/minute) SDI-12 Compatible

LTC Levelogger Junior Level Temperature and Conductivity NEW LTC Levelogger Junior from Solinst combines temperature and conductivity sensors, pressure transducer, datalogger, memory for 16,000 sets of readings, and a 5-year battery, in a small waterproof housing. It is compatible with Levelogger Gold software, accessories and telemetry. Ideal for salinity studies and a general indication of contamination levels. Low cost !

Leveloader Gold The Leveloader Gold is a rugged data transfer device dedicated to the Levelogger Series. It stores up to 1.39 million datapoints, allows Levelogger re-programming, and viewing of real-time data in the field.

High Quality Groundwater and Surface Water Monitoring Instrumentation Solinst Canada Ltd., 35 Todd Road, Georgetown, ON L7G 4R8 Tel: +1 (905) 873-2255; (800) 661-2023 Fax: +1 (905) 873-1992; (800) 516-9081 Visit our website: www.solinst.com E-mail: instruments@solinst.com

May 2010 | 27

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:58 PM Page 28

Environmental Management finding out who the key stakeholders are, and their interests and needs. In this way, the objectives of the project are understood before the sustainability evaluation begins.

2. Generating options. Because there is not generally one “right answer” in property development, it is important to determine the various possible ways of attaining the project’s objectives. Options must then be narrowed down according to whether they are able to meet those objectives. For example, if a waterfront project must include a public park on the water, options that do not allow for easy public access must be eliminated.

3. Selecting indicators. Indicators tailored to the specifics of the project are selected, based on the context and the specifics of the project. The indicators are chosen for their relevance to the project appraisal because they reflect the critical issues that will determine the overall performance of a project. These indicators are chosen based on international and national references, as well as industry-specific references and legal requirements.

To apply sustainability criteria to its railroad operations, in 2007, CN asked Golder Associates to develop a customized version of its GoldSET software tool.

4. Ranking options. The sustainability evaluation of the project is performed based on a structured system for ranking the options. Depending on the size of the project and the level of uncertainty acceptable to the client (versus cost to reduce this uncertainty), the framework can be adapted to the requirements of the project.

For instance, project costs and revenues, energy consumption, greenhouse

gas emissions, water consumption and wastes can typically be calculated, while health and safety, and the impacts on the landscape and cultural heritage of a site, may be more difficult to quantify.

5. Interpreting data. It is an iterative process, so if new information becomes available, it can be added. Sensitivity analysis performed on the outputs can improve the reliability of the findings.

The result of this process is a clearer

MEMBRANE BIOREACTORS

FOR TREATMENT OF MUNICIPAL & INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

EFFLUENT EXCEEDS REGULATORY GUIDELINES FEATURES: Water can be Recycled and Reused Small Footprint, Low Maintenance Ideal for Decentralized Applications Experienced Design Team Custom Turn-Key Solutions

FOCUSED ON SOLUTIONS

744 Gordon Baker Road Toronto, Ontario M2H 3B4 Tel: (416) 490-7848 Fax: (416) 490-0974 www.filterinnovations.com

28 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 29

Environmental Management understanding of the issues, the options and the trade-offs among them, to guide selection of an option that meets the project objectives in the most sustainable way.

Case study - railroad operations To apply sustainability criteria to its railroad operations, in 2007, CN asked Golder Associates to develop a customized version of its GoldSET software tool. So, what was originally a qualitative tool was adapted to include quantitative analysis, including greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water usage, waste generation, duration of work and Net Present Value of options, tailored to the needs of CN. Three examples of applying the version of the program developed for CN follow: 1. Diesel-impacted fractured bedrock.

An operating rail yard, which had been affected by diesel within fractured bedrock, was evaluated. The site had been monitored for 10 years, and product recovery was ongoing but with limited results.

CN asked Golder to complete a conceptual site model and a remedial option

evaluation. Five remedial options were identified, based on previous environmental site assessments. Initial evaluation using the software tool identified two options, multiphase extraction, and the injection of oxygenated water, that were likely to have positive impacts on economic, social, and environmental issues.

Additional site characterization and pilot testing refined these options. Tests indicated that naturally occurring attenuation might be preventing migration of both the dissolved and non-aqueous diesel phases. Therefore, natural attenuation was added to the list of remedial technologies to be considered.

Monitoring natural attenuation was chosen as it respects the overall management goals for the site and provides a more balanced approach with respect to the three aspects of sustainability.

2. Recovering weathered diesel. At a former CN yard in Saskatchewan, there was an existing treatment system for the recovery of weathered diesel. The software tool identified “easy-to-implement” modifications for a high-energy pump that would result in energy savings

Membrane Bioreactors

of 17% and a 15-tonne CO2 equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

During the evaluation of remedial alternatives, it was discovered that incorporating a biological percolation system to treat the hydrocarbon-charged effluent would result in waste reduction of 90 tonnes of carbon filtered over the expected life of the project and 435 tonnes of CO2 equivalent reduction in gas emissions.

3. Remediation of a hydrocarbon spill.

Remedial options for a large diesel and gasoline spill in protected habitat (a bog), where vegetation regrowth and natural attenuation of hydrocarbons had been observed, were assessed. The findings demonstrated that excavating the contaminated area would completely destroy the habitat, and generate approximately 5,000 tonnes of waste and emissions, translating into 320 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in gas emissions.

Robert Noël de Tilly, Eng., and Bernard Lefrançois, Jr. Eng., are with Golder Associates Ltd. E-mail: robert_noel-de-tilly@golder.com, blefrancois@golder.com

Be Safe With Grace Wireless Man-Down Alarms

First discharge from SaniBrane® Membrane Bioreactor, Snap Lake, exceeded effluent requirements.

Over Sixty Years of Excellence in Water and Wastewater Treatment Solutions

www.sanibrane.com North Vancouver, BC, Canada Tel: 604-986-9168 Fax: 604-986-5377 information@sanitherm.com

www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 29

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 30

Stormwater Management

Effectively managing stormwater with subsurface infiltration systems

By Michelle Zwick

T

hroughout Canada, thousands of stormwater systems are installed in an effort to manage runoff effectively on developed land and prevent pollution of watercourses. Many provinces have instituted stormwater regulations to counteract the potential environmental effects of runoff from impervious surfaces such as roofs and parking lots.

For example, Ontario enacted its Clean Water Act in 2006. In Alberta, the Stormwater Management Guidelines document was created in 1987, and updated in 1999, to provide design guidance under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the Water Act. To manage stormwater, many projects employ certain best management practices (BMPs) to store runoff onsite temporarily and then release it to a municipal system. One particular BMP inPolymaster™ System Now CSA Listed

The POLYMASTER™ liquid polymer mixing/diluting system now complies with both UL778 and CSA C22.2 No. 108-01 standards. The system thoroughly activates emulsion, dispersion and solution polymers, including new high molecular weight liquid polymers, and can produce dilute solution (0.1% – 2.0%) at rates up to 50 gpm.

The patented “Gatlin” is a motorized mixing chamber that segments the polymer into ultra-thin film for maximum activation.

This system is unique in that the degree of activation is not affected by fluctuating water pressures.

Neptune Chemical Pump Co. Lansdale, PA Tel: 888-3NEPTUNE or 215-699-8700 E-Mail: pump@neptune1.com Web: www.neptune1.com

30 | May 2010

volves a subsurface retention/detention infiltration and storage chamber system that protects the environment and provides solutions to various provincial and municipal requirements.

Stormwater management 101 Containing stormwater can be accomplished with retention and detention systems. Retention is the process for storing stormwater without subsequent surface discharge. In underground retention systems, the chambers capture and hold the stormwater until it is infiltrated back into the ground. While the concept of infiltration is new to many Canadian provinces, it is widely used throughout the United States.

In the detention process, runoff is only temporarily stored until it is cast out to an offsite area, such as a storm drain, pond or wetland. A detention system is implemented if a commercial building site does not allow for infiltration practices, because of local municipality regulations or concerns for watershed pollution. Detention systems typically include all of the components of a retention system, along with an impervious liner to prevent the water from being infiltrated and a back-end filter assembly to treat the runoff before it is released into a wetland or storm drain.

Controlling stormwater Today’s stormwater BMPs are economical solutions that factor in environmental implications such as water quality and recharge as well as appropriateness for a particular site. These BMPs can be grouped into two broad categories: non-structural and structural.

Non-structural BMPs include a range of pollution prevention, educational, institutional, management and development practices, intended to limit the conversion of rainfall to runoff and to prevent pollutants from entering runoff at the source of generation.

Structural BMPs deal with stormwater at the point of generation or the point of discharge into the storm sewer system or to receiving waters. They include the following:

• Infiltration systems capture high-volume runoff and infiltrate it into the ground. These systems include underground storage chambers made of highdensity polyethylene, such as Cultec’s Contactor® and Recharger® chambers.

• Detention systems capture runoff and temporarily store it until it is released, but do not retain a significant permanent pool of water between snow or rain events. Detention systems are designed to hold the water while infiltration systems are engineered to allow for groundwater recharge.

• Retention systems capture runoff and retain it until it is displaced in part or whole by the next runoff event. They maintain a significant permanent pool of water between events. These include wet ponds, retention tanks, tunnels, vaults, plastic chambers, and pipes.

• Constructed wetland systems are similar to retention and detention systems, except that vegetation is incorporated, usually at the surface in pond applications, and underwater in meadow-type systems.

• Filtration systems use a combination of granular filtering media such as sand, organic material, carbon, or a membrane to remove debris in the runoff.

• Vegetated systems (biofilters) such as swales and filter strips are designed to convey or treat shallow runoff and to mimic the functions of a natural forest ecosystem.

Advantages of subsurface infiltration systems Subsurface chamber systems can be used in almost any type of stormwater situation. They can serve as subsurface retention or detention systems and as replacements for ponds, concrete structures or pipe and stone installations.

They offer many benefits, including: 1. Freeing up space. One of the main benefits of using a subsurface system is the maximum use of land. These systems leave space for additional buildings, parking and landscaping, which is especially important in urban areas where land is at a premium.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 31

Stormwater Management 2. Safety. Potential liabilities inherent in above-ground water storage, such as wet ponds, do not exist with underground systems. Accessible standing water, a potential breeding ground for insects such as mosquitoes, is also eliminated.

3. Pollutants removal. Underground chamber systems remove a high percentage of phosphorus, nitrogen, lead, zinc, suspended solids, and organic compounds from runoff through infiltration.

4. Groundwater recharge. Chamber systems offer significant groundwater recharge in areas with a high percentage of impervious surfaces. In addition, they allow for more controlled infiltration and replenish the surrounding soil and aquifer.

5. Cost savings. Chamber systems are cost-effective to install because the units are stackable, easy to ship, and do not require heavy installation equipment.

Additionally, some systems are made with interlocking connections to allow a fast and straightforward installation.

6. Durability. The high-density polyethylene used in many chambers is both durable and corrosion-resistant. The material also remains resilient in tempera-

Underground chamber systems can be installed in several ways to accommodate specific project needs.

tures below –37.8°C (–100°F) and resists breakdowns normally caused by road salt, which is especially important in cold climates.

7. Structural integrity. Many subsurface chambers feature the arch design, similar to the aqueducts used by the ancient Romans. This design has proven to

be one of the strongest structural engineering designs, and ensures the system’s structural integrity. Additionally, chambers may have interior support panels for added strength.

8. Maintenance. These systems require a combination of pretreatment measures, continued overleaf...

The new AQUAREAD GPS AQUAMETER™ gets you reliable, accurate and dependable water quality readings, fast!

Features • eight different AQUAREAD™ multiparameter probes available to measure dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, temperature, pH and ORP • log readings at regular intervals, AQUAPROBE or grab the current reading • readings displayed along with atmospheric pressure, GPS position and altitude information

www.esemag.com

• copy logged data to your PC with the custom USB cable and run the AQUALINK™ software utility (both supplied as standard) • exports data to most popular spreadsheets and Google™ Maps and Google™ Earth, where the readings can be overlaid on either maps or satellite photos

NEW!

FROM WATERRA

May 2010 | 31

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 32

Stormwater Management

Subsurface chambers can replace ponds, concrete structures, or pipe and stone installations.

Subsurface chamber systems can provide space for parking lots and landscaping areas.

e.g., a catch basin and sump, to keep impurities and debris from entering the storage area. Maintenance is minimal, required only of the preliminary collection system prior to feeding the bed or other filtering devices that may be used.

Limitations do exist. The underground system might not be appropriate in areas where groundwater is a primary source of drinking water, due to the potential for contaminant migration if pretreatment has not taken place.

32 | May 2010

Additional concerns might include limited performance in areas with poorly permeable soil, such as clay, as well as reduced infiltration due to excessive sediment accumulation.

Design of underground systems A typical underground stormwater system includes the inlet, water quality device, conveyance device, and storage chambers. The process begins with runoff entering a collective device, ordinarily from a basin inlet structure. From the

inlet, the stormwater passes through a preventative maintenance device connected to the front end of the system.

Stormwater then enters a manifold system that conveys the runoff to the bed of stormwater chambers. A conventional manifold consists of a pipe and fitting configuration; however, an in-line side portal manifold system eliminates the need for an external pipe header system.

The stormwater chambers are domeshaped, open-bottom, corrugated units with perforated sidewalls that store stormwater. They come in a variety of sizes to accommodate varying site conditions, such as high groundwater and the need for condensed high-volume storage.

Many factors come into play when a stormwater management system is selected, including regulations, the site’s terrain and layout, budget, maintenance requirements, and environmental impact considerations.

A number of design aids and resources exist to help industry professionals specify and apply stormwater management and treatment devices.

These include specification guidelines, online calculators and software modeling programs, where many underground systems are now included. Additionally, some chamber manufacturers offer free design assistance, including preliminary calculations and job-specific CAD details, and have their own design calculators and software.

Specification and implementation of a stormwater management system is important to the success of any commercial building project. Unlike conventional BMPs, subsurface infiltration systems are specifically designed to suit the needs of commercial applications. These underground systems offer economic advantages, and provide solutions to various provincial and municipal requirements. Most importantly, they free up land to allow for further development in urban and urbanizing areas, while minimizing environmental impact.

Michelle Zwick is with Cultec Inc. E-mail: jditullio@cultec.com

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 33

Project Management

Keeping the Hespeler raw sewage pumping station on track

By V. Nazareth, V. Saknenko, G. Kenny, K. Yaji and S. Karlins

A

t the time of the federal government’s announcement of the $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund (ISF) last winter, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and R.V. Anderson Associates Ltd. (RVA) were in the preliminary design phase for upgrades to the Hespeler Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Cambridge, Ontario. As the project progressed, it was recommended that the plant’s raw sewage pumping station be replaced during the plant’s planned expansion in 2016-2017.

However, funding under the ISF was tied to a project completion date of March 31, 2011, with one-third of the funds being provided by each of the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Projects funded by the ISF that are not substantially completed by that date require their remaining expenditures to be paid entirely by the local municipal government.

Therefore the Region took the opportunity of the ISF to advance this project and was granted ISF funding in June 2009. The pumping station had to be designed for a capacity of 440 L/s, with the flexibility to increase capacity to 520 L/s during planned future expansion.

Implementation plan and risk analysis The expedited design process began in June 2009, with the goal of tendering the final design in January 2010. This would have been unachievable if the Region/RVA team was confined to traditional project design delivery approaches.

With non-negotiable internal deliverable dates, a commitment was secured from all team members to maintain the highest level of engineering quality, while doing whatever was necessary to finish the project on time. Not completing it on time could have serious financial consequences for the Region.

Early in the project, the team conducted a review of the design and construction phases of the project, to determine how best to manage the time available in order to maximize the length www.esemag.com

As the project progressed, it was recommended that the plant’s raw sewage pumping station be replaced during the plant’s planned expansion in 2016-2017.

of the construction period. In some cases, a risk analysis approach was used to identify the best path forward.

Among the risks during the design phase, the following were the most significant: • Constructability concerns — rock excavation, high groundwater table, dewatering and treatment of groundwater, close proximity to existing structures.

• Design reviews — insufficient time for standard review milestones of 30%, 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% design, a need for expeditious approvals of changes to the design.

• External agency approvals — Ministry of the Environment (MOE) Certificate of Approval (Sewage) and Permit To Take Water (PTTW); City of Cambridge building permit and blasting permit; and Grand River Conservation Authority permit and other approvals.

• Contractor and equipment procurement — selection of pre-qualified contractor, major equipment pre-purchase, expeditious construction commencement.

The most critical risks during the construction phase were: • Environmental issues — impact on nearby Provincially Significant Wet-

lands, groundwater table, Speed River (siltation and erosion protection).

• Equipment delivery — delivery of pumps, transformer, switchgear and MCC. • Specialized construction techniques — controlled rock blasting.

• Working hours — a potentially longer work week would be required, along with consideration of minor variances with local noise by-laws.

Challenging site conditions and constructability Existing geotechnical and hydrogeological information for the site was sufficient to begin preliminary design.

Once the location and dimensions of the new facility were established, constructability issues were dealt with in a number of meetings, and additional site investigations (geotechnical, hydrogeological, environmental impact statement) were conducted in parallel with the design work. Based on this new information, some specific design components were revisited and revised as required.

While the pumping station’s mechanical design issues were well-defined, the Hespeler WWTP site itself presented continued overleaf...

May 2010 | 33

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 34

Project Management some challenging conditions: • Located in very close proximity to a former landfill.

• Surrounded by Speed River Provincially Significant Wetland Complex.

• Bedrock underlies the site at a depth of 1.2 to 3.25 m.

• Groundwater levels are consistent with the elevation of the overburden bedrock interface.

• Twenty-nine wells located within a 1-km radius of the site, including public water supply, domestic, stock and groundwater monitoring wells.

As the design progressed, it became apparent that bedrock excavation would be a significant portion of the scope of work for this project. With a new pumping station footprint of approximately 470 m2 and a depth of approximately 11 metres, excavation of approximately 5,000 m3 of bedrock would be required.

For this excavation, controlled rock blasting rather than mechanical breaking was recommended by the geotechnical consultant.

The Region was not familiar with controlled rock blasting. So a specialized consultant was immediately retained to reduce the level of risk by advising on the blasting scope of work, assisting in the preparation of projectspecific specifications for blasting, and providing a third-party review of a controlled blasting program and monitoring during construction.

Employing rock blasting as a construction technique also introduced the risk of groundwater contamination from nitrates in the explosives. This issue, while not an immediately obvious risk, had to be investigated. As a result, nitrate-free explosives were specified for all site rock blasting activities, to avoid contamination of the groundwater and costly treatment that would otherwise be necessary.

The extent of dewatering required during site excavation was investigated by a hydrogeological consultant, and was determined to be as high as 3.8 million L/day. Aside from the logistics of dewatering such a large volume, the dewatering activities had the potential to disrupt the surrounding ecosystem.

Therefore, a plan was developed only after completing a specialized ecological survey. This ensured that the Provin34 | May 2010

Critical risks during the construction phase.

cially Significant Wetland Complex adjacent to the Hespeler WWTP site would not experience adverse effects as a result of the dewatering.

To address any possible influence on the nearby wells, numerical modeling simulation was used for assessment. The location of the wells, geotechnical properties of the rock and amount of dewatering were all considered and showed no influence on the wells. However, the Region will monitor groundwater levels during construction, and has informed the surrounding property owners of the possible chances of any influence. Precautionary backup measures were also identified.

Design delivery To fast-track the project design, it was agreed that the number of design submissions would be reduced from five to three (30%, 60% and 90%). Also, each submission of project design drawings and specifications would be followed by a workshop-style meeting with the Region, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, the agency responsible for operating the plant, and RVA. The workshops allowed unresolved design issues to be addressed and finalized, and design preferences to

be clarified to avoid protracted decisionmaking delays.

Risk management was critical to the project outcome, and the team evaluated the issues raised at each stage, based on risk to the overall project schedule, and considered applicable risk mitigation.

For example, rock anchors were included in the design initially to protect the pumping station from groundwater uplift during construction, which would typically allow for a shortened dewatering period. However, the use of rock anchors in the context of risk management was such that the benefits of shortened dewatering time did not overcome the extended time required for rock anchor installation (estimated at four to six weeks), and the additional cost and risk associated with groundwater treatment to remove drilling debris.

Accordingly, although rock anchors had been accepted by all parties, RVA proposed a late design change, after an internal risk and quality review meeting, to remove the rock anchors from the final design and modify the structural design. This was accepted by the Region primarily because of the benefit to the schedule.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 9:59 PM Page 35

Project Management Support from regulatory agencies While a dedicated and committed team was critical to its outcome, the project would not have been successful without the assistance of the regulatory agencies and local authorities.

Regulatory approvals can often extend project schedules by several months, and such delays would have been detrimental to the Hespeler project schedule. Early in the project, the regulatory agencies (MOE regional and district offices, Grand River Conservation Authority, and City of Cambridge) were contacted and any potential issues that could delay approvals were discussed and addressed. As a result of this effective collaboration, issues identified to obtain necessary approvals were clarified early and ultimately proved vital to maintaining the project timeline.

Contractor and equipment procurement As part of the risk management approach, pre-qualification of general contractors was carried out so the most qualified contractors would be bidding the project. Twenty-three Requests for Prequalification were received from

www.esemag.com

general contractors, nine of which were pre-qualified. Six bids were received, and the contract was awarded to Graham Construction and Engineering on March 24, 2010, for a total value of $6,780,000.

Apart from the general contract, the Region decided to pre-purchase the major equipment — pumps, transformer and switchgear — to minimize the risk of project delays from extended equipment lead times.

To expedite commencement of construction, Graham Construction was contacted immediately after a recommendation of the contract award was prepared. With the understanding of the risks involved without formal Regional Council approval, they agreed to start with low-risk project activities such as preparing schedules, contacting subcontractors and holding a pre-construction meeting. As a result of these advanced actions, the contractor was prepared when Council approval was received.

The approach to expedite design and approvals to maximize available time for construction has been successful primarily because of a team approach where all parties were committed to the con-

cept that “schedule rules,” while maintaining a high quality of work. Each party demonstrated a willingness to allow the design to move quickly and effectively, with quality control and quality assurance built in through workshops with the Region and its contract operator, and internal reviews by consulting staff.

This spirit has carried over to the construction commencement phase, with a demonstrated effort by the contractor to move things along quickly. The project team is hopeful that this spirit will prevail, and barring any “curve balls” from weather, labour disputes or ground conditions, substantial performance is expected on or before the target date.

Vincent Nazareth, P. Eng., Valera Saknenko, P. Eng., and Geneviève Kenny, P. Eng., are with R. V. Anderson Associates Ltd. Kaoru Yajima, P.Eng., and Susan Karlins, P.Eng., are with the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.

For more information, E-mail: vsaknenko@rvanderson.com

May 2010 | 35

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:00 PM Page 36

Trenchless Technology

A new twist to an old technology for replacing culverts By Al Tenbusch

W

hen commerce is disrupted, property destroyed and people injured, newspaper headlines point to sinkholes as the cause. These stories are reporting on the consequences when something that we depend upon doesn’t work. However, they overlook the engineering and science that is being applied to make our highways and local roads safe, as buried infrastructure reaches the end of its service life.

Products used to construct the infrastructure that we depend upon have very specific service lives. When these products were placed in the ground decades

ago, there were few plans in place to finance maintenance of the structures and eventual replacement. Public works officials nationwide are dealing with the necessary replacement of a massive infrastructure network, despite the shortfall in funds to fix every failing culvert.

The service life of numerous drains is being extended by many means, some more effective than others, to mark time until funds are available for eventual replacement.

Public works professionals are fully aware that failures can be costly in terms of interruption to community services and commerce, and that the failure of

Highway 417 closure near Ottawa due to failure of a culvert.

Photo courtesy of CBC Image Research.

36 | May 2010

one structural element may lead to the failure of another. That is why extending the service life of failing culverts is not the solution. It is important to replace failing and failed culverts as soon as possible to protect associated structures from premature failure.

There are a series of questions that might be asked to determine solutions for failing culverts, such as: • Is the existing culvert size appropriate to handle local and regional floods in the context of changing weather patterns and climate change?

• Is the existing culvert material flexible or rigid?

• Has the existing culvert changed shape?

• Has the existing culvert suffered deterioration in the invert?

• Is the culvert close to catastrophic failure?

If the culvert does not need to be upsized and is rigid, or the flexible conduit has not changed shape, then the owner has options. These may include curedin-place liners, and slip lining. Slip lining can be done with different products, but all slip lining results in a smaller diameter conduit. In addition, slip lining requires grouting of the annulus, or void between the new pipe and the old pipe.

If the existing culvert has changed shape, or the invert has deteriorated and the bedding loosened or allowed to shift, there are two very important details to consider: 1. The existing pipe is likely to be surrounded with granular bedding according to installation specifications or standards.

2. During a rain or thaw event, there is always a certain amount of hydrostatic pressure upstream.

Because a change in shape or a deterioration of the bedding has already loosened material around the old pipeline or culvert, the obvious option would include excavating the structure and loose backfill and installing a new culvert with new bedding and backfill. In this way, the culvert can be upsized if needed, and the new bedding and backfill properly placed and compacted.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:00 PM Page 37

Trenchless Technology

Existing culvert being replaced with jacking pipe.

However, an open cut replacement of a culvert can be expensive and the method upsets communities because of the subsequent disruption to traffic and local commerce. However, there is another option, called “tunnel and replace� that adds a new twist to an old technology.

Tunnel and replace When tunneling is mentioned, the expectation is that it is the most expensive option. This is often not the case. Tunneling through an existing culvert or cross drain requires less material removal and takes less time.

The replacement may be with con-

Liner plate installation by tunneling - no backstop is required.

ventional jacking pipe materials, such as clay, steel casing, polymer concrete pipe, or concrete pipe, or the replacement may be with tunnel liner plate. In either case, it is possible to replace the existing structure with the same size culvert, or a larger culvert of greater flow capacity.

The failing culvert is replaced, as the tunnel is excavated.

It is important to compare replacement with jacking pipe and replacement with tunnel liner plate. Jacking pipe is appropriate when the job can accommodate a jacking pit. Since many culverts start at ground level on both the up-

stream and downstream ends, the use of liner plate is appropriate when construction of a jacking pit is not possible.

When using conventional tunneling with jacking pipe, new pipe is jacked segment by segment, as the crew removes the existing culvert in pieces and excavates any face material, within a protective shield. The shield has steering capability to maintain grade.

The jacking unit is substantial, and requires a sizeable work pit. Jacking a pipe column requires the use of a lubricant which will help reduce the surface continued overleaf...

A Practical, Real-World Take a On Water Sustainability!

This single-source guide to water sustainability outlin various solutions to problems involving limited wat resources. Featuring twenty case studies, this book propos solutions based on real-world projects! It discusses th science and environmental issues behind the water crisis and also delves into the various methods of tackling the issues on a practical basis. Sustainable Solutions for Wa ater Resources examines the problems, the possible solutions and, most importantly, the implications of our actions. s #LOTH s PAGES s !PRIL s For more information and other titles please visit www.wiley.ca

Save today on Amazon.ca!

www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 37

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:00 PM Page 38

Trenchless Technology friction that the column will generate.

The longer the column of new pipe, the more important it is to use lubricant.

When the new pipe is in place, the annular space must be grouted.

When replacing with tunnel liner plate, the new liner plate is installed one ring (typically 16 inches long) at a time, as the tunnel is advanced. The crew removes the culvert in pieces and excavates as necessary, within a protective shield which is advanced by hydraulic cylinders located in the shield that push off of the most recently assembled liner plate ring. The shield has steering capability to maintain grade. The work area must be long enough to launch the shield and to allow for the safe entrance and exit of the crew and materials.

Liner plate installation does not require a lubricant and the installed liner plate must be grouted at the end of each shift or workday. Installation does not require a jacking pit.

The liner plate can be as thick as three eighths of an inch. It can be galvanized and protected with other coatings.

In areas where a concrete pipe is needed,

Use of concrete jacking pipe.

the liner plate tunnel can be large enough to accommodate the insertion of concrete “carrier pipe”.

There is one other option. The finished liner plate tunnel can be lined with reinforcing steel or mesh and then shotcreted with a concrete liner to create a continuous concrete conduit.

For decades, corrugated metal pipe (CMP) culverts have been installed under most highways and local roads.

With a service life that does not often reach the design life of the roads they service, failures often take place and are

reported by the media before scheduled maintenance and replacement can take place.

The good news is that the challenge of matching the service life of materials and products to the design life of projects is uppermost in the minds of public works officials. Federal, provincial and municipal officials must work with, among other things, limited funding, changing standards and specifications, new products and materials, changing technology, political action, and changing weather and climate regimes.

There are options, however, to extend the service life of culverts that are affordable. Tunneling culverts is a new twist to an old technology that works. It has environmental, economic, and social attributes that can quickly add value to major infrastructure assets. Something to consider in times of limited funding and urgent needs.

Al Tenbusch is President of Tenbusch, Inc. E-mail: info@tenbusch.com

You are 1 degree of separation from changing your world. Which 1 will it be?

76 affordable degrees of distinction – 100% online, including Environmental Studies with concentrations in: Environmental Policies Environmental Sustainability Global Environmental Mgmt.

Environmental Technology & Mgmt.

Regional & Community Environmental Mgmt.

-PZO >PSKSPML 4NT[

Let us help you get started today. ^^^ Z[\K`H[(7< JVT enviro

Respected. Affordable. Online.

38 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:00 PM Page 39

A diverse range of case histories and new developments is reviewed in ES&E’s semi-annual look at tanks, containment systems and spill management.

Oil refinery gets double service from loading rack

A

motor fuel and asphalt refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, had been planning a major rearrangement of its tank car loading track to accommodate the shipment of diesel fuel by tank cars. The initial plan in early 2009 was to retrofit an existing asphalt loading dock to load diesel fuel and install track spill containment pans to comply with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

After reviewing options, Murphy Oil’s mechanical engineer selected a track collector pan manufactured by Transport Environmental Systems, Inc. (TESI). The steel pan has a reinforced bar grate deck so any loaded tanker truck can drive right over it. It was ordered for a summer 2009 delivery.

Meanwhile, other factors, including the construction of new spur tracks, postponed the original plan, and the evaluation team concluded that, if two of the drive-over collector pans were installed beside the same loading rack structure, the expense of building a second truck loading rack facility would be avoided.

By simply re-routing the access roadways to come up to and parallel the railroad spur tracks, tanker trucks could load or unload using the same loading arms and other equipment, and even

www.esemag.com

The drive-over track collector pans have four, 4” drains in the ends of the track pans.

save by having one supervisor for the double-duty loading rack. If a tank car was parked over the track pan on one side, tanker trucks could use the other side for loading. If there was no railroad activity, tanker trucks could use both lanes. The TESI track pans also allow access for maintenance vehicles.

A second collector pan set was ordered, and delivered in early December.

To improve all-weather transloading operations, a closed, heated shed was added on top of the loading rack struc-

ture to limit the amount of rainwater in the open track pans, and a portable steam generator was positioned to melt away any accumulation of blown-in snow. There are drains in the ends of the track pans and the bar grate support matrixes can be lifted out and the track pan floor squeegeed or shoveled out if needed.

For more information, E-mail: Mark Jensen, Transport Environmental mark@jensen.net

May 2010 | 39

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:00 PM Page 40

Retractable odour-control covers improve access to wastewater tanks

T

he Vallejo Sanitation & Flood Control District, in the San Francisco Bay area, has been engaged in a program to scrub off-gas odours from all aspects of its wastewater treatment plant. Early in the project, the district had covered all of the facilities in its headworks and primary treatment steps to control off-gas.

Later, it developed a novel approach for the management and disposal of its biosolids, including designing a specialized hopper for storage of the plant’s dewatered solids and an automated truck-fill process for transportation of the solids to a district-owned landfill, again minimizing off-gas release.

The Vallejo Sanitation & Flood Control District has a tradition of innovative use of technology in wastewater handling. It has been recognized by the EPA and awarded the National First Place Award as the most outstanding project involving land application of biosolids in the United States. The plant disposes of 20,000 cubic yards of biosolids per year, to be used as a soil amendment to improve farmland. The plant differs from most in that it uses no digesters in its process.

Recently, the wastewater plant has focused on scrubbing off-gas odours from its secondary treatment processes, and specifically its two open aeration basins.

The Vallejo facility is permitted to treat 15.5 million gallons per day (mgd), but has the capacity to provide full secondary treatment of 35 mgd. During wet weather, the plant is capable of processing 25 mgd primary treatment, combined with the 35 mgd secondary treatment, for a total of 60 mgd.

Streamlined aeration basin covers The Vallejo plant’s two secondary process aeration basins were originally built in 1988, and are each 15 feet deep, 15 feet wide and 110 feet long. Every few weeks, the Vallejo operators conduct a visual inspection into the aeration tanks from the top. Once a year they drain the tanks, go down inside to conduct a physical inspection of the blowers 40 | May 2010

Aeration basin off-gas venting connection.

and diffusers at the bottom, and hose down the sides of the basins.

For almost 20 years, the basins remained uncovered, but as part of the plant’s odour control upgrade, the district looked into options of how to cover them. Carollo Engineers, an environmental engineering firm, was retained

by Vallejo to handle the design and construction management for the plant odour control upgrade, and began reviewing different cover options for enclosing the basins.

“We wanted the covers first for odour control, but they also needed to be corrosion resistant,” says Tim Tekippe, of Carollo Engineers. “But we also needed the covers to be easy to open and close for access to the tanks for sampling, scheduled maintenance and repairs. We felt structurally-supported covers would be the best system for the plant’s needs because of the better access they provide over other systems, like floating covers.

We first looked at rigid type covers such as aluminum and fiberglass, but both of these proved more labor-intensive for operators to gain access to the basins.”

“Along with our engineering firm, Carollo, we looked at a number of other wastewater plants, and what they were using to cover their aeration tanks,” says Barry Pomeroy, Director of Operations and Maintenance at the Vallejo Sanitation & Flood Control District. “We went to a water treatment plant in Colorado that was using retractable, structurallysupported covers made with a geomembrane fabric. They looked like they would be very easy to remove for maintenance, and we watched how easy they were to open and close. We even walked on them while they were in place over the tank, to see how strong and durable they were. Based on that trip, we decided to design these retractable covers into our aeration basins.”

Vallejo’s new retractable, struc-

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:00 PM Page 41

turally-supported geomembrane cover system, which was designed, engineered and built by Geomembrane Technologies Inc. (GTI), consists of a composite sheet of high-strength, UV-protected, coated fabric, tensioned across a series of low-profile aluminum arches which span the tank’s opening. Intermediate aluminum walkways spanning the tank are used to divide the fabric cover sections into appropriate lengths for easy retractability.

The geomembrane cover fabric used

by GTI is made up of a laminated sheet of 40 mil specialty PVC, ethylene interpolymer alloy, that acts as a gas-tight barrier to keep the off-gas from passing through. It incorporates a highly specialized weave design that provides maximum strength-to-weight ratios. Since this topsheet is exposed to the sun, it is also equipped with advanced UV inhibitors. The material can withstand temperatures to minus 30 degrees F. Vallejo’s covers are gas-tight, operating under negative air pressure. A ventilation system draws air through the tank and underneath the covers, and pulls along with it the off-gas from the aeration

Vallejo cover showing aluminum walkways.

process. Off-gas removal piping is connected directly to the cover system and out to a soil filter for odour scrubbing.

Although the membrane covers are gas-tight, they can be quickly detached and easily rolled up along the frame.

This gives operators access to inspect and maintain internal components of the basins. Reattaching the membrane cov-

ers is quick and easy, making for a timeefficient and safe process. Additional hatches in the intermediate aluminum walkways allow access by plant operators without retracting the covers.

For more information, E-mail: bms@gticovers.com

Innovative Water Storage Water is valuable. ZCL Composites Inc. can help you store it wisely while also earning LEED design points with cost-effective fiberglass underground tanks. Some of todays most innovative Green Building projects recognize that water storage is a key element in maximizing water conservation design possibilities.

Green Building applications utilizing ZCL fiberglass tanks include: • Rainwater Harvesting • Stormwater Management • Water Efficient Landscaping Irrigation • Onsite Wastewater Systems • Greywater Recycling • Chiller Unit Water Collection www.zcl.com • (780) 466-6648 phone • (780) 466-6126 fax

www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 41

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:01 PM Page 42

Temcor completes Laguna Beach water reservoir cover

T

emcor recently completed the third in a series of large water reservoir cover replacements in southern California, with the erection of a 162' x 262' column-supported aluminum roof. The most recent roof was built over an existing potable water reservoir at the Laguna Beach County Water District, a non-profit, local government agency that provides retail water service to 25,000 people in an 8.5 square-mile area.

The Temcor cover at Laguna replaced a floating liner/cover system that had reached the end of its effectiveness after 15 years in service. The new cover is an all-aluminum "strut and panel" fixed cover system supported by 36 stainless steel interior columns. The cover's low profile - a rise of only eight feet at its highest point â&#x20AC;&#x201C; adds to the aesthetic aspect of the cover and helps it to blend in with its surroundings.

According to Temcor, the aluminum cover system is maintenance-free, longlasting (minimum 50-year design life), secure, and environmentally friendly.

Not only can the cover system be recycled after its service life, but now more that 50% of the aluminum used in these cover systems is recycled aluminum.

In addition to the design, fabrication and erection of the cover, the contract also included the design and construction of the new concrete footings and shear walls required to support the cover.

The reservoir as a whole was updated for current California Building Code seismic requirements during the design and construction phase.

It was extremely important for Laguna Beach Water to minimize the amount of time the reservoir was out of service. Construction of the footings and shear walls started in November 2009 and the roof completion ended in March 2010.

Laguna Beach County Water District reservoir cover under construction (above) and completed (below).

For more information, E-mail: info@temcor.com

42 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:01 PM Page 43

Enclosure made to fit septage receiving equipment

D

uring development of a wastewater treatment facility, large equipment is often located before the building is completed. This was the challenge at the Allegan Waste Water Treatment facility in Michigan.

With the newly installed septage receiving equipment, RM Products Ltd. was requested to solve the issue of covering the machine while still allowing the equipment to be monitored and serv-

www.esemag.com

iced. The company custom-designed an enclosure to accommodate servicing the machine. Custom access doors and a specialty hatch were manufactured to fit the design of the machine, allowing it to be removed easily.

RM Products' fiberglass buildings are resistant to the highly corrosive environment present in a septage receiving station. Fiberglass components are strong and durable, yet light weight, which allows them to be assembled rapidly in a

congested work space.

This unit was assembled in two and a half days complete with unique features such as the raised hatch, doors, insulation, ventilation, and explosion-proof electrics.

The flexibility of the fiberglass modular components allows for easy expansion at a later date, if required.

For more information, E-mail: stephanie@rmfiberglass.com

May 2010 | 43

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:01 PM Page 44

Professional refuelling reduces risk to employees, the environment and insurance rates

W

hile you are filling your gas tank, do you fret over what would happen if you spilled a bit of fuel?

Do you sweat over the impact it would have on the environment, the facility employees, or their insurance rates? Of course not. You think about other things.

And so does everyone else, right?

Now consider the daily refuelling of huge fleets of trucks or the equipment spread over large construction sites.

Multiply that small chance of a spill by the thousands of litres, the hundreds of tanks, and all those operators thinking about other things while they fuel.

It is stating the obvious to say that all this poses enormous risk to employees and the environment. But whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less obvious is the impact this has on productivity, employee health, insurance rates, and the staggering costs of cleaning up a fuel spill.

Certified fuelling professional refuelling a piece of equipment.

Print & Digital Publications | Newsletters Corporate Branding | Custom Graphics Print & Event Management | Signage Banners | Websites | Advertisements

t.: 905.503.CMAC (2622) e.: chris@cmac-designs.ca www.cmac-designs.ca

l Friendly Print a nt e m on ir nv E Your ource!

Management S 44 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:01 PM Page 45

Transport and construction companies rely on three methods of refuelling.

The first is commercial card-locks, which are time-consuming, about 20 minutes per fill. But they are a relatively safe alternative as long as drivers pay attention. The cost of most small fuel spills at card-locks are absorbed by the station. But, if it’s a large spill, the clean up is on your tab and it sometimes involves environmental inspectors.

The second method of refuelling is onsite storage tanks. This eliminates the loss of time spent travelling to cardlocks but brings a new set of drawbacks.

Keeping the tank full is the first concern; if you don’t have remote monitoring and it runs dry, you’re back to the card-lock and losing time again. But the biggest risk is in using it. Every fuelling exposes your staff, the environment and your company to considerable risk.

If your dispensing equipment is old, if you don’t have detailed procedures, or don’t carry out regular training, a spill is almost inevitable. Large spills can cause huge environmental clean-up bills and hikes to your insurance rates. But the odd small spills that create cumulative contamination can result in clean-up costs not covered by most insurance companies.

Over the years there have been hundreds of refuelling catastrophes. In one case, a truck driver started filling his truck after a long day on the road and fell asleep, allowing thousands of litres of diesel fuel to flood the area. It gets worse. Instead of carefully removing the contaminated soil to protect the groundwater and the community, the owners ploughed the fuel into the ground.

Wheel to wheel delivery The third method of refuelling is professional fuel delivery. Wheel-to-wheel service puts fuel in the hands of professionals. Refuelling can be carried out while trucks are parked and equipment is idle.

With wheel-to-wheel fuel delivery, operators are specially trained to minimize risk to employees, equipment and the environment. You save time otherwise lost on trips to card-locks, and, compared to site fuel tanks, you save money spent maintaining tanks and paying premiums for emergency service.

Using wheel-to-wheel and getting rid of your site fuel tank substantially reduces your environmental risk exposure. www.esemag.com

If you’ve ever had to clean up a spill, you’ll also know the high cost of the insurance rates that follow for years after.

Avoiding this cost can represent tens of thousands of dollars.

According to Richard Frost, the Loss Prevention Coordinator for National Accounts and Associations at the Federated Insurance Company of Canada, “a business using professional refuelling services substantially reduces their exposure to costly fuel spill remediation. If your people aren’t handling the fuel, they

aren’t spilling it either.

“The difference is, a top-performing wheel-to-wheel provider with professionally trained drivers has a 0.001% incident rate, backed up with an excellent clean-up record. But if your drivers are filling at card-locks or in your yard, the risk of a spill is considerably higher and so are all the associated costs.”

Jack Lee is President and CEO of 4Refuel Inc. E-mail: AskTheFuelExpert@4Refuel.com

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS For years we’ve provided the best residential and commercial water and wastewater tanks, pumps and accessories.

Superior pre-filter separation tanks, lift stations and grease, oil/grit separators are just the beginning. Our custom-designed moulds, quality control concrete, special pouring technique and careful handling are just some of the reasons we’re the best in the industry.

Our trained professionals will always be there to help. With an unbeatable 20 year warranty on all tanks, plus a reputation for exceptional equipment and expertise, Alberta Wilbert Sales guarantees the job gets done right, on time.

WWW.WILBERT.CA May 2010 | 45

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 10-06-08 5:08 PM Page 46

Turning down the pressure for First Nations water systems By Emile Beaudry

M

any First Nations sites operate a community water treatment plant and haul water to cisterns at individual home sites. Although the incidence of cistern contamination is not well documented, the most frequent causes are: • Faulty installation, such as failing to sanitize the tank before use.

• Poor construction practices, such as driving an excavator over the top of the tank to finish the landscaping.

• Failure to protect the tank (e.g., with bollards or curbs) from overhead loads such as parked cars.

• Vandalism, such as foreign material being dropped into the tank.

• Bad water delivery practices, such as dirty hoses and filling to the brim of manway extensions (a particularly nasty problem if the home is temporarily unoccupied and temperatures are cold enough to freeze the water in the extensions).

46 | May 2010

Many specifiers, regulators and First Nations communities have considered putting in full-pressure water distribution pipes as a way of getting rid of cisterns and eliminating water contamination.

Problems with this idea include the unaffordable cost of constructing pipelines for low-density development, escalation of maintenance and repair costs associated with high-pressure distribution systems, and the waste of constructing pipelines to clustered subdivisions without homes.

Advantages of low-pressure distribution There is another way to distribute water to homes and eliminate bad water delivery practices, which are the most frequent source of contamination. Instead of getting rid of cisterns, fill them from a more affordable low-pressure water distribution system and seal them off from the surrounding ground by using a microcrystalline sealant.

Low-pressure water distribution pipe

can be installed and operated at a fraction of the capital and operating cost of full-pressure systems. Cisterns for this type of system have two brass connectors in the tank wall. One fitting connects on the outside to the community water distribution system, and on the inside to a float valve that controls the flow of water into the tank. The other fitting has the traditional role of connecting the cistern to the home, with either a submersible pump located inside the cistern or a jet pump located inside the home.

These systems have been proven for years in locations such as the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement in northern Alberta, and Strathcona County near Edmonton.

There is a great deal of regulatory activity going on at present with respect to cisterns. For example, the Canadian Standards Association recently released a draft standard, CAN/CSA B128.3, Performance of non-potable water treatment systems, for public review, and a recently created CSA Technical Committee is working on CAN/CSA Series 126, Design, installation, and maintenance of potable water systems.

The B126 initiative is just underway and could easily take one to two years before a standard is published. Meanwhile, there are a number of steps that forward-looking specifiers, regulators, and First Nations can take towards a sustainable future for cisterns: 1. Consider concrete tanks with microcrystalline sealants embedded in the material. Although concrete has been a proven material for holding and transferring water for thousands of years, microcrystalline sealants are a new method for filling its microscopic gaps and ensuring that micro-size sediments, contaminants, and bacteria cannot penetrate the tank wall.

2. Specify cisterns with both inlet and outlet connectors, especially following designs from manufacturers with experience in building tanks for this application. At installation, the installer can simply plug off the inlet fitting for the time being, and the home site will be

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:01 PM Page 47

completely ready for a low-pressure water line in the future.

At some sites, a connection could even be stubbed out to the edge of the lot where the future water line would be located. Then, if and when a low-pressure community water distribution system is installed, there will be no disruption or construction cost associated with activating those homes on the new system.

3. Specify low-profile, one-piece cisterns. The low profile means the installation requires shallower excavation, with less chance of digging in water-saturated soils and less chance of the tank sitting in the water table. The one-piece construction means that no site assembly of the tank is required, so there is less on-site labour, and no seams in the tank wall.

The incremental cost of fabricating a cistern with an extra fitting and microcrystalline sealant is nominal. There is no additional installation cost associated with these products, compared to traditional cistern configurations, and the cost of stubbing a connection to the property edge is low compared to the potential future advantages.

www.esemag.com

Cisterns ready for connection to a low pressure water supply line.

Low-pressure water distribution is an economical alternative for eliminating cistern contamination associated with faulty water delivery practices. It has lower initial and ongoing costs than highpressure distribution systems and can result in higher potable water quality than

truck-based deliveries, while eliminating the associated wear on community roads and home-site landscaping.

Emile Beaudry is with Tanks-A-Lot Ltd. E-mail: emile@tanks-a-lot.com

May 2010 | 47

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 48

Hexa-Cover tile system now available in Canada

G

reatario Engineered Storage Systems has signed a distribution agreement with HexaCover to introduce their "floating tile" system. Hexa-Cover ÂŽ can be used on all kinds of liquids, eliminating evaporation, organic growth, emission and odour. It can be used on almost all forms of basins, lagoons, reservoirs, containers, ponds and tanks for water, industry and agriculture.

The tiles are hexagonal elements, with symmetrical ribs on both sides. The ribs make the floating elements distribute themselves naturally and uniformly on the liquid surface without overlapping.

Their unique design makes them interlock by wind pressure, ensuring that they mechanically constitute a coherent cover.

They can withstand wind velocities up to 32 m/s. The tiles are manufactured from recycled plastic, without the use of Freon or other harmful materials.

Applicaions Hexa-Cover floating tiles cover up to 99% of the tank or lagoonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total surface (dependent on the geometry). This eliminates up to 95% of evaporation and en-

The floating tiles can simply be poured onto the surface.

sures that organic growth, such as algae, is eliminated, since sunlight cannot penetrate the cover.

The floating tiles can simply be poured onto the surface and, under the effects of the wind and movement of the

liquid, will form themselves into a "cover". They are so designed that the tile edges will key into each other.

There will always be free access to the liquid in the tank, for measuring, emptying, stirring, etc. There are no operational costs attached to the use of Hexa-Cover floating tiles. In fact,

Water consumption will be reduced and there will be energy savings in connection with cooling and stirring.

Greatario says that, in most situations, there will be a reduction of total costs.

Repairs to roofing, tenting or other coverings are eliminated. Water consumption will be reduced and there will be energy savings in connection with cooling and stirring of the liquid. The need to use often harmful additives will also be reduced.

A life expectancy of 25 years is anticipated for these tiles.

Their unique design makes them interlock by wind pressure.

48 | May 2010

For more information, E-mail: bbaird@greatario.com Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

Quality tanks

Cover systems for tanks and lagoons

At Alberta Wilbert Sales we sell, service and deliver Alberta’s largest tanks, with capacities as high as 10,000 gallons, and back them with a 20-year warranty.

Four key manufacturing processes make our tanks superior: custom-designed moulds, quality controlled concrete, special pour techniques and careful handling.

Tel: 800-232-7385, Fax: 780-447-1984 Web: www.wilbert.ca

Geomembrane Technologies Inc. (GTI) designs, fabricates and installs cover systems on tanks and lagoons worldwide. Wastewater and water plants use GTI covers to control odours, block sunlight, collect gas, or reduce heat loss.

Alberta Wilbert Sales

Geomembrane Technologies Inc.

Water reservoir & tank mixer

The patented Hexa-Cover® system can be used on all kinds of liquids. It is the ideal solution for eliminating: • Evaporation • Organic growth • Emission • Odour The unique design makes the elements interlock by wind pressure and ensure that the Hexa-Cover tiles mechanically constitute a coherent cover.

Tel: 519-469-8169, Fax 519-469-8157 E-mail: sales@greatario.com Web: www.greatario.com

Web: www.gticovers.com

Clear span buildings

Greatario Engineered Storage Systems

Specialist training Practical Hands-on Progressive Formats

PAX Mixer is a very innovative, simple mixer designed to mix water storage reservoirs and standpipes. It offers superior mixing performance with little energy consumption, easy installation, low capital cost. It eliminates stagnation and stratification, minimizes residual loss, prevents nitrification.

Tel: 905-660-9775, Fax: 905-660-9744 E-mail: michael@h2flow.com Web: www.h2flow.com

Every square foot of space is profitable in a MegaDome building. Ranging from 30’ to 125’ wide and with no limitation to its length, MegaDome provides a production or storage area built in accordance with all building codes in your area.

Tel: 888-427-6647, Fax: 450-756-8389 E-mail: info@harnois.com Web: www.megadomebuildings.com

Tel: 905-578-9666, Fax: 905-578-6644 E-mail: contact@spillmanagement.ca Web: www.spillmanagement.ca

H2Flow Tanks & Systems

MegaDome/Harnois Industries

Spill Management

Onsite water and sewage solutions

ADVANCED WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Packaged Treatment Plants and concrete storage systems up to 500,000 litres.

Tel: 780-472-8265, Toll Free: 800-661-5667 E-mail: sales@tanks-a-lot.com Web: www.tanks-a-lot.com Tanks-A-Lot

www.esemag.com

Spill containment systems

Underground tanks

To avoid any major reoccuring expenses like oil/water filtration, shoveling snow and debris, or incurring tainted water disposal costs, Transport Environmental Systems offers open collector pan models and closeable lid models to help avoid collecting snow, rainwater and debris.

Also available are roll-under spill collector pans and other products for train/tanker truck loading, unloading and spill containment.

Tel: 252-571-0092, Fax: 252-489-2060 E-mail: info@transenvsys.com Web: www.transenvsys.com

ZCL’s underground tanks are constructed of non-corrosive fibreglass composite material and premium quality grade resin. They are marketed under the trade names Prezerver® and Greentank®.

Safe and durable, ZCL tanks have become the #1 choice for environmentally safe storage of petroleum products.

Transport Environmental Systems

Tel: 1-800-661-8265 Web: www.zcl.com ZCL Composites

Storage/Containment & Spills Product Showcase

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 10-06-08 5:08 PM Page 49

May 2010 | 49

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 50

Water Reuse

Closing the wastewater treatment loop is increasingly critical

By Dr. David Kratochvil

F

or decades water treatment efforts have been focused on cleaning wastewater for discharge back to the environment. However, this is no longer enough to ensure a sustainable future. Rather, the way of the future will be finding ways to not only treat water, but also to reuse it in order to reduce the strain on existing supplies.

This only makes sense, since many industrial processes today may recycle less than 50 per cent of water consumed in extraction, processing or production.

This is not a sustainable practice from both an environmental and economic standpoint. In fact, new regulatory mandates in regions such as the oil sands in Alberta are stipulating reuse rates upwards of 90 per cent.

In addition, water licensing rights are becoming more difficult to secure and in some regions, no longer available as

governments respond to growing pressure from communities to preserve fresh water supplies.

Current industrial processes do bring some unique challenges on the water recycling front. Certain contaminants have been extremely challenging to extract from the wastewater stream. In cases where this can be achieved, available solutions have been expensive, energy intensive, and can generate residual waste that must be disposed of or stored to meet environmental regulations.

New answers must be found, since the presence of dissolved metals, sulfates, phosphates and other contaminants in wastewater streams has come under increasing legislative scrutiny. Not only do those contaminants represent a long-term environmental liability, if they make their way back into process streams, they can lead to premature equipment failure, increased energy con-

Flexible Clarification Solutions

sumption and decreased operational efficiency.

While the growing regulatory environment and water restrictions do present significant challenges, they also bring opportunities. Industry is now actively exploring and adopting alternative water treatment technologies that promise to dramatically improve their water reuse/recycling efforts.

There have been great strides made in the area of contaminant recovery to turn waste into a useful resource. For example, sulfide precipitation processes allow operations to remove dissolved metals from waste streams in mining operations to create clean water and a marketable metal by-product that can be recycled and sold to offset the cost of water treatment. This is now being widely used in a number of major mining operations as a means to reduce the environmental impact of acid mine

AquaDAF®: CLARIFIER HIGH-RATE DISSOLVED AIR FLOTATION SYSTEM Other Clarification Solutions by Degremont Technologies :

DensaDeg®, Accelator®, Superpulsator®

®

AquaDAF

system advantages • Optimal removal of low-density particles • Unequaled loading rates • Polymer-free membrane pretreatment • Ease of retrofit or expansion without additional basins • Efficient and economic operation due to small footprint

s at

Visit u

0 ACE#‘11516

booth

InfIlco

Infilco Degremont, Inc. – 8007 Discovery Drive, Richmond, Virginia 23229 • (800) 446-1150

www.degremont-technologies.com

50 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 51

Water Reuse cycling rates for water, it also reduces energy consumption and reduces residual waste from water treatment. When applied to sulfate reduction, ion exchange processes produce clean water that can be reused and solid gypsum which can be used as an input into fertilizers and building products.

It only stands to reason that the most effective water treatment methods moving forward will be those that allow industry to reuse as much water as possible, while maintaining low life cycle costs for treatment. If one can add the ability to recover useful by-products from wastewater streams, then the environmental benefits can be enhanced.

Regulation may have motivated the change in how we deal with water consumption and reuse today. But it is commercially viable, energy-efficient, environmentally effective technologies that will make widespread change a reality.

David Kratochvil is with BioteQ Environmental Technologies.

E-mail: bioteq@bioteq.ca BioteQâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sulfide precipitation technology selectively recovers dissolved metals from contaminated water, producing a saleable metal product that can be recycled into useful products, and clean water that can be reused or safely discharged to the environment.

HOBO Conductivity Data Logger The HOBO U24 Conductivity Logger is a high-accuracy, cost-effective data logger for measuring conductivity and temperature in streams, lakes, and other freshwater sources.

drainage, generate additional revenues, and increase water quality for reuse.

Ion exchange processes can be used to remove sulfate salts from wastewater

It only stands to reason that the most effective water treatment methods moving forward will be those that allow industry to reuse as much water as possible. streams in a number of industrial applications, including the energy sector. Not only does this dramatically improve rewww.esemag.com

$755.00 Non-contact sensor reduces sensor drift for easy maintenance Provides easy access to sensor for cleaning and shedding air bubbles HOBOware Pro software enables start/end-point calibration to compensate for any fouling and provides easy conversion to specific conductance and salinity USB optical interface provides high-speed, reliable data offload in wet environments Two ranges - Low Range: 0 to 1,000 uS/cm / High Range: 0 to 10,000 uS/cm for more information see www.myhoskin.com/conductivity

Hoskin Scientific Ltd.

www.hoskin.ca May 2010 | 51

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 52

Environmental Law

Manitoba closes the gap in environmental standards

By Sven Hombach

F

or the past decade or more, the environmental industry in the prairie provinces has faced comparatively lax environmental standards, while the rest of Canada has been bombarded with an ever-increasing volume of laws, regulations, policies, procedures and guidelines.

On December 1, 2009, Manitoba closed the gap. New obligations and more stringent requirements represent opportunities for consultants, engineers, and system providers, but may constitute traps for the unwary. This article provides an overview of the primary changes resulting from Manitoba’s Environment Amendment Act, S.M. 2009 c. 25.

Pre-emptive EPOs – a powerful remedy Perhaps the most significant addition to the Environment Act is a new power granted to Manitoba Conservation to issue pre-emptive Environmental Protection Orders (EPOs). These can be issued by provincial officers not only where a pollutant is in the process of being released, but also where there is a perceived risk that it may be released in the future. Until this amendment, Manitoba Conservation’s power to issue such orders was limited to environmental emergencies.

Under the new regime, Manitoba Conservation can require environmental studies, including Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, as well as specific remediation activities and ongoing monitoring. It is important to note that EPOs can be issued not only against current landowners, but against any “person responsible for the pollutant”, including former owners, tenants, former tenants, contractors, fuel delivery companies, or other parties.

Shortly after the amendment came into force, the Province of Manitoba issued a press release indicating that it will increase enforcement measures and intends to hire several new environmental inspectors in 2010. Of particular concern to the Province appear to be the many failing small-scale and individual sewage systems found in rural areas and cottage country. Landowners and rural 52 | May 2010

The Manitoba legislature.

municipalities who do not want to find themselves on the receiving end of EPOs should start to plan and budget for inevitable system upgrades.

The ability to issue EPOs comes with a powerful enforcement tool. If the person to whom an EPO is issued fails to perform the required work, Manitoba Conservation can hire its own contractors to perform the work and subsequently obtain a court order allowing it to enforce its costs in the same manner as a court judgment. This includes garnishment of wages and income streams, and seizure of property.

The Ontario experience over the past decade has shown that, where the primary party named in this type of order is a corporate entity with limited assets, any directors, officers, or controlling shareholders with “deep pockets”, will also be named in the order as persons responsible. In certain instances, the addition of such parties can be successfully challenged.

EPOs can be appealed to the Minister within 30 days, but are not stayed pending appeal. Because of the short deadline for filing an appeal, any person served with an EPO should seek legal counsel immediately or risks being bound by the stipulated terms, no matter how onerous.

Prohibition on pollutant releases – the elusive “adverse effect” A new section 30.1 in the Environment Act prohibits the release of any pollutant that causes or may cause a “significant adverse effect” unless expressly authorized. Although the term is not defined in the statute, the language mirrors that of Ontario’s Environmental

Protection Act, under which an “adverse effect” is not limited to health effects or environmental destruction, but includes material discomfort, loss of enjoyment of the normal use of property, and other factors.

A similarly broad interpretation in Manitoba could lead to an increased crackdown on nuisances such as odour, noise or dust, since the word “significant” leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Fines for breaching this provision can be as high as $50,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations, although actual fines will likely be lower.

As a concession to the many livestock operations that form the economic backbone of rural Manitoba, the prohibition set out above contains an exception for “normal farm practices”, which are legally protected under the Farm Practices Protection Act. Anybody who finds him- or herself involved in litigation involving a farm nuisance should pay close attention to the publications that provide guidance on what does and what does not constitute a “normal farm practice”. For hog barns, which have proven to be the most controversial operations in recent years, the applicable guideline is the Guideline for Pig Producers in Manitoba, 2007, available from Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives.

As it stands, the reprieve granted to agricultural producers is quite generous compared to the compliance requirements demanded of other businesses.

Mandatory reporting – it’s not just for emergencies anymore Concurrent with the more stringent pollutant release prohibitions, the new section 30.1 requires the reporting of any release of a pollutant that may cause, is causing, or has caused an adverse effect (not just a “significant” one). Notably, this requirement is not just limited to spills but can include leaks or other ongoing discharges.

Reports must be made to Manitoba Conservation, to persons responsible for the pollutant, and to any other person who could be directly affected by the release. There is no time limit placed on

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 53

Environmental Law the reporting requirement, but future guidance on this issue should be expected from Manitoba Conservation.

Mandatory consideration of greenhouse gas emissions Pursuant to an amendment to section 12 of the Environment Act, Manitoba Conservation must now take greenhouse gas emissions into consideration when issuing environmental approvals of Class 1, 2, or 3 developments as set out in Manitoba Regulation 164/88. This amendment may play an important role in the approvals process because both carbon dioxide and methane are explicitly defined as greenhouse gases.

Any undertaking involving a combustion process necessarily emits carbon dioxide, even with environmental controls.

Furthermore, a substantial number of landfills, septic systems, and anaerobic rural lagoons or sewage sludge digesters across Manitoba, are releasing methane gas, which as a greenhouse gas is approximately 20 times as potent as CO2. Brady Road

The Environment Amendment Act of 2009 substantially closes the gap between Manitobaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environmental laws and those of its non-prairie neighbours.

Landfill, one of Manitobaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest single-point sources of methane emissions, is currently slated to be retrofitted with a methane capture system by 2011. It is likely that in the future such systems will be required for smaller methane sources as well.

Public involvement in the permitting process Similar to the Environmental Bill of Rights introduced in Ontario in 1993, the Environment Act requires certain environmental proposals to be posted for public comment. The Director of Manitoba Conservation has traditionally had the discretion to refer any project that garnered substantial negative feedback to the Clean Environment Commission for a hearing.

The recent addition to the Environment Act makes it mandatory to publicly post any decision of the Director not to refer the matter to a hearing and advise the public that there is a right of appeal to the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The effect of this change is two-fold: firstly, it creates increased accountability for decisions to fast-track applications, and, secondly, it increases the chance of such decisions being appealed and the applications receiving additional public scrutiny.

Conclusion The Environment Amendment Act of 2009 substantially closes the gap between Manitobaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environmental laws and those of its non-prairie neighbours. In one of the last provinces to have taken a laissez-faire approach to environmental protection, it demonstrates a commitment to take a more interventionist role and require stricter compliance by residents and businesses alike. Manitobans and those doing business in Manitoba should take heed.

Sven Hombach is with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. E-mail: sven.hombach@fmc-law.com www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 53

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 54

Operations

Controlling algae and snail growth in UV disinfection chambers

By David Drobiak, Joseph Nestico and Shawna Gill

F

ollowing a changeover to UV disinfection from chlorination at some of Connecticut’s water pollution control facilities, an increase in attached algal growth, and a proliferation of a dense population of “tiny” snails (pouch snails) have been observed in the UV chamber(s).

This appears to cause an “artificial” increase in suspended solids in the final effluent, and at some facilities, the plant water needs to be filtered before it can be recycled back into the facility without maintenance problems.

The Jewett City Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), which was built in 2005 to process 1.1 mgd of wastewater, was selected as the best site for a pilot study, using weir washing technology.

Unit processes for this plant consist of pretreatment, carousel-type nitrification/ denitrification, clarification, and UV disinfection. In 2006, plant staff documented increased suspended solids in the final effluent samples due to snail shells because a snail population had proliferated in the UV chamber(s). David Drobiak, superintendent of the Jewett City WWTP, requested assistance with this concern from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

DEP biologist Joe Nestico had suggested that the high snail population appeared to be the direct result of an available food source, i.e., attached algae growing in the UV chamber. He suggested regular cleaning of the attached algal growth on the clarifier launders and weirs, and washing of the UV chamber(s) to minimize or eliminate the snail population. The amount of maintenance by Jewett staff was governed by the consistent reduction in algal growth and, of course, the snail population. In essence, there was a lot of work to be done in order to observe a cause-and-effect change to the problem.

In the design of the plant, consideration was made for attached algae control, and a conventional brush-type system was installed for the two secondary clarifiers. Unfortunately, Jewett City 54 | May 2010

found that, with the brush system, the algae were still able to grow on the scum baffles, weirs, brackets and other areas of the launder walls, and to slough off and finally settle in the UV chamber.

The sloughed algae appeared not only to provide a food source, allowing the tiny snails to flourish and multiply, but “seeded” the UV chamber, thus promoting colonization of attached algae on the chamber walls.

Weir Washer Automated Cleaning System.

The solution and unit performance The purpose of the pilot study was to determine the effectiveness of replacing the brush system with a spray system to control the attached algae and reduce the resulting snail infestation.

GillTrading.com had contacted Nestico to offer its Weir Washer Automated Cleaning System as a solution to the problem. This system is a non-contact cleaning approach, utilizing non-potable plant water to form a rotational spray.

The water jet action allows uneven and porous surfaces to be cleaned, while minimizing the amount of water used. The rotational spray acts as a lance, cutting away at the algae growth or debris attached to the tank surfaces. A programmable timer or SCADA, which makes it fully automated, operates the system.

Nestico encouraged the company to pilot their system at the Jewett City plant to determine if it would be able to control the attached algal growth in the secondary clarifiers and also reduce or prevent any UV tube fouling and snail

proliferation. There was also an expectation by all parties to minimize or eliminate the need for regular manual cleaning by the staff.

In the fall of 2006, a spare secondary clarifier was retrofitted so that only this tank with the spray system would be feeding clarified effluent into the UV chamber.

During the first year of operation, the plant water system that is needed to provide the 30 gpm flow at 65 psi pressure to the spray washer system was found to have a cracked pipe. For some time before and after its discovery, this minimized reliable or satisfactory cleaning results. However, even with inadequate flow and pressure, the Weir Washer ACS provided better cleaning, less attached algal fouling in the UV chamber, and an observable reduction in the snail population. In addition, manual cleaning was required only once a quarter, instead of twice a month.

Although the system removed and minimized the majority of attached algal growth and regrowth, a residual, black growth remained. This was determined to be dead, coccoid green algae, primarily a cosmetic issue as it does not appear to be a food source for the snails.

It was determined that the best way to address the remaining debris was to add a booster pump that provided a pressure of 120 psi.

Although more time will be needed to document sustainability of the cleaning system while maintaining these satisfactory results, it appears to date that the Weir Washer ACS is an effective method for controlling and/or eliminating attached algal growth in secondary clarifiers. It also appears to be effective in snail population control in UV disinfection chambers, and has vastly reduced staff maintenance time.

David Drobiak is with the Jewett City WWTP. Joseph Nestico is with the Connecticut DEP, and Shawna Gill is with GillTrading.com, Inc. E-mail: shawnagill@gilltrading.com

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:02 PM Page 55

Letter to the Editor Dear Mr. Dhillon and Dr. Fleet, As an environmental engineer and an employee of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, I'm very interested in the climate change debate and read with interest your article in the January 2010 Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine.

However, some of the "statistics" that are routinely thrown out to the public by the various parties in this debate are frustratingly inconsistent and sometimes appear to be somewhat self serving. The damage done to the climate change movement by the recent "e-mail scandal" which suggested the manipulation of some data by a few climate change scientists, has set public attitude back a decade.

I was, therefore, a little disappointed to see the unsupported statement in your article: "The Alberta oil sands contribute more than one third of Canada's emissions (of GHGs)".

In a January 12, 2010 article by the

Conference Board of Canada they stated the following: "Stemming consumers' long-term energy demand also needs to be part of a climate change plan. In comparison to oil sands emissions of five per cent, road transportation - primarily due to consumer demand for light-duty trucks, including SUVs accounted for approximately 18 per cent of total Canadian GHG emissions in 2007."

How can the estimate of the GHG emissions from the oil sands vary so wildly? I'm not suggesting you are wrong, or that the Conference Board of Canada is right. I understand it is possible you are both right, just using different assumptions. However to provide the â&#x20AC;&#x153;one thirdâ&#x20AC;? statement without any explanation or justification is irresponsible.

I understand your article may just be an abstract of the full paper, and, therefore, some of my criticism is extended to ESE editorial staff as well. ESE is for scientists and engi-

neers. For those of us who are not climate change scientists, what we may conclude from this is that estimates of GHG emissions from the Alberta oil sands range from 5% to 33% of Canada's total GHG output! Perhaps unfairly, this tends to erode our faith in the science of climate change.

Steve Reitzel, Sudbury, Ontario

Dear Mr Reitzel Thank you for your constructive comments. Our main objective in this short paper was to alert the business community to the need to plan for the transition to the low carbon economy. Certainly, irrespective of the contribution from the tar sands to the total GHG emissions, Canada's environmental image could do with a substantial improvement.

Dr. Bernard Fleet

The Voltrex Ultraviolet Disinfection System APPLICATIONS Municipal Industrial Commercial Aquaculture

FEATURES Extended lamp life PVC units impervious to corrosion Unique internal flow diffuser system High efficiency electronic ballasts NSF CERTIFICATION APPLIED FOR

Voltrex UV Ltd Closed Chamber PVC Units | Closed Chamber Stainless Units www.esemag.com

Telephone 604-291-9200 E-Mail: erebus@telus.net May 2010 | 55

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:03 PM Page 56

Air Pollution

A cost-effective alternative to continuous emission monitoring systems

By Michael Roth and Paul Lawrence

S

ince 1990, US federal regulations under the Clean Air Act have required continuous monitoring and reporting of emissions from large (over 25 MW) combustion sources. Initially, pollutants to be monitored were mass emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), as well as fuel flow and heat input. The purpose of these regulations, which were under the Acid Rain Program, is to use a market-based approach to reduce emissions.

One allowance is an authorization to emit one ton of emissions during or after a specified calendar year. A utility may buy, sell or hold allowances as part of its compliance strategy. An essential feature of smoothly operating markets is a method for accurately measuring the commodity being traded, thus the re-

`Ă&#x20AC;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC; }Ă&#x160;Ă&#x153;>Ă&#x152;iĂ&#x20AC; Âś &OR BILLION PEO P L E I N THE DEVEL O P I NG WO R L D

T HIS MIG HT B E AS GO O D AS I T GETS 5NSA FE WA T E R K IL L S P E O P L E EVE RY S I N G L E D A Y 7E CAN T GO ON L E T T I N G P E O P L E D I E T H I S WA Y &IND O U T HO W YO U C AN HEL P WWW WATERFORPEOPLE ORG

Water for People Canada Tel: 416-499-4042 Fax: 416-499-4687

www.waterforpeople.org 56 | May 2010

quirement for a continuous emission monitoring system.

Manual test methods are not very efficient for continuous compliance determination, so regulatory agencies needed an alternative. This need was first satisfactorily met using continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) that utilize gas analyzers, calibration gases and extractive sampling components. A data acquisition system (DAS) is typically used to collect data, calculate emission rates, alarm, and store historical data from these CEMS. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to require continuous monitoring of larger sources such as gas turbines with the Clean Air Act regulation 40 CFR Part 75. However, because of a number of negative factors related to using CEMS, such as high initial capital cost, high operating cost, maintenance and operator training, it became apparent that an alternative needed to be found.

The difference between CEMS and PEMS One such alternative is a predictive emission monitoring system (PEMS). In recent years, the US regulations that require CEMS also allow the use of pre-

dictive approaches as an alternative, provided the installed PEMS meets rigorous performance specification criteria.

These include periodic audits with portable analyzers and annual relative accuracy testing.

CEMS have provided the confidence underpinning the â&#x20AC;&#x153;currencyâ&#x20AC;? of the market-based emission allowance program and it was recognized that, for this program to work, the currency could not be weakened. Provisions had to be put in place to ensure that a ton of emissions from one source is equal to a ton of emissions from any other source, regardless of whether it is measured by a certified CEMS or the alternative PEMS solution.

In Canadian jurisdictions, such as Ontario, PEMS guidelines are now being developed. Even without guidelines in place, regulatory bodies in Canada are generally open to reviewing applications for the use of PEMS, and a number of PEMS have been implemented.

Since CEMS are different from PEMS, methods had to be developed, similar to those used in a CEMS, to assure the quality of the predicted emis-

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:03 PM Page 57

Air Pollution sions data. PEMS methods, have, therefore, been developed for daily calibration, sensor diagnostics and error flagging. In addition, PEMS are implemented with system integrity architecture (tampering prevention through serial number control and security layers), quarterly audits, and certification procedures.

In practical applications, PEMS are best applied to oil-fired and gas-fired units. They are more difficult to deploy on facilities fired by solid fuels (e.g., coal or mixed solid waste) because of the difficulty in accounting for the variability in the fuel composition. PEMS are used successfully on simple-cycle and combined-cycle gas turbines, internal combustion engines and traditional boilers, firing liquid or gaseous fuels.

Compared to a typical CEMS, the statistical hybrid PEMS has the following advantages: • A PEMS is substantially less expensive than a CEMS. Typically, the capital cost of a PEMS is half that of a CEMS and the annual operating cost will be about one-third or less.

• Less on-site training.

• No requirement for EPA protocol calibration gases, piping, wiring, gas regulators or software to operate the auto calibration sequence.

• No on-going preventive maintenance requirements.

• Higher data availability that is tied to DCS availability, which should normally approach 100%. The PEMS does not rely on any one process input to maintain system uptime or accuracy of emissions data.

• Can be used to determine the source of excess emissions. Combustion input parameter(s) that are out of normal range can be identified and alarmed for immediate action and provide a trail so the issue can be diagnosed and corrected.

• Minimal maintenance and service.

• Accuracy that is equal to or better than a CEMS. PEMS inherently do not drift; they rely on process inputs and instruments that typically drift no more than 0.5 to 1% per year. Typical PEMS models utilize 15 or more input parameters that are, in some cases, redundant. The resulting emissions prediction

is resilient to input failure and drift so that no single input parameter is critical to the accuracy of the predicted emission.

PEMS demonstration CMC Solutions has deployed an advanced statistical hybrid PEMS for three gas-fired turbines at a cogeneration facility in Dearborn, Michigan. The PEMS were successfully installed and certified in March 2004 for compliance with NOX emission regulations under the federal US emission trading program (40 CFR Part 75) and for compliance with CO emission regulations under the new source performance standards (40 CFR Part 60).

Michael Roth is with CMC Solutions, E-mail: mroth@cmcsolutions.org.

Paul Lawrence is with PML Process Technology, E-mail: paullawrence@pmlprocess.com

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:03 PM Page 58

Wastewater Treatment

Anaerobic treatment of food and beverage industry wastewater By Ben van Vree, Aafko Scheringa and Willie Driessen

O

ver the last few decades, the food and beverage industry has shown greater environmental awareness, leading to increased investment in environmental protection measures.

Important internal drivers for the industry are the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) such as ISO 14001, and internal policies on zero waste and achieving “sustainability”. Important external drivers for environmental investments are local legislation and environmental taxation systems (discharge levies).

In Ontario, the launching of the OPA FIT (Feed in Tariff) program in late fall 2009, which compensates industry for generating “green energy,” has been an interesting incentive for capital investments in anaerobic wastewater treatment plants.

Wastewater composition is often directly related to in-plant activities. As a result, knowledge about wastewater

composition can become management information as it helps to improve the efficiency of in-plant processes, by minimizing product losses, water spills, and energy usage. The overall result is a growing interest within the industry in environmental pollution control systems.

A partnership has developed between Paques BV, a global technology provider of anaerobic wastewater treatment systems, and Maple Reinders Constructors, a general contractor in the water and wastewater industry, to deliver these systems to the Canadian market.

Advantages of anaerobic wastewater treatment The main advantages of anaerobic treatment over conventional aerobic treatment are: 1. Significantly reduced internal energy consumption at the plant.

2. Net production energy in the form of valuable energy-rich biogas (mainly CH4).

Figure 1. Biopaq® UASB Reactor.

3. Low emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 and the potential for carbon gas credits.

4. Minimized production of biological excess sludge.

5. A small footprint required for construction.

In the late 1970s, the first upflow

Expert People.

Better Decisions.

At XCG Consultants, we are committed to our clients by delivering innovative and practical expertise and solutions. Partner with our experts on your next environmental project and gain the leadership and communication that is essential for successful completion.

Contact us for Wastewater, Water Resources, Municipal Infrastructure, Drinking Water and many other environmental services. Visit www.xcg.com for more information.

Proudly Celebrating Our 20th Year!

Established in 1990

Environmental Engineers and Scientists Toronto | Kitchener | Kingston | Edmonton | Cincinnati

58 | May 2010

w w w. t e r r a t e c . a mw a t e r. c o m Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:03 PM Page 59

Wastewater Treatment anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors were developed to treat sugar mill-based effluent. Since then, the UASB system has become the most widely applied reactor technology for anaerobic treatment of various industrial effluents.

In UASB reactors, effective sludge retention is accomplished by using a sophisticated three-phase separator on top of the reactor, which separates biogas, sludge, and treated effluent. Biomass develops in the form of well settleable, dense granular particles with high conversion rates.

Although the granules themselves have superior settling characteristics, sludge retention in UASB reactors becomes critical at high upflow gas and liquid velocities.

As well, the maximum potential methanogenic activity of granular biomass appears to be much higher than the sludge loading rates generally applied in full-scale reactors.

Thus the UASB system seems restricted in its treatment capacity because of mass transfer limitations due to sub-optimal mixing conditions inside the reactor.

Scaling up bioreactors In order to overcome the hydraulic and organic loading limitations of the UASB reactors, new high-rate reactor concepts with an increased height/diameter ratio have been developed. These systems operate with higher upflow velocities and organic loading rates. Increased biomass activity is obtained as a result of improved contact between wastewater and biomass.

When granulated anaerobic sludge is used as active biomass, these reactors are referred to as EGSB (expanded granular sludge bed) reactors. A successful version of this concept is the IC (internal circulation) reactor, which has found widespread application for the anaerobic treatment of industrial effluents.

In the UASB reactor (Figure 1) influent is evenly distributed over the reactor bottom. Subsequently, wastewater flows through a dense layer of anaerobic biomass, which converts continued overleaf...

www.ifat.de

NEW PROSPECTS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT O N L I N E R E G I S T R AT I O N F O R V I S I T O R S :

w w w. i f a t . d e / t i c k e t s / e n

WORLD'S LEADING TRADE FAIR FOR WATER, SEWAGE, WASTE AND RAW MATERIALS MANAGEMENT

13 –17 SEPTEMBER 2010, MUNICH

I N T E R N AT I O N A L P R O D U C T S / S E R V I C E S F O R WA S T E A N D R A W - M AT E R I A L S M A N A G E M E N T

« Future-oriented innovations, technologies and trends « All application fields, all products, all services « T echnology leaders, specialists and newcomers from around the world « The right solution for every application and every use « F irst-rate related-events program for information and networking Detailed information and presentation schedule: www.ifat.de

Information: Brigitte Mertens Canada Unlimited Inc. Tel: 416 237-9939 Fax 416 237-9920 bmertens@canada-unlimited.com

The Miller brewery in Fort Worth, Texas, uses a 1190m3 Biopaq IC reactor. www.esemag.com

A WORLD OF ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS

May 2010 | 59

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:03 PM Page 60

Wastewater Treatment PARAMETER

UNIT

BREWERY

Flow COD average COD range SS Temperature pH

m³/d mg/l mg/l mg/l O C

2720 – 5780 4043 2020 – 5790 260 – 2160 21 – 40 2,6 – 7

Table 1: Typical characteristics of the brewery effluent.

the COD into biogas. In the top of the UASB reactor, the produced biogas and biomass are separated from the treated effluent by a three-phase-separator.

The Paques IC reactor (Figure 2) has a two-stage reactor design, consisting of two UASB reactors on top of each other.

While the first separator removes most of the biogas, turbulence is significantly reduced, allowing optimal separation of the biomass by the second separator. The IC reactor is equipped with gas-lift-driven extra internal circulation of effluent, creating extra turbulence in the bottom compartment. Due to the extra turbulence, good contact be-

tween the biomass and wastewater is ensured. The volumetric loading rate of the IC reactor (15-30 kg COD/m3.d) is typically twice as high as the UASB reactor (7-15 kg COD/m3.d), but still ensures excellent biomass retention.

Case study: Brewery wastewater Due to increased effluent surcharges, a brewery decided to pre-treat its effluent anaerobically prior to discharging it into the municipal sewer system. As the brewery is close to a residential area, little space was available to build the treatment plant. Based on successful long-term operational experience at other breweries located in urban areas, and due to the

HOBO Water Level Data Logger The new HOBO Water Level Logger features high accuracy at a great price, and HOBO easeof-use. Ideal for recording water levels and temperatures in wells, streams, lakes and wetlands.

Figure 2. Biopaq® IC Reactor.

Low Cost | No-vent-tube design | Fully sealed housing | Optical/USB interface Lightning protection | Multiple-rate sampling | Titanium version available HOBOware™ software | Compensated for barometric pressure*, temperature and water density (*second barometric sensor required) for more information see www.myhoskin.com/waterlevel

Hoskin Scientific Ltd. 60 | May 2010

www.hoskin.ca

small footprint available, it was decided to construct an anaerobic treatment plant with an IC reactor.

To secure an odour-free operation, all tanks and reactors are covered and vented. Off-gas is neutralized via oxidation in the aerobic polishing tank and additional biofilters.

The current wastewater treatment plant includes a fine screen, a buffer tank/acidification tank, a calamity tank, a conditioning tank, and an IC reactor.

The biogas produced is treated in a biological scrubber to remove H2S before it is blended with natural gas and incinerated in the steam boilers. The biological biogas scrubber produces caustic by limited oxidation of the H2S into elemental sulphur.

An emergency flare was installed

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:04 PM Page 61

Wastewater Treatment and flares the biogas whenever it cannot be burned in the boiler. A calamity tank was installed for temporary storage of â&#x20AC;&#x153;off-specâ&#x20AC;? effluent having an extreme COD, pH or temperature.

The typical composition of the brewery effluent discharged to the treatment plant is shown in Table 1.

Over an operational period of two years, the IC reactor has coped with COD loadings up to 28,900 kg/d, achieving COD removal efficiencies of 83% on average. The total COD influent and soluble COD concentration of the influent varied between 2,020 mg/l up to 5,790 mg/l, and 446 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4,575 mg/l respectively. Soluble COD concentration in the treated effluent varied between 246 and 760 mg/l. The IC reactor has been running satisfactorily, handling large fluctuations in the loading rate and wastewater composition.

The biogas produced accounts for approximately 15% of the energy consumption of the brewery.

Conclusion The technology described in the case study can be applied to breweries producing between 500,000 and 8 million hectolitres per year. A special application has been developed for microbreweries producing up to 200,000 HL/year.

Based on long-term operational experience, anaerobic treatment has proven to be a reliable and cost-effective method to treat not only brewery effluent. but also a wide range of other effluents in the food and beverage industry.

www.esemag.com

Engineered for Safety and Reliability SAF-T-FLO chemical injection has what operators need for safe and successful chemical injection.

Retractable injection quills Non-retractable injection quills Sampling probes Pressures: 0 -150 psi.,150 - 250 psi., 250+ psi.

Materials: PVC, CPVC, Kynar, Stainless Steel, Hastelloy C, Alloy 20, and Titanium (G2) Sizes:

1/4â&#x20AC;?, 3/8â&#x20AC;?, 1/2â&#x20AC;?, 3/4â&#x20AC;?, 1â&#x20AC;?, 1-1/2â&#x20AC;?, 2â&#x20AC;?, and 2-1/2â&#x20AC;?

4OLL &REE s &AX INFO SAFTFLO COM s WWW SAFTFLO COM

Biogas produced by the IC reactor can be used as a fuel to feed a CHP (cogeneration of heat and power) unit. Depending on the COD loads and the amount of biogas generated, the electrical power yielded from an anaerobic wastewater treatment can range from 250kW to 1MW or more.

Ben van Vree is with Maple Reinders Constructors. Aafko Scheringa and Willie Driessen are with Paques BV in the Netherlands.

E-mail: BenV@maple.ca

May 2010 | 61

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:04 PM Page 62

Wastewater Treatment

A package plant approach to decentralized wastewater treatment

By Nathan Antonneau, John Irwin, and Brett Woods

D

ecentralized wastewater management is defined as the collection, treatment and reuse of wastewater at or near the point of waste generation. Decentralized wastewater treatment has been utilized for many years, with a number of different treatment technologies, most notably septic systems.

In cases where septic treatment is not adequate to meet the treatment objectives, engineers will often incorporate secondary and tertiary treatment into the process design. Attached growth, activated sludge or hybrid systems can all be used, in combination with tertiary filtration and disinfection, to achieve even the tightest effluent limits.

One technology that has proven very successful for decentralized systems in recent years is the membrane bioreactor (MBR). The technology incorporates settling, activated sludge and filtration, into a compact process configuration.

Membrane filtration is the distinguishing element of an MBR process. Many different types and configurations of proprietary membranes exist, with most membrane manufacturers, and several system integrators, offering package or modular systems.

A package plant is a system that is fully assembled (wiring/plumbing) with the ability to start up and wet-test all equipment, including electrical works, in the factory. Due to shipping constraints, portions of the package plant may require re-assembly at the installation site.

These systems have a service range from a single residence to small communities or commercial establishments.

Pros and cons of package systems There are several advantages to using package MBR systems over conventional treatment systems, including reduced engineering and construction labour, as well as reduced installation and commissioning time. Package MBR systems have a very small footprint and are capable of being assembled to meet tight project schedules. They also consistently produce effluent that can meet very stringent ef62 | May 2010

Process flow diagram of conventional Modified Ludzack Ettinger (MLE) process for packaged MBR systems.

fluent limits and almost any reuse standards. In addition, package MBR systems require less operator attention and are easier to monitor remotely due to instrumentation and controls.

The main disadvantages of package MBR systems include their higher capital cost and energy demand. The membranes also require periodic chemical cleaning, and the hydraulic limitations of the membranes may necessitate more system equalization.

Siemens Water Technologies is both a membrane manufacturer and package MBR system integrator. The company’s Xpress™ package MBR system is manufactured in four sizes. The smallest unit has a treatment capacity of approximately 100,000 L/day, and the largest has a treatment capacity of nearly 400,000 L/day.

The package plant includes fine screening, suspended growth biological treatment, and membrane filtration. Ultraviolet disinfection can easily be added to these systems for complete treatment.

Each of the package plants undergoes up to two weeks of factory testing to ensure all mechanical and electrical works operate as designed, prior to shipment.

Case history: Grey Eagle Casino The Grey Eagle Casino was a new commercial venture by the Tsuu T’ina Nation, in partnership with Sonco Gaming (Alberta) Ltd. This casino and future hotel/entertainment project is located on Tsuu T’ina lands in southwest Calgary.

The location had no water and sewer services, and had tight standards for discharging the wastewater that ultimately

goes into Pine Creek. Any discharge at this location required advanced treatment, including a highly filtered effluent, with nitrogen removal to levels below 10 mg/L total nitrogen, and phosphorus removal to levels less than 0.5 mg/L. In addition to advanced treatment, the site layout required a compact system that would allow both the wastewater treatment and water treatment systems to be housed in the same building. The close proximity of the equipment to the casino made stringent odour control necessary. A very tight project schedule, as well as the short supply of construction labour during a period of heavy oilfield development, created a preference for a simple, prefabricated system that could be installed quickly and inexpensively.

After looking at several options, Sonco Gaming’s engineer selected the Xpress MBR package plant. With an estimated average flow rate of 200,000 L/day, this plant addressed all of the casino’s specified needs. The advanced treatment unit easily met the casino’s stringent effluent requirements. The system was designed with a completely enclosed biological reactor and covered membrane tanks. A simple carbon adsorption odour control system ensured nuisance-free operation.

The compressed schedule meant that the building for the water and wastewater equipment had to be constructed well before equipment delivery. When the MBR skid arrived, it was conveniently lifted through removable roof

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:04 PM Page 63

Wastewater Treatment panels, set in place, and quickly installed.

The complete wastewater system includes an in-ground equalization and sludge storage basin, lift pumps, and MBR package system (fine-screen, anoxic and aerobic biological treatment reactors, and a two-cell membrane system followed by disinfection). Effluent is discharged to a subsurface disposal system and ultimately drains into Pine Creek. The system has been meeting all discharge requirements since it became operational in October 2007.

Case history: Lower Kuskokwim School District The Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), headquartered in Bethel in southwestern Alaska, is one of the state’s largest rural school districts, serving a 58,900-sq-km area, roughly the size of the state of West Virginia. With only 3,800 students, the LKSD operates several small, very remote sites. Many of the wastewater treatment systems are on-site decentralized systems.

Recently, the LKSD began to implement district-wide upgrades to its schools’ wastewater treatment systems.

Package treatment plants were recommended for three of the more remote schools that were evaluated. A compact system was specified because the water and wastewater systems had limited space available. The LKSD also has a district-wide SCADA system that monitors many critical elements of its schools’ operations, including the wastewater treatment systems.

The LKSD worked closely with its engineer and determined that a 100,000 L/day Xpress MBR package plant would best meet the district’s needs. The solution met all critical design elements: small footprint, remote monitoring capability, and packaged system approach.

Since the three schools were very remote, the contractor elected to pre-construct a building around the Xpress system to simplify installation.

The unit was shipped from the factory in Thomasville, Georgia, to Billings, Montana, for full assembly.

The building was then deconstructed for shipping to Seattle, where the Xpress unit and building components were loaded onto a barge and shipped to the school sites, which were all accessible www.esemag.com

Installation at Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary.

by waterway. The Xpress unit and building were off-loaded from the barge and reconstructed at the site. So far, one plant has been commissioned and the other two are scheduled for commissioning this winter.

Decentralized systems have been used for many years to meet a variety of project requirements. MBR systems offer many advantages over more con-

ventional wastewater treatment systems, and packaged MBR systems are a proven alternative for decentralized treatment.

Nathan Antonneau, P.E., John Irwin, P.E., and Brett Woods are with Siemens Water Technologies. E-mail: nathan.antonneau@siemens.com, john.irwin@siemens.com, brett.woods@siemens.com

Leaders in Water & Wastewater

Operator Training

Offering Solutions for Economical Training Across Canada • Nearly 100 Accredited courses for delivery at YOUR site or at our famous Hands-on schools • Course Leasing Available with Train-the Trainer development • Water & Wastewater Management Development courses • Certification Training & Consultation

Phone Toll Free: 866-622-6535 Email: Info@worldwatertraining.com Website: www.owotc.com

May 2010 | 63

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:04 PM Page 64

Wastewater Treatment

Using computational fluid dynamic modeling for optimal chlorine mixing

By Dari Laine, Sean Partington, Gary Hunter and James Powell

T

orontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Humber Treatment Plant is a conventional activated sludge treatment facility, with a rated capacity of 473 ML/day. It currently disinfects effluent with chlorine, using the outfall to provide contact time.

In 2008, a project was initiated to dechlorinate effluent to reduce toxic discharges. This initiative was in response to federal regulatory changes promulgated as part of the pollution prevention initiative. The City of Toronto also saw this as an opportunity to pursue the next step in the evolution of the plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treatment processes.

With no land available for a new contact basin and no desire to replace a gravity-flow outfall, the City was eager to continue its current disinfection practices. However, to meet the requirements of the new regulation, it was necessary to devise a means to dechlorinate before discharging effluent into Lake Ontario.

The answer to the challenge of providing effective disinfection with chlorine while minimizing toxic discharges was found in part via the solution developed by Black & Veatch (B&V) for Mississaugaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GE Booth (Lakeview) WWTP, which also discharges into the western end of Lake Ontario.

The resulting approach was to maintain gravity flow through the existing submerged outfall and convert it to a chlorination/dechlorination contact tank to meet the new chlorine residual limit.

An on-land scaled simulator has been constructed and calibrated to outfall flow velocity. The simulator operates continuously to monitor disinfection reactions, using flow-pacing with Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) feedback and residual tuning to chlorination and dechlorination dosing equipment. The simulator will also provide samples for regulatory compliance reporting.

To ensure compliance with restraints on diver accessibility, prevent the need for marine (lakebed) construction, and to minimize the impact on chlorine contact time, the outfall chlorination zone 64 | May 2010

was reduced by only 75 metres in length to create a dechlorination zone. However, because of a significant peaking factor, translating to limited contact time during wet-weather events, it was necessary to seek improvements to the existing chlorination dosing scheme along with an innovative dechlorination dosing process.

For years the plant has injected chlorine solution into the outfall downstream of an effluent gate chamber. Mixing is provided predominantly by the action of the submerged chlorine solution jet injected into the effluent outfall stream. To enhance mixing, B&V proposed rerouting the disinfectant piping upstream to the chamber and installing mechanical mixers to enhance disinfectant dispersion.

To ensure these measures were effective, and to define the optimal placement

Figure 1. Mesh resolution.

of intakes for the simulator downstream of the proposed chlorine solution dosing point, B&V performed computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling. CFD is a computer modelling method that simulates three-dimensional fluid flows using the finite volume method. The mathematical problem is discretised into numerous small elements, each possessing an algebraic approximation for the continuity of mass, momentum and energy, which are then solved simultaneously. Ansys CFX-11 software was used for the CFD analysis in this study.

All simulations were carried out to obtain a steady-state solution in time. To assess the degree of mixing, an additional tracer variable was simulated, also under steady-state conditions. The tracer was injected at the chlorination solution injection point and allowed to drift through the outfall to the outlet. Distribution of the tracer was then calculated at several planes downstream of the injection point to give an assessment of the degree of mixing.

The method used for assessment was the coefficient of variation (COV). This is calculated based on tracer concentration data at each plane. Resolution of the mesh at the calculation plane can be seen in Figure 1.

Practically, the lower the COV value, the smaller the overall deviation from the mean tracer concentration, thus implying

Figure 2. Chlorination injection tracer concentrations.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:04 PM Page 65

Wastewater Treatment good mixing. Conversely, the larger the COV, the greater the overall deviation from the mean of the measured tracer concentration. Most static mixer manufacturers guarantee a COV of 0.05 or less. This is normally used as an adequate standard for uniform mixing. The mixing length required, however, may vary according to the efficiency of the mixing device.

Besides COV, another useful parameter to plot is the deviation from mean tracer concentration at sections along the outfall.

Tracer concentrations are shown in Figure 2. Results of the modelling exercise for improved chlorine dosing are best represented by the simulated tracer concentrations at planes downstream of the injection point as presented in Figure 3. The disinfection agent, as represented by the tracer concentrations, would be expected to be fully mixed approximately 100 metres downstream of the injection point, thus defining the location for the sampling intakes for the control of the chlorination/dechlorination system upgrade.

Figure 3. Deviation from mean tracer concentration = low COV = good mixing.

The second portion of the project assessed dechlorination upgrades. The plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outfall configuration certainly presented a significant challenge. Investigation revealed that, when experiencing above-average flows, the 75 m long dechlorination zone would only provide ample residence time if dechlorination agent/chlorinated effluent mixing were to be enhanced.

Immediately, the plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senior professional recommended a static mixer concept involving flow rotation and shear. Designers proceeded with an eval-

uation of simplistic static mixer geometries that could be installed in the submerged outfall (under Lake Ontario) through an existing 1200 mm diameter diffuser.

Preliminary modeling was developed, and results presented. Plant staff elaborated on their initial design, proposing an improved injection/static mixer apparatus, and offered several improvements in order to reduce the risk of trapping rags, protect the dechlorination agent injectors, and minimize head continued overleaf...

YSI ProODO Handheld Opt Optical ical Dissolved Oxygen Met Meter er Expanded DO range of 0-500% Non-consumptive luminescent method eliminates stirring Easy to read graphic, backlit display and keypad Designed to fit in standard 300 mL BOD bottles Truly field-worthy, impact resistant, IP-67 waterproof case User-replaceable cables in lengths of 1 to 100-meters USB connection and powerful desktop Data Manager software Stores 2000 data sets Multiple languages support

for fo or mor more e info information: ormation: www www.myhoskin.com/pro-odo.pdf .myhosk in.com/pro-odo.pdf

Hoskin Scientific Ltd. www.esemag.com

www.hoskin.ca www w..hoskin.ca May 2010 | 65

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:04 PM Page 66

Wastewater Treatment Figure 4.

Case 1 - Single baffle, 90 degrees to flow.

Figure 5. Case 1 through 4 comparison. Low COV = good mixing.

Case 2 - Four baffles, 90 degrees to flow.

Case 3 - Four baffles, 75 degrees to flow.

Case 4 - Eight curved baffes, 45 degrees to flow.

66 | May 2010

loss/capacity of the outfall.

The plant’s proposed static mixer/injector was to generate shear and rotation followed by counter-rotation. This was accomplished with two sets of four finshaped baffles angled at 45 degrees to the pipe-axis. The first set incorporated sodium bisulphite injectors, and would shear the effluent stream, producing a rotation. The second set would create a counter-rotation and provide additional shear. Baffle configuration was modelled to quantify the improvement over the simplistic geometries. The four cases are illustrated in Figure 4.

ficient, reaching an acceptable level of mixing at a distance of only 17 m downstream of the injection point. CFD analyses indicated that Case 2, 3 and 4 each achieved acceptable mixing results.

However, subsequent pressure calculations revealed that Case 4 exhibited the lowest headloss of all three designs.

Case 4 also presented the most consistent result for the entire flow range.

In summary, CFD analyses proved crucial for the development of the chlorination injection modifications as a building block for chlorination system control upgrades. CFD analyses also

CFD analyses proved crucial for the development of the chlorination injection modifications as a building block for chlorination system control upgrades.

Relative performance of the proposed baffle configurations, each over three flows, is best demonstrated by the simulated tracer variation from point of sodium bisulphite injection to 75 m downstream, as presented in Figure 5.

Case 1 failed to meet COV = 0.05 even after a mixing length of 75 m. Case 2 provided acceptable mixing (COV = 0.05) for all flow rates after a distance of 35 m downstream of dechlorination agent injection. Case 3 provided similar results; however, acceptable mixing was achieved at a distance of 60 m.

Overall, Case 4 proved to be most ef-

confirmed that the plant staff’s dechlorination agent mixing baffle/injector design was the best option for the plant.

Construction is now underway, and the City is on target to commission the plant’s upgraded system, thanks, in large part, to CFD modelling.

Dari A. Laine is with Toronto Water’s Humber Treatment Plant.

Sean Partington, Gary Hunter and James Powell are with Black & Veatch’s Markham, Ontario, office.

For more information, E-mail: partingtonsm@bv.com

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:05 PM Page 67

Drinking Water Supply

New report issued on residential water usage trends

A

new report from the Water Research Foundation investigated trends in household water usage in North America during the past 30 years and drew preliminary conclusions on the magnitude and causes of declining usage per residential customer. The study focused on understanding residential water-usage behavior patterns and trends, assessing the impact of those patterns on water utility operations, and providing data that can be correlated with future trends for planning purposes.

The decline in residential water usage per customer has occurred as the number of residents and households continues to grow and as household incomes continue to rise. A variety of theories have been advanced to explain the declining usage, including wetter weather, changes in household size and type, water-conserving fixtures and appliances, customer classification anomalies, and price increases.

However, to date, no definitive statement has been made as to the validity of these theories or the amount each contributes to residential water-usage decline. For utilities to both encourage conservation and have sufficient financial reserves for maintenance and growth, it is necessary to better understand how water-use patterns have changed over the last 30 years, what factors are driving usage, and how these factors might impact utilities in the future.

Researchers quantified residential water-use changes across North America observed during the past 30 years. The study consisted of three elements, beginning with a macro view of the issue and developing into a micro view, with assessments of household water consumption behavior at the national, regional, and local levels.

The national trends component of the study analyzed the historic databases of 43 representative utilities. Analysis estimated the statistical relationships among six variables over time: utility size, water source, ownership type, precipitation zone, temperature zone, and drought index. The regional component of the study examined the specific experiences

www.esemag.com

reported by 11 utilities who agreed to participate and provide background information and data. The local component assessed the independent impacts of many water-conservation fixtures and household demographics.

Results and conclusions This research documents a pervasive trend toward lower water usage per household. The national and regional components of the study found that residential water usage per customer has decreased more than 380 gallons annually over the last three decades. Similar to the national and regional findings, the local study with the Louisville Water Company showed a reduction in water

itive and negative forces affecting water usage. The decline in number of residents per household is clearly an important factor in falling water consumption per residential customer. However, the negative consequences of smaller households appear to be more than offset by the positive consequences of higher household incomes. Higher incomes have led to larger homes, with more water-using appliances, and more landscape irrigation. Thus, the net decline in water usage per household appears to be due to the steady penetration of lowflow appliances over the past 20 years.

Developing management plans The steady decline in usage per

Researchers faced difficulties in obtaining accurate data for measuring usage and identifying patterns. usage per residential customer. The magnitude of the decline is consistent across North American utilities and is confirmed by more detailed data provided by the study's 11 partner utilities, although there were annual variations due to regional factors.

Results of the study's statistical models identified the magnitude of both pos-

household has important financial-planning consequences for water utility companies, as infrastructure is spread over more housing units, using less water than before. Data compiled in this research are intended to assist utilities in developing realistic management plans that take continued overleaf...

May 2010 | 67

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 10-06-08 5:08 PM Page 68

Drinking Water Supply into account the primary causes of declining residential water usage. It will provide a tool for projecting residential water usage in light of utility-specific trends. Utilities serving communities with growth in single-occupant households are likely to see erosion in revenues per household.

Additionally, new regulations governing water-conserving appliances and fixtures further indicate that residential water usage will continue to decline as newer homes make up a larger component of the housing stock. Utilities may find it useful to track persons per household in addition to number of households as they plan infrastructure and set rates.

Standardized classification and data management practices Researchers faced difficulties in obtaining accurate data for measuring usage and identifying patterns. Water-usage data obtained from utilities reflect information captured for billing and metering reasons, not for analysis. It is challenging to assemble consistent household water-usage data over time across utilities because of the lack of universal metering practices, a standardized method for classifying cus-

tomers, and maintaining databases. Thus, it is recommended that standardized customer classifications and database maintenance practices be established.

Local level studies Though the water usage model developed for this study provides valuable in-

TOXIC GAS SHUTOFF

EMERGENCY VALVE ACTUATOR

• Replaces Gas Scrubber • Fire Code Approved for Toxic Gases • Fail-Safe Battery Operated System • Gas Detector or Manual Activation

See us at ACE10 Visit Booth #1645

(877) 476-4222

www.halogenvalve.com 68 | May 2010

sight into the detailed structure of residential water usage, these models are still weak in explaining the huge variations in residential water usage among the participating utilities. Others studies have also found only weak relationships between water usage and traditional socio-economic and physical factors. Further research is needed on other demographic and housing variables to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the determinants of residential water usage, especially in areas periodically affected by water stress.

For a utility to adequately understand the local factors influencing residential usage, it needs to conduct an in-depth demographic study of existing customers. Combining this information with daily household usage data gathered via data logging allows utilities to gain valuable insight into the impacts of local factors on residential water usage.

The model employed in this study provides a reasonable methodology for utilities to adopt and extend.

For more information, visit www.waterresearchfoundation.org

NEWS WERF studying barriers to biogas utilization The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is funding research that will help wastewater treatment plants overcome barriers and disincentives for biogas production and its use to generate heat and power. In particular, the research will provide owners and operators of small WWTPs (less than 4.5 MGD) with strategies to overcome the size threshold of plants that can economically produce biogas and recover energy in some form.

Wastewater utilities are realizing opportunities to capture and use energy and resources in wastewater and residuals. However, there are often tradeoffs, or barriers, to maximizing the recovery of energy embedded in wastewater. A primary area of research necessary to promote the greater use of biogas (biomethane) for energy recovery is to evaluate barriers to the generation of heat and power from biogas.

Some reports show that fewer than 20% of larger WWTPs with anaerobic digestion operations produce combined heat and power (CHP. This likely means there must be either actual, or perceived, barriers to a broader use of these heat capture or energy recovery technologies by wastewater plants.

For more information, visit www.werf.org Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:05 PM Page 70

Package Treatment System ACG Technology’s package treatment system offers performance and durability. It provides sewage treatment within a small footprint. Aeration, mixing and settling can be accomplished in compact, easily transported ISO containers, ideal for remote locations. Provides flexibility of adding future parallel units, an economical means of meeting the needs of any growing sewage loads.

Tel: 905-856-1414, Fax: 905-856-6401 E-mail: sales@acgtechnology.com Web: www.acgtechnology.com

P roduct & Service Showcase

ACG Technology

Coalescing oil/water separators

Modular mechanical seals

ACG Technology’s coalescing oil/ water separators are available in carbon steel, stainless steel, FRP and polypropylene construction. Standard systems include air operated diaphragm pump, air filter and floating skimmer.

Adjustable weir and skimmer height provides optimal oil removal and minimal disposal volume. Standard range is 1 to 50 GPM. Tel: 905-856-1414, Fax: 905-856-6401 E-mail: sales@acgtechnology.com Web: www.acgtechnology.com

By forming a seal between pipes going through walls, floors and pipeline casings. Innerlynx® modular mechanical seals are non-conductive and isolating and are made from synthetic rubber with heavy-duty, plastic pressure plates. Sixteen different sizes are available for pipe sizes ½'' to 120''.

Tel: 800-315-6009, Fax: 337-232-3860 E-mail: sales@apsonline.com Web: www.apsonline.com Advance Products & Systems

ACG Technology

University courses online

Fish-friendly culverts

Flow measurement

American Public University offers 76 affordable degrees, 100% online, including Environmental Studies with concentrations in Environmental Policies, Environmental Sustainability, Global Environmental Management, Environmental Technology & Management, Regional & Community Environmental Management, and Fish & Wildlife Management. Visit us for more information.

Tel: 1-877-777-9081 E-mail: info@apus.edu Web: www.studyatAPU.com/enviro

Atlantic Industries Limited offers a wide variety of environmentallyfriendly fish passage solutions for salt or fresh water applications, including their open-bottomed arches in recycled/recyclable galvanized steel or Dur•A•SpanTM aluminum structural plate. The units ship and install easily with minimal site impact and their openbottom designs comply with stream crossing codes.

Tel: 877-245-7473 Web: www.ail.ca

The Isco ADFM Hot Tap Flow Meter provides precise and accurate flow rate measurement in full and pressurized pipe applications. Standard features include: quad-redundant velocity sensors in a single housing; data quality verification information (signal strength and correlation); in situ calibration never required; rugged, long-lasting construction; realtime data output.

Tel: 888-965-4700 E-mail: info@avensys.com Web: www.avensyssolutions.com

Atlantic Industries Limited

Avensys Solutions

American Public University

Phoenix Panel System

Phoenix Underdrain System

• Upgrades and optimizes all types of filters • Installs directly over existing underdrain system • Eliminates the need for base gravel layers • Improves backwash flow distribution • Provides longer filter runs and lower turbidity effluent Tel: 403-255-7377, Fax: 403-255-3129 E-mail: info@awifilter.com Web: www.awifilter.com AWI

• Optimizes all types of filters • Extremely low profile; lowest available • Manufactured from corrosion-resistant stainless steel • Variable custom orifice sizing • Custom hydraulic design • Guaranteed uniform air scour distribution • Rapid, low-cost installation Tel: 403-255-7377, Fax: 403-255-3129 E-mail: info@awifilter.com Web: www.awifilter.com AWI

70 | May 2010

Lightweight plastic ventilator

PELSUE introduces the new 1325P Axial Ventilator with Airpac 15 or 25' hose canister. This rugged ventilator is perfect for confined space entry ventilation and is available in 12 VDC or 115 VAC. Tel: 800-265-0182, Fax: 905-272-1866 E-mail: info@cdnsafety.com Web: www.cdnsafety.com Canadian Safety Equipment

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:05 PM Page 71

Guideline for CSP culverts

Dissolved air flotation

Polymer Laminated Corrugated Steel Pipe provides protection against the uncertainties of tomorrow. This tough, mill-applied coating protects both the steel and galvanized coating from attack by a multitude of agents. The coating has performed well in extremely aggressive environments and is expected to provide continuous protection for more than 100 years.

Tel: 866-295-2416, Fax: 519-650-8081 E-mail: info@cspi.ca Web: www.cspi.ca

Use the Canadian Performance Guideline for Corrugated Steel Pipe Culverts as your location in Canada may affect the long-term performance of your infrastructure. Understanding your local environment helps you to select the steel material best suited to your site, for optimum performance and value.

Tel: 866-295-2416, Fax: 519-650-8081 E-mail: info@cspi.ca Web: www.cspi.ca

The AquaDAF速 Clarifier High-Rate Dissolved Air Flotation System is a viable alternative to conventional settling and DAF clarifiers. It is highly effective for treatment of a range of raw water characteristics including troublesome waters exhibiting low turbidity, high TOC, colour and algae.

Tel: 201-794-3100 Web: www.degremont-technologies.com

Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute

Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute

Degremont

Denso Petrolatum Tapes Proven worldwide for well over 100 years, Denso Petrolatum Tapes offer the best, most economical, long-term corrosion protection for all above and below ground metal surfaces.

Requiring only minimum surface preparation and environmentally responsible, Denso Petrolatum Tape is the solution to your corrosion problems in any corrosive environment. For applications in mines, mills, refineries, steel mills, pulp & paper, oil & gas, and the waterworks industry. The answer is Denso!

Tel: 416-291-3435, Fax: 416-291-0898 E-mail: blair@densona.com Web: www.densona.com Denso

Multiparameter meter

Multi-channel transmitter

The Liquiline CM44 is a four-wire multi-channel transmitter from Endress+Hauser, compatible with a full complement of digital Memosens sensors for all parameters. The large backlit screen, navigation wheel, dropdown menu structure and adaptive software make operation simple and intuitive.

Tel: 800-668-3199, Fax: 905-681-9444 E-mail: info@ca.endress.com Web: www.ca.endress.com Endress + Hauser

Hand-held DO meter

The YSI Professional Plus handheld multiparameter meter provides extreme flexibility for the measurement of a variety of combinations for dissolved oxygen, conductivity, specific conductance, salinity, resistivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, ORP, pH/ORP combination, ammonium (ammonia), nitrate, chloride and temperature.

Web: www.hoskin.ca Hoskin Scientific

www.esemag.com

The YSI ProODOTM handheld DO meter provides extreme durability for the measurement of optical, luminescent-based dissolved oxygen for any field application.

Web: www.hoskin.ca

Hoskin Scientific

GPS mapping

Geneq Inc. have integrated a DGPS Beacon receiver inside their SXBlue II GPS product. The SXBlue II-B GPS expands the sub-meter GPS mapping performance to over 38 countries around the world, wherever a DGPS beacon transmitter is broadcasting. It is compact and rugged for optimal field use, requiring no backpack nor external batteries.

Tel: 1-800-463-4363 E-mail: rparise@geneq.com Web: www.sxbluegps.com Geneq

Chemical-free water treatment

WEDECO Ozone Generators from ITT Water & Wastewater eliminate pollutants, coloured substances, odours and micro-organisms without creating harmful byproducts. They are compact in design to reduce overall footprint, and provide reduced energy consumption per unit of ozone production.

Tel: 514-695-0100, Fax: 514-697-0602 Web: www.ittwww.ca ITT Water and Wastewater

May 2010 | 71

Product & Service Showcase

Polymer laminated coating

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:06 PM Page 72

New jet aerators

P roduct & Service Showcase

Based on the clogfree Flygt Npumps, the new Flygt jet aerator from ITT Water & Wastewater has become easier to install and maintain.

The major changes in the new generation jet aerators are: an improved lift in, lift out structure, and a strengthened stand equipped with rubber dampers. Available with up to three ejectors, the Flygt jet aerator is a flexible aeration solution for small- and mediumsized tanks.

Tel: 514-695-0100, Fax: 514-697-0602 Web: www.ittwww.com ITT Water & Wastewater

Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor

Submersible transducer Ametek’s low cost submersible model 375 is a 1%, 2 wire, 420 mA transducer. A 316 S.S. housing and factory sealed cable provide liquid tight performance. Available calibrated for 13.8 to 692 ft of water. Desiccant vent filter is included.

It is distributed by Peacock, a division of Kinecor.

The patented AnoxKaldnes MBBR biofilm-based process is compact, reliable, simple to operate, with low maintenance. It can be used for new WWTPs as well as for upgrades, expansions or retrofits, for BOD removal, nitrification, and denitrification. Its carbon footprint is smaller than conventional processes.

Tel: 905-286-4846 E-mail: salescanada@veoliawater.com Web: www.veoliawaterst.ca

Tel: 1-800-313-3103, Fax: 905-890-0846 E-mail: marketing@kinecor.com Web: www.peacock.ca or www.kinecor.com

John Meunier

Kinecor

Water filters

Moving large fluid volumes

Radar level transmitter

KSB's RDLO pumps are tough performers for use wherever large volumes of fluids need to be moved.

With computer-optimized hydraulics and streamlined maintenance, these pumps offer excellent energy efficiency and NPSH values, and low total life cycle costs. Standard capacities are up to 10,000 m3/h, with heads up to 240 m. Larger units are obtainable by special order.

Tel: 905-568-9200 E-mail: ksbcanada@ksbcanada.com Web: www.ksb.ca

Optimized for the needs of the municipal and environmental markets, the new Magnetrol R82 Radar Level Transmitter features advancements that make radar costcompetitive with ultrasonic level transmitters. Fully submersible - 26 GHz frequency - 24 VDC, loop-power - fully encapsulated horn antenna - range to 12.2 metres – adjustable beam - HART® communications.

Tel: 905-738-9600 E-mail: info@magnetrolenvironmental.com Web: www.magnetrolenvironmental.com

KSB Pumps

Magnetrol

Orival water filters remove unwanted organic and inorganic suspended solids. With models from ¾'' to 2'', and filtration degrees from 5 to 3,000 microns, Orival Automatic Self-Cleaning Filters are available in many configurations and construction materials.

They stay on-line during the rinse cycle, providing uninterrupted flow of clean water.

Tel: 800-567-9767 E-mail: filters@orival.com Web: www.orival.com Orival

Septage receiving station

Metering pumps

Metering pump

The userfriendly, maintenancefree Helisieve Plus® Septage Receiving Station pre-treats septage and protects downstream processes. This self-contained system removes troublesome solids and dewaters them for landfill. It's fast, easy and effective, and odours are contained in the stainless steel receiving tank.

Tel: 514-636-8712, Fax: 514-636-9718 E-mail: canada@parkson.com Web: www.parkson.com

Feature-rich and dependable Sigma series metering pumps from ProMinent help keep your chemical feed under control.

Sigma pumps operate in capacities of up to 1000 LPH and pressures up to 174 psi. Microprocessor controls are easy to use, with backlit LCD for rapid and reliable adjustment.

Tel: 888-709-9933, Fax: 519-836-5226 E-mail: sales@prominent.ca Web: www.prominent.ca

The awardwinning delta® with optoDrive® provides diverse control and operating capabilities in a capacity range of 7.5 - 75 l/h, 362 psi - 29 psi.

The delta from ProMinent has many advanced features: pulsed or continuous dosing; automatic detection of airlock, low pressure and high pressure; and an automatic degassing option.

Tel: 888-709-9933, Fax: 519-836-5226 E-mail: sales@prominent.ca Web: www.prominent.ca/delta

Parkson

ProMinent Fluid Controls

ProMinent Fluid Controls

72 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:06 PM Page 73

SAF-T-FLO Chemical Injection manufactures a complete line of chemical injection equipment for all types of chemical feed systems. A large inventory of retractable and non-retractable injection quills and sampling probes is available to meet your needs. In addition, experienced technical sales staff can answer your questions or help solve your problems.

Tel: 800-957-2383, Fax: 714-632-3350 E-mail: gkline@saftflo.com Web: www.saftflo.com SAF-T-FLO Chemical Injection

Membrane bioreactor Sanitherm has perfected containerizing their SaniBraneÂŽ MBR. The containerized SaniBrane is portable, provides excellent effluent on start-up, is operator friendly and comes pre-wired, preplumbed and tested. The system for anywhere needing reliable waste treatment with a small footprint!

Intelligent Motor Control Centre

Tel: 604-986-9168, Fax: 604-986-5377 E-mail: information@sanitherm.com Web: www.sanibrane.com

Schneider Electricâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IMCC facilitates remote monitoring/configuration of motor control systems, and can reduce installation/ commissioning costs by up to 20%. Advanced software and diagnostics allow remote monitoring, via Ethernet TCP/IP, DeviceNet, CanOpen, Modbus or Profibus, down to the device level.

Tel: 416-615-3406 Web: www.schneider-electric.ca

Sanitherm Inc.

Schneider Electric

Stainless steel gear units

Wastewater Pump Stations

Accurate interface meters

SEW-Eurodrive offers a rugged and reliable range of products and integrated solutions that stand up to the rigorous uptime demands.

Hard working and easy to clean, our IP69K rated stainless steel gear unit features rugged, high-quality, 304 stainless steel that meets material and construction guidelines for conveying applications.

Tel: 905-791-1553, Fax: 905-791-2999 Web: www.sew-eurodrive.ca

Energy-saving Smith & Loveless wastewater pump stations are ideal for collection system and WWTP influent pumping for municipalities, private developments and industry. Proven lift station designs minimize delays because S&L stations arrive at the jobsite completely built and thoroughly factory-tested. Now available with expanded pump sizing: 4" - 12" piping (100-300 mm); horsepower: 1.5 to 300 HP; capacity: up to 50,000 GMP (3155 lps).

Tel: 913-888-5201, Fax: 913-888-2173 E-mail: answers@smithandloveless.com Web: www.smithandloveless.com

Solinst Interface Meters feature a narrow 16 mm (5/8") diameter probe, flexible flat tape, and sturdy reel.

These meters provide clear, accurate measurements of water and product level and thickness (LNAPL and DNAPL), and are certified intrinsically safe in explosive environments.

Tel: 905-873-2255, Fax: 905-873-1992 E-mail: instruments@solinst.com Web: www.solinst.com

SEW-Eurodrive Company of Canada

Smith & Loveless

Solinst Canada

Controlling contaminated groundwater

NEW portable optical dissolved oxygen measurement system

Waterloo Barrier is a low permeability cutoff wall for groundwater containment and control. It is a new design of steel sheet piling, featuring joints that can be sealed after the sheets have been driven into the ground, and was developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo. It has patent/patent pending status in several countries.

Canadian Metal Rolling Mills assisted in developing the product.

Tel: 519-856-1352, Fax: 519-856-0759 E-mail: info@waterloo-barrier.com Web: www. waterloo-barrier.com

The Aquaread ODO Plus Plus system is the only portable Optical DO (ODO) system available which includes direct EC measurement for accurate salinity compensation. Automatic temperature and barometric pressure compensation are also included. Available in July, 2010.

Tel: 905-238-5242, Fax: 905-238-5704 E-mail: waterra@idirect.com Web: www.waterra.com Waterra Pumps

Waterloo Barrier

www.esemag.com

Submersible pumps

Wilo is a leader in submersible pumping technology for water and wastewater. Wilo pumping units are equipped with a tough mechanical seal that is the only one in the industry that is eligible for a life time warranty. For more information, please contact info@wilo-canada.com Tel: 1-866-WILO-CDN, Fax: 403-277-9456 E-mail: info@wilo-canada.com Web: www.wilo-canada.com WILO Canada

May 2010 | 73

Product & Service Showcase

Chemical injection equipment

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:06 PM Page 74

Moncton engineer honoured

Acoustic Panels, Enclosures & Products WE WELCOME YOUR INQUIRIES

Email: info@acousticproductsales.com Web: www.acousticproductsales.com Tel: (613) 551-6100

ES&E’s co-founder honored by Ontario wastewater industry

Tom Davey receiving his award from Mrs. Gail Scott.

Environmental Science and Engineering Magazine’s Tom Davey was presented with the first Geoffrey T.G. Scott Memorial Award at the Water Environment Association of Ontario’s (WEAO) annual conference in London, Ontario, on April 19.

This WEAO award was in recognition of his being a “member of the water environment industry in Canada, who has shown an outstanding example of leadership in championing a worthwhile endeavor and thereby advancing the mission of the water environment industry”.

Geoffrey Scott, who passed away in late 2008, was the second Canadian President of the 36,000 member Water Environment Federation.

During his fifty year career, Tom Davey has won some 30 awards for writing on environmental issues, including three international ones.

74 | May 2010

• In 1980, Tom became the first Canadian to be awarded the J.H. Neal award from the American Business Press in New York for a series of articles on U.S. environmental policies.

• In 1980, the U.S. based Water Environment Federation awarded Tom its Harry E. Schlenz Medal – he was the first Canadian to be so honoured.

• In 1982, Tom won a second J.H. Neal award.

The Canadian Federal Government’s top Environmental Achievement Award in the field of “Outstanding Communications for Environmental Awareness Award” was bestowed upon Tom in 1992. This award was recognized by a personal letter of congratulations from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Tom has authored three books: Recollections, a history of water pollution control in Ontario, All the Views Fit to Print and For Whom The Polls Tell, both environmental anthologies.

In 1988, Tom launched Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine (ES&E), with his son Steve.

This Aurora-based publication has a circulation of 19,000 across Canada and Tom is now Consulting Editor Tom also founded the Aurora Writers Group which supports and encourages local writers, and he is a past president of the Canadian Science Writers Association.

The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick has awarded Conrad Allain, P.Eng., the Individual Award of Merit for Technical Excellence in recognition of his leadership in the development of environmentally sound and economically beneficial technology for waste management.

According to the APEGNB, as director of operations for the Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission (GMSC), Mr. Allain was the primary technical resource behind the design and construction of the municipal region’s state-ofthe-art biosolids composting facility in Riverview, NB. Mr. Allain spearheaded work on the biosolids facility when he joined Touchie Engineering in 1986, three years after the GMSC was created. During the next 20 years, Mr. Allain directed every phase of the new wastewater treatment and biosolids composting facilities, from site and process selection through to the research and development, design and construction.

Avensys to distribute Sensidyne product line Avensys Solutions has entered into a distribution agreement with Sensidyne LP. Sensidyne has over 25 years experience manufacturing fixed gas detection, air sampling and micro air pump products, for power, chemical, oil and gas, mining, industrial gases, semi-conductor, metals, and water and waste treatment facilities worldwide.

Avensys Solutions provides instrumentation and integrated solutions for the monitoring of industrial processes and environmental surveillance applications for air and water in the Canadian marketplace. www.avensyssolutions.com

Harnois assures customers its structures meet codes In a recent press statement, Harnois Industries, a Canadian manufacturer of all-purpose shelters, claimed that its MegaDome structures conform to all relevant building codes in both Canada and the United States.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:06 PM Page 75

The statement was issued after owners of similar buildings expressed concern following the collapse of the Dallas Cowboys training facility in a violent windstorm in Irving, Texas, last May. Harnois’ vice-president of marketing, Caroline Forest explained that all of Harnois MegaDome® structures had been erected in compliance with building permits issued by the appropriate local authorities. Ms. Forest also pointed out that Harnois’ prefabricated galvanized steel and membrane-covered structures had been built to withstand snow and wind loads, and that each of them had been inspected by the relevant authorities in each of the company’s markets. www.harnois.com

CH2M HILL earns AAEE environmental engineering award CH2M HILL has won an Excellence in Environmental Engineering Award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE) for its work on the City of Calgary’s Pine Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility.

The plant’s initial capacity of 100 ML/d will serve a population of 250,000, but must allow for expansion to an ultimate capacity of 700 ML/d and a service population of 1.75 million. The level of treatment required is extremely high, exceeding regulatory requirements. The treatment process for the Pine Creek WWTP includes Biological Nutrient Removal, tertiary filtration using filter disk technology, and ultra-violet light disinfection. Treated effluent is discharged to the Bow River via diffusers constructed below the riverbed.

Portions of the treated effluent are reused within the plant and will also be used to irrigate the nearby Blue Devil golf course and City tree nursery. This will help the City to achieve its long-term water efficiency goal to reduce the use of potable water for non-potable needs. www.ch2mhill.com

• ANTHRACITE • QUALITY FILTER SAND & GRAVEL • CARBON • GARNET ILMENITE • REMOVAL & INSTALLATION 20 Sharp Road, Brantford, Ontario N3T 5L8 • Tel: (519) 751-1080 • Fax: (519) 751-0617 E-mail: swildey@anthrafilter.net • Web: www.anthrafilter.net

Water treatment specialists for the resource and energy industries 604-685-1243 bioteq@bioteq.ca

www.bioteq.ca

6 6 6 6 6

Recover dissolved metals Remove sulphate Improve water re-use Comply with regulations Lower life cycle costs for water treatment

OPS is one of Canadaʼs greenest employers For the first time, the Ontario Public Service (OPS) has been recognized as one of continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

MARKHAM, ONTARIO 905-747-8506 weknowwater@bv.com www.bv.com

May 2010 | 75

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:06 PM Page 76

Specialists in a comprehensive range of Municipal, Environmental, Structural, Building, Water Resources, Transportation and Municipal Engineering Collingwood

Bracebridge

Email: info@cctatham.com

Orillia

Barrie

Web: www.cctatham.com

Get a clear view of: “Specialists in non-intrusive ground investigations” Tel: 905.458.1883 Fax: 905.792.1884 E-mail: general@geophysics.ca Web: www.geophysics.ca

• UST's, buried metal, debris & fill • Former excavations & structures • Leachate plumes • Voids and fractures • Stratigraphy • Pipes and utilities

30+ Years of Water and Wastewater Solutions Wastewater Collection/Treatment Water Supply/Treatment/Storage/Distribution Environmental Site Assessment/Remediation Hydrogeological Investigations/Modelling Watershed/Stormwater Management Information Technology/Data Management

3,000 Staff; 90+ Offices

Canada’s Greenest Employers for 2010.

This award is part of the Canada's Top 100 Employers competition conducted by Mediacorp Canada. OPS was selected for several reasons, including the creation of the OPS Green Office in September 2008, the OPS Green Transformation strategy, and a wide range of OPS-wide and ministry green initiatives.

Wardrop acquires Hydromantis Wardrop, a Tetra Tech Company, has acquired Hydromantis, Inc., a firm of 17 employees specializing in the optimization and design of wastewater and water treatment systems. This acquisition expands Wardrop’s integrated services and project management capabilities with immediate benefits to its Infrastructure Division.

Wardrop currently has 1,000 employees who work collaboratively throughout its North American and overseas operations.

Endress+Hauser honors its inventors

1.800.265.6102 www.CRAworld.com

Worldwide Engineering, Environmental, Construction, and IT Services

Environmental Site Investigations and Remediation • Hydrogeologic Evaluations • Soil and Groundwater Remediation • Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessments • Site Decommissioning • Designated Substance Surveys • Expert Witness and Litigation Support • Peer Review • Asbestos and Mould Assessments

Since 1988

436 Elmstead Road RR1 Windsor, Ontario N8N 2L9 519.979.7300 Clarify the Issue Quantify the Data Defend the Position

Meeting at the Burghof Arts Center in Lörrach, Germany, over 200 inventors from the Endress+Hauser Group celebrated the tenth anniversary of the ‘Innovators’ Meeting’. The highlight of the festivities was the award ceremony of the three 10,000 euro ‘Patent Rights Incentive Awards’ for particularly important patents.

The prizes in the jubilee year went to inventors of the Product Center Flowtec (Reinach/Switzerland), Maulburg (Germany), and Wetzer (Nesselwang/Germany).

Altech commissions cider plant wastewater reuse system Altech Technology Systems (ATS) recently commissioned a 10,000 gallon per day, System HydroKleen™ Membrane Bioreactor with post-treatment reverse osmosis and chlorine disinfection for process 76 | May 2010

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:07 PM Page 77

wastewater reuse at an apple processing plant in southern Ontario.

Located in a rural location, the plant planned to expand its operation to include a new apple cider processing operation. It did not have access to municipal water supply and wastewater disposal, and used groundwater for its water supply and a septic bed for wastewater disposal. Costs associated with trucking fresh water to the plant and disposal of wastewater off site would greatly hinder the economic viability of the planned expansion.

Water and wastewater treatment technologies were investigated to provide a viable option for reusing available process wastewater in a strictly regulated food processing application.

ATS was selected to design, manufacture and install a complete process wastewater treatment system to produce potable quality water for process equipment CIP (Clean in Place) and other process water applications. This is the first full-scale industrial process wastewater treatment system in North America to produce a potable quality water for reuse in process applications.

This system provides a complete closed loop water reuse program in combination with wastewater treatment. System HydroKleen’s unique design recirculates sludge biomass from the anoxic chamber back to the aeration chamber for a continuous loop bioreduction system with low sludge wasting. From the bioreactor, water is passed through a bank of ultra-filtration membranes, producing treated water with over 99% removal of BOD, TSS, nitrogen and phosphorous.

For more information, E-mail: gbennett@altech-group.com

KSB provides drinking water pumps for New York Recently, the KSB Group shipped five large submersible borehole pumps for dewatering and maintaining the water in New York’s Delaware Aqueduct, while repairs are being done.

This task requires the most powerful single-entry submersible borehole pumps continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

AIR RELEASE/VACUUM BREAK VALVES FOR SEWAGE & WATER “ANTI-SURGE/ANTI-SHOCK” • 10-YEAR WARRANTY ALL STAINLESS

HYDRO-LOGIC ENVIRONMENTAL INC.

RGX

Phone: 905-777-9494 E: info@hydrologic.ca W: www.hydrologic.ca

RBX

OTT Fine Bubble Diffusers • • • •

highest efficiency, intelligent, intuitive designs proven worldwide in more than 23 years of service quickest and easiest installation and maintenance uniquely environmentally friendly

HYDRO-LOGIC ENVIRONMENTAL INC.

Phone: 905-777-9494 E: info@hydrologic.ca W: www.hydrologic.ca

PHI BUBBLETRON Mixing Technology Innovative, most energy-efficient mixing No in-basin moving parts Anoxic mixing Ideal for many applications Sludge mixing Water reservoir circulation Sewage pump station grease cap & odor control

HYDRO-LOGIC ENVIRONMENTAL INC.

Phone: 905-777-9494 E: info@hydrologic.ca W: www.hydrologic.ca

Experts in Water, Wastewater, Environmental Planning, and Simulation Software

Hydromantis, Inc. Consulting Engineers ! 420 Sheldon Drive, Cambridge, Ontario, N1T 2H9 Tel: (519) 624-7223 Fax: (519) 624-7224 ! 1685 1 James Street Ontario, L8P L8S 4R5 1G5 Main St. South, West,Suite Suite1601, 302,Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Tel: (905) 522-0012 Fax: (905) 522-0031

E-mail: info@hydromantis.com Web: www.hydromantis.com

Insitu Groundwater Contractors • • • • • • P: 519-763-0700 F: 519-763-6684 150 Stevenson Street, South Guelph, ON N1E 5N7

Dewatering systems Mobile groundwater treatment systems Well and pump installation and maintenance Pump, filter, generator rentals Sediment tank rentals Insitu groundwater remediation systems

www.insitucontractors.com

INTERNATIONAL WATER SUPPLY LTD. WWW.IWS.CA

GROUNDWATER TECHNOLOGY SPECIALISTS Engineers & Hydrogeologists Serving the Groundwater Industry for 75 Years 342 Bayview Drive, Box 310, Barrie, Ontario, Canada L4M 4T5

Tel: (705) 733-0111, Fax: (705) 721-0138 E-Mail: iws@iws.ca

May 2010 | 77

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:07 PM Page 78

CORROSION CONTROL PRODUCTS Leaders in the Cathodic Protection Industryâ&#x20AC;ŚSince1957

INTERPROVINCIAL CORROSION CONTROL Regional Offices: Burlington, Montreal & Calgary

INTERNATIONAL CORROSION CONTROL Lewiston, New York, USA

4EL s &AX www.Rustrol.com

KSB has ever produced, with each of the five units featuring a 2,650 HP, 4-pole, 4160 V high-voltage motor.

The capacity of each pump is around 8,800 gallons per minute at a maximum rated head of 1,050 feet. In accordance with customer specifications, some of the units are equipped with wetted components made of corrosion-resistant superduplex stainless steel. Cable connections are effected by a special submersible connector system.

The Aqueduct was built in the 1940s and was last pumped dry for maintenance in 1957. Thanks to its gravity flow construction, the 13.5 ft (4.11 m) wide tunnel requires no pumps to supply on average 650,000 gallons of drinking water per second to New York City from its sources in the Delaware Watershed, located some 93 miles from the city. www.ksb.com

NSF ANSI 61 metering pumps offered at no extra charge

0%/

0ROG %DFWHULD &RQVXOWLQJ /DERUDWRULHV

"REVIK 0L 5NIT !

-ISSISSAUGA /. , 7 .

Ę&#x2022; 0RXOG DQG EDFWHULD WHVWLQJ Ć&#x2021; 7RWDO VSRUH FRXQWV $LU 2 &HOO HWF

Ć&#x2021; 9LDEOH DQDO\VHV RI DLU DQG EXON VDPSOHV Ć&#x2021; &ROLIRUPV DQG ( FROL VFUHHQLQJ Ć&#x2021; /HJLRQHOOD WHVWLQJ Ć&#x2021; 0RXOG DQG EDFWHULD WUDLQLQJ FRXUVHV Ć&#x2021; 6(59,1* :+2/( 2) &$1$'$

3BUFE 1SPmDJFOU *O 5IF "*)" &.1"5 1SPHSBN XXX .PME#BDUFSJB DPN

10 Alden Road Markham, Ontario Canada L3R 2S1 Tel: 905-475-1545 Fax: 905-475-2021 www.napier-reid.com

Package Wastewater Treatment Plants/SBR/MBR/RBC/EA/DAF 78 | May 2010

ProMinent is offering its optoDriveÂŽ, Gamma/L, Sigma, ConceptPLUS, and BetaÂŽ metering pumps which comply with the NSFÂŽ/ANSI 61 standards for safe drinking water, at no extra charge.

The NSF requires manufacturers to submit their products for rigorous testing, as part of the evaluation process. Metering pump products are tested to ensure that there is no leaching or fugitive emissions from the dosing head and the diaphragm which could get into the water stream. By ensuring no leaching, there is no risk that harmful substances could end up in the drinking water.

ProMinent is celebrating its 50th year of providing chemical metering, water treatment, and measurement and control products. For more information, E-mail: sales@prominent.ca

Stantec honoured for airport run-off water project A system designed by Stantec to treat spent de-icing fluid and polluted run-off at Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BNIA) has received an Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).

The $10 million project was selected Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:07 PM Page 79

for the award for its development of an “engineered wetland” to help the airport treat contaminated water resulting from cold weather aircraft de-icing.

In this process, aircraft are sprayed with a glycol solution to remove ice, and spent glycol and glycol-contaminated stormwater runoff are collected and pumped into four football-field-sized, 5-feet-thick, underground gravel beds designed by Stantec. In these gravel beds, an aeration system provides oxygen to allow bacteria on the pieces of gravel to essentially digest the pollutants in the liquid, cleaning it up as is passes through. Clean water is then discharged into the airport’s stormwater disposal system. www.stantec.com

10 Alden Road Markham, Ontario Canada L3R 2S1 Tel: 905-475-1545 Fax: 905-475-2021 www.napier-reid.com

Package Water Treatment Plants/Gravity/Pressure/Membrane/Ion Exchange/GAC

Peter J. Laughton, P. Eng. Consulting Engineer

Environmental Engineering Services

King City, Ontario CANADA

p.laughton@pjlaughtonenv.com

tel: +1.905.833.6738 fax: +1.905.833.8497

As part of its Open Ontario Plan, the Ontario government is taking steps to make the province a leading clean water jurisdiction in North America. If passed, the Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act would encourage the creation and export of innovative clean water technology, promote water conservation, attract economic development, and create jobs.

Among the proposals, the new Act would: • Make Ontario a North American leader in developing and selling water technologies and services through the creation of the Water Technology Acceleration Project (TAP) - a technology hub bringing together industry, academics and government to develop the sector and promote it abroad.

• Encourage Ontarians to use water more efficiently by creating and implementing innovative approaches to conservation.

• Strengthen sustainable municipal water planning by helping them identify and plan for long-term infrastructure needs.

According to the government, Ontario companies are already employing 22,000 people and selling technologies and services for water around the world. The hope is that these initiatives will pave the way for the growth of Ontario's water technology sector in the rapidly expanding global market. continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

ŕ %KXKN 'PIKPGGTKPI ŕ 'PXKTQPOGPVCN 5GTXKEGU

1-800-265-9662

ŕ )TQWPFYCVGT 5GTXKEGU ŕ 5VTWEVWTCN 'PIKPGGTKPI ŕ 'NGEVTKECN 'PIKPGGTKPI

www.rjburnside.com

Making Ontario a clean water leader

May 2010 | 79

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:20 PM Page 80

New federal wastewater regulations proposed

Partnering to provide sustainable solutions

Comprehensive assessment, remediation and compliance services across Canada and around the world. www.snclavalin.com

The Government of Canada has tabled proposed regulations for municipal, community, federal, and other wastewater systems. Included are standards for national wastewater effluent quality and regulatory clarity for rules on reporting for more than 3,700 Canadian facilities.

For those not already meeting effluent quality standards, there is a proposed phase-in approach. For higher-risk wastewater effluent discharges, facilities will have up until 2020 to upgrade, whereas others would have until 2030, or 2040, depending on the level of risk associated with existing effluent quality and environmental considerations.

These regulations are the principal instrument that Environment Canada is using to implement the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater that was endorsed in 2009.

Under Government of Canada infrastructure funds, including the Building Canada, Green Infrastructure, Stimulus, and Gas Tax Funds, over $3.25 billion has been spent or committed for wastewater and water infrastructure. Such projects are a top priority for these funds. For more information, visit www.gazette.gc.ca

Ontario introduces new “Open For Business” Act

www.trg.ca Experience, Innovation, Diversity, Teamwork & Commitment

Tel: (905) 823-7965 Fax: (905) 823-7932 www.pcbdisposal.com 80 | May 2010

• MECHANICAL • ELECTRICAL • STRUCTURAL • ARCHITECTURAL • ENVIRONMENTAL • CIVIL

• Hazardous Site Clean-up & Remediation • Decommissioning and Demolition • Asbestos and Mould Abatement • Contaminated Soil Removal • On-site Water Treatment

Recently, the Ontario government introduced the Open for Business Act that would, if passed, create a more competitive business climate, while protecting the environment and public interest. Among the over 100 proposed amendments, the Act would: • Establish a modern, risk-based approach to environmental approvals, which could save businesses as much as 25 per cent of their project application costs.

• Enable faster and more efficient resolution of Employment Standards claims by addressing the current backlog, providing more powers to Employment Standards Officers, and encouraging early resolution of disputes between employees and employers.

• Make it easier for professionals, such continued overleaf...

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 10-06-08 5:08 PM Page 81

Company

Page

E-mail

Website

ADI Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 . . . . . .systems@adi.ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.adisystemsinc.com Alberta Wilbert Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.wilbert.ca American Public University System . . . . . . . . .38 . . . . . .info@apus.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.studyatapu.com American Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 . . . . . .rscholtens@amwater.com . . . . . . . . . . . .www.terratec.amwater.com Associated Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 . . . . . .admin-group@ae.ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ae.ca AWI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 . . . . . .info@awifilter.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.awifilter.com Canada Unlimited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 . . . . . .bmertens@canada-unlimited.com . . . . .www.canada-unlimited.com Canadian Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.canadiansafety.com Cole Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 . . . . . .careers@coleengineering.ca . . . . . . . . . .www.coleengineering.ca Cole Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 . . . . . .info@coleengineering.ca . . . . . . . . . . . .www.coleengineering.ca Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 . . . . . .info@cspi.ca

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.cspi.ca

Degremont Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.infilcodegremont.com Delcan Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.delcan.com Denso

Advertiser INDEX

ACG Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 . . . . . .sales@acgtechnology.com . . . . . . . . . . .www.acgtechnology.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 . . . . . .sales@densona.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.densona.com

Endress + Hauser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 . . . . . .info@ca.endress.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ca.endress.com Filter Innovations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 . . . . . .ihassas@filterinnovations.com . . . . . . . .www.filterinnovations.com Geomembrane Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 . . . . . .covers@gticovers.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.gticovers.com Greatario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 . . . . . .b.baird@greatario.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.greatario.com H2Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 . . . . . .info@h2flow.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.h2flow.com Halogen Valve Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 . . . . . .info@halogenvalve.com . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.halogenvalve.com Hoskin Scientific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10, 51, 60, 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.hoskin.ca ITT Water & Wastewater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ittwww.ca

John Meunier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 . . . . . .instrumentation@johnmeunier.com . . . .www.johnmeunier.com John Wiley & Sons Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.wiley.ca

Metcon Sales & Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 . . . . . .metcon@metconeng.com . . . . . . . . . . . .www.metconeng.com Mueller Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.muellercanada.com

Myron L Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . .advertising@myronl.com . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.myronl.com Neptune Chemical Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 . . . . . .pump@neptune1.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.neptune1/com OWOTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 . . . . . .info@worldwatertraining.com . . . . . . . . .www.owotc.com Parkson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . .canada@parkson.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.parkson.com ProMinent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . .sales@prominent.ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.prominent.ca Saf-T-Flo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 . . . . . .jcarnc@saftflo.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.saftflo.com Sanitherm Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 . . . . . .information@sanitherm.com . . . . . . . . .www.sanibrane.com Schlumberger Water Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 . . . . . .info@slb.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.slb.com SEW-Eurodrive Company of Canada . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . .marketing@sew-eurodrive.ca . . . . . . . . .www.sew-eurodrive.ca Siemens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.siemens.ca Smith & Loveless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 . . . . . .answers@smithandloveless.com . . . . . .www.smithandloveless.com Solinst Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 . . . . . .jason.redwood@solinst.com . . . . . . . . . .www.solinst.com Stantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 . . . . . .info@stantec.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.stantec.com StormTrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20, 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.stormtrap.com Tanks-A-Lot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 . . . . . .sales@tanks-a-lot.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.tanks-a-lot.com Terratec Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 . . . . . .rscholtens@amwater.com . . . . . . . . . . . .www.terratec.amwater.com Transport Environmental Systems . . . . . . . . . .44 . . . . . .info@transenvsys.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.transenvsys.com Voltrex UV Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 . . . . . .erebus@telus.net Waterra Pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 . . . . . .blackbat@waterra.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.waterra.com WILO Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 . . . . . .info@wilo-canada.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.wilo-canada.com XCG Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 . . . . . .toronto@xcg.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.xcg.com ZCL Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.zcl.com

www.esemag.com

May 2010 | 81

Use this information to contact our advertisers directly

MegaDome/Harnois Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 . . . . . .info@harnois.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.megadomebuildings.com

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:20 PM Page 82

as internationally trained engineers, to work in Ontario by removing the citizenship requirements for a Professional Engineer Licence.

The proposed changes would also harmonize Ontario's business practices with other North American jurisdictions, and were developed in consultation with stakeholders, including businesses as well as environmental and agriculture groups, labour organizations, engineers and architects.

Gord Miller re-appointed as Ontario's Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller has been appointed to his third term as Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, He is responsbile for overseeing the implementation of the Environmental Bill of Rights (1993) (EBR), monitoring 14 ministries and submitting annual reports on: government compliance with the EBR; government progress on greenhouse gas reduction; Ontario's attempts to use or make more efficient use of electricity, natural resources, gas, propane, oil, and transportation fuels.

Mr. Miller has held the position of En-

vironmental Commissioner since 2000. In that time, he has produced eleven annual reports, seven special reports, and one Greenhouse Gas Progress Report to the provincial Legislature.

NF towns win award for engineered wetland The towns of Appleton and Glenwood, along with the engineering firm Abydoz Environmental, have been presented with the 2010 Environmental Award by Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador “in recognition of the application of science, technology, engineering and environmental management in Newfoundland and Labrador”.

Abydoz designed and installed this engineered wetland system in which specialized plants stimulate bacterial growth around their roots. The bacteria consume the sewage contaminants and naturally clean the effluent, without the use of electricity or chemicals. These projects were featured in the March/April 2010 issue of Environmental Science and Engineering Magazine.

Bonnechere Valley receives biosolids award Recently, Bonnechere Valley Township was awarded the Exemplary Biosolids Management Award by the Water Environment Association of Ontario (WEAO) at its 39th Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition in London, Ontario.

The township was recognized for its use of Geotube® dewatering technology at the Nutrient Management Facility in Eganville, Ontario, to manage biosolid sludge and raw septage. This project was featured in the March 2009 issue of Environmental Science and Engineering.

WILO donates pumps for disaster relief projects WILO SE is supporting Germany’s Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk (THW) Federal Agency for Technical Relief with a donation of seven pumps, worth 30,000 euros, for water catchment and water supply in disaster areas.

The company has modified these products specifically to the demands of worldwide disaster relief missions which often take place under extreme conditions. For example, THW is providing fresh potable water for at least 30,000 people in Haiti at the moment. Further activities are planned in Chile.

Nalco claims its oil dispersant is safe

Supporting our Nation's Infrastructure for over 100 years by Building Canada's most reliable Standby Generator Battery Chargers.

Insist on reliability, rely on Vulcan's historical certainty.

For new installations or retrofits have your service provider visit

www.chargers.ca

82 | May 2010

In a May 27 press release, the Nalco Company says that COREXIT 9500, which is being used to break up the oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, is a simple blend of six safe ingredients that biodegrade, do not bioaccumulate, and are commonly found in popular household products.

Nalco also claimed that COREXIT products do not contain carcinogens, or reproductive toxins, and that all the ingredients used have been extensively studied for many years and have been determined safe, and effective, by the US EPA. According to Erik Fyrwald, President and CEO of Nalco, “COREXIT has played a significant role in mitigating the disastrous consequences of the Gulf oil spill and has done so effectively and safely.” www.nalco.com Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:20 PM Page 83

May2010_ES&E_2_2010 03/06/10 10:20 PM Page 84

What drives efficient process control?

++++ Milltronics belt scales ++++ SITRANS LR radar level transmitters ++++ SIPART PS valve positioners ++++ SITRANS FUS clam mp-on ultrasonic ďŹ&#x201A;o ow w meters ++++

++++ SITRANS TH temperature sensors ++++ SITRANS P pressure transmitters ++++ SITRANS LU ultrasonic level transmitters ++++ SITRANS FUE ultrasonic ďŹ&#x201A;ow meters ++++

A complete Siemens Process Instrumentation portfolio: made for Canada.

Efficient process control starts with a comprehensive range of instrumentation for flow, level, pressure, temperature, weighing, and valve positioning applications. With manufacturing and R&D facilities in Canada, you get world class technology built by Canadians who understand the importance of producing reliable instrumentation, meeting and exceeding the demands of the process environment. Whether you require a single instrument or a complete instrumentation package, Siemens has the answer. To find your local Siemens Process Instrumentation Channel Partner visit www.siemens.ca/distributorsearch

Answers for industry.

Channel Partner

Process instrumentation