Florida Water Resources Journal - Wastewater Treatment

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Published by BUENA VISTA PUBLISHING for Florida Water Resources Journal, Inc. President: Richard Anderson (FSAWWA) Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority Vice President: Greg Chomic (FWEA) Heyward Incorporated Treasurer: Rim Bishop (FWPCOA) Seacoast Utility Authority Secretary: Holly Hanson (At Large) ILEX Services Inc., Orlando

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News and Features

Education and Training

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7 15 31 39 41 47

16 20 21 33 33 38 43 45 53

Technical Articles 12

Membership Questions FSAWWA: Casey Cumiskey – 407-957-8447 or fsawwa.casey@gmail.com FWEA: Karen Wallace, Executive Manager – 407-574-3318 FWPCOA: Darin Bishop – 561-840-0340

Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project: Navigating Numeric Nutrient Criteria Without Getting Stranded Up the Creek—Rick Hutton, Alice Rankeillor,

Florida Water Resources Conference FWPCOA Region VIII Training CEU Challenge FSAWWA Training FWPCOA Training Calendar TREEO Center Training

Columns 18

Technology Spotlight—Dana Clement and John Irwin

28 30 32 36 37 40

FWRJ Reader Profile—Larry Hickey C Factor—Thomas King FSAWWA Speaking Out—Kim Kunihiro FWEA Focus—Brian Wheeler Certification Boulevard—Roy Pelletier FWRJ Committee Profile—FSAWWA Young Professionals Committee

Departments 48 51 54

Service Directories Classifieds Display Advertiser Index

Russ Frydenborg, Beck Frydenborg, Jan Mandrup-Poulsen, and David Childs

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For Other Information DEP Operator Certification: Ron McCulley – 850-245-7500 FSAWWA: Peggy Guingona – 407-957-8448 Florida Water Resources Conference: 888-328-8448 FWPCOA Operators Helping Operators: John Lang – 772-559-0722, e-mail – oho@fwpcoa.org FWEA: Karen Wallace, Executive Manager – 407-574-3318

Stable Attraction: How to Cheat the Activated Sludge Process for Additional Capacity Using the Magnetite-Ballasted Mixed Liquor Process—Brian Karmasin, Bill McConnell, and Megan Moody

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Training Questions FSAWWA: Donna Metherall – 407-957-8443 or fsawwa.donna@gmail.com FWPCOA: Shirley Reaves – 321-383-9690

Altamonte Springs Creates New Water Supplies 2015-2016 FSAWWA Board of Governors In Memoriam FWEA Collection Systems Committee Awards Reflections on Retirement From the Water Industry—Ed James Jr. FSAWWA Awards FSAWWA Membership Thank You FSAWWA Drop Savers Contests News Beat Retraction

Full-Scale Demonstration of a Ballasted Treatment System for Capacity Expansion—Melody Johnson, Carla Fernandes, Mike Finley, Dennis Evans, Louise Di Giacomo, John Irwin, and Matthew Vareika

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Phosphorus Removal From Wastewater via Chemical Process With Stoichiometric and pH Solubility Control—David A. Aubry

Websites Florida Water Resources Journal: www.fwrj.com FWPCOA: www.fwpcoa.org FSAWWA: www.fsawwa.org FWEA: www.fwea.org and www.fweauc.org Florida Water Resources Conference: www.fwrc.org Throughout this issue trademark names are used. Rather than place a trademark symbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, we state we are using the names only in an editorial fashion, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. None of the material in this publication necessarily reflects the opinions of the sponsoring organizations. All correspondence received is the property of the Florida Water Resources Journal and is subject to editing. Names are withheld in published letters only for extraordinary reasons.

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

ON THE COVER: North-facing view of the MiamiDade Water and Sewer Department South District Wastewater Treatment Plant's septage and fats, oils, and grease (FOG) receiving facility odor control blowers and ductwork. (photo: Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department)

Volume 68

January 2016

Number 1

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

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

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Altamonte Springs Creates New Water Supplies The City of Altamonte Springs recently celebrated another innovative step in creating alternative water supplies with the grand opening of the Altamonte-FDOT Integrated Reuse and Stormwater Treatment (A-FIRST) project. Just over a year ago, ground was broken on an innovative project designed to mitigate stormwater retention concerns for the City’s I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project, address regional water supply needs, and provide water quality improvements within the Wekiva River Basin.

Through a joint partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and the St. Johns River Water Management District, A-FIRST is now a reality.

The A-FIRST project won the Excellence Award given by the Florida Stormwater Association, which recognizes stormwater projects for their commitment to innovation and benefit to the environment and citizens.

Background The mission of A-FIRST is to “Innovate Today for Water Tomorrow.” It’s the result of a collaborative effort among many entities to come up with a unique way of saving water and money, while protecting the environment. This project exemplifies how the City provided innovative, forward-thinking solutions for solving complex issues involving water, transportation, and the environment, and saving taxpayer dollars. The A-FIRST project: Creates a new supply of 4.5 mil gal of reclaimed water a day Eliminates the need for another massive retention pond Prevents thousands of pounds of phosphorus and nitrogen from flowing into the Little Wekiva River each year Saves the state $15 million in construction costs for the I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project Solves 19.4 percent of the total phosphorus loading for the entire 513-sq-mi Wekiva Basin, even though only 2 percent of the area is within the Wekiva Basin Management Action Plan

About the City of Altamonte Springs Altamonte Springs is a city known for its innovation and progressive ideas. The City has Continued on page 6

4 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Continued from page 4 one of the lowest tax rates in Florida, has the lowest millage rate per resident in Seminole County, and is completely debt-free. Though highly regarded for its business climate and environmental leadership, Altamonte Springs never loses sight of its most important constituent—its residents.

An Innovative Program The A-FIRST project is an innovative stormwater management initiative aimed at increasing alternative water supplies for Altamonte Springs and the neighboring City of Apopka, while significantly reducing pollutant loads to the Little Wekiva River. There are several unique aspects of the project: It is extremely innovative from an engineering standpoint. It is the first project of its kind in the United States and can serve as a model for future projects in Florida and around the country. The most significant aspect of A-FIRST is the partnerships that are created, resulting in a new model for multiagency coordination and accomplishment. Multiple governments and agencies worked together to come up with new ways to solve problems, as opposed to the same old “cookie cutter” approach.

It is just the latest initiative by the City to conserve water. The city’s Project APRICOT (A Prototype Realistic Innovative Community of Today), implemented in the 1980s and the first of its kind in the country, made it possible to deliver reclaimed water to almost every property for lawn, landscape, and other nondrinking purposes. Many cities struggle to deliver reclaimed water to new communities; Project APRICOT focused on retrofitting existing neighborhoods and developments with reclaimed water, and has been doing it for more than 25 years.

The project is the result of Altamonte Springs creating a new business model that requires support and participation with FDOT, FDEP, the St. Johns Water Management District, and the City of Apopka, as well as from Sen. David Simmons. Altamonte Springs conceived the project and will continue to manage construction and operations.

Specifics of the project are as follows: It eliminated the need for another massive retention pond that would have been necessary as part of the I-4 construction project, and will utilize the increased runoff that the project will generate.

6 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Stormwater from the section of I-4 within Altamonte Springs is captured, flowing into Cranes Roost. This avoids the expense of building and maintaining a large retention pond.

The stormwater from I-4 is pumped to a recommissioned water treatment plant, which creates additional savings by repurposing one of the City’s water plants.

The I-4 stormwater is cleaned, filtered, chlorinated, recovered, and used as irrigation, instead of being lost to a retention pond. By recovering and using the stormwater, 1.6 bil gal of alternative water supply are created every year.

When there is excess recovered water, Altamonte Springs sends the additional cleaned water to the City of Apopka through a pipe constructed to help meet Apopka’s growing demand for water.

Excess water used to be pumped from both Cranes Roost and the Altamonte Springs Regional Water Reclamation Facility into the Little Wekiva River. With this project, the City eliminates the discharge of 31 tons of nitrogen and 14 tons of phosphorus from the Little Wekiva River every year.

F W R J

Stable Attraction: How to Cheat the Activated Sludge Process for Additional Capacity Using the Magnetite-Ballasted Mixed Liquor Process Brian Karmasin, Bill McConnell, and Megan Moody tilities are often faced with addressing improvements at their wastewater treatment facilities due to a number of issues, including increased growth and more stringent effluent limits. The land available for implementing facility upgrades and/or expansions may not be available, leaving the utility in a challenging situation. There are a number of technologies that have gained traction to address this concern, including moving bed bioreactors (MBBRs), integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS), membrane bioreactors (MBRs), and biological aerated filters (BAFs). An emerging technology is the BioMag™ treatment system.

A full-scale demonstration of the process was completed from September 2009 through January 2010 at the Mystic Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), which is owned by the Town of Stonington, Conn., to verify achievement of required process performance and to test the impacts of magnetite-impregnated mixed liquor on settling, resuspension, and

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other mechanical aspects of successful treatment. The primary goal of the demonstration was to evaluate the potential of the treatment process to adequately meet the facility’s nitrogen removal performance goals in regards to effluent quality, mixed liquor inventory, and settleability. The ability of the system to meet this primary goal was achieved and previously documented (McConnell et al, 2010).

A second important goal of the process demonstration was to evaluate certain mechanical and process impacts on other treatment plant systems, e.g., aeration tank mixing, secondary clarifier capacity, and pipeline solids deposition/resuspension, such that a final installation could be designed to address these impacts. The ability of the system to meet this secondary goal was achieved and also previously documented (Moody et al, 2011).

Several full-scale facilities are nearing completion or are presently in the start-up phase of the treatment process. This article will summa-

Figure 1. Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids Concentration Variation (not including magnetite; McConnell et al, 2010)

12 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Brian Karmasin, P.E., BCEE, is principal environmental engineer with CDM Smith in Maitland. Bill McConnell, P.E., BCEE, and Megan Moody, P.E., are process engineers with CDM Smith in Providence, R.I.

rize the results of the full-scale demonstration testing, preliminary results from the facility after start-up of the BioMag™ operation, and lessons learned during the start-up and early stages of full-scale, permanent operation.

Background The WPCF is rated at a permitted design capacity of 0.80 mil gal per day (mgd). A facilities plan in 2007 identified improvements needed to upgrade the aging facility, as well as to meet an annual effluent total nitrogen (TN) limit mass load equivalent to 5.2 mg/L. At the time, the WPCF was not configured for biological nutrient removal (BNR).

The treatment system was eventually selected due to its attractive life cycle cost. Other technologies that were evaluated included expanding the facility with conventional suspended growth technology, IFAS, and MBRs. The process provides a magnetite ballast to bioreactors for dramatically enhanced settling of biological and chemical flocs. Magnetite is an iron oxide powder with a high specific gravity that adsorbs to solids to enhance secondary clarification.

This allows for the secondary treatment process to operate at mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentrations much higher than conventional activated sludge systems due to the enhanced setting rate of the magnetite-impregnated mixed liquor. Magnetite is recycled from the clarifiers back to the suspended growth process in the return activated sludge (RAS). The waste activated sludge (WAS) is processed for magnetite recovery using an in-line shearing mechanism to separate the sludge from the magnetite, followed by a magnetic drum. Recovered magnetite from the WAS is returned to the bioreactors for reuse.

Summary of Full-Scale Pilot Demonstration The goals of the full-scale testing were to evaluate the following: Operations and performance of the facility to meet target performance goals of less than 10 mg/L of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 10 mg/L of total suspended solids (TSS), less than 5 mg/L of TN, and less than 1 mg/L of ammonia nitrogen in the effluent.

Impacts of the magnetite on facility equipment and piping, namely, effectiveness of basin mixing, impacts on the power draw to the chain-and-flight clarifier drives, and solids deposition in piping.

Both process trains were used for the testing due to the inability to isolate an aeration basin and a coupled clarifier to only run one train. In addition, mechanical mixers were installed in the aeration basins to keep MLSS in suspension when air was turned off to provide anoxic conditions at the facility.

Operation and Performance Goals Figure 1 shows the increase in MLSS and solids loading rate to the secondary clarifiers during the pilot testing. The MLSS values (biomass only) increased from an initial value of 2,000 mg/L up to over 5,000 mg/L. A large amount of foaming was experienced in October of 2009. Plant operations staff were required to waste a large amount of solids from the system and interim foam removal measures were taken.

Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the solid loading rate to the secondary clarifiers and the sludge volume index (SVI) of the mixed liquor.

The secondary clarifiers averaged 150 kg/m2-d (30 lb/d/ft2) during the snow melt periods with peak days reaching over 250 kg/m2-d (50 lb/d/ft2). The higher-than-normal solids loading rates can be attributed to the SVI values of below 100 mL/g observed during the test period (with the exception of the October 2009 foaming event).

The MLSS, with the magnetite engrained in the floc, caused the solids–liquid interface in the standard SVI test to be achieved rapidly at about the five-minute mark. Approximations for the Vesilind initial settling velocity (Vo) and hindered zone settling parameter (K) were 109 m/hr (359 ft/hr) and 0.4 L/g, respectively. The initial settling velocity results in much higher settling capacity than typical mixed liquor, about 10 times greater, resulting in additional clarifier capacity.

Figure 4 shows the ammonia-N, nitrateN, and TN concentration for the test period.

Continued on page 14

Figure 2. Secondary Clarifier Solids Loading Rate Variation (not including magnetite; from McConnell et al, 2010)

Figure 3. Sludge Volume Index Variation (not including magnetite; from McConnell et al, 2010)

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Continued from page 13 The process basins were operated in a threehour intermittent aeration cycle, with two hours being aerobic and the third hour being anoxic.

The ammonia-N concentration averaged 0.86 mg/L during the test period, while the nitrateN concentration averaged 1.35 mg/L. Impacts on Equipment and Piping As mentioned previously, the full-scale testing included use of floating mixers, which were operated during the anoxic cycles. Two 5-horsepower (hp) mixers were installed in each aera-

tion basin. The mixers were installed on the upstream and downstream ends of the basin. The TSS measurements were taken during anoxic cycles to assess the variability of the MLSS in the tanks during the anoxic cycles.

Measurements were taken with both mixers in operation, and with only the upstream mixer in operation. The MLSS concentrations for the two-mixer operation, with a power input of 0.69 hp/1,000 cu ft of volume, varied within 5 percent from top to bottom of the tank, which was deemed to provide adequate mixing. One mixer operation, with a power input of .34

hp/1,000 cu ft, showed stratification at the downstream end of the basin, with concentrations 100 percent different between the upper and lower portions of the tank (6,000 mg/L at the top to 13,000 mg/L at the bottom).

Measurements were taken at the clarifiers to determine if the higher concentration of solids in the secondary clarifier affected the amp draw on the motors operating the chain-andflight clarifiers. It was determined that there was negligible impact due to the magnetite use in the secondary clarifiers.

Testing was also done to access settling concerns in magnetite-ballasted mixed liquor in process piping. Clear polyvinyl chloride (PVC) piping was connected to a submersible pump. The RAS, at concentrations of 0.9 to 1.1 percent solids (without magnetite), were pumped into the clear PVC piping. The submersible pump was shut off and the solids were allowed to settle in the pipe.

After settlement, clear water was pumped through the pipe to determine the resuspension velocity needed. Testing indicated that resuspension occurred at velocities of one ft per second at a MLSS-to-magnetite ratio of 1 to 1. Tests were run at velocities below this value and did not show resuspension of solids in the pipeline.

Based on the results of the successful process demonstration, the WPCF was recently upgraded to a full-scale, permanent treatment system installation, configured in a four-stage BNR configuration. Initial start-up of the plant occurred in late fall 2014.

Preliminary Results After Start-Up of Treatment System Process

Figure 4. Effluent Nitrogen Values (McConnell et al, 2010)

Table 1: Operational and Effluent Performance Parameters Pretreatment and Post-Treatment System Start-Up

14 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

An analysis of the WPCF’s operational control parameters and effluent performance was done looking at data from December 2013 through February 2014 (pretreatment system start-up) and compared to data from 2015 (post-treatment system start-up). Table 1 summarizes the findings. Note that the pretreatment system data encompass a period when construction was occurring on-site, and indicates a stressed process condition.

Prior to the facility upgrades, flow was diverted from the WPCF to a neighboring facility.

The increase in flow after start-up was a result of ending the flow diversion. The MLSS concentration increased roughly 400 percent after implementation of the treatment process, which allowed for more biomass inventory and increased removals of ammonia and nitrate in the effluent. The increased flow and solids loading to the secondary clarifiers did not cause a deterioration in effluent TSS and turbidity due to the low SVI (even though the full-scale pilot had SVIs even lower). Ultraviolet (UV) transmit-

tance increased due to the lower turbidity in the effluent; however, the UV dose increased due to intermittent difficulty in achieving the plant’s disinfection limits for Enterococci.

The magnetite recovery system appears to be working well. The system is recovering roughly 95 percent of the magnetite in the system. Full-scale pilot testing indicated a recovery rate of 97 to 98 percent, which compares favorably to the results after the process was started.

Lessons Learned During Start-Up The following items are lessons learned during the recent start-up process that were not anticipated: Foaming has been an ongoing issue during start-up. The facility is equipped with the ability to surface waste and for mechanical foam removal, and operation of these systems are required to avoid significantly excessive foam. Foam was microscopically analyzed and determined to not have an excessive count of Nocardia filaments.

The WAS (the biomass portion) capture percentage at the rotary drum thickener is much lower than anticipated. A 65 to 75 percent

solids capture rate has been experienced, causing a thinner sludge-to-solids handling than anticipated, resulting in increased operational time for the thickener. It is suspected that the increased solids recycle back to the suspended growth process may be a factor in seeding the process with the foam-causing bacteria, instead of wasting them out of the plant.

As noted previously, the UV dose has increased significantly since the treatment process was started up to address intermittent problems with providing satisfactory disinfection; testing is presently underway to determine the cause(s) of this unexpected issue. One theory is that large floc particles caused by polymer addition (needed for the treatment process) may be shielding Enterococci from the UV light, and the dose is being increased to meet permit limits.

Magnetite loss appears to be more than just through the magnetic drum recovery and is dependent on the loss in the scum skimmings and in the effluent stream.

All of these items are currently being studied further.

Conclusions Full-scale pilot testing and initial operation after installation of the treatment system at the WPCF has shown increased removal efficiencies for total suspended solids and effluent total nitrogen. The ballasted mixed liquor has decreased SVI values, allowing the clarifiers to effectively double the mixed liquor concentration. Some unexpected items have occurred during start-up that are still being investigated and should be topics for future papers and presentations.

References • McConnell, W.; Moody, M.; and Woodard, S. Full-Scale BioMag Demonstration at the Mystic WPCF and Establishing the Basis-of-Design for a Permanent Installation. WEFTEC10 Conference Proceedings.

• Moody. M.; Bishop, A.; and McConnell, W. Beyond Desktop Evaluation: Key Design Criteria for Mixing and Settling of Magnetite-Impregnated Mixed Liquor. WEFTEC11 Conference Proceedings.

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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2015-2016 FSAWWA BOARD OF GOVERNORS Michael Bailey, P.E. Trustee Cooper City Utilities 11791 S.W. 49th St. Cooper City, Florida 33330 P: (954) 434-5519 F: (954) 680-3159 E: mbailey@coopercityfl.org

Executive Committee Kimberly A. Kunihiro Chair Orange County Utilities 9124 Curry Ford Rd. Orlando, Florida 32825 P: (407) 254-9555 F: (407) 254-9558 E: kim.kunihiro@ocfl.net Grace M. Johns, Ph.D. Chair-Elect Hazen and Sawyer 4000 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 750N Hollywood, Florida 33021 P: (954) 987-0066 F: (954) 987-2949 E: gjohns@hazenandsawyer.com William G. Young Vice Chair St. Johns County Utilities 1205 State Rd. 16 St. Augustine, Florida 32084 P: (904) 209-2703 F: (904) 209-2702 E: byoung@sjcfl.us Mark D. Lehigh Past Chair Hillsborough County Water Resource Services 332 N. Falkenburg Rd. Tampa, Florida 33619 P: (813) 272-5977 ext. 43270 F: (813) 635-8152 E: lehighm@hillsboroughcounty.org Christopher Jarrett Secretary American Cast Iron Pipe Co. 2200 Winter Springs Blvd., Suite 106-294 Oviedo, Florida 32765 P: (412) 721-6338 F: (205) 307.3824 E: cjarrett@american-usa.com Kim Kowalski Treasurer Wager Company of Florida Inc. 720 Industry Rd. Longwood, Florida 32750 P: (407) 834-4667 F: (407) 831-0091 E: kkowalski@wagerco.com

Florida Section AWWA

by Region

Ana Maria Gonzalez, P.E. General Policy Director Hazen and Sawyer 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Suite 1150 Coral Gables, Florida 33134 P: (954) 967-7040 E: agonzalez@hazenandsawyer.com Jacqueline W. Torbert Association Director Orange County Utilities Water Division 9150 Curry Ford Rd., 3rd Floor Orlando, Florida 32825 P: (407) 254-9850 F: (407) 254-9848 E: jacqueline.torbert@ocfl.net Matt Alvarez, P.E. Alternate Association Director (non voting for EC) CH2M 201 Alhambra Circle, Suite 600 Coral Gables, Florida 33134 P: (305) 443-6401 F: (305) 443-8856 E: matt.alvarez@ch2m.com

Trustees Fred Bloetscher, Ph.D., P.E. Trustee Florida Atlantic University P.O. Box 221890 Hollywood, Florida 33022 P: (239) 250-2423 F: (954) 581-5076 E: h2o_man@bellsouth.net

16 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Robert J. Dudas Trustee Orange County Utilities 8100 Presidents Dr., Suite C Orlando, Florida 32809 P: (407) 836-6835 F: (407) 836-6862 E: bob.dudas@ocfl.net Mark Kelly Trustee Garney Construction 370 E. Crown Point Rd. Winter Garden, Florida 34787 P: (321) 221-2833 F: (407) 287-8777 E: mkelly@garney.com Dave Slonena Trustee Pinellas County Utilities 14 S Ft. Harrison Ave. Clearwater, Florida 33756 P: (727) 464-4441 F: (727) 464-3595 E: dslonena@pinellascounty.org

Council Chairs Tyler Tedcastle, P.E. Administrative Council Chair Carter & VerPlanck Inc. 4910 W Cypress St. Tampa, Florida 33607 P: (850) 264-9391 F: (813) 282-8216 E: tylertedcastle@carterverplanck.com Richard Hewitt Contractors Council Chair PCL Construction 3810 Northdale Blvd., Suite 160 Tampa, Florida 33624 P: (813) 425-1441 F: (813) 961-1576 E: rhewitt@pcl.com

Todd Lewis Manufacturers and Associates Council Chair U.S. Pipe and Foundry LLC 14580 St. Georges Hill Dr. Orlando, Florida 32828 P: (407) 592-1175 F: (877) 505-1570 E: tlewis@uspipe.com

Lance R. Littrell Region III Chair (Central Florida) Reiss Engineering Inc. 1016 Spring Villas Point, Suite 2000 Winter Springs, Florida 32708 P: (407) 679-5358 F: (407) 679-5003 E: lrlittrell@reisseng.com

Steve Soltau Operators and Maintenance Council Chair Pinellas County Utilities 3655 Keller Circle Tarpon Springs, Florida 34688 P: (727) 453-6990 F: (727) 453-6962 E: ssoltau@pinellascounty.org

Steven King Region IV Chair (West Central Florida) Black & Veatch Corp.

4890 W Kennedy Blvd., Suite 950 Tampa, Florida 33609 P: (813) 281-0032 F: (813) 281-0881 E: KingS4@bv.com

Scott Richards, P.E. Public Affairs Council Chair GAI Consultants Inc. 618 E. South St., Suite 700 Orlando, Florida 32810 P: (407) 423-8398 E: s.richards@gaiconsultants.com

Ronald Cavalieri, P.E. Region V Chair (Southwest Florida) AECOM 4415 Metro Parkway, Suite 404 Fort Myers, Florida 33916 P: (239) 278-7996 F: (239) 278-0913 E: ronald.cavalieri@aecom.com

Pamela London-Exner Technical and Education Council Chair Veolia Water 2301 Regional Water Lane Tampa, Florida 33619 P: (813) 781-0173 F: (813) 627-9072 E: pamela.london@veoliawaterna.com Rob Teegarden, P.E. Utility Council Chair Orlando Utilities Commission 3800 Gardenia Avenue P.O. Box 3193 Orlando, Florida 32802 P: (407) 434-2570 F: (407) 434-2671 E: rteegarden@ouc.com

Region Chairs Edward A. Bettinger, RS, MS Region I Chair (North Central Florida) DOH – Bureau of Water Programs 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #A-08 Tallahassee, Florida 32399 P: (850) 245-4444 ext. 2696 F: (850) 487-0864 E: ed.bettinger@flhealth.gov Andrew May, P.E. Region II Chair (Northeast Florida) JEA 21 W. Church St. Jacksonville, Florida 32202 P: (904) 665-4510 F: (904) 665-8099 E: mayar@jea.com

Gerrit R. Bulman Region VI Chair (Southeast Florida) CH2M 550 W Cypress Creek Rd., Suite 400 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309 P: (954) 351-9256 F: (954) 698-6010 E: Gerrit.Bulman@CH2M.com Maricela Fuentes Region VII Chair (South Florida) AECOM 800 S. Douglas Rd., Suite 200 Coral Gables, Florida 33134 P: (305) 718-4819 F: (305) 716-5155 E: maricela.fuentes@aecom.com Brad Macek Region VIII Chair (East Central Florida) City of Port St. Lucie Utility Systems Dept.

900 S.E. Ogden Lane Port St. Lucie, Florida 34983 P: (772) 873-6400 F: (772) 873-6405 E: bmacek@cityofpsl.com Monica Autrey Region IX Chair (West Florida Panhandle) Destin Water Users Inc. P.O. Box 308 Destin, Florida 32540 P: (850) 837-6146 F: (850) 837-0465 E: mautrey@dwuinc.com

Kyle A. Kellogg Region X Chair (West Central Florida) ATKINS 100 Paramount Dr., Suite 207 Sarasota, Florida 34232 P: (941) 225-4823 E: kyle.kellogg@atkinsglobal.com Kristen Sealey Region XI Chair (North Florida) Gainesville Regional Utilities P.O. Box 147051 Gainesville, Florida 32614 P: (352) 393-1621 F: (352) 334-3151 E: sealeykm@gru.com Bobby Gibbs Region XII Chair (Central Florida Panhandle) Bay County Utility Services 3410 Transmitter Rd. Panama City, Florida 32404 P: (850) 248-5010 F: (850) 248-5006 E: bgibbs@baycountyfl.gov

Section Staff Peggy Guingona Executive Director Florida Section AWWA 1300 9th St., Bldg. B-124 St. Cloud, Florida 34769 P: (407) 957-8449 F: (407) 957-8415 E: peggy@fsawwa.org Casey Cumiskey Membership Specialist/Training Coordinator Florida Section AWWA 1300 9th Street, Bldg. B-124 St. Cloud, Florida 34769 P: (407) 957-8447 F: (407) 957-8415 E: casey@fsawwa.org Donna Metherall Training Coordinator Florida Section AWWA 1300 9th St., Bldg. B-124 St. Cloud, Florida 34769 P: (407) 957-8443 F: (407) 957-8415 E: donna@fsawwa.org Jenny Arguello Staff Assistant Florida Section AWWA 1300 9th Street, Bldg. B-124 St. Cloud, Florida 34769 P: (407) 957-8448 F: (407) 957-8415 E: jenny@fsawwa.org

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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T E C H N O L O G Y

S P O T L I G H T

A Windfall from Waste: Lucrative Septage Handling Earns New Hampshire Town $1.3 M Annually Ballasted Settling Technology Enables Plant to Process 20 MG of Septage per Year Dana Clement and John Irwin For Florida wastewater treatment facilities that are grappling with the upcoming septage land application ban, the experience of a New Hampshire plant provides an attractive alternative for plant upgrades at no cost for taxpayers, while also profiting from septic waste. An innovative ballasted biological treatment helped the Allenstown, N.H., wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) expand capacity and generate $1.3 million in new revenues per year from septage.

The Allenstown facility serves two municipalities with a combined population of 15,000.

The original plant was designed 30 years ago as an extended aeration activated sludge process with a 1.05-mil-gal-per-day (mgd) capacity.

Raw wastewater passes through a headworks, aeration, clarification, and chlorine disinfection.

Solids wasted from the treatment process are dewatered on a screw press, combined with septage solids, and landfilled.

An Affordable Solution for Increasing Capacity Although the communities’ sewers are not combined, infiltration and inflow were contributing to serious wet weather capacity issues that were amplified by the existing shallow clarifiers (7 ft deep). The state’s Department of Environmental Services in 2005 found that the plant was exceeding capacity and placed a moratorium on sewer connections.

The utility sought design recommendations from consultant Hoyle, Tanner Associates (HTA). The firm proposed a comprehensive plant upgrade, including sequencing batch reactors, but voters twice rejected a proposed bond issue because of the project’s high cost. Unable to get voters to approve a full plant upgrade, the sewer commission asked HTA to find a Plan B. The firm recommended installing the BioMag® Ballasted Biological Treatment System from Evoqua Water Technologies. At a fraction of the price of the original plan, the BioMag system’s low cost enabled the commission to work out a funding plan. Federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided 50 percent of the funding needed for the project. The other half was provided by the

sewage commission from the utility’s capital reserve generated from septage revenue. Thus, the project was completed at no cost to taxpayers.

The project team was limited by the existing infrastructure, including the shallow clarifiers; however, the innovative BioMag System overcame that limitation. The technology integrated with existing infrastructure to greatly enhance its performance, which minimized project costs, including engineering and construction costs. The project was completed at a fraction of the cost of a full-scale upgrade and the municipality achieved consistent permit compliance.

Ballasted Settling Process The BioMag System adds fine particles of magnetite (a readily available, fully inert iron ore) to conventional biological floc to make it heavier, dramatically improving settling rates and increasing clarifier performance without the addition of capital-intensive new tankage. It has proven effective where secondary clarifiers are at the choke point in wastewater treatment plants. This ballasted settling technology allows the biological process to carry a much higher biological solids concentration, providing more treatment capacity in existing tanks, with significantly smaller treatment volumes than alternative technologies.

Magnetite ballast is continuously recovered from the waste solids stream for recovery and reuse in the system. The WWTP recovers about 95 percent of the magnetite, which is stored on site, then blended into a sidestream of the return activated sludge and fed directly into the bioreactor where it is gently mixed and fully infused with the contents. As the specific gravity of the floc increases, biological solids settle faster and more reliably, resulting in extremely low clarifier sludge blankets.

The mixed liquor suspended solids concentration increases without the risk of upset, and the clarifier easily handles the increased solids loading rate. As a result, operators gain more control over sludge blankets, especially during storms, and tank capacity can be freed up for nutrient removal.

Capacity Increased and Settling Improved The 20 mil gal (MG) of septage that annually arrive at the WWTP had negatively impacted the

sludge settleability. In addition, the 7-ft-deep clarifiers did not provide much buffer capacity to handle peak flows. With the BioMag system implemented, settling issues disappeared, providing better handling of septage loads. The design flow was increased by 30 percent, which lifted the moratorium on sewer connections. Now, this facility can handle peak flows at five times the design flow, while maintaining a stable sludge blanket.

The new BioMag system came online in February 2011. About the same time, the plant staff made other modifications that included converting the extended aeration to a Modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) process. The operations staff worked closely with HTA and Evoqua to install and start up the BioMag system. Different parameters were monitored during the commissioning of the ballasted aeration basin and clarifier to optimize the amount of magnetite in the system and the magnetite recovery rates.

The MLE and BioMag system improvements also enabled the plant to nitrify. Before the new system, the plant could not fully nitrify because of inadequate solids retention time (SRT); now, the plant easily achieves the SRT needed for complete nitrification with a high mixed liquor solids concentration because the clarifiers perform reliably and can handle the higher solids loading. The plant now has the ability to completely nitrify throughout the year.

The plant effluent meets biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids limits of 30 mg/L for release to the Merrimack River.

While the state has not yet set new mass loading requirements, the plant’s next permit mostly likely will require reductions in effluent concentrations as capacity increases. This, plus anticipated future requirements on ammonia, phosphorous, and copper, will make the BioMag system and its ability to stabilize the process and improve effluent quality even more critical to plant performance. But, most importantly, the BioMag system has paved the way for turning waste into profit for the citizens of Allenstown.

Dana Clement recently retired as senior superintendent of the Allenstown (N.H.) Wastewater Treatment Plant and currently serves as a consultant to the facility. John Irwin is technical sales manager with Evoqua Water Technologies in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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

18 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

IN MEMORIAM Richard "Dick" Vogh 1921 - 2015

Odis Carter 1939 - 2015 Odis Carter, 75, passed away on Nov. 25, 2015. He retired from O.M.I., and was a member of the Florida Water Pollution Control Operators Association (FWPCOA) for 43 years. His positions with, and recognition from, the organization include: Director of Region I Ethics Committee chair President's Spotlight Award - November 2001 Honorary Life Member Award - January 2004 A.P. Black Award, Wastewater Treatment Plant – 1994 A.P. Black Award, Water Treatment Plant – 2007 Outstanding Service Award - 2014 Carter was a member of Thomas Memorial Baptist Church. He loved his family and was an avid fisherman who enjoyed preparing his catch.

Survivors include his wife, Myrell Bundy Carter; children Glenda Bolton (Ron), Dianna Mayo (Rod), and Joey Carter (Gloria); eleven grandchildren and four great grandchildren; and a host of nephews and nieces.

Remembering Carter, Rim Bishop FWPCOA secretary-treasurer, said, “In all my years with FWPCOA, I do not recall when one individual worked so long, so diligently, and was so alone in his struggle to hold a region together.

Bearing burdens that most of us are not called upon to bear, Odis endured lengthy trips, often in poor health, just to be with us for a few hours and to serve our organization and the industry that he loved. His life, his service, and his character are object lessons to those of us fortunate enough to have known him. I'll never be an Odis Carter, but I am a better person for that privilege.”

20 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Richard Philip “Dick” Vogh, 94, of Rupert, Ga., passed away on Dec. 5, 2015, at Upson Regional Medical Center. He was a member of Faith Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, where he was a deacon emeritus.

Vogh was a member of the Flying Tigers 69th DRS Association and the R.T. Schafer Lodge #350 F & AM, and was in the Florida Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers. He was a field coordinator for some innovative and important studies with the Black, Crow and Eidsness engineering firm, and served as a mentor for many graduate students from the University of Florida.

He was a past president and honorary life member of FWPCOA. The Richard P. Vogh Award, which is presented annually by FWPCOA to the most progressive region in the organization, was established in 1975. The award honors the time and energy he devoted for over 30 years to the development of operator education and professionalism in both the water and wastewater fields. He was a life member of the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Pohl Vogh, and a grandson, Isaac Timothy Vogh. He is survived by three sons: Richard P. Vogh III of Marietta, Ga., Warren R. Vogh of Cleveland, Ga., and H. Clifford Vogh of Linwood, N.C.; one daughter, Mary V. Bowles; one brother, James W. Vogh of Bartlesville, Okla.; and twelve grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.

In 1954, Vogh was involved in a vote by the FWPCOA board of directors to award actor Art Carney, of the television series, The Honeymooners, an honorary life membership in the Association in recognition for his constant and humorous reminders to the American public that sewage systems and sewer operators do exist. Carney gratefully accepted the honorarium.

“Dad's house in Gainesville had an old-style, decommissioned lift station in the backyard, and he used that for his workshop,” recalls Vogh’s son, Richard. “He even had that piece of the property under separate title, until he sold the place in 2005. He figured if he ever lost the house, he'd move into the lift station! Where I live, in a 1972 subdivision, all the houses have septic tanks. When my main one went bad in the mid1990s, Dad worked with the local authorities here in Cobb County, Georgia, to get me a sewer connection to the manhole just ahead of the adjacent lift station. I have the only house in the subdivision on the county sewer system.”

Richard also remembers a time when the smells started getting bad at the Main Street plant where his father worked. “Dad needed another tank truck for hauling away sludge, and in reply to at least one complaint call from someone in the nice neighborhood where the smell was, he suggested that several of the residents call their city commissioners and complain. Eventually, Dad got a call from his boss, John Kelly, the Gainesville utilities director, asking him, ‘What were the specs again on that truck you wanted?’ Soon after, Dad got his tank truck.”

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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F W R J

Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project: Navigating Numeric Nutrient Criteria Without Getting Stranded Up the Creek Rick Hutton, Alice Rankeillor, Russ Frydenborg, Beck Frydenborg, Jan Mandrup-Poulsen, and David Childs Rick Hutton, P.E., is supervising engineer and Alice Rankeillor, P.E., is project manager with Gainesville Regional Utilities. Russ Frydenborg is president and Beck Frydenborg is senior scientist with Frydenborg Ecologic LLC in Tallahassee. Jan Mandrup-Poulsen is senior environmental scientist with Dynamic Solutions LLC in Knoxville, Tenn. David Childs is senior attorney with Hopping Green & Sams P.A., in Tallahassee.

Figure 1. Project Location

he Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project is located at the southern tip of Gainesville, adjacent to the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, which received an Outstanding Florida Water designation (Figure 1). The primary motivation for the project was to comply with nutrient reduction requirements established by a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Alachua Sink, a 14-acre lake located within the state park. Alachua Sink was listed on Florida’s verified list as being impaired for total nitrogen (TN) and Chlorophyll a under Florida’s Impaired Waters Rule in 2002. A nutrient TMDL, designed to restore the designated use of the lake, was approved in 2006.

Figure 2 provides a closer view of the Alachua Sink watershed and the project area prior to construction of the project. Alachua Sink is drained by

T

a sinkhole that connects to the Floridan aquifer.

The watershed for Alachua Sink encompasses a broad area that includes Newnans Lake, wetlands within the state park, and Sweetwater Branch. In addition to the nutrient enrichment in Alachua Sink, there are several historical sources of humaninduced stress to Sweetwater Branch and Paynes Prairie. Like many urban streams, Sweetwater Branch has been highly physically altered (channelized and incised). Additionally, the system receives significant stormwater flows originating from urban development constructed before modern stormwater regulations. The Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Main Street Water Reclamation Facility (MSWRF) also discharges into Sweetwater Branch.

In its natural state, Sweetwater Branch flowed onto Paynes Prairie in a sheetflow pattern, which

22 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

hydrated wetlands on the prairie. The natural sheetflow pattern onto the prairie had been disrupted by a manmade channel, constructed in the 1930s, which bypassed the natural wetlands and routed the flow directly to Alachua Sink (see Figure 2). Channelization resulted in dehydration of 1,300 acres of wetlands on the prairie and created a direct conduit for nutrients and other substances to be carried into Alachua Sink, which flows to the Floridan aquifer. Additionally, large amounts of trash and sediment carried by Sweetwater Branch were being deposited on the prairie.

Total Maximum Daily Load Development Sources of nitrogen to Alachua Sink identified through the TMDL process included the MSWRF discharge, urban stormwater runoff, septic tank discharges, and flow from Newnans Lake (Table 1). Newnans Lake is a hypereutrophic upstream waterbody that flows into wetlands in the state park, which ultimately flows into Alachua Sink.

The TMDL requires GRU to reduce nitrogen loads from the MSWRF by 55 percent and the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) to reduce nitrogen loads by 45 percent. The City of Gainesville, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) facilities, and Alachua County collectively own and maintain the MS4.

The Florida Department of Environmental

Protection (FDEP) assembled a basin management action plan (BMAP) working group to address the Alachua Sink TMDL, as well as other TMDLs in the Orange Creek Basin. Stakeholders included several municipalities, government agencies, agricultural representatives, environmental groups, and citizens.

After evaluating several different alternatives and having multiple discussions with the BMAP group, the restoration project was identified as the most cost-effective approach for meeting the TMDL requirements for both GRU and the city’s stormwater utility. The primary project partners include GRU (owned by the City of Gainesville), Gainesville Public Works Department, St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), FDOT, FDEP Division of Recreation and Parks, FDEP Division of Water Resource Management, Alachua County, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Extensive discussions among the entire BMAP group resulted in unanimous support for the project. This partnership, combined with extensive public outreach, has resulted in broad support for the project in the community, as well as at the state and national levels, which is particularly important given the complexity of the project.

The project will meet TMDL requirements for Alachua Sink for the MSWRF and the MS4.

However, in addition to improving water quality, the project provides a comprehensive approach for addressing several environmental problems resulting from previous anthropogenic activities in the watershed.

Figure 2. Project Area Showing the Manmade Sweetwater Branch Canal

Table 1. Summary of Estimated Total Nitrogen (TN) Loads

Project Description The conceptual plan for the project is shown in Figures 3 and 4. The project includes multiple components to reduce nitrogen concentrations to background levels in order meet the TMDL. The primary project components are as follows: 1. Main Street Water Reclamation Facility Enhancement The MSWRF is rated at 7.5 mil gal per day (mgd) and includes activated sludge treatment, tertiary filtration, and disinfection. The plant was not specifically designed for nutrient removal; however, GRU has operated the plant to optimize nitrogen removal and will continue to do so as part of this project. The plant was also upgraded to achieve phosphorus removal via alum addition. Although the TMDL did not require reductions in phosphorus, it was necessary to reduce phosphorus concentrations in the MSWRF discharge to achieve the desired water quality for discharge onto Paynes Prairie. The plant achieves Continued on page 24

Figure 3. Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project Conceptual Plan Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Continued from page 23 average effluent TN of 8 mg/l or less and can achieve total phosphorus (TP) as low as 0.3 mg/l discharging into Sweetwater Branch.

2. Enhancement Wetland All of the flow from Sweetwater Branch has been diverted to the inlet of a 125-acre enhancement wetland. Figure 4 shows the conceptual plan for the enhancement wetland in more detail. The inlet structure includes a sediment removal basin, trash rack, and forebay.

Under nonstorm flow conditions, the flow is distributed into the wetland treatment cells, which flow into the distribution channel. To

protect the wetland cells from damage during storm events, excess flow is diverted through bypass channels that flow directly into the sheetflow distribution channel. The wetland is designed to achieve average TN levels of 3 mg/l or less and TP levels of 0.3 mg/l or less.

3. Sheetflow Distribution Channel The sheetflow distribution channel receives the flow from the wetland treatment cells.

The distribution channel discharges onto the prairie via sheetflow, reestablishing the natural flow pattern in the Sheetflow Restoration Area (Figure 3). Nutrients in the water from the distribution channel are further reduced

Figure 4. Enhancement Wetland Conceptual Design

through the natural wetland processes in the prairie to reach background TN levels of approximately 1.4 mg/l, achieving the TMDL requirements before the water eventually reaches Alachua Sink.

5. Backfilling and Removal of the Existing 10,000-ft Channel In conjunction with the construction of the sheetflow distribution channel, the existing manmade channel has been backfilled to reestablish the natural sheetflow pattern.

Figure 5 is a photograph of the project, which was completed in September 2015 at a total project cost of $27.6 million. The project has the following benefits: Meets regulatory TMDL requirements for GRU, the City of Gainesville, and FDOT. Rehydrates over 1,300 acres of formerly impacted wetlands in Paynes Prairie.

Intercepts and removes sediment, trash, and other pollutants that were previously carried onto the prairie by Sweetwater Branch, thereby protecting the prairie, Alachua Sink, and the Floridan aquifer.

Creates high-quality wetland wildlife habitat and a public park.

Restores part of the overall water balance to Paynes Prairie, which has been impacted by the channelization of Sweetwater Branch and diversion of water from the prairie at other locations.

As shown in Figure 4, the enhancement wetland provides a public park with approximately 3.5 mi of nature trails and boardwalks with numerous overlooks, and will ultimately provide a visitor center and other public facilities.

Numeric Nutrient Criteria Compliance Strategy

Figure 5. Aerial Photo of Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project: October 2015

24 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

The project plan was developed prior to the enactment of the FDEP Numeric Nutrient Criteria (NNC) rule. Although it was known that NNC requirements would need to be addressed, the exact regulatory mechanism was not known.

Therefore, GRU collected data to support site-specific criteria during the project design and construction period.

The Alachua Sink TMDL was adopted by FDEP and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the NNC site-specific interpretation for Alachua Sink. Although the original TMDL did not specify a phosphorus limit, the site-specific interpretation set the phosphorus limit at the historical average so as to prevent an increase in phosphorus concentrations in the sink. As the project meets the TMDL, it will also meet the site-

specific NNC interpretation for Alachua Sink.

Meeting NNC requirements for Sweetwater Branch is more complex. As described, MSWRF will discharge an average TN of 8 mg/l. The MSWRF has the capability to produce effluent TP levels of 0.3 mg/l or less; however, in order to minimize chemical costs, the plant may be operated with effluent TP levels slightly higher than this with the downstream enhancement wetland providing additional polishing to produce TP levels of 0.3 mg/l discharging to the prairie. During nonstorm conditions, the MSWRF flow comprises about 80 percent of the flow in the 1.1-mi section of Sweetwater Branch between MSWRF and the enhancement wetland. Therefore, instream concentrations will be similar to those in the MSWRF effluent. The applicable instream threshold criteria for TN and TP for the north central Florida region are 1.87 mg/l and 0.3 mg/l, respectively. Therefore, the threshold interpretations will not be met for TN and TP, and site-specific criteria will be required.

Sweetwater Branch fails the Stream Condition Index (SCI), which is an invertebrate-based biological health assessment. A Stressor Identification Study, following EPA protocols, determined that habitat alteration, hydrologic modification, and sediment movement/smothering were the proximal causes for the failures. Sweetwater Branch does not suffer from excessive algae or periphyton growth and fully complies with the floral measures required by NNC. Therefore, it was concluded that nutrients were not a stressor associated with the degraded faunal community. Computer modeling, using QUAL2K, a one-dimensional water quality model, demonstrated that characteristics of Sweetwater Branch, including short water residence time and low light availability (from an extensive tree canopy), precluded the expression of nutrient enrichment within the 1.1-mi segment between the MSWRF and the enhancement wetlands. Because this portion of Sweetwater Branch is not expected to be affected by nutrients, it was appropriate to develop a site-specific interpretation of the narrative nutrient criterion for the segment.

Four alternatives were considered for complying with NNC for Sweetwater Branch: Construction of a pipeline to bypass Sweetwater Branch to meet threshold criteria.

Exercising the water conveyance (“ditch”) exception from stream NNC. Reclassification as a Class III Limited Waterbody.

Level II Water Quality-Based Effluent Limitations (WQBEL).

wetland, thus bypassing the 1.1-mi stretch of Sweetwater Branch. This would cost $8 million and would have no environmental benefit; thus, it represents the worst case if no regulatory relief could be obtained.

Exception from Stream Numeric Nutrient Criteria Under the FDEP NNC rule (62-302.200), the threshold interpretations do not apply to ditches, canals, and other conveyances that are manmade or predominantly physically altered

if they are (1) primarily used for water management purposes, and (2) have marginal or poor stream habitat or habitat components. The narrative criterion continues to apply to water conveyances and the section of Sweetwater Branch downstream of MSWRF if highly physically altered. The FDEP determines the habitat quality based on the FDEP habitat assessment method (FDEP SOP FT 3000). Although the instream habitat in Sweetwater Branch is very poor, the presence of a riparian forest buffer zone and tree Continued on page 26

Pipeline Construction A pipeline could be constructed to divert the MSWRF discharge directly to the enhancement Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Continued from page 25 canopy were sufficient to elevate the habitat scores above the minimum required to meet the “ditch” exception. Therefore, the stream could not be excluded from the numeric threshold criteria based on the habitat assessment.

Reclassification Reclassification of Sweetwater Branch to a Class III Limited Waterbody in conjunction with development of site-specific criteria for nutrients was considered. The Class III designation recognizes that physical alterations to a waterbody creates conditions that would not support all of the attributes of a Class III waterbody, and provides an alternate designated use target (support and maintenance of a limited biological community). This approach offers the advantage that the site-specific criteria would essentially be permanent, barring extensive physical restoration of the creek, which due to the extreme expense, would be unlikely.

The Class III designation would be reasonable for the stream since it is highly altered and it would not be feasible to return the 1.1-mi section of it to natural or near-natural conditions.

The stream runs through highly urbanized areas of Gainesville, and consequently, Sweetwater Branch had been channelized for flood control purposes long before modern water quality or stormwater regulations. Full restoration of the creek would necessitate removal of large areas of urban development, cause flooding, and be prohibitively expensive. Despite this, based on discussions with members of the community, it was clear that there was a lack of local support for the reclassification approach, and the next alternative was considered.

Level II Water Quality-Based Effluent Limitations Development of a Level II WQBEL was selected as the preferred approach for complying with the requirements of NNC. The Level II WQBEL may be re-evaluated with permit renewals and could be modified if appropriate. While this periodic re-evaluation places some potential monetary risk associated with the approach, it was more palatable to the community as it allows the opportunity for a physical restoration of the creek if funds become available in the future.

Level II Water Quality-Based Effluent Limitations Approach The Level II WQBEL essentially requires two major demonstrations: Demonstration that the current and historic nutrient discharge is not the cause of the current impairment.

Determination of limits that are appropriate to ensure that future discharges will not cause or contribute to impairment.

not occur and that water quality standards will be met in Sweetwater Branch.

Summary and Conclusions The cause of the impairment is demonstrated through a Stressor Identification Study (EPA, 2014) using historical and current data.

The allowable nutrient limits are demonstrated through computer modeling. A study plan for the WQBEL was developed and approved by FDEP and is described.

Stressor Identification Study To conduct a Stressor Identification Study, EPA developed a Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS), which consists of a five-step process: Step 1: Define the Case Does biological health significantly differ when comparing data upstream and downstream from a discharge containing nutrients (e.g., in this case, the MSWRF), or are other physical factors influencing the system’s biological response?

Step 2: List Candidate Causes In Sweetwater Branch, targeted factors included water quality (especially nutrients and specific conductance), physical alteration (channelization and habitat), hydrologic modifications (impervious surfaces coupled with channelization), and landscape development factors.

Step 3: Evaluate Data from the Case.

These data were evaluated using the CADDIS guidelines.

Step 4: Evaluate Data from Elsewhere Data from other systems were evaluated in conjunction with information from Sweetwater Branch.

Step 5: Identify Probable Causes The Stressor Identification Study concluded that habitat alteration, hydrologic modifications, and sediment movement/smothering were the proximal causes for the SCI failures in Sweetwater Branch. Because floral communities were healthy, nutrients were not a stressor.

Modeling The QUAL2K model, which is a public-domain, nonproprietary model, was used to assess instream water quality and floral impacts in Sweetwater Branch resulting from permitted flows and the design nutrient loadings from the MSWRF and other nutrient sources to the creek. By using the model to assess against a worst-case condition, GRU provided reasonable assurance that excess algae or periphyton would

26 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

The Paynes Prairie Sheetflow Restoration Project provides an integrated, collaborative, community-based approach to cost-effectively meet regulatory nutrient reduction requirements for multiple sources. The project integrates the construction of manmade treatment facilities with natural systems and includes multiple elements that act in concert to achieve the multiple goals of improving water quality, restoring natural systems, and protecting the Floridan aquifer.

An integral part of the project was the ability to obtain site-specific nutrient criteria for Sweetwater Branch that are protective of the creek and attainable with the project. Although the FDEP NNC rule became effective in October 2014, GRU collected biological and water quality data throughout the project conceptualization, design, and construction processes in anticipation of seeking site-specific nutrient criteria for Sweetwater Branch.

Several mechanisms were considered for seeking site-specific criteria before selecting the WQBEL approach. A study plan for obtaining the WQBEL was approved by FDEP, and the study is now nearly complete. The plan integrated the existing data and involved the collection of some additional data to demonstrate the appropriateness of the WQBEL. The approach included a Stressor Identification Study, which determined that nutrients are not causing adverse effects to the creek’s flora or fauna. Computer modeling of future conditions were conducted to set appropriate nutrient criteria for Sweetwater Branch and discharge limits for the MSWRF.

References • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014.

Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS) website http://www.epa.gov/caddis/index.html.

• Gao, X.; D. Gilbert; and W. Magley (2006).

TMDL Report: Nutrient TMDL for Alachua Sink, WBID 2720A. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Resource Management, Bureau of Watershed Management. Tallahassee, Fla. • White, L.D. (1975). Ecosystem Analysis of Paynes Prairie for Discerning Optimum Resource Use. University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation Research Report No. 24.

Gainesville, Fla. • QUAL2K model: http://www.epa.gov/athens/wwqtsc/html/qual 2k.html.

FWRJ READER PROFILE by the companies we represent, which includes design support, construction guidance, and system integration. Long-term relationships with our customers, long after equipment has been placed in service, is a very important part of our DNA.

Larry Hickey

Equipment Plus Solutions Inc., Ocala Work title and years of service.

I have worked in Florida’s wastewater industry for over 34 years. I started my career with a family-owned sludge hauling company in Ft. Lauderdale in the early 1980s. In 1985, I moved to the Gulf Coast and joined Marolf, where I was ultimately promoted to the position of national sales manager. While at Marolf, I was involved in the construction of wastewater treatment plants throughout Florida and the Caribbean. In 1992, my family and I made the move to Ocala, which led to the start of my career as a manufacturer’s representative.

My wife, Joanne, and I presently own and operate Equipment Plus Solutions Inc., and I serve as president of the company.

What do you like best about your job?

I have had the privilege of getting to know some incredibly dedicated and professional people in this industry over the years. While hard work can be a challenging task, doing it with great people makes it an experience to be remembered.

What organizations do you belong to?

WEF, FWEA, and its Air Quality Committee (past chair).

How have the organizations helped your career?

I believe involvement in the state associations related to the water and wastewater industry is essential for access to continued education, networking opportunities, and professional development.

What does your job entail?

Customer support with integrity is at the foundation of our mission statement, which we take very seriously. We strive to serve Florida’s utility customers, consulting firms, and utility contractors. As a manufacturer’s representative, we provide solutions offered

Honor Flight Mission – Washington, D.C.

28 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

What do you like best about the industry?

I believe in paying it forward. Involvement with FWEA has personally been a very rewarding experience. The organization maintains a focus on continually educating the people who make up the industry. It has been a privilege to participate in this vision by being a part of the FWEA Air Quality Committee. Over the years, our committee has journeyed throughout Florida conducting educational workshops and seminars related to air quality and odor control. The committee is made up of a broad range of people who all play different roles within the industry. It has been an incredible experience to see everyone come together with one common goal. Through these continued education workshops, we are all paying it forward.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I am a veteran of the United State Air Force and the Florida Army National Guard. I give of my time serving veterans through the Patriot Guard, as well as through participation locally in Honor Flight. I had the privilege of flying to Washington D.C., as an escort with an Honor Flight mission out of Ocala. It was an amazing experience supporting our “Greatest Generation.” I am also an avid motorcyclist and love to hit the open road on my Harley. The concerns of the day are easily dealt with when I am on Florida’s backroads with a V-Twin below me, an open throttle in my hand, and the wind in my face!

Patriot Guard Honor Mission – PFC Robert Blair, Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.

My favorite escape from the issues of the day.

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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C FACTOR

Love the One You’re With Thomas King President, FWPCOA

would like to thank the Universe for the path that led me to the utility profession. It is, and has always been, a true calling for me. I see people every day who are in jobs they hate and have to drag themselves to work each day. I have met and had students who felt that, although they didn’t like their job everyday, they like it most days. I would tell you all what I tell my children (and I have a lot of them): If you hate your job, do yourself and your company a favor and move on.

I can honestly say that on many days I love my job, on most days I like my job, and on very few days I feel I should have used a sick day.

When I look at other professions, there are very few that would have given me the opportunities I have been given; I am an upbeat person, so I would have been somewhat happy at most any of them. It’s like the old song says: “Love the one you’re with.”

There are very few jobs where a wisecracking vagabond (like me) would have a chance at success. I have scanned the want ads for “big mouth who thinks he knows it all” and have yet to see a single job posting. I had a dream once that I was a school bus driver; actually, it was more of a nightmare. When I awoke, I was trying to explain to the police that duct-taping the kids to their seats was better than what I was going to do before I regained my composure.

I know that if I had not become an operator I would have missed out on much of what has made my life a great adventure. I would not feel that oneness with the poor haggard utility spokesperson we so often see on television standing in front of a water line shooting 50 feet in the air behind him or her, while being asked by a reporter, “How long do you expect the water to be affected?” and giving a polite answer of, “A few hours, I hope,” while thinking, “I have no damn idea!” In that situation, I would like to say, “It would be a lot easier to round up a crew on Sunday if you didn’t show them the water shooting 50 feet in the air!”

When this has happened to my utility, while waiting for the crew to show up, I ob-

I

served the neighborhood spectators setting up lawn chairs to watch the repair. I have often said that we should set up bleachers and charge admission. I wonder, as the dogs lined up to watch us repair a fire hydrant, if they are thinking “What are you doing to my favorite bathroom?”

I love the excitement of a water or sewer line break; there is nothing like the sound of a mud hog running and crews busy unloading equipment that gets my adrenaline pumping.

There is something about watching the crew start up a pump and take the extra gas can off the truck that makes me tear up with pride. It’s like coming home from work to find that your teenager has started a school project that is not due for two whole weeks! Well, maybe that’s taking it too far, but it is nice to see that the workers have listened to the “make sure the pump will run and has gas before you load it on the truck” speech. I have had good crews and great crews, but very seldom have I run into that stereotype of a lazy county or city worker I have heard some speak of.

My early days in operations were spent cleaning the plant and performing maintenance, while constantly being told the industry pay would catch up one day with the training and dedication requirements. I was not told that day would not come until I was part of the management team that would participate (many years later) in making that happen. The competition for good operators did not take place until I was no longer in a position to benefit from it.

I don’t regret a minute of the journey because I did have my share of interesting events.

I once had the great opportunity to explain to a lady who was crying when her sunken living room was filled with sewage from a backup that I was sure it would not affect the resale value of her beautiful home. I said with a smile, “With a little paint and some new carpet you would never know the waste from your neighbors’ digested Thanksgiving dinner had been in your house.”

I have worked with some of the best and worst contractors during my career. Without naming names (you know them) I had a contractor and engineering firm build a new residential community near our utility’s border. The homes were constructed and new owners moved in. Two months after the ribbon-cutting, we discovered that the gravity sewer lines were not tied to anything. It was just a big holding

30 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

system for crap that went nowhere (much like our Congress).

There were 23 high-end homes built on half-acre lots, which had a series of gravity lines and manholes that were almost a mile from the closest sewer line, and were actually tied to our collection system. The residents formed a coalition and tried to sue, but had very little success, as the contractor went bankrupt. Finally, after hauling sewage from the site for several months while everyone tried to rectify the issue, we built a lift station and ran the main to our system. We were able to work with another contractor building a community nearby and tie the systems together with one slightly up-sized lift station. The poor residences were assessed a fee that was incorporated into their bills, but it was better than 52 portalets in the neighborhood.

Membership Renewal I know that several months ago in my column I was promoting a membership drive asking for anyone who knew John to have him renew his membership. I would like to say that it was a great success and almost every John out there renewed his membership in October.

However, I know for a fact that many of you Johns are procrastinators and may have meant to renew, but failed to follow through. Now it’s time for all of those Judys and Junes to get their memberships in, too. Just ask John and he will show you how to download and print the application. I know that each of you who reads these informative and well-thought-out articles can get at least one person to renew this month.

Closing Thoughts A new FWPCOA president will be taking over soon and I will hand over the much-worn gavel. I am sure he will write from his heart and personal history to keep you informed on the news of our future path. I would like to leave you with some positive thoughts: The most valuable thing we have is our time; spend yours as wisely as you can.

The cheapest way to increase productivity, with a crew or a child, is by thanking them.

Always praise in public and criticize in private.

Be kind and honest and take some chances; your life can be a great adventure, even in the utility world.

Operators: Take the CEU Challenge!

Earn CEUs by answering questions from previous Journal issues!

___________________________________________ SUBSCRIBER NAME (please print)

Contact FWPCOA at membership@fwpcoa.org or at 561-840-0340.

Articles from past issues can be viewed on the Journal website, www.fwrj.com.

Article 1 ________________________________________ LICENSE NUMBER for Which CEUs Should Be Awarded

Members of the Florida Water & Pollution Control Association (FWPCOA) may earn continuing education units through the CEU Challenge! Answer the questions published on this page, based on the technical articles in this month’s issue. Circle the letter of each correct answer. There is only one correct answer to each question!

Answer 80 percent of the questions on any article correctly to earn 0.1 CEU for your license. Retests are available.

This month’s editorial theme is Wastewater Treatment. Look above each set of questions to see if it is for water operators (DW), distribution system operators (DS), or wastewater operators (WW). Mail the completed page (or a photocopy) to: Florida Environmental Professionals Training, P.O. Box 33119, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33420-3119. Enclose $15 for each set of questions you choose to answer (make checks payable to FWPCOA). You MUST be an FWPCOA member before you can submit your answers!

Article 2 ________________________________________ LICENSE NUMBER for Which CEUs Should Be Awarded

If paying by credit card, fax to (561) 625-4858 providing the following information: ___________________________________________ (Credit Card Number)

___________________________________________ (Expiration Date)

Phosphorus Removal From Wastewater via Chemical Process With Stoichiometric and pH Solubility Control

Stable Attraction: How to Cheat the Activated Sludge Process for Additional Capacity Using the Magnetite-Ballasted Mixed Liquor Process

David A. Aubry

Brian Karmasin, Bill McConnell, and Megan Moody

(Article 1: CEU = 0.1 WW)

(Article 2: CEU = 0.1 WW}

1. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently regulates phosphorus on a __________ basis. a. ross loading b. net loading c. concentration d. capricious 2. The process described in this article a. reduces total phosphorus concentration by 33 percent. b. reduces total phosphorus concentration by 99 percent. c. utilizes conventional water treatment chemicals. d. utilizes ion exchange treatment.

3. In the plant scale trial, the reduction of ________ by >33 percent indicates that the coprecipitation/clarification process captures additional molecules. a. total suspended solids b. biochemical oxygen demand c. volatile solids d. E. coli 4. Research to date indicates that ___________ ,rather than coagulation, may play a more significant role in phosphorus removal. a. electrolysis b. flocculation c. ionization d. adsorption 5. For which of the following parameters was there no reduction in concentration through the two-stage plant scale trial? a. Total dissolved solids b. Nitrate as N c. Total organic carbon d. Coliform

1. The product described in this article is a. a high specific gravity metal oxide powder. b. an electrically charged polymer. c. commonly in use in drinking water treatment systems. d. presently not commercially available.

2. Within the first two months of the plant scale test, operators were required to waste a large amount of sludge to address what type of problem? a. High effluent biochemical oxygen demand b. Foaming c. Solids washout d. Sludge density 3. Testing revealed that resuspension of sludge settled in a pipeline occurred at a velocity of ___ ft per second. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 4. Which of the following increased after full-scale, permanent implementation of the process described in this article? a. Sludge volume index (SVI) b. Ultraviolet transmittance c. Effluent turbidity d. Chlorine demand 5. During performance testing in 2009/2010, the solids/liquid interface was achieved at the ___ -minute mark during standard SVI testing. a. one b. five c. 10 d. 15 Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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FSAWWA SPEAKING OUT

Serving the Water Community from the Bottom Up Kim Kunihiro Chair, FSAWWA t is an honor to serve as chair of the Florida Section of AWWA in its 90th year. I have had the privilege to serve in several positions to help prepare me for the role I will serve this year. I am surrounded by so many past chairs who are still actively engaged in the work of the section, and a board of governors that has passion and excitement for our mission to serve the membership as they work in the water industry. I am thankful to Mark Lehigh, our 2014-15 chair, who has kept me involved over the past year, and I look forward to continuing to work with him and Grace Johns, our chair-elect.

We have just come from four outstanding days at the 2015 Fall Conference where Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands and Waters and a pioneer in cleanups of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers, enthusiastically reminded us all of our primary mission: to advocate for safe drinking water, public health, and the environment. We should also advocate for our staffs and our community of operators, engineers, scientists, customer service representatives, finance personnel, regulators, public health officials, service providers, and vendors, who all make our jobs possible.

The water industry is the silent industry, where we go about our daily business of water supply development, treatment, distribution, and environmental protection. Our customers expect and are confident that when they turn on the tap, clean, safe water will always be there. By advocating and reminding our customers and commissions of what we quietly and efficiently do every day, there may be a better understanding of the need to maintain and improve this valuable infrastructure before it fails or ages beyond repair.

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One way to advocate is to be actively engaged in FSAWWA as professionals in the industry. The past chairs have included utility managers, service providers, consultants, and operators. You all have expertise and a unique amount of experience you can share with others, and we have a job for each and every member who wants to be involved.

My focus this year is to engage the membership and renew interest in some of the committees that may have downsized or lost members and focus during the recent recession.

We would like to grow opportunities for the customer service professionals to help us out in the Public Affairs Council. We would like to expand the SCADA and automation professionals’ involvement in the Technical and Education Council, where we are already well known for our quality educational programs. In the past year, a new Finance and Rates Committee has formed to focus on utility finance concepts, including rate setting.

The Utility Council could use your help in legislative and regulatory issues. This group works at a fast pace during the legislative session to influence the legislative process, including assisting in developing language for new legislation and communicating with house and senate members in support of the water industry. The FSAWWA has been working on this water bill for several sessions and those efforts have come to fruition: it’s likely that the current water bill will become law early in the session this year after the governor’s approval.

Hot issues at the national level this year are: Funding for infrastructure improvements through the Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (WIFIA), which has stalled in Congress.

Inorganic contaminants, including lead and strontium.

Implementation of the revised Total Coliform Rule, which must be implemented in Florida by April 1, 2016.

FloridaSection 32 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Direct and indirect potable reuse projects are being implemented in several states, including Florida, and FSAWWA is your resource for information and expertise on this emerging water supply option.

Last year, the FSAWWA board aligned our strategic planning efforts, mission, vision, and goals with the larger AWWA organization. Our mission is: “Uniting the water community to effectively manage WATER, the world’s most important resource.”

In 2016, we will be developing additional action plans to keep these goals moving forward and keep them relevant to the important issues in our state and our core principles. Our recently completed marketing and communications plan will be put into action with a variety of implementation steps.

The FSAWWA regional structure makes participation easy. Monthly, there are technical training sessions, social events, scholarship fundraisers, environmental cleanups, and many other opportunities to engage with others in the industry in your home territory. If you are open to international travel, the Water For People organization is for you. There are opportunities to travel to several countries to work on water supply development or sanitation projects, and there are FSAWWA regional and council fundraisers for this worthy effort throughout the year.

If any of these opportunities sound enticing, contact me or our friendly staff led by Peggy Guingona, our exceptional executive director, and we will match you to the committee, council, or regional leader who can get you involved.

Our website is www.fsawwa.org.

My mission for the year is to advocate for the water industry and for our members in our mission for public health: delivery of safe and reliable drinking water at a reasonable price, and preservation of the environment, in all that we do. I invite you to participate and I look forward to hearing from you and working with you this year. Thanks for the opportunity!

Reflections on Retirement from the Water Industry Ed James Jr. June 10, 2009, was one of the saddest days of my life. That was my last day as administrator of the Florida Operator Certification Program at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

It was sad because that day I was officially retiring from the industry that I loved—and still love—with all my heart.

Yes, it was also a time of happiness, planning all the things that were on my bucket list: traveling, volunteering, relaxing, and growing old with a sense of purpose and fulfilment.

Well, now almost seven years later, my heart still yearns, wants, and needs to still be a part of the water industry. After

some health issues, getting around is not that easy for me anymore, and I miss being able to just stop by and say hello at industry functions, like the Florida Water Resources Conference, Florida Rural Water Association Annual Conference, and the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association Fall Conference, where I had the pleasure and honor to meet many of the great men and women who serve Florida’s water industry on a daily basis with their dedication to make our state a leader in the industry.

I must admit that I have been called on the carpet for not having my shovelers pin from the great Florida Selection Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers (FSSSSS).

A few weeks ago, when I stopped by FDEP

to say hello to the members of the Operator Certification Examination Review Committee, I was in the presence of Bill Allman, Bill Edgar, and Jamie Hope—all fellow FSSSSS members—and me without my pin! (And they all had theirs!) It is truly hard to be both proud and embarrassed at the same time.

My friends, I just wanted to let you know that you are missed in my heart but never forgotten! I’m forever grateful for all of the wonderful people I have met and hope to continue to meet in the Florida water industry. Thanks to the Florida Water Resources Journal for allowing me to share these few words.

Take care, everyone, and have a healthy and prosperous 2016.

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Full-Scale Demonstration of a Ballasted Treatment System for Capacity Expansion Melody Johnson, Carla Fernandes, Mike Finley, Dennis Evans, Louise Di Giacomo, John Irwin, and Matthew Vareika he Kemptville (Ont.) Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) is a conventional activated sludge (CAS) facility, with a rated average day flow (ADF) capacity of 1.2 mil gal per day (mgd). A recent environmental assessment has concluded that continued growth in the service area will require a plant capacity expansion of approximately two times the current design. The site, however, has limited space, and a conventional plant expansion would require acquisition of additional land. For this reason, the sewer authority decided to evaluate the use of the innovative BioMagTM treatment process as an alternative to influent equalization and expansion of the CAS process. The treatment system, which is a ballasted activated sludge process, was identified due to its small footprint requirements, capability to treat high peak flows, and ease of retrofitting into the existing CAS process.

The goal of the project was to confirm the feasibility of converting the WPCP to the new treatment system. The objectives of the program included confirming design parameters for the new process, including operating mixed liquor

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suspended solids (MLSS) concentration, peak clarifier solids loading, and surface overflow rates, as well as performance in terms of effluent quality, chemical and energy use, and ballast recovery.

The project was conducted with assistance from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment under the Showcasing Water Innovation grant program. The pilot system and associated equipment, materials, and services for the demonstration were contributed by the developer of the treatment process, Evoqua Water Technologies.

Existing Kemptville Water Pollution Control Plant The WPCP is a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant with tertiary filtration.

The treatment processes include: screening, grit removal, primary clarification, aeration, secondary clarification, flocculation, filtration, and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. Sludge management is provided by waste activated sludge (WAS) cothickening in the primary clarifiers and digestion of the cothickened sludge in a two-stage anaerobic digestion process. A general process flow

Figure 1. Kempteville Process Flow Schematic

34 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Melody Johnson is senior project manager and Carla Fernandes is a process engineer with XCG Consultants Ltd., in Oakville, Ont. Mike Finley is superintendent of environmental services, Dennis Evans is senior water/sewer operator, and Louise Di Giacomo is a water/sewer operator with the Municipality of North Grenville (Ont.). John Irwin is technical sales manager and Matthew Vareika is a process engineer with Evoqua Water Technologies LLC, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

schematic of the liquid treatment train at the WPCP is shown in Figure 1.

Innovative Treatment Process The treatment process is a ballasted activated sludge system that incorporates the addition of magnetite into the activated sludge process to ballast the biological floc and increase its specific gravity, resulting in improved secondary sludge settling efficiency. This also allows the system to carry a higher level of MLSS, thereby providing additional treatment capacity.

The process focuses specifically on the secondary treatment components of the activated sludge facility. A typical process flow schematic is shown in Figure 2. Return activated sludge (RAS) is combined with recovered magnetite and virgin magnetite in a ballast mix tank. The ballasted RAS then flows to the aeration tank where biological treatment occurs, and then to the secondary clarifier. The settled sludge is then returned back to the biological process as RAS, and WAS is sent to a ballast recovery system prior to sludge handling and disposal. The magnetite recovery system incorporates a shear mill to dislodge and allow extraction and recovery of the magnetite on a rotating magnetic drum.

The increased specific gravity and settleability of the magnetite-impregnated solids allows the secondary clarifiers to be operated at higher hydraulic and solids loading rates, while maintaining and improving effluent water qual-

ity. This also allows the biological reactors to be run at elevated MLSS levels, similar to membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes, and enables additional biological plant capacity.

Full-Scale Demonstration Methodology A demonstration program was undertaken that involved temporary full-scale integration of the treatment process at the WPCP during a three-month period. This was accomplished by removing one secondary treatment train from operation, adding magnetite (ballast) to the online treatment train, and temporarily installing a magnetite recovery system housed in a trailer.

A process flow diagram of the full-scale demonstration is presented in Figure 3.

The demonstration system was operated at projected future operating conditions to confirm the design parameters associated with biological treatment. Secondary clarifier stress testing was also conducted to confirm clarifier performance and peak flow capacity.

During Day 1 testing, flows were increased incrementally at one-hour intervals to attempt to reach the hydraulic capacity of the clarifier and a maximum influent flow rate of approximately 2 mgd was reached. During Day 2 testing, a target flow value of approximately 2.64 mgd was chosen and was held over a three-hour period.

A summary of the secondary clarifier operating conditions and secondary effluent quality during the two days of stress testing are presented in Table 1. It should be noted that the

solids loading rate (SLR) values were calculated based on the solids loading from the MLSS without magnetite so that they could be compared to typical SLR values for nitrifying CAS facilities.

It was determined that the existing secondary clarifier can be operated at sustained surface overload rate (SOR) and SLR values of 945 gal per day per sq ft (gpd/sf) and 67 lb/da/sf, respectively, and peak SOR and SLR values of Continued on page 36

Results Long-Term Testing Long-term testing began on July 15, 2013, and the demonstration period ended on Sept.

30, 2013. The treatment system operated at an average MLSS concentration (without magnetite) of 6,945 mg/L. With magnetite, the total MLSS concentration was 20,036 mg/L. The average sludge volume index (SVI) values reached a steady state value of approximately 50 mL/g by the end of the demonstration period, indicating a very well settling sludge.

The SVI values were calculated based on the MLSS concentration without magnetite so that it could be compared to the SVI of other activated sludge facilities.

Over the study period, the average rate of magnetite recovery from the WAS was approximately 95 percent. Magnetite remaining in the WAS accounted for approximately 9 percent of the average WAS mass flow rate.

Secondary Clarifier Stress Testing Clarifier stress testing took place over two days. In order to provide added flow for stress testing, two pumps were used to recirculate secondary effluent from the tertiary flocculation tanks, which were located downstream of the test secondary clarifier to the head of the on-line aeration tank to simulate peak flows. Samples of mixed liquor, secondary effluent, and tertiary effluent were collected throughout testing. Sludge blanket levels were also monitored throughout testing.

Figure 2. Typical BioMagTM Treatment System

Figure 3. Full-Scale Integration of the Treatment Process Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Continued from page 35 1369 gpd/sf and 98 lb/da/sf, respectively, while maintaining the required secondary effluent quality.

At an operating MLSS of 7,000 mg/L, the existing secondary clarifiers at the WPCP are estimated to have an equivalent peak-hour flow

process capacity of 5.9 mgd, or approximately twice the existing peak rated capacity of 3 mgd.

Conclusions The results of the full-scale demonstration confirmed that conversion of the existing CAS

Table 1. Secondary Clarifier Stress Testing: Select Operating Conditions and Effluent Quality

process at the WPCP to a BioMag™ treatment system is a feasible option to provide additional wastewater servicing capacity within the existing biological and clarification tankage and without the need for additional land acquisition.

Based on the results of long-term testing, the treatment process was capable of meeting the target secondary effluent performance targets of 10 mg/L, 10 mg/L, and 0.3 mg/L for carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD5), total suspended solids (TSS), and total phosphorus (TP), respectively. The ballasted mixed liquor exhibited excellent settleability, with an average SVI value of 50 mL/g.

Secondary clarifier stress testing results indicate that the treatment process can maintain secondary effluent quality, even at high flows.

The results of this full-scale demonstration indicate that the treatment technology is a viable treatment option that can be easily integrated into existing activated sludge processes to provide additional treatment capacity, including peak flow treatment capacity, in a small footprint, while maintaining effluent quality.

FWEA FOCUS Brian Wheeler President, FWEA Utility Council

y the time you read this article it will be less than a month until the start of the 2016 legislative session. Due to the presidential election later this year, the legislative session will begin on January 12. Last year, the session was billed as the “Year of Water.” It was, however, more like the “Year of Drought” as far as legislative accomplishments were concerned relative to water resources.

Though 2016 is not being called the “Year of Water,” it does appear to have the promise of delivering significant water legislation this session.

Last year, the house and senate worked on developing an omnibus water policy bill that covered a wide range of water issues. The two legislative bodies were close to achieving agreement on the legislation when the session ended early because the two bodies could not agree on health care legislation. For the coming 2016 session, the legislature has taken up the 2015 water bill and resolved the issues that were unresolved when last year’s session ended. The omnibus water bill (HB7005 and SB552) has passed

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2016 Legislation Preview through all of its committee stops and is set to be heard and acted upon in the first week of this year’s session. This could be the most significant piece of legislation adopted by the legislature this session, if the disagreements over redistricting and health care don’t derail the 2016 session, as they did in 2015.

The omnibus water bill grew out of legislation initially drafted for the 2014 session intended to address water quality and quantity concerns with springs. In 2015, the legislation was expanded to include a wide range of water policy issues, in addition to springs protection.

It has expanded to about 150 pages of legislation, covering topics such as minimum flows and levels, recovery and prevention strategies, basin management action plans, Total Maximum Daily Loads, the northern Everglades restoration, Central Florida Water Initiative, alternative water supply projects, water conservation, and water supply funding processes.

There is something in this legislation that I think will have some impact on every utility in the state in some manner. This column does not provide enough space to go into the specifics of the legislation, so I encourage each of you to read it.

36 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

The FWEA Utility Council worked with the sponsors of the legislation during and after the 2015 session to make improvements, and there was success in some areas, such as not having local governments be solely responsible for correcting septic tank issues in spring sheds and modifying the proposed funding process for alternative water supply projects to make it more objective.

After the omnibus water bill, there is not much else on the horizon related to water or environmental legislation of note. The governor’s budget does contain a request for $50 million for springs protection projects and the same amount for alternative water supply projects.

This level of funding doesn’t even begin to impact the total price tags for these projects, but at least the proposed funding is a beginning.

On a related matter, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued the final SB536 Reclaimed Water Report last year on December 3. This report could help provide the basis for a legislative effort in 2016 to address expanding the use of reclaimed water. The FWEA Utility Council is currently having discussions with members of the legislature who have an interest in reclaimed water issues.

Certification Boulevard Test Your Knowledge of Wastewater Treatment Topics

Roy Pelletier 1. What does the unit parts per mil (ppm) mean? a. 1 lb per mil gal b. 1 gal per mil lbs c. 8.34 lbs per mil gal d. 10 mg per liter

2. Which zone of a biological nutrient removal (BNR) plant produces a release of phosphorus and is responsible for conditioning the phosphorus for later uptake in the downstream zones? a. Anoxic b. Fermentation c. Aerobic d. Reaeration

3. What is the carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand ( CBOD5) test a measure of? a. Suspended solids b. Organic content c. Dissolved solids d. Alkalinity

4. Which major reaction is most likely to occur in an anoxic zone of a BNR process? a. Nitrification b. Phosphorus uptake c. Denitrification d. Reaeration

5. Which laboratory test requires the use of an analytical balance, a drying oven, filter papers, a muffle furnace, and a desiccator? a. Volatile suspended solids b. Total solids c. CBOD5 d. Settleable solids

6. What is the correct incubation time and temperature for the CBOD5 test? a. Five days at 20°F b. Five days at 20°C c. 20 days at 5°C d. Five days at 68°C 7. What does this formula represent? r2 x depth, ft x 7.48 gals/ft3 a. Volume of a cone in ft3 b. Volume of a circular tank in gal c. Volume of a sphere in gal d. Volume of a cone in gal 8. Which is the highest life form in the activated sludge process: a free-swimming ciliate, a stalked ciliate, or a rotifer? a. Free-swimming ciliate b. Stalked ciliate c. Rotifer d. They are all the same.

9. What two laboratory analyses are necessary to calculate the food-to-mass (F/M) ratio? a. Aeration mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) and influent CBOD5 b. Aeration mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and oxygen uptake rate (OUR) c. Aeration MLVSS and effluent CBOD5 d. Aeration MLSS and influent CBOD5 10. What does the term adsorption mean? a. Impregnate a liquid with air b. Taking in of one substance in the body of another c. To gather onto the surface of a substance d. Soak like a sponge Answers on page 54

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS?

SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS

Check the Archives

Readers are welcome to submit questions or exercises on water or wastewater treatment plant operations for publication in Certification Boulevard. Send your question (with the answer) or your exercise (with the solution) by email to: roy.pelletier@cityoforlando.net, or by mail to:

Are you new to the water and wastewater field? Want to boost your knowledge about topics youʼll face each day as a water/wastewater professional?

All past editions of Certification Boulevard through 2000 are available on the Florida Water Environment Associationʼs website at www.fwea.org. Click the “Site Map” button on the home page, then scroll down to the Certification Boulevard Archives, located below the Operations Research Committee.

Roy Pelletier Wastewater Project Consultant City of Orlando Public Works Department Environmental Services Wastewater Division 5100 L.B. McLeod Road Orlando, FL 32811 407-716-2971

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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

Young Professionals Committee Affiliation: Florida Section American Water Works Association Current chair: Jordan Walker, water resources engineer, Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. Scope of work: The Young Professionals (YP) Committee organizes and sponsors events with the purpose of involving the younger members of FSAWWA and to encourage them to actively participate in FSAWWA throughout their careers. The YP Committee also supports other FSAWWA committees and activities by cohosting events and encouraging YPs to participate in regional events.

Yearly events and projects: FSAWWA Fall Conference Events Water Bowl – A competition like TV’s Jeopardy! game show for students from Florida universities. Teams compete against each other to see who can answer the most questions correctly in the least amount of time. All questions are related to the drinking water industry.

Region VII 2014 Summer Seminar

FSAWWA Conference “Fresh Ideas” Poster Contest Winner

“Fresh Ideas” Poster Session – Encourages YP participation in the technical program at the conference through presentation of a poster.

Posters are judged and the winner receives airfare, hotel, and conference registration to attend the Annual AWWA Conference and Exhibition (ACE) to compete against other AWWA section "Fresh Ideas" poster winners.

Florida Water Resources Conference Events Young Professionals Workshop: This workshop strengthens mentoring and knowledge transfer within the YP community, as well as facilitates communication among members of the three Florida Water Resources Conference (FWRC) host organizations. Four select speakers share personal stories and lessons learned about career and personal development through the first third of a water industry career. This workshop explores the unique pathways of four individuals as they transition from young professionals to emerging leaders in the water industry, including academic, consulting, and utility perspectives. Additionally, attendees are presented with the opportunity to prepare for their future involvement with professional organizations and conference experiences by

Region IV 2015 YP Social and Happy Hour

FSAWWA Conference “Fresh Ideas” Poster Contest Participants

40 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

identifying goals for development within these organizations and articulating an action plan for these goals. The workshop is followed by a networking event open to all young and seasoned professionals.

Young Professionals Summer Seminar This is a half-day seminar organized specifically for directors, managers, supervisors, engineers, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and operators involved in utility operations and emergency response and planning. Every year the topic is different; the Technical and Education Committee is tasked to come up with relevant topics. The seminar serves to engage the members of FSAWWA by offering continuing education and is also an opportunity for engineers to obtain necessary professional development hour (PDH) credits. The workshop is followed by a networking event open to all young and seasoned professionals.

Regional Events Each region sponsors and engages in their own events to foster growth of their young professionals. Events can range from technical workshops to networking events or even community outreach occasions.

Committee members: Jordan Walker, Region IV YP chair and Florida Section YP chair Jose Cueto, Region VII, former Florida Section YP chair Kunal Nayee, Region III YP chair Toral Shah, Region VI YP chair Nelson Perez-Jacome, Region VII Melissa Velez, Region VII YP cochair Larry Lammers, Region VIII YP chair Kyle Kellogg, Region X YP chair Ryan Popko, Region II YP chair David Yonge, University of Central Florida YP liaison Mike Gerdjikian, University of South Florida YP liaison Stephanie Negrete, University of Florida YP liaison Tyler Tedcastle, AWWA YP Committee Peggy Guingona, FSAWWA executive director Casey Cumiskey, FSAWWA membership specialist Donna Metherall, FSAWWA training coordinator

FWPCOA TRAINING CALENDAR SCHEDULE YOUR CLASS TODAY! January 4-8 ........Reclaimed Water Field Site Inspector ..Deltona ..........$350/380 11-14 ........Backflow Tester* ......................................St. Petersburg ..$375/405 22 ........Backflow Tester Recert*** ......................Deltona ..........$85/115 25-29 ........Water Distribution 3, 2 ..........................Deltona ..........$225/255 25-29 ........Reclaimed Water Distribution C ............Deltona ..........$225/255

February 15-19 ........Wastewater Collection C, B....................Deltona ..........$225/255 8-11 ........Backflow Tester ........................................Deltona ..........$375/405 26 ........Backflow Tester recert*** ......................Deltona ..........$85/115

March 14-18 ........Spring State Short School ..................Ft. Pierce 28-31 ........Backflow Tester* ......................................St. Petersburg ..$375/405

April 4-6 ........Backflow Repair* ....................................St. Petersburg ..$275/305 29 ........Backflow Tester recert*** ......................Deltona ..........$85/115

Course registration forms are available at http://www.fwpcoa.org/forms.asp. For additional information on these courses or other training programs offered by the FWPCOA, please contact the FW&PCOA Training Office at (321) 383-9690 or training@fwpcoa.org. * Backflow recertification is also available the last day of Backflow Tester or Backflow Repair Classes with the exception of Deltona ** Evening classes

You are required to have your own calculator at state short schools and most other courses.

*** any retest given also Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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Phosphorus Removal From Wastewater via Chemical Process With Stoichiometric and pH Solubility Control David A. Aubry hosphorus is a significant pollutant in wastewater and has proven difficult to remove to low levels in a practical and economical manner. However, a chemical process for removing phosphorus from water through control of equilibria and solubility has been developed and demonstrated at a laboratory through pilot scale via continuous-mode on-site testing at municipal water resource recovery facilities and lakes. The process is based on coagulation and precipitation and utilizes conventional water treatment chemicals and equilibrium-based chemistries to a heretofore previously unpracticed level of control. It uses traditional solid/liquid separation technology, making it a readily deployable, cost-effective, and safe technique to bring total phosphorus concentrations to below 100 parts per billion (ppb) extremely economically with one stage, and to below 20 ppb with two-stage processing.

Furthermore, the process provides sanitary beneficiation and significantly reduces biochemical oxygen demands (BODs) and coliform bacteria by 33 percent and 99 percent, respectively.

Water commonly contains soluble ions as impurities resulting from natural processes, such as dissolution of natural minerals and materials and from human activities, including agriculture, mining, manufacturing, chemical processing, and domestic and industrial water use. Dissolved ions are potentially disruptive to the normal steadystate of ecological systems, such as encouraging the undesired overgrowth of cyanobacteria (algae), encouraging eutrophication, and causing deleterious effects on the systems that extend beyond the water systems themselves, as well as being undesirable for ecological release and human use in potable water systems.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently regulates phosphorus discharge on a concentration-emitted basis. Permits are generally issued on a site basis and vary widely across the United States. Some states have no regulated limits, whereas others have implemented regulations in the sub-100, sub-75, or sub-50 ppb range. There is a clear, concerted ongoing effort to reduce phosphorus emissions through

P

regulation, and regulations are tightening and are expected to continue to tighten as phosphorus-removal technology and cost efficiencies for removal improve and are thereby more readily deployable to reduce the directly assignable impacts of phosphorus on the environment.

Efficient, economical means of removal of dissolved ions are sought to provide cleaner water for the sustainment of ecological systems, prevention of human activity-induced environmental changes, eutrophication, and negative toxicological effects, as well as for further clean potable water use. There are no known documented economically viable full-scale processes by which <20 ppb total phosphorus is practically attainable due to cost constraints. Various means of phosphorus reduction are commonly practiced and have been for decades, including chemical treatment by Al and Fe chemicals (Bowker and Stensel, 1990); however, the levels achieved do not approach those described here.

Equilibria for the various species in solution have been previously studied (Stumm and Morgan, 1996), and the relationships are complex and made more so by the variability of composition of the dissolved ions in solution.

Removal of phosphorus and other nutrients and impurities by coagulation and flocculation has been extensively investigated, reported, and practiced (Edzwald, 2011). Research progress has not resulted in a process suitable for largescale deployment, and work has suggested that adsorption, rather than coagulation, may play a more significant role in phosphorus removal (Yang et al, 2010) in the current deployed processes.

There is no prior technological deployment that uses the specific control of pH as a specified means of control of the process and utilizes a process-controlled two-stage process with potentially different complexation agents in each stage that effectively removes phosphorus (not exclusively orthophosphate, but oligomeric organic/inorganic phosphorus, present in suspended solids and dissolved species). There is no reported or implemented process that achieves the level of removal to <20 ppb phos-

42 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

David A. Aubry, Ph.D., MBA, is the technical director with ecoProducts Limited in Lakeland.

phorus, regardless of the influent composition and concentration, as does this process. Furthermore, this process provides multiple stages of complexation and controlled pH adjustment to remove impurities based on solubility to achieve heretofore unprecedented levels of nutrient and impurity removal.

Methodology It is well established that ionic salts of phosphorus, primarily phosphate, have pH-dependent solubilities, and have equilibria dependent on the other dissolved species concentration and composition in solution. The pH dependence can be exploited in two ways: first, with appropriate water-safe, EPA-approved reagents, the pH regions of highest solubility can be used to provide the largest amount of dissolved phosphorus; and second, the solubility minima can be used to remove the largest fraction of precipitated phosphorus solids. The processes reported here utilize the adjustment of pH, the control of specific pH gradients in solution, and the conventional-based water treatment chemicals to affect the pH and the formation of phosphorus complexes as precipitate.

In terms of solids removal, and therefore solids produced, this resultant product can be dewatered and distributed as a soil nutrient enhancement, further refined via chemical processing to a salable product, amended to an aggregate, or landfilled. The fate of the solid is largely contingent upon the impurities present in the influent to the process.

To evaluate the phosphorus removal process, streams of water were passed through the system via a positive displacement pump, and the exit stream was decanted from an overflow clarifier. The system employs chemicals Continued on page 44

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

43

Figure 1. Water Recovery Facility Effluent, Pretreatment and Post-Treatment

Continued from page 42 containing aluminum, calcium, magnesium, flocculating polymer, and pH-adjusting acid.

Total phosphorus concentrations were determined using the EPA acid persulfate digestion method from the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 4500-P-B and E, as Hach Method 8190. Independent laboratory results from a contracted third-party laboratory are reported (Foundation Analytical Laboratory; Cherokee, Iowa). Secondary confirmation, as well as minor impurities, were detected via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and confirmed through a third-party laboratory (Spec-

Figure 2. P Concentration

tro Analytical Instruments, Ametek Materials Analysis Division; Mahwah, N.J.).

Results and Discussion The process provides water cleaning, sanitization, and phosphorus removal. The effluent from a water recovery facility, properly operating well within discharge limits, is shown in Figure 1 on the left. A similar sample of water was continuously processed by this phosphorus removal process and the effluent is shown on the right; the water is water-white, odorless, and colorless.

The results of several demonstrations of the process for illustration are presented: two water resource recovery facilities (WWTP1 and WWTP2) and a retention pond requiring remediation (Pond1). The phosphorus concentration results are depicted in Figure 2 for the influent (influent for the WWTPs only), effluent (the effluent of the WWTPs, or the pumped effluent from the pond), for a conventional alum addition (at Al = 10 x P), and for the water produced by the process described.

Figure 3 indicates the results, with y-axis to scale to allow visualization of the effluent phosphorus levels from the described process. The results suggest that the pH-controlled solubility equilibrium of phosphorus complexes formed as the result of the coagulant addition provides removal to <20 ppb of all detectable phosphorus species results that cannot be obtained through conventional treatment alone.

Table 1 contains the observed results of the effluents from one of the water resource recovery facilities and the results of the phosphorus-removal process. The intended phosphorus removal was achieved, as was sanitary beneficiation. Coliform bacteria was significantly reduced to levels <1 percent of the original levels. Interestingly, the level of BOD was reduced by >33 percent as well, indicating that the coprecipitation/clarification process captures additional molecules.

Conclusions

Figure 3. P Concentration (y-axis truncated to show low values)

44 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

This new process demonstrates that there is a readily deployable, cost-effective, and safe technique to bring total phosphorus concentrations to below 100 ppb, as well as reduction of BODs by >33 percent and coliform bacteria by 99 percent. Future work will provide information relating to the expected impact of the process on removing other impurities and nutrients. Additional demonstrations and studies will be conducted to evaluate its applicability to different influent compositions and to demonstrate the economics and how the process can be incorporated into existing wastewater and industrial site operations.

Table 1. Effluent Results

Acknowledgements The author thanks Terry Meyer and staff, City of Prairie du Chien (Wis.) Wastewater Department; Ron Jacobsen, Wastewater Plant, City of Storm Lake, Iowa; and Jim Patrick, City of Storm Lake, Iowa.

References • Bowker, R. P. G. ; Stensel, H. D. (1990). Phosphorus Removal from Wastewater, Pollution Technology Review, No. 189, Park Ridge, N.J., Noyes Data Corporation, pp54-59.

• Edzwald, J.K., editor (2011). Water Quality and Treatment, 6th edition. McGraw Hill, New York, N.Y., 8.1-8.81.

• Stumm, W.; Morgan, J.J. (1996). Aquatic Chemistry: Chemical Equilibria and Rates in Natural Waters, 3rd edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York, N.Y., 404-412.

• Yang, K.; Li, Z.; Zhang, H.; Qian, J.; Chen, G. (2010). Environ. Tech., 31, 601-609.

News Beat The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) honored the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) with its top utility management award on Oct. 12, 2015, at last year’s Executive Management Conference in Savannah, Ga. The Sustainable Water Utility Management Award recognizes water utilities that have made a commitment to management that achieves a balance of innovative and successful efforts in areas of economic, social, and environmental endeavors.

Recognized for its water use efficiency program, WASD improves management of traditional water supplies, encourages development of alternative water supplies, and improves water use efficiency. The Department has an aggressive supply-side management water loss reduction program, including improvements in the distribution system, a vigorous leak detection program, and advanced meter infrastructure. Its methane sequestration project increases self-generated electricity for use at wastewater treatment plants. An asset management system minimizes the total life cycle cost of its capital assets, and the capital improvement plan provides long-term funding to complete upgrades. The WASD employee recognition program has produced more than $38 million in savings.

“We are committed to sustainability and environmental protection, and public education and outreach programs are key compo-

nents in our success,” said WASD director Lester Sola. “It’s an honor to be recognized for the work we do in the department and its positive impacts on the environment.”

The City of Clearwater has finished the design, construction, and permitting for its new $30 million brackish, reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment facility (WTF). The new facility is the first large-scale RO municipal system in Florida to use ozone to treat hydrogen sulfide in RO permeate. Prior to completion of the new facility, the city used water from the Florida aquifer and purchased water in bulk from a regional supplier to meet its customer needs.

In an effort to manager the cost of water, protect the environment, and conserve water resources, the city implemented an integrated water management strategy. One of the priorities for the city was to expand its existing potable water system, including an upgrade of the existing WTF to the brackish water RO facility.

The new facility was funded in part by the Southwest Florida Water Management District in Tampa. The facility exceeds federal and state standards and will serve 100,000 customers.

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has approved a water supply plan for Central Florida that charts a longterm course of more aggressive water

conservation, expanded and more efficient water reuse projects, and alternative water supply project options to ensure adequate water supplies for the region through 2035.

The plan was developed as part of the Central Florida Water Initiative (CFWI), which includes Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, and south Lake counties.

“This is an important step forward to meet the long-term water supply needs of residents, businesses, and agriculture in Central Florida,” said Daniel O’Keefe, SFWMD governing board chair. “With input from an array of stakeholders, the plan represents a combination of strategies to effectively address the challenges of protecting water resources for the region.”

Water supply plans identify future water supply needs for a 20-year planning horizon, and the programs and projects needed to ensure sustainable supplies; however, the plans do not require that specific projects be implemented. Decisions to choose project options are made at the local level by water supply utilities.

The CFWI is a collaborative effort that engages three water management districts, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, central Florida utilities, and stakeholders representing agriContinued on page 46

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

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News Beat Continued from page 45 cultural interests, the business community, local governments, and the environmental community. The CFWI process identified project options that can meet the region’s future water supply needs.

The plans represent more than five years of a coordinated effort led by the CFWI involving many experts in the fields of water supply and water management. More than 6,000 stakeholders participated in the process by attending public meetings and providing comments that helped shape the plans.

In other news, SFWMD has approved two construction contracts to maintain significant momentum for Florida’s restoration strategies plan to improve Everglades water quality. Both projects will expand the size and function of treatment wetlands, known as stormwater treatment areas (STAs).

Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West (STA1W) in western Palm Beach County will grow from 6,700 acres to 11,300 acres. The $79.2 million investment nearly doubles the STA’s ability to clean excess phosphorus from stormwater before it reaches the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and the greater Everglades.

“In a short time, key projects in Gov. Rick Scott’s restoration strategies plan are underway or nearly complete,” said O’Keefe. “This is the next critical piece of the plan to achieve cleaner water for America’s Everglades.”

Formalized in 2012, the restoration strategies plan is a suite of projects scientifically designed to achieve the ultra-low phosphorus levels needed in the Everglades. Under the plan, the District is creating more than 6,500 acres of new STAs and 116,000 acre-ft of additional water storage.

Expansion of STA-1W involves an array of work, including construction of: 49,000 ft of perimeter embankment 34,000 ft of collector canals to convey flow 10 inflow gated concrete box culverts 6 overflow weirs Once the infrastructure is complete, plants are expected to grow in naturally, removing excess nutrients from stormwater. As part of the plan, a second expansion of 1,800 acres in STA1W will be accomplished in the future to further increase treatment capacity.

Construction work will also include building a structure that increases the flow capacity in the nearby Stormwater Treatment Area 1 East. Increasing water flow from 1,580 cu ft per second (cfs) to 3,600 cfs will improve the ability to distribute water during storms and other high-flow events into the STA, where it can be cleaned.

46 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

47

ENGINEERING DIRECTORY

Tank Engineering And Management Consultants, Inc.

Engineering • Inspection Aboveground Storage Tank Specialists Mulberry, Florida • Since 1983

863-354-9010 www.tankteam.com

EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORY

EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORY

EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORY

Motor & Utility Services, LLC

Instrumentation,Controls Specialists Instrumentation Calibration Troubleshooting and Repair Services On-Site Water Meter Calibrations Preventive Maintenance Contracts Emergency and On Call Services Installation and System Start-up Lift Station Controls Service and Repair

Central Florida Controls,Inc. Florida Certified in water meter testing and repair P.O. Box 6121 • Ocala, FL 34432 Phone: 352-347-6075 • Fax: 352-347-0933

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CEC Motor & Utility Services, LLC 1751 12th Street East Palmetto, FL. 34221 Phone - 941-845-1030 Fax – 941-845-1049 prademaker@cecmotoru.com • Motor & Pump Services Test Loaded up to 4000HP, 4160-Volts • Premier Distributor for Worldwide Hyundai Motors up to 35,000HP • Specialists in rebuilding motors, pumps, blowers, & drives • UL 508A Panel Shop, engineer/design/build/install/commission • Lift Station Rehabilitation Services, GC License # CGC1520078 • Predictive Maintenance Services, vibration, IR, oil sampling • Authorized Sales & Service for Aurora Vertical Hollow Shaft Motors

EQUIPMENT & SERVICES DIRECTORY Showcase Your Company in the Engineering or Equipment & Services Directory Contact Mike Delaney at

352-241-6006 ads@fwrj.com

CLASSIFIEDS Positions Available

Reiss Engineering, Inc. Are you looking for an opportunity with a company that is poised for growth? Reiss Engineering stands as one of the most prominent Civil and Environmental engineering firms in the State of Florida and the Bahamas.

Our main focus is water and wastewater, serving both public and private sector clients with integrity, technical excellence and a commitment to performance. At Reiss Engineering, we are committed to making success happen for our clients, our employees and our firm.

Reiss Engineering offers a competitive compensation and benefits package, as well as a stimulating and fast paced work environment. Reiss Engineering is continuously searching for highly talented individuals and welcomes resumes from those with an interest in joining our team. For a list of our current openings, or to submit a resume for a potential opportunity, please visit our website at www.reisseng.com.

Utilities Positions City of Haines City is accepting applications for Wastewater Operators, Plant Maintenance, Pipeline & Pump/Motor Repair and Lead positions.

Visit www.hainescity.com

CH2M Collections and Distributions Supervisor Pembroke Pines, FL The challenge? Provide a range of custom-tailored operations and maintenance solutions of all public and private utility systems for our client in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The City of Pembroke Pines, located in southwest Broward County, is a full service municipality serving a population of 155,000 citizens. The City owns and operates a water and wastewater utility that is fiscally sound with infrastructure that has mainly been constructed within the last twenty years. The project encompasses water treatment systems, wastewater treatment plants, and collection and distribution systems. The Collections and Distribution Supervisor oversees all preventive and corrective maintenance of the collection and distribution system.

Basic Qualifications: High school diploma or GED 3-5 years' experience in Water and/or Waste Water facility maintenance with minimum 1-2 years at a manager or supervisor level Possess a valid driver's license with no major infractions in past 5 years CH2M is an Equal Opportunity Employer Apply: http://ch2m.adtrk.tw/6kgCF

Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator “C” Salary Range: $45,379. - $65,800.

The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority’s WASTEWATER DIVISION IS GROWING, and we need a WWTP Operator with a Florida “C” license or higher. You will perform skilled/technical work involving the operation and maintenance of a wastewater treatment plant (the majority of our plants are brand new, state of the art plants). Must have the technical knowledge and independent judgment to make treatment process adjustments and perform maintenance to plant equipment, machinery and related control apparatus in accordance with established standards and procedures. Benefit package is extremely competitive! Must complete on-line application at www.fkaa.com EEO, VPE, ADA

Water Quality Compliance Supervisor Manatee County, Florida This classification assumes responsibility for inspections and sampling of industrial and commercial facilities (to ensure compliance with the County’s Sewer Use Ordinance); responsibility for sampling and monitoring in support of the Wastewater Division; and provides coordination and administrative support for the County Wastewater Division’s compliance requirements with local, state and federal regulations and/or permits.

Full time, excellent benefit package Online applications only: www.mymanatee.org/jobs Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

51

City of Wildwood Water Treatment Plant Lead Operator: Looking for a licensed operator to join our professional team at one of the fastest growing cities in Florida. Must hold at least a Class “C” license.

Valid Driver’s license a must. High school diploma or GED equivalent, plus Two (2) years technical training in biology, environmental science, chemistry, or a closely related field (two year college degree preferred) and Three (3) years of experience in a water utility as a supervisor/lead operator capacity, or any equivalent combo. Pay Range: Class 113 ($16.83 – 26.09/hour) DOE Open Until Filled. Visit our website for more information (www.wildwood-fl.gov)

City of Winter Park – Wastewater Plant Operator C Minimum: High school diploma/GED supplemented by courses in wastewater treatment. Must have a current Florida Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certificate. Must have a valid Florida Driver's License.

For More information Apply: Cityofwinterpark.org/employment

Water Distribution Systems Field Operator Service Technician Hydromax USA is a professional services firm with the goal of transforming infrastructure data into actionable business intelligence for the owners, operators and consultants charged with the responsibility of maintaining the country's natural gas distribution, water distribution and wastewater collection utilities. Our team combines experience from design, construction, GIS, engineering and field services disciplines. Since our inception, we have evolved into a dynamic company that combines both traditional and state-of-the-art techniques and technologies in the collection and presentation of utility data.

Job Overview This non-exempt hourly position will have the responsibility of working as part of a team that provides many different types of maintenance programs for various utilities throughout the US. The Field Services Technician will be responsible for the accurate collection of data and safe operation of equipment associated with valve and fire hydrant maintenance as well as infrastructure repair and maintenance.

For information on the positions available or to submit an application, please visit our website: http://www.hydromaxusa.com/careers

Okeechobee Utility Authority Operations Director Orange County, Florida is an employer of choice and is perennially recognized on the Orlando Sentinel’s list of the Top 100 Companies for Working Families. Orange County shines as a place to both live and work, with an abundance of world class golf courses, lakes, miles of trails and year-round sunshine - all with the sparkling backdrop of nightly fireworks from world-famous tourist attractions. Make Orange County Your Home for Life.

Orange County Utilities is one of the largest utility providers in Florida and has been recognized nationally and locally for outstanding operations, efficiencies, innovations, education programs and customer focus.

As one of the largest departments in Orange County Government, we provide water and wastewater services to a population of over 500,000 citizens and 62 million annual guests; operate the largest publicly owned landfill in the state; and manage in excess of a billion dollars of infrastructure assets. Our focus is on excellent quality, customer service, sustainability, and a commitment to employee development. Join us to find more than a job – find a career.

We are currently looking for knowledgeable and motivated individuals to join our team, who take great pride in public service, aspire to create a lasting value within their community, and appreciate being immersed in meaningful work. We are currently recruiting actively for the following positions: Senior Engineer Engineer I, II, III Industrial Electrician I

$69,118.40 - $108,555.20 / year $43,284.80 – $81,556.80 / year $36,732.80 – $48,464.00 / year

Apply online at: http://orangecountyfl.net.

Positions are open until filled.

52 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

The Okeechobee Utility Authority, an independent special district providing water and wastewater services to areas within Okeechobee and Glades Counties. The OUA currently has approximately 9,500 metered water connections. The OUA owns and operates two water treatment plants, one regional wastewater treatment plant and five smaller wastewater package treatment plants.

The OUA is looking for a person with a strong background in various aspects of water and wastewater utility work. The applicant could have gained experiences through associated work such as engineering, facilities planning or other similar assignments.

Background experiences could include personnel, operations, SCADA, treatment and or regulatory interaction. This position does interact with OUA personnel, customers, developers, vendors and others. The applicant should have strong communications skills, both written and verbal, computer and office skills usually necessary for planning, budgeting and capital improvement analysis. Minimum educational requirements are a high school graduate or GED. Higher educational and or operator licensing are a plus.

Applicants shall submit an application and drug free workplace consent form which can be obtained from www.ouafl.com under Employment Opportunities. Applicants may submit other information necessary to better define their personal work experiences, education and licensing achievements.

This position will be open until filled. Application review and interviews will begin the week of February 16th.

Written Correspondence: Electronic Correspondence: Okeechobee Utility Authority jmckinley@ouafl.com Attn: Janet McKinley 100 SW 5th Avenue Okeechobee, FL 34974 (863) 763-9460 Office Ext. 212

THE CITY OF DAYTONA BEACH MANAGER – FIELD OPERATIONS UTILITIES/ADMINISTRATION Weekly Salary Range $1,052.53 - $2,004.50 December 16, 2015 – January 31, 2016 The purpose of this classification, under general direction, is to develop and implement programs to improve effectiveness and the efficiency of the department and supervise the operation and maintenance of the Utility’s water, wastewater, stormwater and reuse pipelines, meters, meter read, etc. Employees in this classification perform advanced supervisory and technical work. Performs related work as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFACTIONS (Education, Training, and Experience): High school diploma or GED; prefer Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management or Engineering or closely related field; supplemented by three (3) to five (5) years previous experience as a supervisor in Utility field operations of water, wastewater, reuse and/or stormwater. Requires valid State of Florida Driver’s License.

For application, information, and submittal requirements, go to www.codb.us/jobs Job Opportunities EOE/AA/ADA/VET Employer

Utilities Treatment Plant Operations Supervisor $55,452 - $78,026/yr.

Utilities System Operator II $37,152 - 52,279/yr.

For Sale Anaerobic Biomass Anaerobic biomass for sale $0.25/gallon. Buyer must arrange and pay for transportation. Please contact 941-742-3464 for more information

Position Wanted JOHN L. BILL - has passed the DWC State Test with a 95% , and is looking for a C Trainee Position, preferably within 30 miles of Lake Worth.

Available immediately. Contact @ 561 317 2351, or johnl.bill1@gmail.com 5698 Lake George Pl. Lake Worth, Fl. 33463 ANTHONY JONES – Has completed Wastewater course level C and is seeking a trainee position. Has enrolled in C Water Distribution course and will be available for employment in February 2016. Prefers St. Petersburg area of the state. Contact at: Anthony Jones R53801, Lake Correctional Institution, 19225 US Hwy 27, Clermont, Fl. 34715 DEVON DAVIES – Has passed the C Wastewater test and is scheduled to sit for C Water test and is seeking a Trainee Position to add to 220 current in plant hours. Available for employment in January 2016. Prefers St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay, Pasco, Bradenton or Sarasota Counties. Contact at Devon Davies T20824, Reality House, 1341 Indian Lake Road, Daytona Beach, Fl. 32124

LOOKING FOR A JOB? The FWPCOA Job Placement Committee Can Help!

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

Apply Online At: http://pompanobeachfl.gov Open until filled.

City of Temple Terrace Technical work in the operation of a water treatment plant and auxiliary facilities on an assigned shift. Performs quality control lab tests and other analyses, monthly regulatory reports, and minor adjustments and repairs to plant equipment. Applicant must have State of Florida D.E.P. Class “A”, “B”, or “C” Drinking Water License at time of application.

SALARY RANGES: $16.59 - $24.89 per hour • w/”C” Certificate $18.25 - $27.38 per hour • w/”B” Certificate (+10% above “C”) $20.08 - $30.12 per hour • w/”A” Certificate (+10% above “B”). Excellent benefits package. To apply and/or obtain more details contact City of Temple Terrace, Chief Plant Operator at (813) 506-6593 or Human Resources at (813) 506-6430 or visit www.templeterrace.com. EOE/DFWP.

Wastewater Plant Operator Wanted Full Time Wastewater Utility in Key West is looking for a licensed wastewater plant operator. Pay range between $28 -$34/hour. Class “C” or higher and BAT/AWT experience is a plus. Compensation package includes Health, Dental, and Retirement Benefits. Please send all inquiries and resumes to hiring@kwru.com

Classified Advertising Rates - Classified ads are $20 per line for a 60 character line (including spaces and punctuation), $60 minimum. The price includes publication in both the magazine and our Web site. Short positions wanted ads are run one time for no charge and are subject to editing. ads@fwrj.com

Retraction The article published in the November 2015 issue of the magazine, "Strategies for Improving Water Quality of Florida Key Beaches: A Case Study," has been retracted by the authors.

Florida Water Resources Journal • January 2016

53

Certification Boulevard Answer Key From page 37 February 2014

Editorial Calendar January ......Wastewater Treatment February ....Water Supply; Alternative Sources March ........Energy Efficiency; Environmental Stewardship April............Conservation and Reuse May ............Operations and Utilities Management; Florida Water Resources Conference June ..........Biosolids Management and Bioenergy Production July ............Stormwater Management; Emerging Technologies; FWRC Review

1. C) 8.34 pounds per mil gal One part of anything in relationship to one million parts of the same thing is 1 ppm, like 1 gal of water to 1,000,000 gal of water. So, one gal, which weighs 8.34 lbs, in 1,000,000 gal is equal to 1 ppm. For example, 1 in. in about 15.78 mi is equal to 1 ppm. Also, one mg per liter (mg/L) is the same as one part per mil (ppm). The conversion is long and drawn out, but it’s the same!

2. B) Fermentation The fermentation zone of a Bardenpho process receives raw wastewater (usually after preliminary treatment) and returns activated sludge (from secondary clarifiers). The MLSS is mixed and not aerated in the fermentation zone for a time period of about one to three hours. This zone, absent of all sources of oxygen, basically activates a group of phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAO), which trades phosphorus for CBOD5. These bugs release phosphorus from their cells and “grab onto” food for later decomposition. A successful fermentation zone will have phosphorus levels in the outlet about two to four times higher than the inlet to the tank.

3. B) Organic content

August........Disinfection; Water Quality September..Emerging Issues; Water Resources Management October ......New Facilities, Expansions, and Upgrades November ..Water Treatment December ..Distribution and Collection Technical articles are usually scheduled several months in advance and are due 60 days before the issue month (for example, January 1 for the March issue).

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

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

The CBOD5 basically identifies the pollutional strength of the raw wastewater.

It determines the amount of oxygen required to breakdown the organic material in the wastewater, measured as mg/L (ppm).

4. C) Denitrification Denitrification is an anoxic reaction and will be typically accomplished at the highest rate in an anoxic zone with adequate food supply (CBOD5). The anoxic reaction is elevated to its highest potential when the bugs are hungry and active, the CBOD5 is plentiful, the tank is mixed without any oxygen transfer, and the dissolved oxygen level is as close as possible to zero.

5. A) Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) The VSS test requires the use of an analytical balance, a drying oven, filter papers, a muffle furnace, and a desiccator. The balance is for weighing the sample, the drying oven is for evaporation of moisture, the filter papers capture suspended solids on the media, the muffle furnace is to burn volatile solids and allow fixed solids to remain, and the desiccator cools the filter paper and prevents moisture from adding weight to the filter paper.

6. B) Five days at 20°C The CBOD5 test is conducted by incubating the conditioned sample at a temperature of 20oC (68ºF) for a period of five days.

7. B) Volume of a circular tank in gallons The formula to calculate the volume in gallons of a circular tank: π r2 x cone depth, ft x 7.48 gals/ft3

Display Advertiser Index Blue Planet..................................55

FWRC

CEU Challenge ............................31

Announcement ..........................7

Crom ..........................................46

Team Spirit ................................8

Data Flow....................................29

Exhibitors ..................................9

Drop Savers ................................43

Registration..............................10

Evoqua........................................19

Floor Layout ............................11

FSAWWA Awards ......................33

Garney ..........................................5

FSAWWA Thank You Members ....38

Hudson Pumps............................27

FSAWWA Training........................39

McKim & Creed ..........................25

FWEA Collections Sytems ............21

Stacon ..........................................2

FWPCOA Region VIII ....................15

Treeo ..........................................47

FWPCOA Training ........................41

Xylem..........................................56

54 January 2016 • Florida Water Resources Journal

8. C) Rotifer Beginning with the lowest life form, the microorganism indicators are amoebas, small flagellates, large flagellates, free-swimming ciliates, stalk ciliates, rotifers, nematodes and water bears. So, of the three indicators listed in the question, the rotifer is the highest life form in the activated sludge process.

9. A) Aeration mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) and influent CBOD5 The F/M ratio compares the food value as applied to the volatile bug population. The food value is indicated with the CBOD5 content in the influent wastewater, and the volatile bug content is identified by testing the aeration system mixed liquor for its volatile fraction, which is mixed liquor volatile suspended solids.

10. C) To gather onto the surface of a substance The term adsorption refers to one substance gathering (or sticking) onto the surface of another substance, like flies sticking to flypaper. Another definition for adsorption is the process of trapping gas and vapor molecules within the pores of a microporous solid, such as activated carbon.