November 2013

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE:

Intelligent energy managementPage 14

wsoWATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

November 2013 www.wsomag.com

Managing Our Most Valuable Resource

TM

TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE:

Analytics solutions from GEPage 28

BRIGHT IDEAS:

Large-scale UV disinfectionPage 16

Judy AdamsWater Treatment ManagerBrownsville, Texas

Keep itFlowing

JUDY ADAMS AND HER TEAM HELP A TEXAS CITY FIGHT OFF DROUGHTPage 24

QUALITY LEADERSPlant: Ready for Growth Page 6Automation, high-end technology and a dedicated staff have the Burnt Store reverse osmosis treatment plant prepared for the next boom in local construction.BY JIM FORCE

Plant: An Earthy Approach Page 18The City of Kalama’s diatomaceous earth water filtration plant uses a highly automated process that reduces lifetime costs and frees staff for other duties.BY JIM FORCE

Operator: Keep It Flowing Page 24Judy Adams emphasizes teamwork in operating three water plants that keep the Texas city of Brownsville supplied in the face of severe drought.BY JACK POWELL

ON TAP Page 3

Wisdom From the Fat ManA line from an old movie with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason is worth remembering when you need a pick-me-up after a fall.BY TED J. RULSEH, EDITOR

@WSOMAG.COM Page 5Visit daily for news, features and blogs. Get the most from WSO magazine.

WINNING THEM OVER Page 12

Drop by DropA mascot, tours, public displays and rebate programs combine to help the City of Durham make big inroads on conservation.BY LINDA J. EDMONDSON

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE Page 14

Smart ManagementLas Vegas Valley’s Energy and Water Quality Management System helps optimize distribution and treatment, saving energy, saving money and improving water quality.BY LISA BALCERAK

BRIGHT IDEAS Page 16

Success on a Big Scale A medium-pressure UV disinfection system provides cost-effective pathogen removal for a new 315 mgd facility in San Francisco.BY SCOTTIE DAYTON

TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE Page 28

Watchful EyesAn analytics solution from GE Intelligent Platforms can help operators avoid unplanned equipment downtime and optimize process performance.BY TED J. RULSEH

PRODUCT FOCUS Page 30

Metering and SecurityBY CRAIG MANDLI

CASE STUDIES Page 32


TECH TALK Page 33

Survey Surfaces Sealing ConcernsWater industry leaders share thoughts on gasketing products and practices and the key issues involved in sealing against leakage.BY JIM DRAGO, P.E., AND ANGELICA WIUME

INDUSTRY NEWS Page 34 PRODUCT NEWS Page 36Product Spotlight: Solar-powered thermometer replaces mercury-in-glass modelsBY ED WODALSKI

WORTH NOTING Page 38People/Awards; Education; Events

Coming Next Issue: December 2013

FOCUS: Annual Buyer’s Guide

�� Special 2014 fold-out wall calendar

�� Quality Leaders – Plant: Partnership awards in Kingsport, Tenn.

�� Quality Leaders – Operator: Robert Longo, Bristol, Conn.

�� Quality Leaders – Operator: Greg Swanson, Moline, Ill.

�� Tech Talk: Understanding sodium hypochlorite disinfection

�� Winning Them Over: Conservation in a land of plenty

�� Technology Deep Dive: i::scan miniature spectrophotometer

�� Sustainable Practice: Power reduction initiative in Fairfield, Calif.

Contents November 2013

ON THE COVER:Participative. Committed. Driven. Those are words employees and colleagues apply to Judy Adams, water treatment manager at three facilities, including a reverse osmosis membrane plant, in Brownsville, Texas. (Photography by Brad Doherty)

On a fishing trip a few years ago I had one of those humiliating days. My brother and I were working a lake in Ontario one afternoon into evening. He caught several big northern pike in a row, while I caught nothing, despite using the same lure

and casting to the same kinds of spots. Then a cold front came and the fish shut down, although we kept at it

for a few hours. When all was said and done, I had fished hard for five hours, in Canada no less, and could not catch a single northern pike. It wasn’t that I begrudged my brother his catch. It was that I felt incompe-tent. Where fishing is concerned, I lose confidence easily.

Next morning, quite honestly, I barely wanted to get out of bed, and I dreaded going out on the water again. It was then I remembered the 1950s movie, “The Hustler,” and some words from Minnesota Fats.

Double lesson

By way of background, the movie starred Paul Newman as “Fast” Eddie Felson, a cocky young pool hustler, and Jackie Gleason as Minne-sota Fats, the all-time great. The two hook up in an all-night, all-morning, high-stakes game at a pool hall in Ames, Iowa.

For most of the evening, Felson beats Fats repeatedly and takes him for a large sum of money. When they finally take a break, Felson looks sweaty, stubbled and worn. The Fat Man, in his suit with the rose in the lapel, also appears played out.

During the break, as Felson keeps drinking from his bottle of cheap whiskey, Minnesota goes to the back of the pool hall, washes his face, shaves, combs his hair and freshens up his suit. When he returns to the table, he looks as clean and groomed as when he had walked into the pool hall many hours earlier.

He looks at Felson, smiles and says, “Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.” All that went before is forgotten. It’s a brand new game. And Fats pro-ceeds not only to win back the money he lost but to take Fast Eddie’s entire bankroll. There’s a double lesson here: a caution against letting arrogance take over, and a reminder that defeats happen to us all but are only temporary.

Getting back up Minnesota Fats knew who he was. He knew

that when on top of his game he would eventu-ally beat anyone. Part of his mystique was his class: Even in a down-at-the-heels pool hall, he wore a three-piece suit with a flower in the lapel. His standards never wavered. When he got beaten down, he came back stronger than ever.

Most of us over the years have learned that lesson one way or another. And yet when we have that rotten day (or week, or month), we still fall prey to low confidence, which if we’re not careful can start a downward spiral.

The thing we need to remember is that the person who failed that one time is not the sum and substance of who we are. We are the person who gets the job done, day after day; who in the final analysis is capable and successful.

There are many ways to express the basic lesson about perseverance and confidence. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. When you fall off your horse, get right back in the saddle. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” (Billie Jean King). “When you come

to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” (Franklin Roosevelt).

But I prefer the words of the Fat Man. When you fail one day, get up the next morning, shower and shave, put on a fresh suit of clothes, go face the world and say to yourself, “Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.”

Ready to try again

That’s what I did the morning after that disastrous outing on the lake in Ontario. I got into my rain suit and went out with my brother to cast the weedy bays for pike. I wish I could say we both slayed them, but the cold front had taken full effect and the fish weren’t cooperating.

But on a few casts, a fish followed my lure back to the boat, and that was enough. I knew then that my long day of failure was just one of those things. My Canada vacation is long over, but I’m ready to get back out there — just tell me when and where. After the next of your bad days, I hope you can say the same. wso

Wisdom From the Fat ManA line from an old movie with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason is worth remembering when you need a pick-me-up after a fall

ONTAP

BY TED J. RULSEH, EDITOR

The thing we need to remember is that the person who failed that one time is not the sum and substance of who we are. We are the

person who gets the job done, day after day; who in the final analysis is capable and successful.

It’s your magazine.Tell your story.

WSO welcomes news about your water system for future articles.

Send your ideas to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094

wsomag.com November 2013 3

QUALITY LEADERSPlant: Ready for Growth Page 6Automation, high-end technology and a dedicated staff have the Burnt Store reverse osmosis treatment plant prepared for the next boom in local construction.BY JIM FORCE

Plant: An Earthy Approach Page 18The City of Kalama’s diatomaceous earth water filtration plant uses a highly automated process that reduces lifetime costs and frees staff for other duties.BY JIM FORCE

Operator: Keep It Flowing Page 24Judy Adams emphasizes teamwork in operating three water plants that keep the Texas city of Brownsville supplied in the face of severe drought.BY JACK POWELL

ON TAP Page 3

Wisdom From the Fat ManA line from an old movie with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason is worth remembering when you need a pick-me-up after a fall.BY TED J. RULSEH, EDITOR

@WSOMAG.COM Page 5Visit daily for news, features and blogs. Get the most from WSO magazine.

WINNING THEM OVER Page 12

Drop by DropA mascot, tours, public displays and rebate programs combine to help the City of Durham make big inroads on conservation.BY LINDA J. EDMONDSON

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE Page 14

Smart ManagementLas Vegas Valley’s Energy and Water Quality Management System helps optimize distribution and treatment, saving energy, saving money and improving water quality.BY LISA BALCERAK

BRIGHT IDEAS Page 16

Success on a Big Scale A medium-pressure UV disinfection system provides cost-effective pathogen removal for a new 315 mgd facility in San Francisco.BY SCOTTIE DAYTON

TECHNOLOGY DEEP DIVE Page 28

Watchful EyesAn analytics solution from GE Intelligent Platforms can help operators avoid unplanned equipment downtime and optimize process performance.BY TED J. RULSEH

PRODUCT FOCUS Page 30


CASE STUDIES Page 32


TECH TALK Page 33

Survey Surfaces Sealing ConcernsWater industry leaders share thoughts on gasketing products and practices and the key issues involved in sealing against leakage.BY JIM DRAGO, P.E., AND ANGELICA WIUME

INDUSTRY NEWS Page 34 PRODUCT NEWS Page 36Product Spotlight: Solar-powered thermometer replaces mercury-in-glass modelsBY ED WODALSKI

WORTH NOTING Page 38People/Awards; Education; Events

Coming Next Issue: December 2013

FOCUS: Annual Buyer’s Guide

�� Special 2014 fold-out wall calendar

�� Quality Leaders – Plant: Partnership awards in Kingsport, Tenn.

�� Quality Leaders – Operator: Robert Longo, Bristol, Conn.

�� Quality Leaders – Operator: Greg Swanson, Moline, Ill.

�� Tech Talk: Understanding sodium hypochlorite disinfection

�� Winning Them Over: Conservation in a land of plenty

�� Technology Deep Dive: i::scan miniature spectrophotometer

�� Sustainable Practice: Power reduction initiative in Fairfield, Calif.

Contents November 2013

ON THE COVER:Participative. Committed. Driven. Those are words employees and colleagues apply to Judy Adams, water treatment manager at three facilities, including a reverse osmosis membrane plant, in Brownsville, Texas. (Photography by Brad Doherty)

On a fishing trip a few years ago I had one of those humiliating days. My brother and I were working a lake in Ontario one afternoon into evening. He caught several big northern pike in a row, while I caught nothing, despite using the same lure

and casting to the same kinds of spots. Then a cold front came and the fish shut down, although we kept at it

for a few hours. When all was said and done, I had fished hard for five hours, in Canada no less, and could not catch a single northern pike. It wasn’t that I begrudged my brother his catch. It was that I felt incompe-tent. Where fishing is concerned, I lose confidence easily.

Next morning, quite honestly, I barely wanted to get out of bed, and I dreaded going out on the water again. It was then I remembered the 1950s movie, “The Hustler,” and some words from Minnesota Fats.

Double lesson

By way of background, the movie starred Paul Newman as “Fast” Eddie Felson, a cocky young pool hustler, and Jackie Gleason as Minne-sota Fats, the all-time great. The two hook up in an all-night, all-morning, high-stakes game at a pool hall in Ames, Iowa.

For most of the evening, Felson beats Fats repeatedly and takes him for a large sum of money. When they finally take a break, Felson looks sweaty, stubbled and worn. The Fat Man, in his suit with the rose in the lapel, also appears played out.

During the break, as Felson keeps drinking from his bottle of cheap whiskey, Minnesota goes to the back of the pool hall, washes his face, shaves, combs his hair and freshens up his suit. When he returns to the table, he looks as clean and groomed as when he had walked into the pool hall many hours earlier.

He looks at Felson, smiles and says, “Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.” All that went before is forgotten. It’s a brand new game. And Fats pro-ceeds not only to win back the money he lost but to take Fast Eddie’s entire bankroll. There’s a double lesson here: a caution against letting arrogance take over, and a reminder that defeats happen to us all but are only temporary.

Getting back up Minnesota Fats knew who he was. He knew

that when on top of his game he would eventu-ally beat anyone. Part of his mystique was his class: Even in a down-at-the-heels pool hall, he wore a three-piece suit with a flower in the lapel. His standards never wavered. When he got beaten down, he came back stronger than ever.

Most of us over the years have learned that lesson one way or another. And yet when we have that rotten day (or week, or month), we still fall prey to low confidence, which if we’re not careful can start a downward spiral.

The thing we need to remember is that the person who failed that one time is not the sum and substance of who we are. We are the person who gets the job done, day after day; who in the final analysis is capable and successful.

There are many ways to express the basic lesson about perseverance and confidence. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. When you fall off your horse, get right back in the saddle. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” (Billie Jean King). “When you come

to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” (Franklin Roosevelt).

But I prefer the words of the Fat Man. When you fail one day, get up the next morning, shower and shave, put on a fresh suit of clothes, go face the world and say to yourself, “Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.”

Ready to try again

That’s what I did the morning after that disastrous outing on the lake in Ontario. I got into my rain suit and went out with my brother to cast the weedy bays for pike. I wish I could say we both slayed them, but the cold front had taken full effect and the fish weren’t cooperating.

But on a few casts, a fish followed my lure back to the boat, and that was enough. I knew then that my long day of failure was just one of those things. My Canada vacation is long over, but I’m ready to get back out there — just tell me when and where. After the next of your bad days, I hope you can say the same. wso

Wisdom From the Fat ManA line from an old movie with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason is worth remembering when you need a pick-me-up after a fall

ONTAP

BY TED J. RULSEH, EDITOR

The thing we need to remember is that the person who failed that one time is not the sum and substance of who we are. We are the

person who gets the job done, day after day; who in the final analysis is capable and successful.


WSO welcomes news about your water system for future articles.

Send your ideas to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094

4 WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR


Published monthly by COLE Publishing, Inc.1720 Maple Lake Dam Rd., PO Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562

Call toll free 800-257-7222 / Outside of U.S. or Canada call 715-546-3346Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. CST

Website: www.wsomag.com / Email: [email protected] / Fax: 715-546-3786

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: A one-year (12 issues) subscription to WSOTM in the United States and Canada is FREE to qualified subscribers. A qualified subscriber is any individual or company in the United States or Canada that partakes in the consulting, design, installation, manufacture, management or operation of water treatment systems. To subscribe, return the subscription card attached to each issue, visit wsomag.com or call 800-257-7222.

Non-qualified subscriptions are available at a cost of $60 per year in the United States and Canada/Mexico and $150 per year to all other foreign countries. To subscribe, visit wsomag.com or send company name, mailing address, phone number and check or money order (U.S. funds payable to COLE Publishing Inc.) to the address above. MasterCard, VISA and Discover are also accepted. Include credit card information with your order.

ADDRESS CHANGES: Submit to WSO, P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI, 54562; call 800-257-7222 (715-546-3346); fax to 715-546-3786; or email [email protected]. Include both old and new addresses.

Our subscriber list is occasionally made available to carefully selected companies whose products or services may be of interest to you. Your privacy is important to us. If you prefer not to be a part of these lists, please contact Nicole at [email protected].

ADVERTISING RATES: Call 800-994-7990 and ask for Kim or Phil. Publisher reserves the right to reject advertising which in its opinion is misleading, unfair or incompatible with the character of the publication.

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE: Address to Editor, WSO, P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI, 54562 or email [email protected].

REPRINTS AND BACK ISSUES: Visit www.wsomag.com for options and pricing. To order reprints, call Jeff Lane at 800-257-7222 (715-546-3346) or email [email protected]. To order back issues, call Nicole at 800-257-7222 (715-546-3346) or email nicolel@cole publishing.com.

CIRCULATION: Average circulation is 36,471 copies per month.

© 2013 COLE PUBLISHING INC. No part may be reproduced without permission of publisher.

Blue-White Industries ............... 4

Flygt – a Xylem Brand ............. 13

Sanitaire – a Xylem Brand ...... 11

Separmatic Systems ............... 17

SPX .......................................... 23

USABlueBook .......................... 40

WEDECO – a Xylem Brand ...... 9

Xylem ..................................... 15

Advertiser Index November 2013

www.facebook.com/WSOmag

www.twitter.com/WSOmagazine

www.plus.google.com

www.youtube.com/WSOmagazine

GetSocialwith

��

Free Subscription

Digital Editions

Article Reprints

Product Information

Discussion Forums

Online Exclusives

Editor’s Blog

Scan this tag with your smartphone

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ag.com

@wsomag.comOVERHEARD ONLINE

“We have to value our own profession first. And, we have

to take licensing and certification seriously because they matter. No one else is going to help us build our own reputation.”Respect for the Professionwww.wsomag.com/featured

Join the Discussionwww.facebook.com/WSOmag www.twitter.com/WSOmagazine

Visit www.WSOmag.com and sign up for newsletters and alerts. You’ll get exclusive content delivered right to your inbox, and you’ll stay in the loop on topics important to you.

Emails & Alerts

Visit the site daily for new, exclusive content. Read our blogs, find resources and get the most out of WSO magazine.

POUND OF PREVENTION

Keepin’ It SafeCongrats, wastewater industry! According to OSHA, incident reports in the industry have declined, thanks in part to safety and security programs. Find out where injuries are most likely to occur, and what you can do to prevent them. www.wsomag.com/featured

BACTERIA AND SOLAR

Energy Times TwoFind out how a new self-sufficient hybrid

device uses wastewater and solar power to create energy and clean water. Plus,

learn what researchers at the University of California – Santa Cruz have planned next

for the technology. www.wsomag.com/featured

WATER SCORECARD

Compare and Learn!Keeping tabs on customer water use has never been this easy. See how the Milwaukee Water Works and their newest partner, H20score, are bringing customer data to online portals. In this case, using water wisely even means incentives from local stores. www.wsomag.com/featured

“We’re met with a new challenge each day.Whether it’s the sewer or water department ...we take our jobs very seriously, andthe key thing is knowing that we’re incompliance and not polluting our waters.”

Jeff ChartierAn Original Environmentalist

SUPERINTENDENTTown of Bristol (N.H.) Sewer

and Water Department

Every day is Earth Day.™

Read about original environmentalists like Jeffeach month in Treatment Plant Operator.

FREE subscription at www.tpomag.com



Published monthly by COLE Publishing, Inc.1720 Maple Lake Dam Rd., PO Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562

Call toll free 800-257-7222 / Outside of U.S. or Canada call 715-546-3346Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. CST

Website: www.wsomag.com / Email: [email protected] / Fax: 715-546-3786

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: A one-year (12 issues) subscription to WSOTM in the United States and Canada is FREE to qualified subscribers. A qualified subscriber is any individual or company in the United States or Canada that partakes in the consulting, design, installation, manufacture, management or operation of water treatment systems. To subscribe, return the subscription card attached to each issue, visit wsomag.com or call 800-257-7222.

Non-qualified subscriptions are available at a cost of $60 per year in the United States and Canada/Mexico and $150 per year to all other foreign countries. To subscribe, visit wsomag.com or send company name, mailing address, phone number and check or money order (U.S. funds payable to COLE Publishing Inc.) to the address above. MasterCard, VISA and Discover are also accepted. Include credit card information with your order.

ADDRESS CHANGES: Submit to WSO, P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI, 54562; call 800-257-7222 (715-546-3346); fax to 715-546-3786; or email [email protected]. Include both old and new addresses.

Our subscriber list is occasionally made available to carefully selected companies whose products or services may be of interest to you. Your privacy is important to us. If you prefer not to be a part of these lists, please contact Nicole at [email protected].

ADVERTISING RATES: Call 800-994-7990 and ask for Kim or Phil. Publisher reserves the right to reject advertising which in its opinion is misleading, unfair or incompatible with the character of the publication.

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE: Address to Editor, WSO, P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI, 54562 or email [email protected].

REPRINTS AND BACK ISSUES: Visit www.wsomag.com for options and pricing. To order reprints, call Jeff Lane at 800-257-7222 (715-546-3346) or email [email protected]. To order back issues, call Nicole at 800-257-7222 (715-546-3346) or email nicolel@cole publishing.com.

CIRCULATION: Average circulation is 36,471 copies per month.

© 2013 COLE PUBLISHING INC. No part may be reproduced without permission of publisher.

Blue-White Industries ............... 4

Flygt – a Xylem Brand ............. 13

Sanitaire – a Xylem Brand ...... 11

Separmatic Systems ............... 17

SPX .......................................... 23

USABlueBook .......................... 40

WEDECO – a Xylem Brand ...... 9

Xylem ..................................... 15

Advertiser Index November 2013

www.facebook.com/WSOmag

www.twitter.com/WSOmagazine

www.plus.google.com

www.youtube.com/WSOmagazine

GetSocialwith

��

Free Subscription

Digital Editions

Article Reprints

Product Information

Discussion Forums

Online Exclusives

Editor’s Blog

Scan this tag with your smartphone

wsom

ag.com

@wsomag.comOVERHEARD ONLINE

“We have to value our own profession first. And, we have

to take licensing and certification seriously because they matter. No one else is going to help us build our own reputation.”Respect for the Professionwww.wsomag.com/featured

Join the Discussionwww.facebook.com/WSOmag www.twitter.com/WSOmagazine

Visit www.WSOmag.com and sign up for newsletters and alerts. You’ll get exclusive content delivered right to your inbox, and you’ll stay in the loop on topics important to you.

Emails & Alerts

Visit the site daily for new, exclusive content. Read our blogs, find resources and get the most out of WSO magazine.

POUND OF PREVENTION

Keepin’ It SafeCongrats, wastewater industry! According to OSHA, incident reports in the industry have declined, thanks in part to safety and security programs. Find out where injuries are most likely to occur, and what you can do to prevent them. www.wsomag.com/featured

BACTERIA AND SOLAR

Energy Times TwoFind out how a new self-sufficient hybrid

device uses wastewater and solar power to create energy and clean water. Plus,

learn what researchers at the University of California – Santa Cruz have planned next

for the technology. www.wsomag.com/featured

WATER SCORECARD

Compare and Learn!Keeping tabs on customer water use has never been this easy. See how the Milwaukee Water Works and their newest partner, H20score, are bringing customer data to online portals. In this case, using water wisely even means incentives from local stores. www.wsomag.com/featured


STORY: JIM FORCEPHOTOGRAPHY: ARMANDO SOLARES

Automation, high-end technology and a dedicated staff have the Burnt Store reverse osmosis treatment plant prepared for the next boom in local construction

READY FOR GROWTH

QUALITYLEADERS

PLANT

Growth has slowed in Charlotte County, Fla., but when it resumes, the folks at the Burnt Store Water Treatment Plant will be ready.

“Whenever things start kicking back into gear in the Burnt Store corridor this plant is ready to go,” says Ben

Jacobson, chief operator. Even though new construction in the area had come to a halt, Charlotte County Utilities expanded the Burnt Store plant to 3.61 mgd capacity and added new technology.

Dating to 2010, the improvements included two production wells, two prefiltration units, three reverse osmosis (RO) units, chemical feed systems, two degasifi-ers, a high-service pump system, three clearwell transfer pumps and an additional 500,000 gallons of storage, increasing total capacity to 1.5 million gallons.

Before the 2008 recession, “One big development was moving ahead rapidly,” Jacobson recalls. “A golf course, single family homes, condos — we were looking to supply a good share of the produced water to that project. Then, crash, the whole proj-ect came to a standstill. We wondered if we should go forward or hold, but the architectural design prints were complete and approved and money

was available, so we went ahead with the plant expansion.” Due to low demand on the plant, exercising of plant equipment is pri-

ority. No device remains idle. A routine equipment alternating schedule has been in place since the expansion, and the plant’s Wonderware oper-ating program (Invensys) can switch most equipment automatically. “This is a nice feature in this plant’s computer program,” says Jacobson. “We still have equipment we alternate manually, but the computer han-dles most of this task for us.”

Expanded oftenSharing a 75-acre site near the Charlotte-Lee County line with the com-

munity’s water reclamation facility, the Burnt Store plant serves a popu-lation of 6,915 with 2,395 service connections. The distribution system

Paul Sugg, plant operator C, and teammates benefit from process automation at the Burnt Store Water Treatment Plant and Water Reclamation Facility.

“Distribution and billing department personnel can review the data from each meter or from the system each hour and detect

usage trends. It will also alarm on a leak if it shows continuous high flows and tell us if someone tries to tamper with the meter.”BEN JACOBSON


STORY: JIM FORCEPHOTOGRAPHY: ARMANDO SOLARES

Automation, high-end technology and a dedicated staff have the Burnt Store reverse osmosis treatment plant prepared for the next boom in local construction

READY FOR GROWTH

QUALITYLEADERS

PLANT

Growth has slowed in Charlotte County, Fla., but when it resumes, the folks at the Burnt Store Water Treatment Plant will be ready.

“Whenever things start kicking back into gear in the Burnt Store corridor this plant is ready to go,” says Ben

Jacobson, chief operator. Even though new construction in the area had come to a halt, Charlotte County Utilities expanded the Burnt Store plant to 3.61 mgd capacity and added new technology.

Dating to 2010, the improvements included two production wells, two prefiltration units, three reverse osmosis (RO) units, chemical feed systems, two degasifi-ers, a high-service pump system, three clearwell transfer pumps and an additional 500,000 gallons of storage, increasing total capacity to 1.5 million gallons.

Before the 2008 recession, “One big development was moving ahead rapidly,” Jacobson recalls. “A golf course, single family homes, condos — we were looking to supply a good share of the produced water to that project. Then, crash, the whole proj-ect came to a standstill. We wondered if we should go forward or hold, but the architectural design prints were complete and approved and money

was available, so we went ahead with the plant expansion.” Due to low demand on the plant, exercising of plant equipment is pri-

ority. No device remains idle. A routine equipment alternating schedule has been in place since the expansion, and the plant’s Wonderware oper-ating program (Invensys) can switch most equipment automatically. “This is a nice feature in this plant’s computer program,” says Jacobson. “We still have equipment we alternate manually, but the computer han-dles most of this task for us.”

Expanded oftenSharing a 75-acre site near the Charlotte-Lee County line with the com-

munity’s water reclamation facility, the Burnt Store plant serves a popu-lation of 6,915 with 2,395 service connections. The distribution system

Paul Sugg, plant operator C, and teammates benefit from process automation at the Burnt Store Water Treatment Plant and Water Reclamation Facility.

“Distribution and billing department personnel can review the data from each meter or from the system each hour and detect

usage trends. It will also alarm on a leak if it shows continuous high flows and tell us if someone tries to tamper with the meter.”BEN JACOBSON


includes 57 miles of 2- to 16-inch piping, 387 hydrants and 415 in-line valves.Raw water is drawn from seven brackish wells, six in the Hawthorne

Aquifer (600 feet deep) and one in the Floridian Aquifer (1,050 feet deep). The Burnt Store plant has been expanded considerably since it was built 40 years ago, but RO has always been the technology of choice.

“The original water treatment plant went online in the early 1970s using reverse osmosis to treat 36,000 gallons a day,” Jacobson says. “In the mid-1970s, it was expanded to 160,000 gallons a day and was equipped with hollow-fiber membranes.”

The plant was expanded again in 1994, 1996 and 2000; additional RO units were installed, using spiral wound membranes. The 2009-2010 expan-sion, designed by Malcolm-Pirnie with Wharton Smith as the general con-tractor, included three new 750,000 gpd RO trains, bringing the design capacity to 3.61 mgd.

Incoming well water first receives a dose of 93 percent sulfuric acid to lower the pH from 7.3-7.4 to 6.7-7.0. It is injected with anti-scalant to pre-

vent mineral scaling on the RO membranes. Then the water passes through five prefiltration units, each housing 40 1-micron cartridge fil-ters (Tri-Dim Filter Corp., GE Water & Process) to remove large impuri-ties. High-pressure pumps deliver the water to the five primary RO units, used for demineralization (Aerex Global Corp. designed and installed the newer RO units).

Depending on which RO units are online (older or newer), water pres-sure is increased to 120 to 160 psi, allowing the units to perform at their design capacity. All RO units are two stage; the older units consist of 12 membrane vessels, the newer units 20. Each vessel contains seven mem-brane elements.

The impurities removed by the membranes (concentrate or brine) are sent to two Class 1 industrial waste injection wells drilled into rock for-mations 3,000 feet deep. The second well was drilled as part of the 2010 expansion and receives the bulk of the concentrate. “The new well is larger than the old one, and we use it as the primary well,” says Jacobson. “But we don’t want the smaller injection well just sitting there, so we switch the valving at least once a month and send the concentrate down it.” It’s also a backup if problems arise with the new well. The wells are closely watched with dual-zone monitoring systems and sample collection and analysis, in compliance with state regulations.

The RO product water (permeate) is blended with filtered bypass well water and flows to a Duall three-tower degasification system (Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions) for hydrogen sulfide removal. It passes to a 20,000-gallon clearwell, where it receives sodium hypochlorite for disin-

The Burnt Store crew includes, from left, Kevin French, Tod Avers, Paul Sugg and Ben Jacobson.

Burnt Store Water Treatment Plant, Charlotte County, Fla.BUILT: | 1970s; multiple expansionsTREATMENT CAPACITY: | 3.61 mgdSERVICE AREA: | 9 square milesCUSTOMERS: | 6,915SOURCE WATER: | Hawthorne and Floridian aquifersTREATMENT PROCESS: | Reverse osmosisINFRASTRUCTURE: | 57 miles of distribution piping, 387 hydrants, 415 in-line valvesSYSTEM STORAGE: | 1.5 million gallonsOPERATOR: | Charlotte County UtilitiesANNUAL BUDGET: | $368,000 (operations)WEBSITE: | www.charlottecountyfl.gov

“ We have a good team that works well together. We support each other, and everybody on the

team keeps things humming along. Our distribution folks get right on any line breaks, so not a lot of water is wasted.”BEN JACOBSON

fection, sodium hydroxide for pH adjustment and a corrosion inhibitor (chemical feed pumps by Lutz-JESCO America Corp.).

From the clearwell, treated water is pumped into three 500,000-gal-lon above-ground storage tanks (Crom Corp.) where a high service pump draws water for distribution to customers. “The high-service pump sys-tem consists of a 25 hp jockey pump for low water demands, two 75 hp pumps for intermediate water demands, and one 125 hp pump for large water demands, such as fire suppression,” explains Jacobson. Total high service pump capacity is 4,950 gpm at 70 psi.

A Wonderware SCADA system (Invensys) controls the entire system with two stations in the water plant control room and one in the facility’s motor control center.

Close cooperation

Jacobson and three to four operators staff the Burnt Store plant 16 hours a day, seven days a week, running two eight-hour shifts. During the unmanned times, the SCADA system alarms Jacobson automatically by phone if problems arise with the treatment process or distribution pump system.

“We have a good team that works well together,” Jacobson says. “We support each other, and everybody on the team keeps things humming along. Our distribution folks get right on any line breaks, so not a lot of water is wasted.”

A maintenance management system supports Jacobson and his staff: “We use an enterprise asset management system software program, which allows our maintenance personnel to track time and materials more efficiently and use electronic data storage rather than paper.” That results in cost savings.

The Burnt Store team has upgraded the membrane cleaning system valving to divert cleaning waste to the deep injection well instead of the Water Reclamation Facility, helping protect the treatment process from acidic membrane cleaning solutions. The staff also manages the mem-

WHY ‘BURNT STORE’?

Water treatment plants are often

named for local public officials or some

natural feature. But Burnt Store Water

Treatment Plant? Where does that come

from? Was there a fire?

Apparently so, according to the

legend cited on the menu at the Burnt Store Grille on the Tamiami Trail

in Punta Gorda. As you enjoy the restaurant’s fried seafood platter or

Hulk Burger, you can read of how the area was originally home ground

for the Calusa band of Indians. They survived the Spanish explorations

of Ponce de Leon and co-existed on the land with early settlers until a

troop of U.S. surveyors arrived in the mid-1800s.

The surveyors managed to alienate the Calusa and destroy their prop-

erty to the point where the Indians decided they weren’t leaving and

set fire to the trading post the settlers had built — burning down the store.

Tribal leader Billy Bowlegs is said to have described the incident:

“If we are going to lose our land, we won’t do it without a fight.”

According to the menu account, “The Trading Post was never

rebuilt, but from that day on the road leading to it was known as Burnt

Store Road.”

Today the facilities at Burnt Store Marina & Country Club supply more

needs than those who shopped the old Trading Post ever thought possible.

With the splendor of a secluded 425-slip marina, 27 holes of golf,

Athletic Club, pool and tennis courts, the legend more than continues.


includes 57 miles of 2- to 16-inch piping, 387 hydrants and 415 in-line valves.Raw water is drawn from seven brackish wells, six in the Hawthorne

Aquifer (600 feet deep) and one in the Floridian Aquifer (1,050 feet deep). The Burnt Store plant has been expanded considerably since it was built 40 years ago, but RO has always been the technology of choice.

“The original water treatment plant went online in the early 1970s using reverse osmosis to treat 36,000 gallons a day,” Jacobson says. “In the mid-1970s, it was expanded to 160,000 gallons a day and was equipped with hollow-fiber membranes.”

The plant was expanded again in 1994, 1996 and 2000; additional RO units were installed, using spiral wound membranes. The 2009-2010 expan-sion, designed by Malcolm-Pirnie with Wharton Smith as the general con-tractor, included three new 750,000 gpd RO trains, bringing the design capacity to 3.61 mgd.

Incoming well water first receives a dose of 93 percent sulfuric acid to lower the pH from 7.3-7.4 to 6.7-7.0. It is injected with anti-scalant to pre-

vent mineral scaling on the RO membranes. Then the water passes through five prefiltration units, each housing 40 1-micron cartridge fil-ters (Tri-Dim Filter Corp., GE Water & Process) to remove large impuri-ties. High-pressure pumps deliver the water to the five primary RO units, used for demineralization (Aerex Global Corp. designed and installed the newer RO units).

Depending on which RO units are online (older or newer), water pres-sure is increased to 120 to 160 psi, allowing the units to perform at their design capacity. All RO units are two stage; the older units consist of 12 membrane vessels, the newer units 20. Each vessel contains seven mem-brane elements.

The impurities removed by the membranes (concentrate or brine) are sent to two Class 1 industrial waste injection wells drilled into rock for-mations 3,000 feet deep. The second well was drilled as part of the 2010 expansion and receives the bulk of the concentrate. “The new well is larger than the old one, and we use it as the primary well,” says Jacobson. “But we don’t want the smaller injection well just sitting there, so we switch the valving at least once a month and send the concentrate down it.” It’s also a backup if problems arise with the new well. The wells are closely watched with dual-zone monitoring systems and sample collection and analysis, in compliance with state regulations.

The RO product water (permeate) is blended with filtered bypass well water and flows to a Duall three-tower degasification system (Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions) for hydrogen sulfide removal. It passes to a 20,000-gallon clearwell, where it receives sodium hypochlorite for disin-

The Burnt Store crew includes, from left, Kevin French, Tod Avers, Paul Sugg and Ben Jacobson.

Burnt Store Water Treatment Plant, Charlotte County, Fla.BUILT: | 1970s; multiple expansionsTREATMENT CAPACITY: | 3.61 mgdSERVICE AREA: | 9 square milesCUSTOMERS: | 6,915SOURCE WATER: | Hawthorne and Floridian aquifersTREATMENT PROCESS: | Reverse osmosisINFRASTRUCTURE: | 57 miles of distribution piping, 387 hydrants, 415 in-line valvesSYSTEM STORAGE: | 1.5 million gallonsOPERATOR: | Charlotte County UtilitiesANNUAL BUDGET: | $368,000 (operations)WEBSITE: | www.charlottecountyfl.gov

“ We have a good team that works well together. We support each other, and everybody on the

team keeps things humming along. Our distribution folks get right on any line breaks, so not a lot of water is wasted.”BEN JACOBSON

fection, sodium hydroxide for pH adjustment and a corrosion inhibitor (chemical feed pumps by Lutz-JESCO America Corp.).

From the clearwell, treated water is pumped into three 500,000-gal-lon above-ground storage tanks (Crom Corp.) where a high service pump draws water for distribution to customers. “The high-service pump sys-tem consists of a 25 hp jockey pump for low water demands, two 75 hp pumps for intermediate water demands, and one 125 hp pump for large water demands, such as fire suppression,” explains Jacobson. Total high service pump capacity is 4,950 gpm at 70 psi.

A Wonderware SCADA system (Invensys) controls the entire system with two stations in the water plant control room and one in the facility’s motor control center.

Close cooperation

Jacobson and three to four operators staff the Burnt Store plant 16 hours a day, seven days a week, running two eight-hour shifts. During the unmanned times, the SCADA system alarms Jacobson automatically by phone if problems arise with the treatment process or distribution pump system.

“We have a good team that works well together,” Jacobson says. “We support each other, and everybody on the team keeps things humming along. Our distribution folks get right on any line breaks, so not a lot of water is wasted.”

A maintenance management system supports Jacobson and his staff: “We use an enterprise asset management system software program, which allows our maintenance personnel to track time and materials more efficiently and use electronic data storage rather than paper.” That results in cost savings.

The Burnt Store team has upgraded the membrane cleaning system valving to divert cleaning waste to the deep injection well instead of the Water Reclamation Facility, helping protect the treatment process from acidic membrane cleaning solutions. The staff also manages the mem-

WHY ‘BURNT STORE’?

Water treatment plants are often

named for local public officials or some

natural feature. But Burnt Store Water

Treatment Plant? Where does that come

from? Was there a fire?

Apparently so, according to the

legend cited on the menu at the Burnt Store Grille on the Tamiami Trail

in Punta Gorda. As you enjoy the restaurant’s fried seafood platter or

Hulk Burger, you can read of how the area was originally home ground

for the Calusa band of Indians. They survived the Spanish explorations

of Ponce de Leon and co-existed on the land with early settlers until a

troop of U.S. surveyors arrived in the mid-1800s.

The surveyors managed to alienate the Calusa and destroy their prop-

erty to the point where the Indians decided they weren’t leaving and

set fire to the trading post the settlers had built — burning down the store.

Tribal leader Billy Bowlegs is said to have described the incident:

“If we are going to lose our land, we won’t do it without a fight.”

According to the menu account, “The Trading Post was never

rebuilt, but from that day on the road leading to it was known as Burnt

Store Road.”

Today the facilities at Burnt Store Marina & Country Club supply more

needs than those who shopped the old Trading Post ever thought possible.

With the splendor of a secluded 425-slip marina, 27 holes of golf,

Athletic Club, pool and tennis courts, the legend more than continues.Get 20% off genuine ECORAY® UV lamps for a limited time.

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brane system to conserve electric-ity to the trains by monitoring the amount of turnover water in the tanks before producing new water. That way, the plant produces only enough water to keep the storage system full: “We only make as much as they take,” Jacobson says.

To further improve the water system, the staff performs semi-annual valve exercising. The team has also upgraded the treated raw water blend system, including larger-diameter piping, a new flowmeter and a new actuator valve. In addi-tion, they rehabilitated three pro-duction wells.

In August 2012, the Burnt Store water distribution team completed a changeout of all the water meters in the distribution system to smart meters that collect data continu-ously and upload it to the cloud, where it can be brought back to the billing system. “Distribution

and billing department personnel can review the data from each meter or from the system each hour and detect usage trends,” says Jacobson. “It will also alarm on a leak if it shows continuous high flows and tell us if some-one tries to tamper with the meter.”

Training and safety are major priorities. Charlotte County uses the University of California-Sacramento study books to help staff obtain and advance their operator licenses. “I liked using the Sacramento courses also to obtain my required CEUs for my operator license,” says Jacobson. “They’re a nice tool to have at my disposal.”

All Charlotte County employees must complete at least two hours of safety training each year. In addition, all field employees continuously train for certification and recertification in a number of safety areas, such as first aid, lockout/tagout, confined-space entry, personal protective equipment and trenching and excavating safety.

Performance and awards

Capacity expansion, high-end technology, operational improvements, automation — it all adds up to solid performance and recognition from peers for the Burnt Store plant. In a typical month, the plant reduces total dissolved solids from 1,800-1,900 ppm in the raw water to 227 ppm in the finished water, chlorides from 1,000-1,100 to 160, total hardness from

700-800 to 72, and conductivity from 3,600 to 521.

These removal rates have helped the plant earn prestigious awards. In 2012, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection hon-ored Burnt Store with its annual Plant Operations Excellence Award. The plant won the same award in 2008. In 2010, the utility’s water distribution division was honored for outstanding distribution service by the Florida Section AWWA. Last year, the water distribution system employees were recog-nized by Charlotte County with a

Paul Sugg and teammates staff the Burnt Store plant 16 hours a day, seven days a week. (ChemScan process analyzer from ASA Analytics; universal controllers from Hach.)

THE BURNT STORE TEAM

It takes a team of professionals

to keep things running smoothly at

the Burnt Store facilities. Team

members include:

Charlotte County staff: Terri

Couture, utilities director; Bernie

Milosky, regulatory liaison; Jamie Huish,

operations manager; Steve Kipfinger,

superintendent of Water Distribution

and the water distribution team;

Steve Bozman, superintendent of

treatment facilities and the Eastport

operations team; Bruce Bullert,

engineering services manager and

team; Drew Johnson, maintenance

foreman; Frank Muscato and Harold

Routzong, instrument control

technicians; Jerry Steimle, Charlie

Oram and Dennis Woody, mainte-

nance mechanics; Sandra Lavoie,

laboratory manager; Elizabeth

Robling, Shelanda Krekreghe and

Wanda Hall, laboratory technicians.

Burnt Store Water Treatment

Plant staff: Ben Jacobson, chief

operator; Claudel Leonard, Tod Avers

and Kevin French, plant operators.

Burnt Store Water Reclamation

Facility staff: John Thompson, chief

operator; Paul Sugg, Dave Brooks

and Harry Kuzel, plant operators.

Reverse osmosis production trains, pumps and motors at the Burnt Store plant. (PROTEC membrane pressure vessels from Bekaert.)

special award for their prompt response to a line break on Christmas Eve.For Jacobson, who came to Florida from Kentucky in 1980 and got

into the water treatment profession in the mid-90s on a tip from his fore-man at an underground cable business, it has been challenging. The plant and storage capacity expansion came close on the heels of his accepting the chief operator position at Burnt Store in December 2006. “I’d never been through anything like it before,” he says. He’s happy it’s over, but he must be just as happy with the results. wso

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brane system to conserve electric-ity to the trains by monitoring the amount of turnover water in the tanks before producing new water. That way, the plant produces only enough water to keep the storage system full: “We only make as much as they take,” Jacobson says.

To further improve the water system, the staff performs semi-annual valve exercising. The team has also upgraded the treated raw water blend system, including larger-diameter piping, a new flowmeter and a new actuator valve. In addi-tion, they rehabilitated three pro-duction wells.

In August 2012, the Burnt Store water distribution team completed a changeout of all the water meters in the distribution system to smart meters that collect data continu-ously and upload it to the cloud, where it can be brought back to the billing system. “Distribution

and billing department personnel can review the data from each meter or from the system each hour and detect usage trends,” says Jacobson. “It will also alarm on a leak if it shows continuous high flows and tell us if some-one tries to tamper with the meter.”

Training and safety are major priorities. Charlotte County uses the University of California-Sacramento study books to help staff obtain and advance their operator licenses. “I liked using the Sacramento courses also to obtain my required CEUs for my operator license,” says Jacobson. “They’re a nice tool to have at my disposal.”

All Charlotte County employees must complete at least two hours of safety training each year. In addition, all field employees continuously train for certification and recertification in a number of safety areas, such as first aid, lockout/tagout, confined-space entry, personal protective equipment and trenching and excavating safety.

Performance and awards

Capacity expansion, high-end technology, operational improvements, automation — it all adds up to solid performance and recognition from peers for the Burnt Store plant. In a typical month, the plant reduces total dissolved solids from 1,800-1,900 ppm in the raw water to 227 ppm in the finished water, chlorides from 1,000-1,100 to 160, total hardness from

700-800 to 72, and conductivity from 3,600 to 521.

These removal rates have helped the plant earn prestigious awards. In 2012, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection hon-ored Burnt Store with its annual Plant Operations Excellence Award. The plant won the same award in 2008. In 2010, the utility’s water distribution division was honored for outstanding distribution service by the Florida Section AWWA. Last year, the water distribution system employees were recog-nized by Charlotte County with a

Paul Sugg and teammates staff the Burnt Store plant 16 hours a day, seven days a week. (ChemScan process analyzer from ASA Analytics; universal controllers from Hach.)

THE BURNT STORE TEAM

It takes a team of professionals

to keep things running smoothly at

the Burnt Store facilities. Team

members include:

Charlotte County staff: Terri

Couture, utilities director; Bernie

Milosky, regulatory liaison; Jamie Huish,

operations manager; Steve Kipfinger,

superintendent of Water Distribution

and the water distribution team;

Steve Bozman, superintendent of

treatment facilities and the Eastport

operations team; Bruce Bullert,

engineering services manager and

team; Drew Johnson, maintenance

foreman; Frank Muscato and Harold

Routzong, instrument control

technicians; Jerry Steimle, Charlie

Oram and Dennis Woody, mainte-

nance mechanics; Sandra Lavoie,

laboratory manager; Elizabeth

Robling, Shelanda Krekreghe and

Wanda Hall, laboratory technicians.

Burnt Store Water Treatment

Plant staff: Ben Jacobson, chief

operator; Claudel Leonard, Tod Avers

and Kevin French, plant operators.

Burnt Store Water Reclamation

Facility staff: John Thompson, chief

operator; Paul Sugg, Dave Brooks

and Harry Kuzel, plant operators.

Reverse osmosis production trains, pumps and motors at the Burnt Store plant. (PROTEC membrane pressure vessels from Bekaert.)

special award for their prompt response to a line break on Christmas Eve.For Jacobson, who came to Florida from Kentucky in 1980 and got

into the water treatment profession in the mid-90s on a tip from his fore-man at an underground cable business, it has been challenging. The plant and storage capacity expansion came close on the heels of his accepting the chief operator position at Burnt Store in December 2006. “I’d never been through anything like it before,” he says. He’s happy it’s over, but he must be just as happy with the results. wso


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Ben Jacobson, water treatment plant chief operator


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Met-Pro Environmental Air Solutions888/508-2808www.mpeas.com

The Crom Corporation352/372-3436www.cromcorp.com

Tri-Dim Filter Corporation800/458-9835www.tridim.com

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T he City of Durham’s Water Management Water Conser-vation and Efficiency program is every bit as well-rounded

as the department’s water educa-tion resources.

“Our groundwater model, which looks a little like an ant farm, shows how natural filtration occurs as water moves through the earth, and that water flow and usage is really a continuous, circular pro-cess,” says Albert Nelson, conser-vation coordinator. The display is only one of several tools in Dur-ham’s comprehensive conserva-tion education program.

Policy and education

In the early 1990s, Durham began evaluating its water supply and distribution system, includ-

ing the need to expand, upgrade and repair its facilities. The con-clusion was that conservation had to be part of any water system max-imization. So the city established a water conservation program within the Water Management utility, using both policy and pub-lic education as key components.

“Because of the city’s commit-ment to water conservation and education, and because we’ve been able to grow as a program in both staffing and resources, the conser-vation program has always had an adequate budget for marketing and education, including videos, booklets, posters and more,” Nel-son says.

Durham’s water comes from two reservoirs the city constructed and largely controls, although the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. EPA and state Depart-ment of Natural Resources have some say in their operation. Prop-erty owners line both reservoirs, which allow public boating (non-powerboat) and fishing. The city owns buffer zones along the shore-line in many areas that serve to fil-ter pesticides from yard runoff.

Water is treated at two plants. One, built in 1917, can treat up to 22 mgd, while the second plant, completed in the 1980s, is rated for 39 mgd. The newer plant is being upgraded to handle all the city’s needs in case the older facil-ity ever needs to be shut down.

Nelson’s office handles requests for tours of the water and wastewa-ter treatment plants. Tour groups usually include students in grade

8 and older, although colleges, such as Duke University, often send engineering students to learn about the treatment processes. Adult citizen groups also tour the plants occasionally. “Overall, we get 300 to 500 people a year in groups and individuals touring our plants,” says Nelson.

A ‘drop’ goes a long way

Another of Nelson’s educa-tional tools is Wayne Drop, a mas-cot shaped like a large drop of water who appears at events and in parades. Wayne Drop doesn’t speak but “helps to draw attention to our message and what else we have going on at any given event,” Nelson says. He also appears in a poster hold-ing a showerhead with the phrase: “Saving water is a way of life for Wayne. Make it part of yours!”

Besides taking Wayne Drop to environmental events and fairs, the department ties in its earth/water filtration cutaway ground-water model with a tabletop water/wastewater model. Starting with source water, the model combines water with food coloring, gelatin and other “contaminants” to show how water is treated for drinking, and then how the wastewater is treated and discharged. “The model helps us demonstrate the circular way water moves, from use to treatment and to the environment again,” Nelson says.

After the release of stricter water treatment regulations and new federal guidelines, Durham’s building council adopted low-flow plumbing fixture requirements and approved the creation of a conser-vation position in 1993. The city adopted even stricter water effi-ciency ordinances and policies after a drought in 2007-08. The city later expanded the conservation

WINNINGTHEM OVER

Drop by DropA mascot, tours, public displays and rebate programs combine to help the City of Durham make big inroads on conservation

BY LINDA J. EDMONDSON

The Durham Conservation Depart-ment’s educational displays help explain how water moves through the environment and the impor-tance of water conservation.

staff from two to three to enforce the water efficiency ordinance and add support to the program.

Besides leak detection and in-home water use assessments, Nel-son’s department manages Durham’s high-efficiency toilet rebate pro-gram. Water-saving toilets installed to replace older toilets in homes or businesses are eligible for a $100-per-unit credit, applied to the water bill.

“We educate the community about the toilet rebate in various ways, including on the city web-

site, at events, with press releases tied to observances such as Drink-ing Water Week, and through messages printed on water bills, retailer education and TV and radio commercials,” says Nelson. “From the city council to the city manager, everyone sees the impor-tance of our water conservation and education efforts. We provide the community with a well-rounded service.”

Water savings

After nearly six years as a water conservationist, Nelson is proud of

the program’s accomplishments. “When we attend national confer-ences, we realize how strong a con-servation program we have,” he says. “We’re doing some things much larger cities aren’t even doing.”

Continuous auditing shows that the department’s efforts have had major impacts on reducing water usage. “We analyze the data, and we continue to see per capita usage come down,” says Nelson. Since 2000, the annual average gallons per day per capita (residential and multifamily) has declined from a high of almost 80 gallons per day to 58.7 gallons in 2011. A small spike in usage occurred during a drought in 2012. The U.S. average per capita usage during the same time period was 72.6 gallons per day. wso

WSO welcomes stories about your public information and education efforts for future “Winning them Over” articles. Send your suggestions to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094.

“When we attend national conferences, we realize how strong a conservation program

we have. We’re doing some things much larger cities aren’t even doing.”ALBERT NELSON

Wayne Drop is a popular attraction when the Conservation Department sends him out to help reinforce its message.


T he City of Durham’s Water Management Water Conser-vation and Efficiency program is every bit as well-rounded

as the department’s water educa-tion resources.

“Our groundwater model, which looks a little like an ant farm, shows how natural filtration occurs as water moves through the earth, and that water flow and usage is really a continuous, circular pro-cess,” says Albert Nelson, conser-vation coordinator. The display is only one of several tools in Dur-ham’s comprehensive conserva-tion education program.

Policy and education

In the early 1990s, Durham began evaluating its water supply and distribution system, includ-

ing the need to expand, upgrade and repair its facilities. The con-clusion was that conservation had to be part of any water system max-imization. So the city established a water conservation program within the Water Management utility, using both policy and pub-lic education as key components.

“Because of the city’s commit-ment to water conservation and education, and because we’ve been able to grow as a program in both staffing and resources, the conser-vation program has always had an adequate budget for marketing and education, including videos, booklets, posters and more,” Nel-son says.

Durham’s water comes from two reservoirs the city constructed and largely controls, although the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. EPA and state Depart-ment of Natural Resources have some say in their operation. Prop-erty owners line both reservoirs, which allow public boating (non-powerboat) and fishing. The city owns buffer zones along the shore-line in many areas that serve to fil-ter pesticides from yard runoff.

Water is treated at two plants. One, built in 1917, can treat up to 22 mgd, while the second plant, completed in the 1980s, is rated for 39 mgd. The newer plant is being upgraded to handle all the city’s needs in case the older facil-ity ever needs to be shut down.

Nelson’s office handles requests for tours of the water and wastewa-ter treatment plants. Tour groups usually include students in grade

8 and older, although colleges, such as Duke University, often send engineering students to learn about the treatment processes. Adult citizen groups also tour the plants occasionally. “Overall, we get 300 to 500 people a year in groups and individuals touring our plants,” says Nelson.

A ‘drop’ goes a long way

Another of Nelson’s educa-tional tools is Wayne Drop, a mas-cot shaped like a large drop of water who appears at events and in parades. Wayne Drop doesn’t speak but “helps to draw attention to our message and what else we have going on at any given event,” Nelson says. He also appears in a poster hold-ing a showerhead with the phrase: “Saving water is a way of life for Wayne. Make it part of yours!”

Besides taking Wayne Drop to environmental events and fairs, the department ties in its earth/water filtration cutaway ground-water model with a tabletop water/wastewater model. Starting with source water, the model combines water with food coloring, gelatin and other “contaminants” to show how water is treated for drinking, and then how the wastewater is treated and discharged. “The model helps us demonstrate the circular way water moves, from use to treatment and to the environment again,” Nelson says.

After the release of stricter water treatment regulations and new federal guidelines, Durham’s building council adopted low-flow plumbing fixture requirements and approved the creation of a conser-vation position in 1993. The city adopted even stricter water effi-ciency ordinances and policies after a drought in 2007-08. The city later expanded the conservation

WINNINGTHEM OVER

Drop by DropA mascot, tours, public displays and rebate programs combine to help the City of Durham make big inroads on conservation

BY LINDA J. EDMONDSON

The Durham Conservation Depart-ment’s educational displays help explain how water moves through the environment and the impor-tance of water conservation.

staff from two to three to enforce the water efficiency ordinance and add support to the program.

Besides leak detection and in-home water use assessments, Nel-son’s department manages Durham’s high-efficiency toilet rebate pro-gram. Water-saving toilets installed to replace older toilets in homes or businesses are eligible for a $100-per-unit credit, applied to the water bill.

“We educate the community about the toilet rebate in various ways, including on the city web-

site, at events, with press releases tied to observances such as Drink-ing Water Week, and through messages printed on water bills, retailer education and TV and radio commercials,” says Nelson. “From the city council to the city manager, everyone sees the impor-tance of our water conservation and education efforts. We provide the community with a well-rounded service.”

Water savings

After nearly six years as a water conservationist, Nelson is proud of

the program’s accomplishments. “When we attend national confer-ences, we realize how strong a con-servation program we have,” he says. “We’re doing some things much larger cities aren’t even doing.”

Continuous auditing shows that the department’s efforts have had major impacts on reducing water usage. “We analyze the data, and we continue to see per capita usage come down,” says Nelson. Since 2000, the annual average gallons per day per capita (residential and multifamily) has declined from a high of almost 80 gallons per day to 58.7 gallons in 2011. A small spike in usage occurred during a drought in 2012. The U.S. average per capita usage during the same time period was 72.6 gallons per day. wso

WSO welcomes stories about your public information and education efforts for future “Winning them Over” articles. Send your suggestions to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094.

“When we attend national conferences, we realize how strong a conservation program

we have. We’re doing some things much larger cities aren’t even doing.”ALBERT NELSON

Wayne Drop is a popular attraction when the Conservation Department sends him out to help reinforce its message.

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Smart ManagementLas Vegas Valley’s Energy and Water Quality Management System helps optimize distribution and treatment, saving energy, saving money and improving water quality

BY LISA BALCERAK

In the hot, dry desert around Las Vegas, pumping water to a million people at high elevations requires a lot of electricity. An Energy and Water Quality Management System (EWQMS) helped the Las Vegas Valley Water District enact energy saving programs that have cut the

operating budget substantially.The district, a not-for-profit agency that began providing water to the

Las Vegas Valley in 1954, is the largest agency member and managing partner of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), a cooperative formed in 1991 to address the region’s water needs. The district receives 90 percent of its water from the SNWA.

The water is lifted from Lake Mead and treated at two conventional water treatment plants able to produce 900 mgd. The plants use ozone to control Cryptosporidium. One plant produces its own sodium hypochlorite to avoid the cost and risk of delivering chemicals through residential neighborhoods. Water is delivered to the district’s nine receiving reser-voirs, where it is continually lifted to higher elevations or pressure zones through an additional 28 reservoir sites. The reservoirs’ total storage capacity is 900 million gallons.

In summer when peak demand can reach 480 mgd, the district draws additional water from 64 production wells that can generate up to 190 mgd. The groundwater is treated with sodium hypochlorite and injected into the distribution system’s 4,500 miles of pipeline. The district employs

1,100 people and has an annual budget of $300 million for treat-ment and distribution operations and maintenance.

Making improvements

Realizing the potential to improve energy efficiency and water qual-ity, the district began using an EWQMS process in 2005. The system, cus-tom designed based on a prototype developed by the Water Research Foundation, uses a SCADA system, a computerized maintenance man-agement system (CMMS), a hydraulic model to estimate energy require-ments, historical water delivery data and a water-quality model. After two years of observing the system, the district centered its efforts around using daily hydraulic models to produce pumping schedules that lower energy costs and keep water from sitting in storage too long.

“It’s just-in-time water delivery,” says Kevin Fisher, director of opera-tions. “We move the right amount of water to the right areas in the system and keep it flowing. We don’t store 900 million gallons in one day if we only need 200 million. Using SCADA data, we determine which pump combinations produce the lowest cost per acre-foot of water, and then pri-oritize the corresponding pumps to support the day’s projected demand. Between keeping water fresh and using the least energy, our electric bill

is down 8 to 10 percent.” Before the EWQMS, the district budgeted $14 to $16 million a year for electricity to run 276 booster pumps at 53 pump stations. Today, the budget is $12 million.

Pump monitoring

Using real-time data from the EWQMS, the operating team main-tains a spreadsheet of all 276 booster pumps that use incoming SCADA data on pressures, flows and energy. The pump data is periodically reas-sessed to look for changes over time. The team balances the cost to repair an underperforming pump against potential energy savings from making it more efficient. Teams have also been optimizing use of the well pumps.

“The differences in the water table and the pumping water levels can vary greatly in the valley, so the cost to deliver water from the wells var-ies greatly,” says Charles Scott, engineering project manager. “We try to lower total power consumption per acre-foot, per well, by zone.” From 2007 to 2012, the district cut its energy use from 688 kWh/acre-foot to 649 kWh/acre-foot, saving some $749,000 over five years.

SUSTAINABLEPRACTICE

WSO welcomes stories about your green and environ-mentally progressive initiatives for future “Sustainable Practice” articles. Send your suggestions to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094.

Robert Onorato, distribution system operator, with the district’s SCADA system.

Solar power plays a major role in the Las Vegas Valley Water District’s energy scheme.

“We strive to be leaders in setting an example for green technology usage in our industry. Sustainability is in our culture.”

KEVIN FISHER

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Reducing reservoir storageTo reduce operating costs in 2008, the district’s operating team ana-

lyzed the water storage needed in each zone, taking into account electri-cal costs, minimum emergency storage requests, minimum pump suction head requirements, minimum service pressure requirements and U.S. EPA water-quality requirements. As a result, two reservoirs were taken offline. Five or more basins are taken out of service during off-peak win-ter months. The original 900 million gallons of storage has been reduced to as low as 750 million gallons during winter.

Using daily modeling and the EWQMS, the system limits levels of reservoir storage to reduce electrical use. “We keep water at appropriate levels instead of superfluously filling up the reservoirs for no reason,” Scott says. “The net savings on energy are minimizing storage in the sys-

tem, so we don’t have to hold as much water and we don’t have to exercise the reservoirs. When water gets old in a basin, it takes energy to drop the levels and raise them back up. It’s better to hold the level constant where it should be.”

The district has installed a total of 44 SolarBee mixers (Medora Corporation), spread over 14 reser-voirs, which circulate the water more efficiently than propeller-type mix-ers. Each mixer uses a small DC motor to recirculate water across the reservoir surface at a rate of 10,000 gpm. Previous mixers drew 7.5 hp with AC motors. Since their installation in 2008, each new mixer saves $2,700 in electricity per year, or more than $89,000 in 2012 alone.

Using solar power

To further reduce reliance on grid power, the district installed 1,500 SunPower solar panels on six roof sites with a total 3.1 MW capacity. Since its 2007 installation, the $23 million array has offset $4 million in energy costs and generated $7.5 million in revenue from renewable energy credits from NV Energy.

Although payback on the array is just under 25 years, the main impe-tus for the solar installation was to improve sustainability. At the time of the installation, the state legislature mandated that NV Energy, the local electric utility, obtain 25 percent or more of its energy from renewable sources. “Installing the solar panels was our way of supporting the elec-tric utility while benefiting the community and state overall,” Fisher says. “We strive to be leaders in setting an example for green technology usage in our industry. Sustainability is in our culture.” wso

“Between keeping water fresh and using

the least energy, our electric bill is down 8 to 10 percent.”KEVIN FISHER

The district’s two treatment plants have a combined capacity of 900 mgd.


Smart ManagementLas Vegas Valley’s Energy and Water Quality Management System helps optimize distribution and treatment, saving energy, saving money and improving water quality

BY LISA BALCERAK

In the hot, dry desert around Las Vegas, pumping water to a million people at high elevations requires a lot of electricity. An Energy and Water Quality Management System (EWQMS) helped the Las Vegas Valley Water District enact energy saving programs that have cut the

operating budget substantially.The district, a not-for-profit agency that began providing water to the

Las Vegas Valley in 1954, is the largest agency member and managing partner of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), a cooperative formed in 1991 to address the region’s water needs. The district receives 90 percent of its water from the SNWA.

The water is lifted from Lake Mead and treated at two conventional water treatment plants able to produce 900 mgd. The plants use ozone to control Cryptosporidium. One plant produces its own sodium hypochlorite to avoid the cost and risk of delivering chemicals through residential neighborhoods. Water is delivered to the district’s nine receiving reser-voirs, where it is continually lifted to higher elevations or pressure zones through an additional 28 reservoir sites. The reservoirs’ total storage capacity is 900 million gallons.

In summer when peak demand can reach 480 mgd, the district draws additional water from 64 production wells that can generate up to 190 mgd. The groundwater is treated with sodium hypochlorite and injected into the distribution system’s 4,500 miles of pipeline. The district employs

1,100 people and has an annual budget of $300 million for treat-ment and distribution operations and maintenance.

Making improvements

Realizing the potential to improve energy efficiency and water qual-ity, the district began using an EWQMS process in 2005. The system, cus-tom designed based on a prototype developed by the Water Research Foundation, uses a SCADA system, a computerized maintenance man-agement system (CMMS), a hydraulic model to estimate energy require-ments, historical water delivery data and a water-quality model. After two years of observing the system, the district centered its efforts around using daily hydraulic models to produce pumping schedules that lower energy costs and keep water from sitting in storage too long.

“It’s just-in-time water delivery,” says Kevin Fisher, director of opera-tions. “We move the right amount of water to the right areas in the system and keep it flowing. We don’t store 900 million gallons in one day if we only need 200 million. Using SCADA data, we determine which pump combinations produce the lowest cost per acre-foot of water, and then pri-oritize the corresponding pumps to support the day’s projected demand. Between keeping water fresh and using the least energy, our electric bill

is down 8 to 10 percent.” Before the EWQMS, the district budgeted $14 to $16 million a year for electricity to run 276 booster pumps at 53 pump stations. Today, the budget is $12 million.

Pump monitoring

Using real-time data from the EWQMS, the operating team main-tains a spreadsheet of all 276 booster pumps that use incoming SCADA data on pressures, flows and energy. The pump data is periodically reas-sessed to look for changes over time. The team balances the cost to repair an underperforming pump against potential energy savings from making it more efficient. Teams have also been optimizing use of the well pumps.

“The differences in the water table and the pumping water levels can vary greatly in the valley, so the cost to deliver water from the wells var-ies greatly,” says Charles Scott, engineering project manager. “We try to lower total power consumption per acre-foot, per well, by zone.” From 2007 to 2012, the district cut its energy use from 688 kWh/acre-foot to 649 kWh/acre-foot, saving some $749,000 over five years.

SUSTAINABLEPRACTICE

WSO welcomes stories about your green and environ-mentally progressive initiatives for future “Sustainable Practice” articles. Send your suggestions to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094.

Robert Onorato, distribution system operator, with the district’s SCADA system.

Solar power plays a major role in the Las Vegas Valley Water District’s energy scheme.

“We strive to be leaders in setting an example for green technology usage in our industry. Sustainability is in our culture.”

KEVIN FISHER

PH

OTO

S C

OU

RT

ESY

OF

LAS

VEG

AS

VA

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Reducing reservoir storageTo reduce operating costs in 2008, the district’s operating team ana-

lyzed the water storage needed in each zone, taking into account electri-cal costs, minimum emergency storage requests, minimum pump suction head requirements, minimum service pressure requirements and U.S. EPA water-quality requirements. As a result, two reservoirs were taken offline. Five or more basins are taken out of service during off-peak win-ter months. The original 900 million gallons of storage has been reduced to as low as 750 million gallons during winter.

Using daily modeling and the EWQMS, the system limits levels of reservoir storage to reduce electrical use. “We keep water at appropriate levels instead of superfluously filling up the reservoirs for no reason,” Scott says. “The net savings on energy are minimizing storage in the sys-

tem, so we don’t have to hold as much water and we don’t have to exercise the reservoirs. When water gets old in a basin, it takes energy to drop the levels and raise them back up. It’s better to hold the level constant where it should be.”

The district has installed a total of 44 SolarBee mixers (Medora Corporation), spread over 14 reser-voirs, which circulate the water more efficiently than propeller-type mix-ers. Each mixer uses a small DC motor to recirculate water across the reservoir surface at a rate of 10,000 gpm. Previous mixers drew 7.5 hp with AC motors. Since their installation in 2008, each new mixer saves $2,700 in electricity per year, or more than $89,000 in 2012 alone.

Using solar power

To further reduce reliance on grid power, the district installed 1,500 SunPower solar panels on six roof sites with a total 3.1 MW capacity. Since its 2007 installation, the $23 million array has offset $4 million in energy costs and generated $7.5 million in revenue from renewable energy credits from NV Energy.

Although payback on the array is just under 25 years, the main impe-tus for the solar installation was to improve sustainability. At the time of the installation, the state legislature mandated that NV Energy, the local electric utility, obtain 25 percent or more of its energy from renewable sources. “Installing the solar panels was our way of supporting the elec-tric utility while benefiting the community and state overall,” Fisher says. “We strive to be leaders in setting an example for green technology usage in our industry. Sustainability is in our culture.” wso

“Between keeping water fresh and using

the least energy, our electric bill is down 8 to 10 percent.”KEVIN FISHER

The district’s two treatment plants have a combined capacity of 900 mgd.

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T o comply with the U.S. EPA mandate to treat unfiltered water to 2.0 log Cryptosporidium removal, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission built the $114 million, 315 mgd (design) Tesla Water Treatment Facility in Tracy, Calif.

Engineers tested low-pressure and medium-pressure UV systems at the original chlorination facility. “The pressure refers to mercury vapor pressure in the lamps,” says Enio Sebastiani, water quality engineer. “For a facility our size, medium-pressure 48-inch-diameter Sentinel Chevron UV reactors [Calgon Carbon Corp.] had the lowest overall construction and operational costs. They also treat higher flows with lower head losses.”

Steve Rotondo, Grades T5 and D5 certified journeyman operator, and a Calgon team led by Marc Frangipani, started the reactors in May 2011. “We had until April 2012, when the mandate became effective, to bring the units online,” he says. “During the process, Calgon made modifica-tions that were later incorporated into its product line.” Tesla was the first installation of the new Chevron design.

From the mountains

Flows at the UV facility, the largest of its kind in the state, vary from 70 mgd in winter to 315 mgd in summer. It replaced a 300 mgd (design) chlorination facility treat-ing unfiltered water for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, serving 2.5 million Bay Area resi-dents. Pristine water comes from Sierra Nevada snowmelt in Yosemite.

The facility includes sodium hypochlorite, carbon dioxide for

pH correction and fluoridation before UV treatment using twelve 45 mgd stainless steel reactors set in two parallel trains of six. Each unit has four lamp banks totaling nine 20 kW lamps with Quickwipe wipers that miti-gate quartz sleeve fouling.

Two power supply cabinets with programmable logic controllers auto-mate all procedures. The computer divides the 45 mgd setpoint into the total flow rate, then activates the correct number of reactors, plus a backup. “At our maximum flow rate of 315 mgd, each train has two standby units,” says Rotondo. “We also set our kill target at 2.3 log and are achiev-ing 2.4 log.”

Shakedown cruise

Rotondo, who spent 25 years in Air Force Civil Engineer construc-tion, prepared for system startup by studying reactor overviews. “I was never exposed to UV treatment, so the learning curve was big,” he says. “I spent hours discussing strategies and issues with Frangipani and his team.” The first topic they brainstormed was the wiper assemblies, which didn’t extend and retract fully. An all-threaded rod moved the one-piece stainless steel plate back and forth, while the wire brush clamped to it cleaned the sleeves. They activated every 120 minutes.

“The units were factory tested, but not under actual flows,” says Rotondo. “Real-life applications revealed some concerns. Once Marc replaced

BRIGHTIDEAS

PRODUCT: | 48-inch Sentinel Chevron UV reactorsMANUFACTURER: | Calgon Carbon Corp.USER: | San Francisco (Calif.) Public Utilities CommissionAPPLICATION: | Treat unfiltered water to 2.0 log Cryptosporidium removalBENEFITS: | Lowest overall construction and operational costs

Success on a Big ScaleA medium-pressure UV disinfection system provides cost-effective pathogen removal for a new 315 mgd facility in San Francisco

BY SCOTTIE DAYTON

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A look inside the reactor shows the UV intensity sensors, sleeves, and lamps.

“The system has responded well to

every scenario we gave it. It isn’t difficult to operate, it’s reliable, and as far as off-spec water, we’re hitting home runs every month.”STEVE ROTONDO

the magnetic couplers on the rods with super-duty couplers, the assem-blies worked well.”

The next gremlin was trickier to diagnose. Each lamp is assigned a well with UV intensity sensor, which reads the lamp’s radiance and sends it to the computer for comparison with the calculated percentage. Major variances indicate dirty sensors, wells or sleeves. Operators were doing so much cleaning that Rotondo kept a spreadsheet for three months, then emailed the documentation to Frangipani.

Frangipani’s team discovered condensation on the sensors as they entered the wells, and mostly on the devices’ etched serial numbers. His team created pockets in the 108 sensors, then they inserted desiccant packages to absorb moisture and maintain a clear line of sight to the lamps and sleeves. “The root cause of the problem was a unique combina-tion of water temperature and humidity at the site,” he says.

Frangipani taught Rotondo how to calibrate the sensors, including how to adjust the unit’s scaling factor to compensate for distances between the grab sample and the analyzer. Then Rotondo trained the numerous co-workers rotating between the various East Bay Field Facilities. He used his military experience to maximize sessions. “Replacing three bulbs will take longer than replacing one, so I combined that exercise with teaching them how to drain and fill reactors,” he says. Bulbs can be replaced without draining the units.

Beyond standard design

Operators tested lamps to learn their limits. Most surpassed the 5,000-

hour warranty by 2,000 hours. “We changed out some after 8,500 hours,” says Rotondo. “While initially testing lamp performance at higher hours, we were not comfortable running them any longer even though they gave no indications of failure.”

Tesla normally runs three banks per reactor, averaging 60 kW. Reac-tors running four banks use 75 kW and signal Rotondo that something is wrong. “Our raw water averages 89 percent UVT [ultraviolet transmit-tance] annually with turbidity between 0.2 to 0.3 NTU,” he says. “UVT determines how many lamps are on and how hot they burn. Hetch Hetchy water is so clean that the fourth bank runs only if something needs clean-ing, has failed or is at lower UVT.”

Testing the UV system and construction upstream have pushed the equipment far beyond normal operational limits. One test ran all four banks in every reactor with only 10 mgd going through them. For four months, Tesla ran eight reactors in auto mode, and three backup units with the flow control valves manually locked open to protect pipeline workers up country from possible harm in case programming should close the valves.

“The system has responded well to every scenario we gave it,” he says. “It isn’t difficult to operate, it’s reliable, and as far as off-spec water, we’re hitting home runs every month.” To date, Tesla has not come close to the maximum allowable pathogen limit. wso

WSO welcomes stories about your plant and system innovations for future “Bright Ideas” articles. Send your suggestions to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094.

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Each inlet pipe at the Tesla facility has a 48-inch-diameter SentinelChevron UV reactor. A flow control (discharge) valve determines how much flow goes through the reactor.

Steve Rotondo changes a UV lamp. Rotondo calibrates a UV lamp sensor using a reference sensor.


T o comply with the U.S. EPA mandate to treat unfiltered water to 2.0 log Cryptosporidium removal, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission built the $114 million, 315 mgd (design) Tesla Water Treatment Facility in Tracy, Calif.

Engineers tested low-pressure and medium-pressure UV systems at the original chlorination facility. “The pressure refers to mercury vapor pressure in the lamps,” says Enio Sebastiani, water quality engineer. “For a facility our size, medium-pressure 48-inch-diameter Sentinel Chevron UV reactors [Calgon Carbon Corp.] had the lowest overall construction and operational costs. They also treat higher flows with lower head losses.”

Steve Rotondo, Grades T5 and D5 certified journeyman operator, and a Calgon team led by Marc Frangipani, started the reactors in May 2011. “We had until April 2012, when the mandate became effective, to bring the units online,” he says. “During the process, Calgon made modifica-tions that were later incorporated into its product line.” Tesla was the first installation of the new Chevron design.

From the mountains

Flows at the UV facility, the largest of its kind in the state, vary from 70 mgd in winter to 315 mgd in summer. It replaced a 300 mgd (design) chlorination facility treat-ing unfiltered water for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, serving 2.5 million Bay Area resi-dents. Pristine water comes from Sierra Nevada snowmelt in Yosemite.

The facility includes sodium hypochlorite, carbon dioxide for

pH correction and fluoridation before UV treatment using twelve 45 mgd stainless steel reactors set in two parallel trains of six. Each unit has four lamp banks totaling nine 20 kW lamps with Quickwipe wipers that miti-gate quartz sleeve fouling.

Two power supply cabinets with programmable logic controllers auto-mate all procedures. The computer divides the 45 mgd setpoint into the total flow rate, then activates the correct number of reactors, plus a backup. “At our maximum flow rate of 315 mgd, each train has two standby units,” says Rotondo. “We also set our kill target at 2.3 log and are achiev-ing 2.4 log.”

Shakedown cruise

Rotondo, who spent 25 years in Air Force Civil Engineer construc-tion, prepared for system startup by studying reactor overviews. “I was never exposed to UV treatment, so the learning curve was big,” he says. “I spent hours discussing strategies and issues with Frangipani and his team.” The first topic they brainstormed was the wiper assemblies, which didn’t extend and retract fully. An all-threaded rod moved the one-piece stainless steel plate back and forth, while the wire brush clamped to it cleaned the sleeves. They activated every 120 minutes.

“The units were factory tested, but not under actual flows,” says Rotondo. “Real-life applications revealed some concerns. Once Marc replaced

BRIGHTIDEAS

PRODUCT: | 48-inch Sentinel Chevron UV reactorsMANUFACTURER: | Calgon Carbon Corp.USER: | San Francisco (Calif.) Public Utilities CommissionAPPLICATION: | Treat unfiltered water to 2.0 log Cryptosporidium removalBENEFITS: | Lowest overall construction and operational costs

Success on a Big ScaleA medium-pressure UV disinfection system provides cost-effective pathogen removal for a new 315 mgd facility in San Francisco

BY SCOTTIE DAYTON

PH

OT

O C

OU

RT

ES

Y O

F C

ALG

ON

CA

RB

ON

CO

RP.

A look inside the reactor shows the UV intensity sensors, sleeves, and lamps.

“The system has responded well to

every scenario we gave it. It isn’t difficult to operate, it’s reliable, and as far as off-spec water, we’re hitting home runs every month.”STEVE ROTONDO

the magnetic couplers on the rods with super-duty couplers, the assem-blies worked well.”

The next gremlin was trickier to diagnose. Each lamp is assigned a well with UV intensity sensor, which reads the lamp’s radiance and sends it to the computer for comparison with the calculated percentage. Major variances indicate dirty sensors, wells or sleeves. Operators were doing so much cleaning that Rotondo kept a spreadsheet for three months, then emailed the documentation to Frangipani.

Frangipani’s team discovered condensation on the sensors as they entered the wells, and mostly on the devices’ etched serial numbers. His team created pockets in the 108 sensors, then they inserted desiccant packages to absorb moisture and maintain a clear line of sight to the lamps and sleeves. “The root cause of the problem was a unique combina-tion of water temperature and humidity at the site,” he says.

Frangipani taught Rotondo how to calibrate the sensors, including how to adjust the unit’s scaling factor to compensate for distances between the grab sample and the analyzer. Then Rotondo trained the numerous co-workers rotating between the various East Bay Field Facilities. He used his military experience to maximize sessions. “Replacing three bulbs will take longer than replacing one, so I combined that exercise with teaching them how to drain and fill reactors,” he says. Bulbs can be replaced without draining the units.

Beyond standard design

Operators tested lamps to learn their limits. Most surpassed the 5,000-

hour warranty by 2,000 hours. “We changed out some after 8,500 hours,” says Rotondo. “While initially testing lamp performance at higher hours, we were not comfortable running them any longer even though they gave no indications of failure.”

Tesla normally runs three banks per reactor, averaging 60 kW. Reac-tors running four banks use 75 kW and signal Rotondo that something is wrong. “Our raw water averages 89 percent UVT [ultraviolet transmit-tance] annually with turbidity between 0.2 to 0.3 NTU,” he says. “UVT determines how many lamps are on and how hot they burn. Hetch Hetchy water is so clean that the fourth bank runs only if something needs clean-ing, has failed or is at lower UVT.”

Testing the UV system and construction upstream have pushed the equipment far beyond normal operational limits. One test ran all four banks in every reactor with only 10 mgd going through them. For four months, Tesla ran eight reactors in auto mode, and three backup units with the flow control valves manually locked open to protect pipeline workers up country from possible harm in case programming should close the valves.

“The system has responded well to every scenario we gave it,” he says. “It isn’t difficult to operate, it’s reliable, and as far as off-spec water, we’re hitting home runs every month.” To date, Tesla has not come close to the maximum allowable pathogen limit. wso

WSO welcomes stories about your plant and system innovations for future “Bright Ideas” articles. Send your suggestions to [email protected] or call 715/277-4094.

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Each inlet pipe at the Tesla facility has a 48-inch-diameter SentinelChevron UV reactor. A flow control (discharge) valve determines how much flow goes through the reactor.

Steve Rotondo changes a UV lamp. Rotondo calibrates a UV lamp sensor using a reference sensor.

Visit us at separmaticsystems.com, or call Carl McCrary, at 360 355 5875

For over 50 years Separmatic has been manufacturing filtration equipment for potable drinking water and waste water.

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AN EARTHY APPROACH

Maintenance on the diatomaceous earth treatment system includes washing off old media from the filters out to the backwash settling basin, as shown by Chad Moon, public works field supervisor. (Filter tanks by Separmatic)

STORY: JIM FORCEPHOTOGRAPHY: CHIJO TAKEDA

The City of Kalama’s diatomaceous earth water filtration plant uses a highly automated process that reduces lifetime costs and frees staff for other duties

What the City of Kalama spent on its diatomaceous earth (DE) water filtration plant in 2002 has been more than made up for in operational savings since then. Reason? The plant essentially runs by itself, allowing Kelly Ras-mussen and his staff of four to concentrate on their many

other public works duties. “If you’re looking for good water filtration, this is it,” says Rasmussen,

public works superintendent for this Washington city of 3,900. “It’s not cheap but it’s efficient and pretty simple.” Simple enough so that Rasmus-

sen can watch the plant on a SCADA system at his office five miles away and rest assured that if the pro-duced water is off-spec, the plant automatically goes into the waste operation mode until the water quality clears up. Then it switches back to the filter mode.

And it’s not just the automatic operation that pleases Rasmussen.

“It also met our requirements for installation of a water treatment facility in a very tight footprint,” he says. “The DE filter has allowed us to get to where we want to be.”

Adds Mike Johnson of the engineering firm Gray & Osborne, who designed the plant: “It was important for Kalama that they could use their existing staff, at the existing certification level, without having to add peo-ple to run the plant. It’s a mechanical operation, rather than chemical.”

Scenic location

Kalama sits on the banks of the Columbia River, 45 miles from its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, and about 40 miles north of Portland, Ore. In addition to residential and commercial customers using the water, the town has one of the larger ports of entry on the West Coast, and is the site of two large grain processors, several chemical plants, lumber and steel operations, and recently, a wine bottle manufacturer.

These industrial operations use just over half the water produced. “We also serve water well beyond our city limits,” Rasmussen says. “It’s

very rocky terrain here next to the river, and it’s very hard to find good water in wells. A lot of our customers are outside the city.”

The area’s mountainous topography also affects the water system: There are 10 booster stations, 13 storage reservoirs and 17 pressure reduc-ing stations (equipped with CLA-VAL valves) along the 50 miles of water distribution lines.

For many years, Kalama was served by a simple pump-and-disinfect water supply system, which drew water from the Ranney well alongside the Kalama River. The water was chlorinated, fluoridated and pumped to

AN EARTHY APPROACH

City of Kalama (Wash.) Drinking Water Treatment FacilityBUILT: | 2002 CAPACITY: | 2.6 mgd (expandable to 3.9 mgd)SERVICE AREA: | 20 square milesPOPULATION SERVED: | 3,900SOURCE WATER: | Ranney well at the Kalama RiverTREATMENT PROCESS: | Diatomaceous earth filtrationINFRASTRUCTURE: | 50 miles of distribution main, 13 storage reservoirs, 17 pressure reducing stations, 250 hydrants, 10 booster stations, approximately 500 gate valvesSYSTEM STORAGE: | 3.5 million gallonsANNUAL BUDGET | $1.1 million (operations)WEBSITE: | www.cityofkalama.com

QUALITYLEADERS

PLANT

“If you’re looking for good water filtration,

this is it. It’s not cheap but it’s efficient and pretty simple.”KELLY RASMUSSEN


AN EARTHY APPROACH

Maintenance on the diatomaceous earth treatment system includes washing off old media from the filters out to the backwash settling basin, as shown by Chad Moon, public works field supervisor. (Filter tanks by Separmatic)

STORY: JIM FORCEPHOTOGRAPHY: CHIJO TAKEDA

The City of Kalama’s diatomaceous earth water filtration plant uses a highly automated process that reduces lifetime costs and frees staff for other duties

What the City of Kalama spent on its diatomaceous earth (DE) water filtration plant in 2002 has been more than made up for in operational savings since then. Reason? The plant essentially runs by itself, allowing Kelly Ras-mussen and his staff of four to concentrate on their many

other public works duties. “If you’re looking for good water filtration, this is it,” says Rasmussen,

public works superintendent for this Washington city of 3,900. “It’s not cheap but it’s efficient and pretty simple.” Simple enough so that Rasmus-

sen can watch the plant on a SCADA system at his office five miles away and rest assured that if the pro-duced water is off-spec, the plant automatically goes into the waste operation mode until the water quality clears up. Then it switches back to the filter mode.

And it’s not just the automatic operation that pleases Rasmussen.

“It also met our requirements for installation of a water treatment facility in a very tight footprint,” he says. “The DE filter has allowed us to get to where we want to be.”

Adds Mike Johnson of the engineering firm Gray & Osborne, who designed the plant: “It was important for Kalama that they could use their existing staff, at the existing certification level, without having to add peo-ple to run the plant. It’s a mechanical operation, rather than chemical.”

Scenic location

Kalama sits on the banks of the Columbia River, 45 miles from its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, and about 40 miles north of Portland, Ore. In addition to residential and commercial customers using the water, the town has one of the larger ports of entry on the West Coast, and is the site of two large grain processors, several chemical plants, lumber and steel operations, and recently, a wine bottle manufacturer.

These industrial operations use just over half the water produced. “We also serve water well beyond our city limits,” Rasmussen says. “It’s

very rocky terrain here next to the river, and it’s very hard to find good water in wells. A lot of our customers are outside the city.”

The area’s mountainous topography also affects the water system: There are 10 booster stations, 13 storage reservoirs and 17 pressure reduc-ing stations (equipped with CLA-VAL valves) along the 50 miles of water distribution lines.

For many years, Kalama was served by a simple pump-and-disinfect water supply system, which drew water from the Ranney well alongside the Kalama River. The water was chlorinated, fluoridated and pumped to

AN EARTHY APPROACH

City of Kalama (Wash.) Drinking Water Treatment FacilityBUILT: | 2002 CAPACITY: | 2.6 mgd (expandable to 3.9 mgd)SERVICE AREA: | 20 square milesPOPULATION SERVED: | 3,900SOURCE WATER: | Ranney well at the Kalama RiverTREATMENT PROCESS: | Diatomaceous earth filtrationINFRASTRUCTURE: | 50 miles of distribution main, 13 storage reservoirs, 17 pressure reducing stations, 250 hydrants, 10 booster stations, approximately 500 gate valvesSYSTEM STORAGE: | 3.5 million gallonsANNUAL BUDGET | $1.1 million (operations)WEBSITE: | www.cityofkalama.com

QUALITYLEADERS

PLANT

“If you’re looking for good water filtration,

this is it. It’s not cheap but it’s efficient and pretty simple.”KELLY RASMUSSEN


customers. However, in 1998, the state Department of Health ruled that the well was “groundwater under the influence of surface water,” and ordered the water to receive filtration along with disinfection.

“The Kalama River is a very pristine stream,” explains Rasmussen. “It comes down from Mount St. Helens. No dams inter-rupt its flow. Yet, the state determined that we were not drawing from a true aquifer, but rather that sur-face water was actually filling the collector laterals. There was concern for Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Chlorine does not kill hard-cell microbes like those.”

Working with the Gray & Osborne staff, the city conducted a pilot study of a diatomaceous earth filtration system sup-plied by Separmatic. “The test trailer was here for a lengthy pilot run,” says Rasmussen. “We obtained good treatment from it and decided to go with the DE filter.”

Smooth operation

The new plant, opened in 2002, is built on the edge of a floodplain, so

to save space, the facility sits on top of its 75,000-gallon chlorine contact chamber. During opera-tion, well water is pumped from the Ranney to the DE filter and is pulled through 36 individual filter septums coated with DE. Next come disin-fection with sodium hypochlorite and pH adjustment with sodium hydroxide. The water then goes through a static mixer and into the con-tact chamber.

Rasmussen explains the DE filter operation: “First we fill the filter tank three-quarters full with water, covering the septums. Then we add 200 pounds of DE to the precoat tank and fill that with water. An SPX - Lightnin brand mixer mixes the precoat slurry, which we then transfer to the filter via a Max-E-Glas transfer pump [Pentair Water/STA-RITE].”

At that point, the filter control is put into hand mode, and the filter pump recirculates the slurry slowly so that it builds a cake layer on the septums. Once the turbidity in the filter drops to an acceptable level

(Hach turbidity meters), the con-trol is put in automatic mode and begins to filter water, filling the 2-million-gallon finished-water res-ervoir. When the reservoir is full, the finished-water pumps turn off, allowing the filter pumps to sim-

ply continue to recirculate the water through the filter, keeping the filter cake in place on the surface of the septums.

“The water is sucked through the filter — it’s like a swimming pool filter on steroids,” says Rasmussen. “Any microbes become lodged in the DE media.” To backwash, the filter pump is turned off, a 6-inch drain at the bottom of the filter is opened, and the old DE cake is hosed off the septum. The residue and water pass to two 14,500-gallon deep backwash

ABOVE: Travis Buck, public works technician, performs daily checks for pH, fluoride, and iron. LEFT: The diatomaceous earth filters (Separmatic).

Kelly Rasmussen, superintendent of public works

“We send an operator out every morning to run the daily bench test,

but the plant pretty much runs itself.”KELLY RASMUSSEN

tanks outside the building. Supernatant is checked for pH and chlorine and, when acceptable, is released to the Kalama River.

The settled cake (about 80 cubic yards a year) is withdrawn from the tank bottoms every six months. A local farmer uses it in his tree-planting operation. “It works well,” says Rasmussen. “After all, it’s fossilized algae, full of nutrients.” The total time for backwashing and precoating a filter is about three hours.

Automated process

Filter operation is not only straightforward, it is hands-free. “We send an operator out every morning to run the daily bench test, but the plant pretty much runs itself,” says Rasmussen. Using a WonderWare SCADA system (Invensys), integrated by Quality Controls Corp., Rasmussen can view the entire treatment sequence without leaving his office.

“When we selected the filtration system, we were looking for a plant that did not require a full-time operator,” he says. “We didn’t want to hire another full-time person to run the plant.”

Safety parameters are built in: The plant automatically shuts down and goes into recirculation mode if pH, chlorine or turbidity gets out of line. “The finished-water pumps will shut off, and the filter will go into a filter-to-waste mode, sending the water to our backwash basins until the problem is cleared up.”

The automation frees up Rasmussen’s small staff to manage many other duties, which include almost everything related to public works in Kalama: wastewater collections, street maintenance and parks, in addi-tion to the water plant, meter reading and distribution line replacement. The team includes Chad Moon, field supervisor, and Travis VanSkike, Gary Griggs and Travis Buck, public works technicians. Rich Smith and Butch Owen are responsible for wastewater.

Kalama is one of only three water plants in Washington that use

diatomaceous earth (DE) filter media, and is the largest, according

to Kelly Rasmussen, public works superintendent. DE is actually

fossilized algae — diatoms are the skeletal remains of small,

single-celled organisms.

Effective at removing cysts, algae and other microscopic

material, DE has been employed in the food and beverage industry

for more than 75 years, and in the potable water arena since World

War II. It is on the U.S. EPA list of approved technologies for meeting

requirements of the Surface Water Treatment Rule and is considered

suitable for small communities that need to comply.

According to a report from the International Diatomite Producers

Association, diatoms are a type of algae. Ranging in size from less

than 5 to more than 100 micrometers, they have a unique ability to

extract silica from water to form their skeletal structure. When diatoms

die, their skeletons form a diatomite deposit. In its natural state,

diatomite is 85 percent inert silica and is extremely insoluble in water.

The odorless, tasteless and chemically inert characteristics make DE

safe for filtering water or other liquids for human consumption.

The DE process is also called precoat filtration. A precoat layer of

DE forms on the filtering surface, and incoming particulate solids are

separated on that surface — the particulate matter actually

becomes part of the filter. When maximum head loss is reached, the

flow of water into the filter is stopped and the filter cake is cleaned.

Supernatant is decanted from the backwash basins by moving a telescopic valve to its lowest position.


customers. However, in 1998, the state Department of Health ruled that the well was “groundwater under the influence of surface water,” and ordered the water to receive filtration along with disinfection.

“The Kalama River is a very pristine stream,” explains Rasmussen. “It comes down from Mount St. Helens. No dams inter-rupt its flow. Yet, the state determined that we were not drawing from a true aquifer, but rather that sur-face water was actually filling the collector laterals. There was concern for Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Chlorine does not kill hard-cell microbes like those.”

Working with the Gray & Osborne staff, the city conducted a pilot study of a diatomaceous earth filtration system sup-plied by Separmatic. “The test trailer was here for a lengthy pilot run,” says Rasmussen. “We obtained good treatment from it and decided to go with the DE filter.”

Smooth operation

The new plant, opened in 2002, is built on the edge of a floodplain, so

to save space, the facility sits on top of its 75,000-gallon chlorine contact chamber. During opera-tion, well water is pumped from the Ranney to the DE filter and is pulled through 36 individual filter septums coated with DE. Next come disin-fection with sodium hypochlorite and pH adjustment with sodium hydroxide. The water then goes through a static mixer and into the con-tact chamber.

Rasmussen explains the DE filter operation: “First we fill the filter tank three-quarters full with water, covering the septums. Then we add 200 pounds of DE to the precoat tank and fill that with water. An SPX - Lightnin brand mixer mixes the precoat slurry, which we then transfer to the filter via a Max-E-Glas transfer pump [Pentair Water/STA-RITE].”

At that point, the filter control is put into hand mode, and the filter pump recirculates the slurry slowly so that it builds a cake layer on the septums. Once the turbidity in the filter drops to an acceptable level

(Hach turbidity meters), the con-trol is put in automatic mode and begins to filter water, filling the 2-million-gallon finished-water res-ervoir. When the reservoir is full, the finished-water pumps turn off, allowing the filter pumps to sim-

ply continue to recirculate the water through the filter, keeping the filter cake in place on the surface of the septums.

“The water is sucked through the filter — it’s like a swimming pool filter on steroids,” says Rasmussen. “Any microbes become lodged in the DE media.” To backwash, the filter pump is turned off, a 6-inch drain at the bottom of the filter is opened, and the old DE cake is hosed off the septum. The residue and water pass to two 14,500-gallon deep backwash

ABOVE: Travis Buck, public works technician, performs daily checks for pH, fluoride, and iron. LEFT: The diatomaceous earth filters (Separmatic).

Kelly Rasmussen, superintendent of public works

“We send an operator out every morning to run the daily bench test,

but the plant pretty much runs itself.”KELLY RASMUSSEN

tanks outside the building. Supernatant is checked for pH and chlorine and, when acceptable, is released to the Kalama River.

The settled cake (about 80 cubic yards a year) is withdrawn from the tank bottoms every six months. A local farmer uses it in his tree-planting operation. “It works well,” says Rasmussen. “After all, it’s fossilized algae, full of nutrients.” The total time for backwashing and precoating a filter is about three hours.

Automated process

Filter operation is not only straightforward, it is hands-free. “We send an operator out every morning to run the daily bench test, but the plant pretty much runs itself,” says Rasmussen. Using a WonderWare SCADA system (Invensys), integrated by Quality Controls Corp., Rasmussen can view the entire treatment sequence without leaving his office.

“When we selected the filtration system, we were looking for a plant that did not require a full-time operator,” he says. “We didn’t want to hire another full-time person to run the plant.”

Safety parameters are built in: The plant automatically shuts down and goes into recirculation mode if pH, chlorine or turbidity gets out of line. “The finished-water pumps will shut off, and the filter will go into a filter-to-waste mode, sending the water to our backwash basins until the problem is cleared up.”

The automation frees up Rasmussen’s small staff to manage many other duties, which include almost everything related to public works in Kalama: wastewater collections, street maintenance and parks, in addi-tion to the water plant, meter reading and distribution line replacement. The team includes Chad Moon, field supervisor, and Travis VanSkike, Gary Griggs and Travis Buck, public works technicians. Rich Smith and Butch Owen are responsible for wastewater.

Kalama is one of only three water plants in Washington that use

diatomaceous earth (DE) filter media, and is the largest, according

to Kelly Rasmussen, public works superintendent. DE is actually

fossilized algae — diatoms are the skeletal remains of small,

single-celled organisms.

Effective at removing cysts, algae and other microscopic

material, DE has been employed in the food and beverage industry

for more than 75 years, and in the potable water arena since World

War II. It is on the U.S. EPA list of approved technologies for meeting

requirements of the Surface Water Treatment Rule and is considered

suitable for small communities that need to comply.

According to a report from the International Diatomite Producers

Association, diatoms are a type of algae. Ranging in size from less

than 5 to more than 100 micrometers, they have a unique ability to

extract silica from water to form their skeletal structure. When diatoms

die, their skeletons form a diatomite deposit. In its natural state,

diatomite is 85 percent inert silica and is extremely insoluble in water.

The odorless, tasteless and chemically inert characteristics make DE

safe for filtering water or other liquids for human consumption.

The DE process is also called precoat filtration. A precoat layer of

DE forms on the filtering surface, and incoming particulate solids are

separated on that surface — the particulate matter actually

becomes part of the filter. When maximum head loss is reached, the

flow of water into the filter is stopped and the filter cake is cleaned.

Supernatant is decanted from the backwash basins by moving a telescopic valve to its lowest position.


“We’re all certified operators and we’re all cross-trained,” says Ras-mussen, who became superintendent in January 2012 and was the Ever-green Rural Washington State Water System Operator of the Year in 2010. “We do all mainline installations up to $65,000 in value and do our own sewer tie-ins and water service taps.”

It can be time-consuming, if for no other reason than the topography the team must deal with.

“The elevation here ranges from 20 feet above sea level to over 1,500 feet,” says Rasmussen. The hydraulic grade runs from 258 feet to 1,116 feet. That yields 17 different pressure zones and requires a battery of pressure reducing valves.

More work to come

And while Gray & Osborne’s Johnson explains that the produced water pumping system supplying the zones is designed to be as energy efficient as possible, the number of valves can be problematic: They require significant maintenance.

The demands on the multitasking Kalama staff could increase in the near future. Rasmussen says the economic meltdown of a few years ago dramatically slowed the area’s residential and industrial development, but activity is picking up again. “We can add a third filtration module if necessary,” he says. “It’s expandable.”

If that happens, the decision to invest in an automated treatment plant will be justified even further. wso

Water treatment plant personnel includes, from left, Kelly Rasmussen, superintendent of public works; Gary Griggs, Travis VanSkike and Travis Buck, public works technicians; and Chad Moon, field supervisor. They are shown next to the backwash settling basins.

“We’re all certified operators and we’re all cross-trained. We do all mainline installations

up to $65,000 in value and do our own sewer tie-ins and water service taps.”KELLY RASMUSSEN


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

Gray & Osborne360/292-7481www.g-o.com

Hach Company800/227-4224www.hach.com


Pentair Water/STA-RITE888/782-7483www.sta-rite.com

Quality Controls Corporation425/778-8280www.qualitycontrolscorp.com

Separmatic Systems414/466-5200www.separmaticsystems.com(See ad page 17)

SPX Lightnin 888/649-2378www.spx.com/en/lightnin(See ad page 23)


“We’re all certified operators and we’re all cross-trained,” says Ras-mussen, who became superintendent in January 2012 and was the Ever-green Rural Washington State Water System Operator of the Year in 2010. “We do all mainline installations up to $65,000 in value and do our own sewer tie-ins and water service taps.”

It can be time-consuming, if for no other reason than the topography the team must deal with.

“The elevation here ranges from 20 feet above sea level to over 1,500 feet,” says Rasmussen. The hydraulic grade runs from 258 feet to 1,116 feet. That yields 17 different pressure zones and requires a battery of pressure reducing valves.

More work to come

And while Gray & Osborne’s Johnson explains that the produced water pumping system supplying the zones is designed to be as energy efficient as possible, the number of valves can be problematic: They require significant maintenance.

The demands on the multitasking Kalama staff could increase in the near future. Rasmussen says the economic meltdown of a few years ago dramatically slowed the area’s residential and industrial development, but activity is picking up again. “We can add a third filtration module if necessary,” he says. “It’s expandable.”

If that happens, the decision to invest in an automated treatment plant will be justified even further. wso

Water treatment plant personnel includes, from left, Kelly Rasmussen, superintendent of public works; Gary Griggs, Travis VanSkike and Travis Buck, public works technicians; and Chad Moon, field supervisor. They are shown next to the backwash settling basins.

“We’re all certified operators and we’re all cross-trained. We do all mainline installations

up to $65,000 in value and do our own sewer tie-ins and water service taps.”KELLY RASMUSSEN


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

Gray & Osborne360/292-7481www.g-o.com

Hach Company800/227-4224www.hach.com


Pentair Water/STA-RITE888/782-7483www.sta-rite.com

Quality Controls Corporation425/778-8280www.qualitycontrolscorp.com

Separmatic Systems414/466-5200www.separmaticsystems.com(See ad page 17)

SPX Lightnin 888/649-2378www.spx.com/en/lightnin(See ad page 23)

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KEEP ITFLOWINGSTORY: JACK POWELLPHOTOGRAPHY: BRAD DOHERTY

Participative. Committed. Driven. Those are words employees and colleagues apply to Judy Adams, water treatment manager at three facilities in Brownsville, Texas.

Since 2005, she has led a team, now numbering 25 operators, that is dedicated to maintaining a “superior” water system for

the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) — no mean feat under severe drought conditions.

In fact, Adams, a native of Harlingen, Texas, received the 2013 Robert O. Vernon Operator of the Year Award from the American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) and AWWA. The award, recognizing contributions to water supply improvement by a person working in a desalting or water reuse plant, came as a surprise.

“Judy went to the ceremony in San Antonio not knowing that she had won — she was shocked,” says her supervisor, Genoveva Gomez, director of water and wastewater engineering and operations. “One of our consul-

tants, who helped with the engi-neering for our desalination plant, gave me information for the award, and we filled it out. I was very glad she won the award. She’s a real plea-sure to work with — for everyone.”

Adams’ own reaction: “I was stunned when I learned that I won. I had no inkling I had even been nom-inated. It’s a great credit to my boss and the operators. They made it pos-sible.” Adams was recognized for her leadership in enabling operators to find ways to meet the new 0.010 mg/L arsenic maximum contaminant level (MCL) in drinking water. She’s a member of AMTA and an officer of the Rio Grande chapter of AWWA.

Skills and passion

Adams balances a busy work-life schedule while heading BPUB Water Plant Number 1 and Water Plant Number 2, both 20 mgd flocculation/

sedimentation/filtration facilities. She also heads the 7.5 mgd reverse osmosis (RO) Regional Desalination Plant, which treats brackish ground-water for the Southern Cameron County region. Its capacity is expected to double after a $14 million expansion this year.

BPUB provides water and sewer service to about 47,000 industrial, commercial and residential customers. It’s a big job: Brownsville, home to 178,000, is the 16th largest city in Texas. Located at the state’s southern-most tip, on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, it’s one of the fastest growing urban areas in the nation. And it has been in a drought since 2011.

With more than 27 years in the water business, Adams is up to the task, and then some. “Producing quality water is something I’m passionate

Judy Adams emphasizes teamwork in operating three water plants that keep the Texas city of Brownsville supplied in the face of severe drought

QUALITYLEADERSOPERATOR

“Producing quality water is something

I’m passionate about.”JUDY ADAMS

about,” she says. She earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Texas Lutheran College in Seguin and an MBA from the University of Texas. The MBA comes in handy with budgets and projects associated with water. Her main focus is to make sure the plants meet the high stan-dards established by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Adams got hooked on the water profession in her junior year of col-lege, studying medical sciences. She got a 20-hour-a-week job in an envi-ronmental lab at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and liked it so much that she changed her major to environmental science. After gradu-ating, her first job was with the Harlingen WaterWorks System, which supplies water and wastewater services to its city of 80,000.

She worked there for seven years, then took a job at the water treat-ment plant in nearby McAllen. Seven years later, she came to Brownsville, joining the Environmental Services Department in 2001. In 2005 she became water treatment manager, which she calls “a great career move.”

Award-winning solution

She now dedicates her career to maintaining excellent water quality

for customers. Reducing arsenic levels required Adams and her team to demonstrate creativity and persistence. In 2006 the U.S. EPA lowered the drinking water standard from 0.050 mg/L to 0.010 mg/L at Brownsville’s brackish groundwater plant. Adams consulted an EPA study guide, which recommended reverse osmosis.

“That’s when we learned that RO would remove only about half of the arsenic,” says Adams, a registered environmental manager with the National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP) program. “That meant

Judy Adams, Brownsville (Texas) Public Utilities BoardPOSITION: | Water treatment managerEXPERIENCE: | 27 years in the industryEDUCATION: | Bachelor’s in biology, Texas Lutheran College; MBA, University of TexasCERTIFICATIONS: | Grade A licenses, water and wastewaterGOALS: | Enhance skills and continue providing quality waterWEBSITE: | www.brownsville-pub.com

Helping to develop the skills and careers of team members like Gloria Flores(left) is a big part of the job for Judy Adams, water treatment manager.


KEEP ITFLOWINGSTORY: JACK POWELLPHOTOGRAPHY: BRAD DOHERTY

Participative. Committed. Driven. Those are words employees and colleagues apply to Judy Adams, water treatment manager at three facilities in Brownsville, Texas.

Since 2005, she has led a team, now numbering 25 operators, that is dedicated to maintaining a “superior” water system for

the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) — no mean feat under severe drought conditions.

In fact, Adams, a native of Harlingen, Texas, received the 2013 Robert O. Vernon Operator of the Year Award from the American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) and AWWA. The award, recognizing contributions to water supply improvement by a person working in a desalting or water reuse plant, came as a surprise.

“Judy went to the ceremony in San Antonio not knowing that she had won — she was shocked,” says her supervisor, Genoveva Gomez, director of water and wastewater engineering and operations. “One of our consul-

tants, who helped with the engi-neering for our desalination plant, gave me information for the award, and we filled it out. I was very glad she won the award. She’s a real plea-sure to work with — for everyone.”

Adams’ own reaction: “I was stunned when I learned that I won. I had no inkling I had even been nom-inated. It’s a great credit to my boss and the operators. They made it pos-sible.” Adams was recognized for her leadership in enabling operators to find ways to meet the new 0.010 mg/L arsenic maximum contaminant level (MCL) in drinking water. She’s a member of AMTA and an officer of the Rio Grande chapter of AWWA.

Skills and passion

Adams balances a busy work-life schedule while heading BPUB Water Plant Number 1 and Water Plant Number 2, both 20 mgd flocculation/

sedimentation/filtration facilities. She also heads the 7.5 mgd reverse osmosis (RO) Regional Desalination Plant, which treats brackish ground-water for the Southern Cameron County region. Its capacity is expected to double after a $14 million expansion this year.

BPUB provides water and sewer service to about 47,000 industrial, commercial and residential customers. It’s a big job: Brownsville, home to 178,000, is the 16th largest city in Texas. Located at the state’s southern-most tip, on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, it’s one of the fastest growing urban areas in the nation. And it has been in a drought since 2011.

With more than 27 years in the water business, Adams is up to the task, and then some. “Producing quality water is something I’m passionate

Judy Adams emphasizes teamwork in operating three water plants that keep the Texas city of Brownsville supplied in the face of severe drought

QUALITYLEADERSOPERATOR

“Producing quality water is something

I’m passionate about.”JUDY ADAMS

about,” she says. She earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Texas Lutheran College in Seguin and an MBA from the University of Texas. The MBA comes in handy with budgets and projects associated with water. Her main focus is to make sure the plants meet the high stan-dards established by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Adams got hooked on the water profession in her junior year of col-lege, studying medical sciences. She got a 20-hour-a-week job in an envi-ronmental lab at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and liked it so much that she changed her major to environmental science. After gradu-ating, her first job was with the Harlingen WaterWorks System, which supplies water and wastewater services to its city of 80,000.

She worked there for seven years, then took a job at the water treat-ment plant in nearby McAllen. Seven years later, she came to Brownsville, joining the Environmental Services Department in 2001. In 2005 she became water treatment manager, which she calls “a great career move.”

Award-winning solution

She now dedicates her career to maintaining excellent water quality

for customers. Reducing arsenic levels required Adams and her team to demonstrate creativity and persistence. In 2006 the U.S. EPA lowered the drinking water standard from 0.050 mg/L to 0.010 mg/L at Brownsville’s brackish groundwater plant. Adams consulted an EPA study guide, which recommended reverse osmosis.

“That’s when we learned that RO would remove only about half of the arsenic,” says Adams, a registered environmental manager with the National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP) program. “That meant

Judy Adams, Brownsville (Texas) Public Utilities BoardPOSITION: | Water treatment managerEXPERIENCE: | 27 years in the industryEDUCATION: | Bachelor’s in biology, Texas Lutheran College; MBA, University of TexasCERTIFICATIONS: | Grade A licenses, water and wastewaterGOALS: | Enhance skills and continue providing quality waterWEBSITE: | www.brownsville-pub.com

Helping to develop the skills and careers of team members like Gloria Flores(left) is a big part of the job for Judy Adams, water treatment manager.


half of the arsenic was getting through to our drinking water. So we did a little more research and found that there are two species of arsenic — one can be removed by RO and the other can’t. We did speciation research and found out that if we oxidized the feedwater, we could convert the arse-nic to a species that is rejected by the RO process.”

The answer? Add a little bit of chlorine to the feedwater to oxidize it just enough to convert the arsenic and allow the plant to become compli-ant. After trying various oxidizing agents, the team tried liquid chlorine bleach, but found it difficult to regulate the dosage. Then they tried chlo-rine gas and found that it worked well and didn’t harm the RO mem-

branes (although the plant will add a microfiltration pretreatment system). Adams puts the experi-ence into perspective: “It was fun, but not at the time, and yes, we all learned a lot about arsenic.”

Democracy at work

Such collaboration is a hall-mark of Adams’ management style — one that has built loyalty

among her team. Some have been at the plants for more than 20 years, while others are in their first year. As such, there are different levels, from apprentices to veterans who have Grade A licenses, the highest level. Adams has Grade A licenses in water and wastewater.

To motivate her team, Adams takes a democratic approach. “I have a great team and try to give them a lot of credit,” she says. “I constantly remind them that all the little things they do add up to something signif-icant for the community. They sometimes lose sight of the fact that what they do is important, such as how well an instrument is calibrated or how well they collect a sample.

“I tell them these things affect the overall quality of the water we pro-vide to the community. Beyond that, I try to build one-on-one relation-ships with my team members. That means figuring out what motivates each of them. For some it’s family, for others it’s career, so I try to person-alize my relationships with them.”

Whatever she does, it works. Gomez, who has been at BPUB for 14 years, praises Adams’ “great people skills, and participative leadership style,” adding, “She’s down to earth and very popular with her group.” Adams responds by calling Gomez “a great boss, with a strong work ethic who’s also fun to work with.”

Jose Garza, chief operator at Water Plant Number 2, agrees with Gomez’s assessment, having worked for Adams for the last seven years: “Judy’s a real good boss. There are always challenges at water plants. Judy is the kind of boss who’ll get employees together, let them bounce ideas around, take the ideas of several people, put them together into one and go forward with it.”

Tested by drought

One challenge facing the three Brownsville water plants is the drought. According to The Houston Chronicle, Texas has received only 68 percent of its typical rainfall over the last two years — the third driest period on record. The most recent federal data shows 90 percent of Texas

PROMOTING WATER CAREERSDoes Judy Adams believe water is a good career choice? Absolutely!

She sees plenty of opportunities in the water industry and tries to interest

young people. She makes a point of discussing water positions during

school tours and with university students doing studies on discharge and

other environmental issues.

“Water offers a lot as a career option,” says Adams. “There’s water

planning, water engineering, water operations and more. I think there’s

a good future in water, especially here in Texas, with the extreme

drought we’ve experienced. Water quality and water quantity have

been on everyone’s mind.”

Adams assures young people that water will always need to be

managed properly, like any other valuable resource. That means

municipalities and businesses are always looking for qualified people.

What makes a good leader? Adams doesn’t hesitate: “Someone

who has the ability to look at the big picture and keep moving forward

despite obstacles. Someone who has a positive outlook and who can

motivate. And someone who cares about the people who work for them.”

Team members at the Southmost Regional Water Authority include, from left, Francisco Chavarria and Diego Moreno, maintenance workers; Judy Adams, water treatment manager; Juan Moreno, maintenance worker; Gloria Flores, operator apprentice; Rene Cortinas, maintenance worker; Sandra Rodriguez, administrative associate II; Joe Saldivar, chief operator; Eduardo Rivera, maintenance mechanic; and Larry Schnabel, master mechanic. They’re shown with one of the regional desalination plant’s reverse osmosis membrane process trains.

Judy Adams’ collaborative leader-ship style wins loyalty among her teammembers.

experiencing abnormally dry conditions, and 22 percent in extreme or exceptional drought. Meanwhile, as of last spring, reservoirs statewide were at low levels.

Water Plant Number 1, whose filtration system was built in 1931, and Water Plant Number 2, constructed in 1950, treat water from the Rio

Grande, the fifth longest river system in the nation at 1,896 miles, form-ing part of the U.S.-Mexican border. At Brownsville, at the tail end of the river, the water is muddy and high in nutrients.

Adams remembers the time 10 years ago when south Texas was in extreme drought. Brownsville faced the fact that its two reservoirs, Fal-con Lake and Amistad Lake, were below 20 percent capacity. In addition, invasive plants such as water hyacinth and hydrilla blocked the flow, which was picking up sediment from the river bottom.

“That’s why the Southmost Regional Water Authority built the desal-ination plant, because of the drought and the chance that there wouldn’t be enough water without it,” says Adams. The BPUB has a 30-year con-tract to operate the facility.

“SWRA came up with using RO technology to treat brackish water, take the salt out of it and have it as an alternative water supply,” says Adams. “Our desalination facility came online in 2004 and has helped a lot during the current drought.”

With reservoirs about 35 percent full last spring, Brownsville wasn’t greatly affected by the drought. The city also own rights to divert water from the Rio Grande — communities without such rights must lease water rights or buy water from irrigation districts. Still, Adams, Gomez and their team are keeping an eye on the situation.

Preparation helps

At Adams’ request, Garza has attended several meetings around the Rio Grande Valley to get a bet-ter feel for the conditions from homeowners, irrigators and busi-

ness people. If reservoir levels get lower, BPUB will have to start imple-menting its water conservation plan, which would include measures such as restricting watering of lawns and filling of swimming pools.

“We usually use more chemicals during the drought because the quality of the water isn’t the same, since the river isn’t flowing as much,” Adams says. “The brackish water plant provides quality water, so there’s not much of a difference there, and it helps us diversify our water supply. In general, we haven’t seen much of an impact on the quality of the water here, which is great, considering how dry it’s been.”

Adams, her experience and skills always sharp, will be ready no matter what happens. And she’ll be collaborating and coaching and cheering on her operators to do the same — minimizing risk by being prepared. wso

Reverse osmosis helped secure the Brownsville water supply. Here, Judy Adams discusses the sanitizing of membrane system components with team member Juan Moreno. (PROTEC membrane pressure vessels from Bekaert.)

“There are always challenges at water plants. Judy is the kind of boss who will get employees together, let them bounce ideas around, take the ideas

of several people, put them together into one and go forward with it.”JOSE GARZA




half of the arsenic was getting through to our drinking water. So we did a little more research and found that there are two species of arsenic — one can be removed by RO and the other can’t. We did speciation research and found out that if we oxidized the feedwater, we could convert the arse-nic to a species that is rejected by the RO process.”

The answer? Add a little bit of chlorine to the feedwater to oxidize it just enough to convert the arsenic and allow the plant to become compli-ant. After trying various oxidizing agents, the team tried liquid chlorine bleach, but found it difficult to regulate the dosage. Then they tried chlo-rine gas and found that it worked well and didn’t harm the RO mem-

branes (although the plant will add a microfiltration pretreatment system). Adams puts the experi-ence into perspective: “It was fun, but not at the time, and yes, we all learned a lot about arsenic.”

Democracy at work

Such collaboration is a hall-mark of Adams’ management style — one that has built loyalty

among her team. Some have been at the plants for more than 20 years, while others are in their first year. As such, there are different levels, from apprentices to veterans who have Grade A licenses, the highest level. Adams has Grade A licenses in water and wastewater.

To motivate her team, Adams takes a democratic approach. “I have a great team and try to give them a lot of credit,” she says. “I constantly remind them that all the little things they do add up to something signif-icant for the community. They sometimes lose sight of the fact that what they do is important, such as how well an instrument is calibrated or how well they collect a sample.

“I tell them these things affect the overall quality of the water we pro-vide to the community. Beyond that, I try to build one-on-one relation-ships with my team members. That means figuring out what motivates each of them. For some it’s family, for others it’s career, so I try to person-alize my relationships with them.”

Whatever she does, it works. Gomez, who has been at BPUB for 14 years, praises Adams’ “great people skills, and participative leadership style,” adding, “She’s down to earth and very popular with her group.” Adams responds by calling Gomez “a great boss, with a strong work ethic who’s also fun to work with.”

Jose Garza, chief operator at Water Plant Number 2, agrees with Gomez’s assessment, having worked for Adams for the last seven years: “Judy’s a real good boss. There are always challenges at water plants. Judy is the kind of boss who’ll get employees together, let them bounce ideas around, take the ideas of several people, put them together into one and go forward with it.”

Tested by drought

One challenge facing the three Brownsville water plants is the drought. According to The Houston Chronicle, Texas has received only 68 percent of its typical rainfall over the last two years — the third driest period on record. The most recent federal data shows 90 percent of Texas

PROMOTING WATER CAREERSDoes Judy Adams believe water is a good career choice? Absolutely!

She sees plenty of opportunities in the water industry and tries to interest

young people. She makes a point of discussing water positions during

school tours and with university students doing studies on discharge and

other environmental issues.

“Water offers a lot as a career option,” says Adams. “There’s water

planning, water engineering, water operations and more. I think there’s

a good future in water, especially here in Texas, with the extreme

drought we’ve experienced. Water quality and water quantity have

been on everyone’s mind.”

Adams assures young people that water will always need to be

managed properly, like any other valuable resource. That means

municipalities and businesses are always looking for qualified people.

What makes a good leader? Adams doesn’t hesitate: “Someone

who has the ability to look at the big picture and keep moving forward

despite obstacles. Someone who has a positive outlook and who can

motivate. And someone who cares about the people who work for them.”

Team members at the Southmost Regional Water Authority include, from left, Francisco Chavarria and Diego Moreno, maintenance workers; Judy Adams, water treatment manager; Juan Moreno, maintenance worker; Gloria Flores, operator apprentice; Rene Cortinas, maintenance worker; Sandra Rodriguez, administrative associate II; Joe Saldivar, chief operator; Eduardo Rivera, maintenance mechanic; and Larry Schnabel, master mechanic. They’re shown with one of the regional desalination plant’s reverse osmosis membrane process trains.

Judy Adams’ collaborative leader-ship style wins loyalty among her teammembers.

experiencing abnormally dry conditions, and 22 percent in extreme or exceptional drought. Meanwhile, as of last spring, reservoirs statewide were at low levels.

Water Plant Number 1, whose filtration system was built in 1931, and Water Plant Number 2, constructed in 1950, treat water from the Rio

Grande, the fifth longest river system in the nation at 1,896 miles, form-ing part of the U.S.-Mexican border. At Brownsville, at the tail end of the river, the water is muddy and high in nutrients.

Adams remembers the time 10 years ago when south Texas was in extreme drought. Brownsville faced the fact that its two reservoirs, Fal-con Lake and Amistad Lake, were below 20 percent capacity. In addition, invasive plants such as water hyacinth and hydrilla blocked the flow, which was picking up sediment from the river bottom.

“That’s why the Southmost Regional Water Authority built the desal-ination plant, because of the drought and the chance that there wouldn’t be enough water without it,” says Adams. The BPUB has a 30-year con-tract to operate the facility.

“SWRA came up with using RO technology to treat brackish water, take the salt out of it and have it as an alternative water supply,” says Adams. “Our desalination facility came online in 2004 and has helped a lot during the current drought.”

With reservoirs about 35 percent full last spring, Brownsville wasn’t greatly affected by the drought. The city also own rights to divert water from the Rio Grande — communities without such rights must lease water rights or buy water from irrigation districts. Still, Adams, Gomez and their team are keeping an eye on the situation.

Preparation helps

At Adams’ request, Garza has attended several meetings around the Rio Grande Valley to get a bet-ter feel for the conditions from homeowners, irrigators and busi-

ness people. If reservoir levels get lower, BPUB will have to start imple-menting its water conservation plan, which would include measures such as restricting watering of lawns and filling of swimming pools.

“We usually use more chemicals during the drought because the quality of the water isn’t the same, since the river isn’t flowing as much,” Adams says. “The brackish water plant provides quality water, so there’s not much of a difference there, and it helps us diversify our water supply. In general, we haven’t seen much of an impact on the quality of the water here, which is great, considering how dry it’s been.”

Adams, her experience and skills always sharp, will be ready no matter what happens. And she’ll be collaborating and coaching and cheering on her operators to do the same — minimizing risk by being prepared. wso

Reverse osmosis helped secure the Brownsville water supply. Here, Judy Adams discusses the sanitizing of membrane system components with team member Juan Moreno. (PROTEC membrane pressure vessels from Bekaert.)

“There are always challenges at water plants. Judy is the kind of boss who will get employees together, let them bounce ideas around, take the ideas

of several people, put them together into one and go forward with it.”JOSE GARZA




“How long do I have until this machine fails?”That’s a key question always on the mind of a plant

operator, in the water sector and elsewhere. Preventive maintenance “by the book” is fine, but how can an operator

know when something big is about to go wrong with a motor, pump or engine so it can be fixed before a major failure and the downtime and lost production that go with it?

GE Intelligent Platforms now offers the Proficy Monitoring & Analy-sis software suite that can help provide answers and in the bargain can help operators optimize process efficiency and throughput. The platform combines four existing GE offerings with a Proficy Knowledge Center browser-based visualization tool, and Proficy Historian HD, a Hadoop-based Industrial Big Data product.

Brian Courtney, general manager of the GE Intelligent Platforms Industrial Data Intelligence Software Group, talked about the offering in an interview with Water System Operator.

wso: What overall need in the drinking water sector does this offering address?

Courtney: In water treatment you have large assets like pumps, motors and generators. How do you optimize the system? A lot of system software today is about alarm and event — how to react when something goes wrong. Analytics are about how to prevent things from going wrong in the first place. We provide tools to help figure out what could go wrong.

Our Proficy SmartSignal system ‘learns’ the behavior of each piece of equipment by monitoring the equipment itself for about two weeks. From that we’re able to identify what normal behavior looks like for each item. Then as we continue monitoring, 24 hours a day, we’re able to identify outputs that are not behaving correctly.

wso: What kinds of anomalies are detected and what is done with

the information?Courtney: We have various analytic tools to help us identify issues

Watchful EyesAn analytics solution from GE Intelligent Platforms can help operators avoid unplanned equipment downtime and optimize process performance

BY TED J. RULSEH

TECHNOLOGYDEEP DIVE

1) To optimize performance, operators must first understand the uses of process deviation in their environment. Monitoring and analysis solutions can pinpointcauses of process variation, helping to enable performance enhance-ment for a given asset.

2) Data and analytics need to be accessible in the proper context to the right people at the right time. A Web-browser-based data and results visualization solution delivers role and asset-based information that unlocks the value of data.

1

2

based on known failure modes for large pieces of equipment. An abnor-mal vibration could mean a bolt is loose. Rising temperature could mean a fan has shut off. Bad data could indicate that a sensor has failed. Some-times it takes collaboration with the customer: We can tell that the equip-

ment isn’t behaving correctly, but it takes a person on site to do diagnostics to understand the problem.

wso: What is the ultimate benefit of this technology?Courtney: We detect minor issues that will lead to big problems if

they go unchecked. If you take asset reliability a little bit higher, you get additive value: Every day you can treat more water. The way to measure success is: How much unplanned downtime did you have to start with, versus how much you have today? And as a result, how much have you saved, both in the cost of repairs and in recovering lost revenue from downtime and lost production?

wso: How does this offering support process optimization?Courtney: The Proficy CSense toolset has advanced analytics that

identify process variables that can lead to suboptimal performance. It allows for what-if analysis to find solutions that optimize processes and so increase yield. If you can get the variability out of a process, you can run it closer to the optimum. We have another set of analytic tools for doing closed-loop process optimization — similar to advanced process control.

wso: How exactly is the data acquired for each piece of equipment?Courtney: Data is collected and stored with GE’s Proficy Historian

data collection software. We work off existing sensor data. We assume there is a SCADA system or a historian application on site that we can pull data from. We tell customers what kinds of analytics we can do with the data they have available. And we let them know what additional infor-mation we could obtain if they were to acquire additional sensors.

wso: Can this offering be used for benchmarking? Could custom-

ers use the data to see how their equipment performs versus other similar equipment industrywide?

Courtney: We’re building that capability now. We would use a com-parative analytic to show how a given customer’s equipment behaves ver-sus an industry average, as defined by all the other similar assets we monitor. This depends on customers’ willingness to share their data anonymously. It is something customers would need to opt into.

wso: Do the analytics apply to all equipment and not just devices

made by GE?Courtney: It is designed for any asset that has rotating or vibrating

components. We don’t do electrical boards or electrical circuits today, although we are working on solutions in that space.

wso: Is there a size threshold at which this offering becomes

cost-effective?Courtney: On the asset health and process health side, any organiza-

tion can get value, and obviously the bigger you are the more value you get. I think anyone doing water treatment is in the size range of organiza-tions we could help in a cost-effective way.

wso: How is the cost of this offering structured?Courtney: We offer it in two ways: As a license deal where users buy

the software and operate it themselves, and as a service where we do the monitoring, setup and analytics and the user pays a monthly or quarterly fee with pricing set by duration of contract. When we do the monitoring, we typically don’t go into the field and fix equipment. We call customers

weekly and identify things we see as potentially failing in the next several weeks. If we detect some-thing at imminent risk, we contact the customer right away.

wso: What do customers actually see when using this offering to

help them visualize and understand issues?Courtney: A part of this offering is Proficy Knowledge Center, a

model-driven, browser-based visualization application. Users can view results of data analyzed by Proficy CSense or Proficy SmartSignal in ways that make it easy to navigate and understand. They can see trend lines, key performance indicators and advisories. There are also simulation and modeling capabilities. For example, users can explore how an action they might have taken would have affected a given problem.

wso: Does this solution require on-site IT infrastructure? Or are cloud-based applications available?

Courtney: We offer Proficy Historian HD, which can extract data from Proficy Historian and store it into Hadoop clusters so that it is avail-able in a cloud format. That is a very cost-effective way of storing large sets of data. wso

“The way to measure success is: How much unplanned downtime did you have to start with,

versus how much you have today? And as a result, how much have you saved, both in the cost of repairs and in recovering lost revenue from downtime?”BRIAN COURTNEY

“A lot of system software today is about alarm and event — how to react when something goes wrong. Analytics are about how prevent things from going

wrong in the first place. [They] provide tools to help figure out what could go wrong.” BRIAN COURTNEY


“These guys care about what they’re doing. They notice if there’s even a slight movement in our effluent quality. They do a great job, and everybody pitches in. They all know what they have to do, and it’s done correctly.”

Jim ListwanAn Original EnvironmentalistCHIEF OPERATORSalt Creek Sanitary District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Villa Park, Ill.

Get your free subscription and read about original environmentalists like Jim each month in Treatment Plant Operator.

COLE PUBLISHING INC. / www.tpomag.comProudly Serving the Environmental Service Industry Since 1979


“How long do I have until this machine fails?”That’s a key question always on the mind of a plant

operator, in the water sector and elsewhere. Preventive maintenance “by the book” is fine, but how can an operator

know when something big is about to go wrong with a motor, pump or engine so it can be fixed before a major failure and the downtime and lost production that go with it?

GE Intelligent Platforms now offers the Proficy Monitoring & Analy-sis software suite that can help provide answers and in the bargain can help operators optimize process efficiency and throughput. The platform combines four existing GE offerings with a Proficy Knowledge Center browser-based visualization tool, and Proficy Historian HD, a Hadoop-based Industrial Big Data product.

Brian Courtney, general manager of the GE Intelligent Platforms Industrial Data Intelligence Software Group, talked about the offering in an interview with Water System Operator.

wso: What overall need in the drinking water sector does this offering address?

Courtney: In water treatment you have large assets like pumps, motors and generators. How do you optimize the system? A lot of system software today is about alarm and event — how to react when something goes wrong. Analytics are about how to prevent things from going wrong in the first place. We provide tools to help figure out what could go wrong.

Our Proficy SmartSignal system ‘learns’ the behavior of each piece of equipment by monitoring the equipment itself for about two weeks. From that we’re able to identify what normal behavior looks like for each item. Then as we continue monitoring, 24 hours a day, we’re able to identify outputs that are not behaving correctly.

wso: What kinds of anomalies are detected and what is done with

the information?Courtney: We have various analytic tools to help us identify issues

Watchful EyesAn analytics solution from GE Intelligent Platforms can help operators avoid unplanned equipment downtime and optimize process performance

BY TED J. RULSEH

TECHNOLOGYDEEP DIVE

1) To optimize performance, operators must first understand the uses of process deviation in their environment. Monitoring and analysis solutions can pinpointcauses of process variation, helping to enable performance enhance-ment for a given asset.

2) Data and analytics need to be accessible in the proper context to the right people at the right time. A Web-browser-based data and results visualization solution delivers role and asset-based information that unlocks the value of data.

1

2

based on known failure modes for large pieces of equipment. An abnor-mal vibration could mean a bolt is loose. Rising temperature could mean a fan has shut off. Bad data could indicate that a sensor has failed. Some-times it takes collaboration with the customer: We can tell that the equip-

ment isn’t behaving correctly, but it takes a person on site to do diagnostics to understand the problem.

wso: What is the ultimate benefit of this technology?Courtney: We detect minor issues that will lead to big problems if

they go unchecked. If you take asset reliability a little bit higher, you get additive value: Every day you can treat more water. The way to measure success is: How much unplanned downtime did you have to start with, versus how much you have today? And as a result, how much have you saved, both in the cost of repairs and in recovering lost revenue from downtime and lost production?

wso: How does this offering support process optimization?Courtney: The Proficy CSense toolset has advanced analytics that

identify process variables that can lead to suboptimal performance. It allows for what-if analysis to find solutions that optimize processes and so increase yield. If you can get the variability out of a process, you can run it closer to the optimum. We have another set of analytic tools for doing closed-loop process optimization — similar to advanced process control.

wso: How exactly is the data acquired for each piece of equipment?Courtney: Data is collected and stored with GE’s Proficy Historian

data collection software. We work off existing sensor data. We assume there is a SCADA system or a historian application on site that we can pull data from. We tell customers what kinds of analytics we can do with the data they have available. And we let them know what additional infor-mation we could obtain if they were to acquire additional sensors.

wso: Can this offering be used for benchmarking? Could custom-

ers use the data to see how their equipment performs versus other similar equipment industrywide?

Courtney: We’re building that capability now. We would use a com-parative analytic to show how a given customer’s equipment behaves ver-sus an industry average, as defined by all the other similar assets we monitor. This depends on customers’ willingness to share their data anonymously. It is something customers would need to opt into.

wso: Do the analytics apply to all equipment and not just devices

made by GE?Courtney: It is designed for any asset that has rotating or vibrating

components. We don’t do electrical boards or electrical circuits today, although we are working on solutions in that space.

wso: Is there a size threshold at which this offering becomes

cost-effective?Courtney: On the asset health and process health side, any organiza-

tion can get value, and obviously the bigger you are the more value you get. I think anyone doing water treatment is in the size range of organiza-tions we could help in a cost-effective way.

wso: How is the cost of this offering structured?Courtney: We offer it in two ways: As a license deal where users buy

the software and operate it themselves, and as a service where we do the monitoring, setup and analytics and the user pays a monthly or quarterly fee with pricing set by duration of contract. When we do the monitoring, we typically don’t go into the field and fix equipment. We call customers

weekly and identify things we see as potentially failing in the next several weeks. If we detect some-thing at imminent risk, we contact the customer right away.

wso: What do customers actually see when using this offering to

help them visualize and understand issues?Courtney: A part of this offering is Proficy Knowledge Center, a

model-driven, browser-based visualization application. Users can view results of data analyzed by Proficy CSense or Proficy SmartSignal in ways that make it easy to navigate and understand. They can see trend lines, key performance indicators and advisories. There are also simulation and modeling capabilities. For example, users can explore how an action they might have taken would have affected a given problem.

wso: Does this solution require on-site IT infrastructure? Or are cloud-based applications available?

Courtney: We offer Proficy Historian HD, which can extract data from Proficy Historian and store it into Hadoop clusters so that it is avail-able in a cloud format. That is a very cost-effective way of storing large sets of data. wso

“The way to measure success is: How much unplanned downtime did you have to start with,

versus how much you have today? And as a result, how much have you saved, both in the cost of repairs and in recovering lost revenue from downtime?”BRIAN COURTNEY

“A lot of system software today is about alarm and event — how to react when something goes wrong. Analytics are about how prevent things from going

wrong in the first place. [They] provide tools to help figure out what could go wrong.” BRIAN COURTNEY


“These guys care about what they’re doing. They notice if there’s even a slight movement in our effluent quality. They do a great job, and everybody pitches in. They all know what they have to do, and it’s done correctly.”

Jim ListwanAn Original EnvironmentalistCHIEF OPERATORSalt Creek Sanitary District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Villa Park, Ill.

Get your free subscription and read about original environmentalists like Jim each month in Treatment Plant Operator.

COLE PUBLISHING INC. / www.tpomag.comProudly Serving the Environmental Service Industry Since 1979


Whether tracking customers’ usage, measuring plant raw water flow or feeding chemicals into a process, accurate metering is essential. Man-ufacturers continue with innovations that make meters accurate, durable, and easy to read and use. Here are some of the newest metering and secu-rity products on the market.

Meters

Stainless steel ultrasonic meterThe stainless steel E-Series ultrasonic

water meter from Badger Meter uses solid-state technology in a compact, encapsulated, weatherproof and UV-resistant housing. It has an easy-to-read 9-digit LCD display and presents consumption, rate of flow, reverse flow indication and alarms. Available with a high-resolution encoder protocol, it sends status indicators as part of an extended meter-reading message. It has extended low-flow accuracy to within 3 percent. The corrosion resistant meter complies with lead-free regulations. 800/876-3837; www.badgermeter.com.

Submerged solids meter

The SmartBob-SS from BinMaster Level Controls is designed for interface applications when the require-ment is to measure the level of solid material below a liq-uid surface, such as measuring settled salt or sediment at water treatment facilities. It automatically drops a weighted bob through the liquid; when the bob contacts solid material at the tank bottom, it retracts and sends a measurement to a control console or a PC loaded with eBob software. It comes configured with a 3-inch standpipe for ease of installation, a corrosion-resistant stainless steel cable, and a SureDrop cap that keeps the weight from being retracted into the pipe. 800/278-4241; www.binmaster.com.

Hybrid ultrasonic flowmeter

The Sonic-Pro hybrid ultrasonic flow-meter from Blue-White Industries mea-sures flow using Doppler or Transit Time methods. It has noninvasive clamp-on trans-ducers and works with clean or dirty fluids. It can be set up remotely with a Windows PC, providing a view of real-time flow and downloadable data log files. Features include custom metric algorithms and DSP technology, backlit LCD, data logged to a standard SD card for-mat, isolated and fully configurable 4-20 mA output and a computer con-nection that permits remote access and control for all functions. It can measure flow in pipe from 0.5 to 100 inches. 714/893-8529; www.blue-white.com.

Flow monitor

The wireless, low-power, multi-sensor open-channel FlowSiren flow monitor with vision sensor from Blue-Siren lets operators measure and view flow conditions using contact and noncontact sensors. It operates for over two years using a single power pack. With IP68 connectors, it is fully submersible and completely encapsulated using impact-proof plastics. Data is

automatically uploaded to a server or a hosting platform powered by Earth Monitoring DataBase. Two-way communication allows operators to program sensor alarms, wireless upload frequency and sample rates remotely from a website or tablet. 321/242-0300; www.blue-siren.com.

Clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter

The Arrow Hunter PLUS clamp-on transit-time flowmeter from ECHO Process Instrumen-tation measures clean or dirty liquid flow in metal or plastic pipes with any liners from 3/8 to 118 inches. It uses Dual DSP technology to measure velocities from 0.03 to 82 feet per second at accuracy within 0.5 percent, repeatable to within 0.15 percent of measured value. It can measure any municipal flow, including low-flow chemical feed. In has hazardous-area sensors for explosion-proof requirements. 850/609-1300; www.echopi.com.

Air/gas mass flowmeter

The ST102A air/gas thermal mass flow meter from Fluid Components International (FCI) has a dual-element averaging system that improves installation repeatability and accuracy for larger-diameter pipes and ducts. Applications involving lines 12 inches or greater can improve installation accuracy and repeatability by averaging the flow rates of two elements. The meter overcomes issues with distorted, swirling and nonrepeatable flow profiles. 800/854-1993; www.fluidcomponents.com.

Flow rate sensor

The RFO sensor from Gems Sensors & Controls uses a RotorFlow paddle wheel design that incorpo-rates high-visibility rotors with solid-state electron-ics in compact, panel-mounted housings. It provides accurate flow rate measurement with integral visual confirmation. 800/378-1600; www.gemssensors.com.

Noncontacting flowmeter

The DFM 5.0 Doppler Flowmeter from Greyline Instruments measures flow from outside a pipe. The clamp-on ultrasonic sensor mounts on any pipe 1/2-inch-inside-diameter or larger. It is designed for any liquid with bubbles or suspended solids. Calibration and startup is simple with a five-button keypad. Features include a large backlit display and totalizer, isolated 4-20 mA output and two control relays. 888/473-9546; www.greyline.com.

Dual wavelength photometer

The eXact Micro 20 dual wavelength photometer from Industrial Test Systems tests more than 30 water-quality parameters with lab-quality accuracy. It has a narrow-band wavelength filter for high accuracy, long-life LEDs and a built-in cell. The unit self-calibrates and automatically selects the optimal wavelength for each test. All tests use the same EZ-3 reagent delivery method. Users dip an eXact Strip into the water sample for 20 seconds with a back-and-forth motion, discard the strip and read the results with the push of a but-ton. The system disperses reagent into samples without leaving suspended solids in the sample vial. 800/861-9712; www.sensafe.com.

PRODUCT FOCUS: METERING AND SECURITYBY CRAIG MANDLI

Gas detection meterThe TA-2016MB-WM gas detection wall-mount

meter from Mil-Ram Technology has an 8- or 16-chan-nel system using an RS-485 Modbus RTU multi-drop transmitter network. It has four relays (SPDT), 10 amp low/mid/high/fault relays, LED alarm indi-cators, a local buzzer, backlit LCD auto-scrolls for channel data/fault conditions, an auto-configuration wizard that simplifies channel configu-ration, continuous diagnostics, an explosion-proof enclosure, external alarm stations and wireless capability. 888/464-5726; www.mil-ram.com.

Digital volumetric meter

The SmartPD digital volumetric meter from Niagara Meters is available in two versions: a nutating disc SND model, and an oscillating piston SOP model. It is two-wire-loop powered and measures volume as well as flow rate. It has a 4-20 mA output with HART communication for flexibil-ity. Various line sizes and base materials are available. 800/778-9251; www.niagarameters.com.

Digital panel meters

PD6080 and PD6081 multi-purpose digital panel meters from Precision Digital display 16 pro-cess variables. They are program-mable as Modbus RTU masters, slaves or packet sniffers and can accept current and voltage signals. They can read up to 16 slave devices, scale their data and display the results. Three of the front panel buttons can be custom programmed. 800/343-1001; www.predig.com.

Differential pressure transmitter

The battery-powered Differential Pressure Transmitter from Primary Flow Signal provides accurate flow rate and totalization readings for gas, water and chemicals, and for air with temper-ature limitations. It is portable, long-lasting and lightweight and requires no external power. It mounts easily and can be applied to all Primary Flow Signal meters, such as the WedgeType flow-meter and Venturi flowmeters to provide accuracy in demanding applica-tions. 877/737-3569; www.primaryflowsignal.com.

Dual-transducer ultrasonic flowmeter

The DUET ultrasonic flowmeter from Pulsar Process Measurement uses two separate transducers mounted at different heights above the flow level. They measure the distance to the liquid and analyze both signals. Because the distance between the transducers is known, the speed of sound, at that moment, can be calculated accurately, through the entire sound path, eliminating variations caused by temperature, changes in water temperature in the channel, the angle of the sun, solar radiated heat and seasonal variations. 850/279-4882; www.pulsar-pm.com.

Residential water meter

The iPERL residential water meter from Sensus provides low-flow accuracy, allowing utilities to capture lost water and revenue. With no moving parts, it needs no maintenance and resists wear, retaining accu-

racy for the life of the unit. Intelligent alarm capabili-ties report irregularities. Its lead-free composite alloy flow tube meets government and industry regula-tory requirements and maintains stability through a wide range of temperatures. It integrates with the FlexNet system M2 SmartPoint transceiver, offering a range of remote system management options via two-way communications architecture. 800/638-3748; www.sensus.com.

Ultrasonic water meter

The wPrime Series 280W-D cold-water ultrasonic water meter from Spire Metering Technology is NSF 61 Annex G certified and combines low-lead brass construction with ultrasonic signal processing for highly sensitive flow measurement. The meter has no moving parts and detects leaks as low as a few drops per second. With bronze alloy construction and vacuum-sealed design, it is completely submersible and impervious to sand, sediment and conden-sation. It reliably integrates with AMR/AMI networking solutions using M-Bus, radio and pulse. 888/738-0188; www.spiremt.com.

Security Equipment/Systems

Cellular autodialerThe CVD-2000PS Cellular Autodialer

from Global Water, a Xylem brand, provides direct, immediate notification of emergencies. With no landline, it can be installed where needed and call out using a cellular connection. It is easy to install and configure and operates on AC power, but includes a rechargeable battery for remote locations. It includes an AD200-4 auto-dialer, cellular phone and AC adapter. It is easy to program via the onboard keypad, LCD display and built-in speaker. 979/690-5560; www.globalw.com.

Security management platform

The Itron Security Manager (ISM) enables secure communications and data privacy between endpoints and authorized data collection systems. It uses cryp-tography to authenticate and encrypt two-way commu-nications. It also acts as a centralized key manager, generating, importing, exporting and backing up keys. It provides core system administration, such as creating accounts and roles and assigning permissions. 866/374-8766; www.itron.com.

Security monitor

The Real UV254 security monitor from Real Tech can detect problematic organic contaminants in water without reagents by utilizing UV light. The analyzer’s design with 250 mm pathlength allows for a high level of sensitivity to detect down to 10 ppb of various organic contaminants. It also features rapid detection with a 10 to 15 second response time and 4-20 mA or RS232 communications. It was evaluated by the U.S EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) Technology Testing and Evaluation Program (TTEP) to gauge its response to toxic industrial chemicals in drinking water. 877/779-2888; www.realtech.ca. wso


Whether tracking customers’ usage, measuring plant raw water flow or feeding chemicals into a process, accurate metering is essential. Man-ufacturers continue with innovations that make meters accurate, durable, and easy to read and use. Here are some of the newest metering and secu-rity products on the market.

Meters

Stainless steel ultrasonic meterThe stainless steel E-Series ultrasonic

water meter from Badger Meter uses solid-state technology in a compact, encapsulated, weatherproof and UV-resistant housing. It has an easy-to-read 9-digit LCD display and presents consumption, rate of flow, reverse flow indication and alarms. Available with a high-resolution encoder protocol, it sends status indicators as part of an extended meter-reading message. It has extended low-flow accuracy to within 3 percent. The corrosion resistant meter complies with lead-free regulations. 800/876-3837; www.badgermeter.com.

Submerged solids meter

The SmartBob-SS from BinMaster Level Controls is designed for interface applications when the require-ment is to measure the level of solid material below a liq-uid surface, such as measuring settled salt or sediment at water treatment facilities. It automatically drops a weighted bob through the liquid; when the bob contacts solid material at the tank bottom, it retracts and sends a measurement to a control console or a PC loaded with eBob software. It comes configured with a 3-inch standpipe for ease of installation, a corrosion-resistant stainless steel cable, and a SureDrop cap that keeps the weight from being retracted into the pipe. 800/278-4241; www.binmaster.com.

Hybrid ultrasonic flowmeter

The Sonic-Pro hybrid ultrasonic flow-meter from Blue-White Industries mea-sures flow using Doppler or Transit Time methods. It has noninvasive clamp-on trans-ducers and works with clean or dirty fluids. It can be set up remotely with a Windows PC, providing a view of real-time flow and downloadable data log files. Features include custom metric algorithms and DSP technology, backlit LCD, data logged to a standard SD card for-mat, isolated and fully configurable 4-20 mA output and a computer con-nection that permits remote access and control for all functions. It can measure flow in pipe from 0.5 to 100 inches. 714/893-8529; www.blue-white.com.

Flow monitor

The wireless, low-power, multi-sensor open-channel FlowSiren flow monitor with vision sensor from Blue-Siren lets operators measure and view flow conditions using contact and noncontact sensors. It operates for over two years using a single power pack. With IP68 connectors, it is fully submersible and completely encapsulated using impact-proof plastics. Data is

automatically uploaded to a server or a hosting platform powered by Earth Monitoring DataBase. Two-way communication allows operators to program sensor alarms, wireless upload frequency and sample rates remotely from a website or tablet. 321/242-0300; www.blue-siren.com.

Clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter

The Arrow Hunter PLUS clamp-on transit-time flowmeter from ECHO Process Instrumen-tation measures clean or dirty liquid flow in metal or plastic pipes with any liners from 3/8 to 118 inches. It uses Dual DSP technology to measure velocities from 0.03 to 82 feet per second at accuracy within 0.5 percent, repeatable to within 0.15 percent of measured value. It can measure any municipal flow, including low-flow chemical feed. In has hazardous-area sensors for explosion-proof requirements. 850/609-1300; www.echopi.com.

Air/gas mass flowmeter

The ST102A air/gas thermal mass flow meter from Fluid Components International (FCI) has a dual-element averaging system that improves installation repeatability and accuracy for larger-diameter pipes and ducts. Applications involving lines 12 inches or greater can improve installation accuracy and repeatability by averaging the flow rates of two elements. The meter overcomes issues with distorted, swirling and nonrepeatable flow profiles. 800/854-1993; www.fluidcomponents.com.

Flow rate sensor

The RFO sensor from Gems Sensors & Controls uses a RotorFlow paddle wheel design that incorpo-rates high-visibility rotors with solid-state electron-ics in compact, panel-mounted housings. It provides accurate flow rate measurement with integral visual confirmation. 800/378-1600; www.gemssensors.com.

Noncontacting flowmeter

The DFM 5.0 Doppler Flowmeter from Greyline Instruments measures flow from outside a pipe. The clamp-on ultrasonic sensor mounts on any pipe 1/2-inch-inside-diameter or larger. It is designed for any liquid with bubbles or suspended solids. Calibration and startup is simple with a five-button keypad. Features include a large backlit display and totalizer, isolated 4-20 mA output and two control relays. 888/473-9546; www.greyline.com.

Dual wavelength photometer

The eXact Micro 20 dual wavelength photometer from Industrial Test Systems tests more than 30 water-quality parameters with lab-quality accuracy. It has a narrow-band wavelength filter for high accuracy, long-life LEDs and a built-in cell. The unit self-calibrates and automatically selects the optimal wavelength for each test. All tests use the same EZ-3 reagent delivery method. Users dip an eXact Strip into the water sample for 20 seconds with a back-and-forth motion, discard the strip and read the results with the push of a but-ton. The system disperses reagent into samples without leaving suspended solids in the sample vial. 800/861-9712; www.sensafe.com.

PRODUCT FOCUS: METERING AND SECURITYBY CRAIG MANDLI

Gas detection meterThe TA-2016MB-WM gas detection wall-mount

meter from Mil-Ram Technology has an 8- or 16-chan-nel system using an RS-485 Modbus RTU multi-drop transmitter network. It has four relays (SPDT), 10 amp low/mid/high/fault relays, LED alarm indi-cators, a local buzzer, backlit LCD auto-scrolls for channel data/fault conditions, an auto-configuration wizard that simplifies channel configu-ration, continuous diagnostics, an explosion-proof enclosure, external alarm stations and wireless capability. 888/464-5726; www.mil-ram.com.

Digital volumetric meter

The SmartPD digital volumetric meter from Niagara Meters is available in two versions: a nutating disc SND model, and an oscillating piston SOP model. It is two-wire-loop powered and measures volume as well as flow rate. It has a 4-20 mA output with HART communication for flexibil-ity. Various line sizes and base materials are available. 800/778-9251; www.niagarameters.com.

Digital panel meters

PD6080 and PD6081 multi-purpose digital panel meters from Precision Digital display 16 pro-cess variables. They are program-mable as Modbus RTU masters, slaves or packet sniffers and can accept current and voltage signals. They can read up to 16 slave devices, scale their data and display the results. Three of the front panel buttons can be custom programmed. 800/343-1001; www.predig.com.

Differential pressure transmitter

The battery-powered Differential Pressure Transmitter from Primary Flow Signal provides accurate flow rate and totalization readings for gas, water and chemicals, and for air with temper-ature limitations. It is portable, long-lasting and lightweight and requires no external power. It mounts easily and can be applied to all Primary Flow Signal meters, such as the WedgeType flow-meter and Venturi flowmeters to provide accuracy in demanding applica-tions. 877/737-3569; www.primaryflowsignal.com.

Dual-transducer ultrasonic flowmeter

The DUET ultrasonic flowmeter from Pulsar Process Measurement uses two separate transducers mounted at different heights above the flow level. They measure the distance to the liquid and analyze both signals. Because the distance between the transducers is known, the speed of sound, at that moment, can be calculated accurately, through the entire sound path, eliminating variations caused by temperature, changes in water temperature in the channel, the angle of the sun, solar radiated heat and seasonal variations. 850/279-4882; www.pulsar-pm.com.

Residential water meter

The iPERL residential water meter from Sensus provides low-flow accuracy, allowing utilities to capture lost water and revenue. With no moving parts, it needs no maintenance and resists wear, retaining accu-

racy for the life of the unit. Intelligent alarm capabili-ties report irregularities. Its lead-free composite alloy flow tube meets government and industry regula-tory requirements and maintains stability through a wide range of temperatures. It integrates with the FlexNet system M2 SmartPoint transceiver, offering a range of remote system management options via two-way communications architecture. 800/638-3748; www.sensus.com.

Ultrasonic water meter

The wPrime Series 280W-D cold-water ultrasonic water meter from Spire Metering Technology is NSF 61 Annex G certified and combines low-lead brass construction with ultrasonic signal processing for highly sensitive flow measurement. The meter has no moving parts and detects leaks as low as a few drops per second. With bronze alloy construction and vacuum-sealed design, it is completely submersible and impervious to sand, sediment and conden-sation. It reliably integrates with AMR/AMI networking solutions using M-Bus, radio and pulse. 888/738-0188; www.spiremt.com.

Security Equipment/Systems

Cellular autodialerThe CVD-2000PS Cellular Autodialer

from Global Water, a Xylem brand, provides direct, immediate notification of emergencies. With no landline, it can be installed where needed and call out using a cellular connection. It is easy to install and configure and operates on AC power, but includes a rechargeable battery for remote locations. It includes an AD200-4 auto-dialer, cellular phone and AC adapter. It is easy to program via the onboard keypad, LCD display and built-in speaker. 979/690-5560; www.globalw.com.

Security management platform

The Itron Security Manager (ISM) enables secure communications and data privacy between endpoints and authorized data collection systems. It uses cryp-tography to authenticate and encrypt two-way commu-nications. It also acts as a centralized key manager, generating, importing, exporting and backing up keys. It provides core system administration, such as creating accounts and roles and assigning permissions. 866/374-8766; www.itron.com.

Security monitor

The Real UV254 security monitor from Real Tech can detect problematic organic contaminants in water without reagents by utilizing UV light. The analyzer’s design with 250 mm pathlength allows for a high level of sensitivity to detect down to 10 ppb of various organic contaminants. It also features rapid detection with a 10 to 15 second response time and 4-20 mA or RS232 communications. It was evaluated by the U.S EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) Technology Testing and Evaluation Program (TTEP) to gauge its response to toxic industrial chemicals in drinking water. 877/779-2888; www.realtech.ca. wso


Small town implements secure, stable SCADA systemProblem

Wolfforth, Texas, is a city of under 4,000 people. Its water/wastewater utility department was struggling because its SCADA system required frequent maintenance, requiring employees to work overtime to fix the system and manually operate the water processing facilities.

SolutionThe utility contacted Lubbock Electric Company, a local control sys-

tem integrator, to design a secure SCADA system that would be both affordable and reliable. InduSoft Web Studio was selected. Thanks to its 200 native drivers, it enables users to securely access the control center automation system from remote locations to troubleshoot and better man-age the system. The PC-based package also offers advanced real-time data, alarming, trending and a user-friendly graphical interface.

RESULTSince implementing the system, operators have been able to learn it

quickly due to the ease of navigation throughout the screens. The reliable security alarm notifications have also given the operators confidence that was previously lacking. They can now securely control wells from any of

the three water tower levels; configure them to start/stop at many level priorities, enabling complete system configuration from one screen; receive email-to-text security alarm messages; and use historical trending for all tower and tank levels. 877/463-8763; www.indusoft.com.

Electronic locks help water department meet Homeland Security mandateProblem

Shortly after 9/11, the Collier County (Fla.) Water Department con-ducted a U.S. EPA vulnerability assessment to identify potential security threats. The assessment revealed a need to tighten up security to meet Department of Homeland Security mandates under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act.

SolutionThe county deployed the CyberLock access control system

from Videx for its ability to control and audit all access activity. The department installed more than 600 electronic locks and padlocks on administrative office doors, repump station and well-house doors, and placed electronic padlocks on gates and underground sample stations. Each employee and contractor is assigned an electronic key programmed with a schedule of access permissions. Both the lock and key record all access activity, including access-denied events.

RESULTThe county now pro-

vides substantial proof to the Health Department and EPA that it is diligent in securing the facilities. In addition, the audit reporting ensures that people are doing their jobs, water samples are being pulled at the correct loca-tions and scheduled security checks are being made throughout the wellfields. 541/738-5500; www.cyberlock.com. wso

CASE STUDIES: METERING AND SECURITYBY CRAIG MANDLI


WSO welcomes news about your water system for future articles.Send your ideas to [email protected]

W ater conservation is a pressing global issue. It has been esti-mated that worldwide water losses from leaking or broken pipes could be as high as 60 percent, including about a third of the world’s drinking water. The World Bank has put the

cost of these losses at some $14 billion a year. In the U.S. alone, leaking pipes lose an estimated 7 billion gallons of drinking water a day.

At the micro level, a water system with slowly leaking flanges or seep-ing corroded fittings can lose millions of gallons of water, plus the energy investment in treating and distributing it. To gain a better understanding of what the water industry considers most important in sealing products and practices, a series of interviews were conducted.

The survey pool consisted of 11 organizations representing municipal engineers involved with water and wastewater systems. Also included were engineering firms that design treatment plants and transport and distribution systems.

The geographic distribution was weighted toward the western portion of the country, which has been experiencing severe water shortages. The interviews covered concerns about leaks, the state of equipment and pipe fittings and the loss of senior experts to retirement.

Questions about trials

Some of the engineers interviewed were relatively happy with cur-rently available sealing products, while others expressed a desire for bet-ter performance and longer service life. Some had conducted their own test programs under controlled conditions to vet vendors’ claims. Most were reluctant to try new products in active municipal water systems.

Determining where in a system to perform product trials is a challenge. The consequences of failure must be low, since shutting off the water to repair a leak caused by a trial is not an option. Other factors working against such trials are the decreasing experience levels and increasing workloads of workers in municipal water systems.

Responses varied when interviewees were asked what types of flange sealing products they were using in their systems. The top four cited were glass-reinforced epoxy (GRE) with elastomeric seals (37 percent), rubber sheet gaskets with and without electrical isolation kits (33 percent), molded push-on gaskets (16 percent) and compressed fiber sheet gaskets (10 percent).

The participants were largely satisfied with current sealing technol-ogy but still interested in new products. However, the progression from interest to trial to use is far from assured. Unlike many process industries such as chemicals and refining, the municipal water industry is not con-

cerned with high temperatures and pressures and toxic media. However, the consequences of failures remain severe and are more publicly visible, and that helps explain the industry’s resistance to trying new products.

Survey Surfaces Sealing ConcernsWater industry leaders share thoughts on gasketing products and practices and the key issues involved in sealing against leakage

BY JIM DRAGO, P.E., AND ANGELICA WIUME

TECHTALK

PH

OT

OS

CO

UR

TE

SY

OF

GP

T, F

OR

ME

RLY

TH

E P

SI A

ND

PIK

OT

EK

CO

MPA

NIE

S

Aligning flanges on a water infrastructure project.

Checking the length of an isolating sleeve during the installation of an isolating gasket kit.

(Continued on page 35)

Keeping it GREEN since 1979

www.colepublishing.com


Small town implements secure, stable SCADA systemProblem

Wolfforth, Texas, is a city of under 4,000 people. Its water/wastewater utility department was struggling because its SCADA system required frequent maintenance, requiring employees to work overtime to fix the system and manually operate the water processing facilities.

SolutionThe utility contacted Lubbock Electric Company, a local control sys-

tem integrator, to design a secure SCADA system that would be both affordable and reliable. InduSoft Web Studio was selected. Thanks to its 200 native drivers, it enables users to securely access the control center automation system from remote locations to troubleshoot and better man-age the system. The PC-based package also offers advanced real-time data, alarming, trending and a user-friendly graphical interface.

RESULTSince implementing the system, operators have been able to learn it

quickly due to the ease of navigation throughout the screens. The reliable security alarm notifications have also given the operators confidence that was previously lacking. They can now securely control wells from any of

the three water tower levels; configure them to start/stop at many level priorities, enabling complete system configuration from one screen; receive email-to-text security alarm messages; and use historical trending for all tower and tank levels. 877/463-8763; www.indusoft.com.

Electronic locks help water department meet Homeland Security mandateProblem

Shortly after 9/11, the Collier County (Fla.) Water Department con-ducted a U.S. EPA vulnerability assessment to identify potential security threats. The assessment revealed a need to tighten up security to meet Department of Homeland Security mandates under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act.

SolutionThe county deployed the CyberLock access control system

from Videx for its ability to control and audit all access activity. The department installed more than 600 electronic locks and padlocks on administrative office doors, repump station and well-house doors, and placed electronic padlocks on gates and underground sample stations. Each employee and contractor is assigned an electronic key programmed with a schedule of access permissions. Both the lock and key record all access activity, including access-denied events.

RESULTThe county now pro-

vides substantial proof to the Health Department and EPA that it is diligent in securing the facilities. In addition, the audit reporting ensures that people are doing their jobs, water samples are being pulled at the correct loca-tions and scheduled security checks are being made throughout the wellfields. 541/738-5500; www.cyberlock.com. wso

CASE STUDIES: METERING AND SECURITYBY CRAIG MANDLI


WSO welcomes news about your water system for future articles.Send your ideas to [email protected]

W ater conservation is a pressing global issue. It has been esti-mated that worldwide water losses from leaking or broken pipes could be as high as 60 percent, including about a third of the world’s drinking water. The World Bank has put the

cost of these losses at some $14 billion a year. In the U.S. alone, leaking pipes lose an estimated 7 billion gallons of drinking water a day.

At the micro level, a water system with slowly leaking flanges or seep-ing corroded fittings can lose millions of gallons of water, plus the energy investment in treating and distributing it. To gain a better understanding of what the water industry considers most important in sealing products and practices, a series of interviews were conducted.

The survey pool consisted of 11 organizations representing municipal engineers involved with water and wastewater systems. Also included were engineering firms that design treatment plants and transport and distribution systems.

The geographic distribution was weighted toward the western portion of the country, which has been experiencing severe water shortages. The interviews covered concerns about leaks, the state of equipment and pipe fittings and the loss of senior experts to retirement.

Questions about trials

Some of the engineers interviewed were relatively happy with cur-rently available sealing products, while others expressed a desire for bet-ter performance and longer service life. Some had conducted their own test programs under controlled conditions to vet vendors’ claims. Most were reluctant to try new products in active municipal water systems.

Determining where in a system to perform product trials is a challenge. The consequences of failure must be low, since shutting off the water to repair a leak caused by a trial is not an option. Other factors working against such trials are the decreasing experience levels and increasing workloads of workers in municipal water systems.

Responses varied when interviewees were asked what types of flange sealing products they were using in their systems. The top four cited were glass-reinforced epoxy (GRE) with elastomeric seals (37 percent), rubber sheet gaskets with and without electrical isolation kits (33 percent), molded push-on gaskets (16 percent) and compressed fiber sheet gaskets (10 percent).

The participants were largely satisfied with current sealing technol-ogy but still interested in new products. However, the progression from interest to trial to use is far from assured. Unlike many process industries such as chemicals and refining, the municipal water industry is not con-

cerned with high temperatures and pressures and toxic media. However, the consequences of failures remain severe and are more publicly visible, and that helps explain the industry’s resistance to trying new products.

Survey Surfaces Sealing ConcernsWater industry leaders share thoughts on gasketing products and practices and the key issues involved in sealing against leakage

BY JIM DRAGO, P.E., AND ANGELICA WIUME

TECHTALK

PH

OT

OS

CO

UR

TE

SY

OF

GP

T, F

OR

ME

RLY

TH

E P

SI A

ND

PIK

OT

EK

CO

MPA

NIE

S

Aligning flanges on a water infrastructure project.

Checking the length of an isolating sleeve during the installation of an isolating gasket kit.

(Continued on page 35)


Green roof reduces water runoff for Badger Meter

Badger Meter installed a 10,000-square-foot green roof at its Milwaukee, Wis., headquarters. The new roof is estimated to reduce annual runoff by 90 per-cent (249,000 gallons). Bad-ger Meter received $48,138 for the project as part of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s green roof incentive to help reduce the volume and number of sewer overflows.

WILO names interim CEO, sales managers

Mark D’Agostino resigned in June as president and CEO of WILO USA to pursue other career opportunities. Jeff Bredeson, senior vice pres-ident, Region Americas, will serve as interim president and chief execu-tive officer. The company also named Ricky Flores northeast regional sales manager for its water management group and Yates Timmerman western regional sales manager-building services.

KSB Pumps opens Canadian headquartersKSB Pumps, a member of the KSB Group, opened its new Canadian

headquarters and engineering facilities in Mississauga, Ontario. The pump manufacturer also introduced its new line of MOVITEC standard-ized industrial pumps for the water and wastewater industries.

Layne Christensen sells SolmeteX division

Layne Christensen Co. sold its SolmeteX division to Gemini Inves-tors, Riveria Investment Group and the management team of the Solme-teX division. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Thomas & Betts publishes electrical brochures

Thomas & Betts published a series of electri-cal solution brochures, available at www.tnb.com under the resources tab, in response to electrical power and service needs. The Solution Set bro-chures address corrosion prevention, safety, ground-ing and bonding.

ETS drinking water systems NSF/ANSI Standard 61 certified

ETS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Neptune-Benson, has been certified as NSF/ANSI Standard 61 compliant for its UV drinking water system.

Metso flow control products receive SIL certification

Metso has certified several flow control products to SIL standards. Its Neles X and D series ball valves, L6 and Mapag B-series butterfly valve, B-series actuators and ValvGuard VG9000 intelligent safety solenoid can be used in safety loops requiring safety integrity level (SIL) 3 classified automated on/off valves. Metso’s Neles Finetrol eccentric rotary plug valve and ND9000 intelligent valve controller can be used in flow control loops requiring SIL classified control valves in applications where a con-trol valve can perform the safety action.

Benko Products celebrates 30-year anniversary

Benko Products celebrated its 30th anniversary in October. Based in Sheffield Village, Ohio, the industrial safety products company was founded in 1983 by John Benko, inventor of the Sahara Hot Box warming oven.

Pump Solutions Group acquires Finder

Pump Solutions Group, an operating company within Dover Corp., acquired Finder S.p.A., designer and manufacturer of API engineered pumps. Finder has operations in Merate and Querceta, Italy, and Venis-sieux, France, as well as representatives in 75 countries. Finder will oper-ate as a business unit within PSG and expects to generate revenue of approximately $80 million in 2013. wso

INDUSTRY NEWSR

EP

RIN

TS

clean. The Red is subject to wide variations in organic matter and hard-ness, related to weather and the nature of the watershed, Hall observes. Normal flows range from about 3,000 to 5,500 cubic feet per second.

The main feeder streams include the Otter Tail River, with generally high water quality; the Bois de Sioux River, with very poor water quality; and the Wild Rice River. “Every river system that feeds the Red is vari-able, depending on how much rain we’re getting at the time,” says Hall.

At the old treatment plant, which used lime and soda ash softening and dual-media filtration, the wide source water variations overwhelmed the process. At the time, the source water included about 60 percent river and 40 percent well water. Potassium permanganate and sometimes

activated carbon were fed at the river pumping station, but at times that wasn’t enough. When taste and odor problems arose, complaint calls came in bunches.

Reliable processThe MWH engineering firm (then known as Montgomery Watson)

designed the new treatment plant. The Moorhead team has steadily improved on the design with instrumentation and updates to the SCADA system, originally supplied by Instrument Control Systems (ICS).

One river pump station and two well pump stations deliver raw water directly into the plant. The waters mix in an influent chamber, and the flow then enters two 5.5 mgd softening basins (Infilco Degremont). Typi-cally, only one basin operates at a time, and when both operate, they work in parallel.

Water in the basins is fed with lime and soda ash, along with ferric sulfate as a coagulant and polymer for flocculation. Ammonia is also added in the softening stage for bromate control in the downstream ozo-nation process.

The WEDECO ozonation/recarbonation chamber (Xylem) has six cells fed with variable amounts of ozone and carbon dioxide, depending on raw water conditions. Residual ozone is sampled at various points in the chamber.

Before final filtration, fluoride is added, along with sodium hexameta-phosphate for heavy metal sequestration and corrosion control. The

Members of the MPS Water Division team are, back, from left, water plant staff members Dan Haman, Kris Knutson, Nate Halbakken, Troy Hall, Jason Yonke, Chris Knutson, Alan Neer, Chris Capecchi and Daryl Brahos; front row, distribution crew members Jared Heller, Chris Perlichek, Matt Andvik, Phil Shequen and Matt Mehl.

Moorhead (Minn.) Public ServiceFOUNDED: | 1896POPULATION SERVED: | 42,000TERRITORY: | Cities of Moorhead and Dilworth, Oakport TownshipCAPACITY: | 16 mgdSYSTEM STORAGE: | 7.9 million gallonsSOURCE WATER: | Red River (85%), Buffalo Aquifer (15%)TREATMENT PROCESS: | Lime/soda ash softening, ozonation,

dual media filtration INFRASTRUCTURE: | 190 miles of water mains, three water towers,

two ground storage tanks, two reservoirs on plant sitesKEY CHALLENGE: | Source water variabilityANNUAL BUDGET: | $4.5 million (operations)WEBSITE: | www.mpsutility.com

“When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to

see flatlines — everything just humming along. Through teamwork, that’s what we’ve been able to accomplish.”TROY HALL

flow then enters two 5.5 mgd softening basins (Infilco Degremont). Typi-cally, only one basin operates at a time, and when both operate, they work

Water in the basins is fed with lime and soda ash, along with ferric sulfate as a coagulant and polymer for flocculation. Ammonia is also added in the softening stage for bromate control in the downstream ozo

The WEDECO ozonation/recarbonation chamber (Xylem) has six cells fed with variable amounts of ozone and carbon dioxide, depending on raw water conditions. Residual ozone is sampled at various points in

Before final filtration, fluoride is added, along with sodium hexametaphosphate for heavy metal sequestration and corrosion control. The

plant’s four dual-media filter cells each hold two feet of anthracite coal atop 12 inches of sand. The filtered water goes to the clear well, where chlorine is fed to combine with ammonia and form chlora-mines for disinfectant residual. The water is then delivered to the res-ervoirs and water towers (7.9 mil-lion gallons total system storage).

Ozone does itHall notes that ozonation is

the key to odor and taste control. “We ozonate at very high pH [at times 11 or higher] so that we benefit from some advanced oxidation,” he says. “Ozone has been a really big improvement since it came online in 1995. It helps break down the organic material. Sometimes we feed CO2 with the ozone as the pH is dropping down close to that of the product water. That helps with taste and odor, too.”

But it wasn’t technology alone that conquered the variability of Red River water. The plant staff’s diligence had a lot to do with it. “Since we started this plant, we have probably doubled or tripled the amount of online instrumentation,” says Hall. “Our SCADA gives us a lot of infor-mation about water quality and what’s happening in the process, and we’re constantly trying to improve that.”

The system’s programmable logic controllers and other control hard-ware are from Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation), and the SCADA software is from IntelliSys Inc. Online instrumentation in the treatment plant and water system includes:

• Three total chlorineanalyzers fromWallace&Tiernan (SiemensWater Technologies Corp.)

• Monochloramine/ammonia analyzer, five pH monitors, and eightturbidimeters from Hach Company

• Two pH controllers (CO2 auto control), four ozone analyzers and two conductivity meters from Rosemount Analytical (Emerson Process Management)

• Organiconlineanalyzerfroms::canMeasuringSystemsBenchtop lab equipment includes a turbidimeter and spectrophotometer

from Hach Company, total organic carbon analyzer from OI Analytical, an IC chromatograph from Dionex, now sold as Thermo Scientific – Water Analysis, and an Orion pH meter from Thermo Scientific – Water Analysis.

The team tests raw water for hardness and alkalinity every four hours and tests the finished water every eight hours. The ozone analyzers test the water in the ozone contact chamber every 20 seconds. Ozone dosage is adjusted manually based on monitoring for ozone residual. “We have to adjust the ozone feed rate as water quality changes — on a good day, just a couple of times; on a bad day, once an hour or more,” says Haman.

Water from Moorhead, Minn., won the first two “Best in Glass”

taste competitions held by the state section of the American Water

Works Association at its annual conference in September in Duluth.

The event includes a vendor show where water samples from

communities that enter the competition are subjected to a taste test

and a popular vote among the attendees. The field is narrowed to

the top three vote-getters, which go to a second round of tasting by a

panel of three from Minnesota section members and a celebrity judge.

“In both 2009 and 2010, we won both the popular and the panel

vote,” says Troy Hall, Water Division manager for Moorhead Public Service.

“The official winner is the sample selected by the panel of judges.”

Another honor awaits: The plant is to be featured during 2012 on

an episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” program, showing

the process of cleaning the softening basins. Says Hall, “It has been

a fun year.”

“We don’t like to keep secrets

between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCADA. As a super-visor, I try to involve the operators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up.”KRIS KNUTSON

Part-time water treatment plant operator Leslee Storlie uses a Thermix stirrer from Thermo Scientific – Water Analysis in a lab testing protocol.

Water treatment plant operator Dan Haman adjusts gas flow on ozone generator from WEDECO, a division of Xylem.

romWallaceWallaceW &Tiernan (Siemens

nalyzer, five pH monitors, and eighturbidimeters from Hach Company

auto control), four ozone analyzers and two conductivity meters from Rosemount Analytical (Emerson

s::can Measuring SystemsBenchtop lab equipment includes a turbidimeter and spectrophotometer










“In both 2009 and 2010, we won both the popular and the panel





the process of cleaning the softening basins. Says Hall, “It has been

The SCADA is programmed with the U.S. EPA ozone contact time (CT) requirements for disinfection. The ozone analyzers feed data directly into the SCADA, which calculates the actual CT value in real time. “In operations, we adjust the ozone, pH or whatever parameter is necessary to make sure the actual plant CT value is above the EPA requirements,” says Haman. “Once we meet the disinfection require-ment, 99 percent of the time the odor and taste issues are taken care of.”

As a teamThe staff’s success derives in part from the team atmosphere its lead-

ers try to create. “There’s a lot of overlap in the way we do things — a lot of cross-training,” notes Kris Knutson, water plant supervisor. “We don’t like to keep secrets between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCADA. As a supervisor, I try to involve the oper-ators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up.”

Halbakken adds, “We communicate with each other. If one of us sees a problem, we alert the others. Everybody is always looking to keep the best product going out of the plant at all times. If that means someone has to be called at three in the morning to deal with a problem, everybody’s open to that. Everyone’s willing to help out.”

Notes Haman, “We try to work to each other’s strengths and shore up our weaknesses. For example, Nate is better at plumbing than I am, so I’ll give him plumbing jobs. In turn, he can give me data to analyze to find out when is the best time to order lime. We each have our little projects and our specialties.”

Hall cites SCADA work as an example of the team’s cooperation. “For the past decade, we have done all our SCADA work internally,” he says. “It’s not a perfect SCADA, but it has been built by people who really care about the end result. When we want to make a change in how a process works, we all work together.

“I’ve done some SCADA work in the office. Kris and Dan have done screen development for various purposes. It has evolved almost entirely in-house. We also select and install our own instrumentation.”

Problem solversTeamwork has helped the Moorhead staff resolve a variety of process

issues. Several years ago, pH variability was a constant challenge. Work-ing together, staff members made the correction by installing pH probes, making plumbing changes, and doing SCADA programming.

In another instance, rising non-carbonate hardness in the Red River was taking a toll on the soda ash feed pumps. A former operator located a peristaltic pump model (Watson-Marlow) that appeared better suited to the task. Operators, an instrument technician and electricians from the utility’s electrical side worked together to test and install the new pumps. “In a few months, we went from having to service the pumps every week to having almost no problems,” says Haman.

Another improvement involved installing a meter in the intake line to sample Red River water for conductivity as a way to predict total hard-ness in the river in real time. The team did the job, including data analy-sis and SCADA programming, entirely in-house, installing a used instrument purchased on the Internet for a few hundred dollars.

Future plans include installing instrumentation at the river pumping station, about three miles (two hours of in-pipe travel time) from the plant. “I’m excited about that,” says Haman. “We’ll be able to see changes in the water before it gets to the plant and so deal with them more effectively.”

Hall calls it a privilege to lead a staff with many and diverse talents. “The strengths of our people make it all work,” he says. “We try our best every day to use the strengths of the people we have.”

The results show up daily in the water glasses of Moorhead residents. wso

THE MPS TEAM

Staff members at the Moorhead Public Service water treatment

plant are:

• TroyHall,WaterDivisionmanager,19yearsofservice,ClassAlicense

• KrisKnutson,waterplantsupervisor,sixyears,ClassA

• NateHalbakken,leadwatertreatmentplantoperator,nineyears,

Class A

• JasonYonke,leadwatertreatmentplantoperator,14years,ClassA

• GenaDahl,waterplantchemist,fouryears

• DanHaman,waterplantoperator,sixyears,ClassC

• DarylBrahos,waterplantoperator,fouryears,ClassC

• ChristopherCapecchi,waterplantoperator,oneyear

• ChristopherKnutson,water

plant operator, one year,

Class D

• AlanNeer,waterplantopera-

tor, four years, Class A

• LesleeStorlie,part-timewater

plant operator, one year

• KevinYoung,part-timewater


MORE INFO:Emerson Process Management800/854-8257www.raihome.com

ERDCO Engineering Corporation800/553-0550www.erdco.com

HachCompany800/227-4224www.hach.com

ICSHealy-Ruff763/559-0568www.icshealyruff.com

Infilco Degremont, Inc.804/756-7600www.degremont-technologies.com

IntelliSys, Inc.800/347-9977www.intellisyssoftware.com

Modentic Industrial Corp.www.modentic.com.tw

MWHGlobal303/533-1900www.mwhglobal.com

OI Analytical800/653-1711www.oico.com(See ad page 29)

Rockwell Automation414/382-2000www.rockwellautomation.com

s::can Measuring Systems888/296-8250www.s-can.us

SiemensWaterTechnologiesCorp.866/926-8420www.water.siemens.com

ThermoScientific–WaterAnalysis800/225-1480www.thermoscientific.com/water

Watson-MarlowPumpsGroup800/282-8823www.wmpg.com

Xylem 704/409-9700www.xyleminc.com

“The strengths of our people make it all work. We try our best every

day to use the strengths of the people we have.”TROY HALL

Water Division manager Troy Hall

Reprinted with permission from WSO™ / January 2012 / © 2012, COLE Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562 / 800-257-7222 / www.wsomag.com

BRIGHT IDEAS:

Automated meter reading in Davie County, N.C. Page 36


Plant upgrades in Rockville, Md.Page 30

TECH TALK:

Keys to success with wireless SCADA

Page 38

Tastes Great!


January/February 2012 www.wsomag.com

MOORHEAD PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERS HIGH-QUALITY WATER FROM VARIABLE SOURCESPage 10

wsoManaging Our Most Valuable Resource

TM

Troy HallWater Division managerMoorhead, Minn.

TasTesGreaT!Technology and teamwork help Moorhead Public Service deliver consistently high-quality water from a highly variable source in Minnesota’s Red River

STORY: Ted J. RulSehPHOTOGRAPHY: John BoRge

The Red River is best known for periodic floods that afflict North Dakota, most notably around Grand Forks. Much farther south, in Moorhead, Minn., the river is known for something else, though mainly to the staff at the water treatment plant.

“Up here, it’s not a big river,” says treatment plant operator Dan Haman. “Local events can have a large impact on it. A rain event can often wash interesting water into the river, especially if the weather has been dry for a while.”

Years ago, that led to complaints from customers about odor and bad taste in the water coming from the tap. That no longer happens. In 1995, Moorhead Public Service added ozonation to its treatment process, and it proved to be a reliable cure. In fact, for the past two years, Moorhead’s water has been voted the best tasting in the state in a competition held by the Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association.

Troy Hall, Water Division manager, credits the treatment technology, along with a talented operations team, with keeping the process on track. “When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to see flatlines — everything just humming along,” says Hall. “Through teamwork, that’s what we’ve accomplished.”

Variable sourceWhat the Moorhead team calls the North Treatment Plant (10 mgd

capacity) was built in 1995. The old 6 mgd treatment plant is now rarely used: The staff operates it periodically just to make sure it remains func-tional and available for emergencies. When the plant operates, it treats well water only.

The new plant, with 10 full-time and two part-time staff members, was designed specifically to deal with variable source water in the Red River. The utility also draws well water from the Buffalo Aquifer, but the river provides about 85 percent of the source water on an annual basis.

“There’s a reason it’s called the Red River,” says Nate Halbakken, lead treatment plant operator. Which is to say it’s not what one would call

Qualityleaders

PLANT

clean. The Red is subject to wide variations in organic matter and hard-ness, related to weather and the nature of the watershed, Hall observes. Normal flows range from about 3,000 to 5,500 cubic feet per second.

The main feeder streams include the Otter Tail River, with generally high water quality; the Bois de Sioux River, with very poor water quality; and the Wild Rice River. “Every river system that feeds the Red is vari-able, depending on how much rain we’re getting at the time,” says Hall.

At the old treatment plant, which used lime and soda ash softening and dual-media filtration, the wide source water variations overwhelmed the process. At the time, the source water included about 60 percent river and 40 percent well water. Potassium permanganate and sometimes




One river pump station and two well pump stations deliver raw water directly into the plant. The waters mix in an influent chamber, and the flow then enters two 5.5 mgd softening basins (Infilco Degremont). Typi-cally, only one basin operates at a time, and when both operate, they work in parallel.

Water in the basins is fed with lime and soda ash, along with ferric sulfate as a coagulant and polymer for flocculation. Ammonia is also added in the softening stage for bromate control in the downstream ozo-nation process.

The WEDECO ozonation/recarbonation chamber (Xylem) has six cells fed with variable amounts of ozone and carbon dioxide, depending on raw water conditions. Residual ozone is sampled at various points in the chamber.

Before final filtration, fluoride is added, along with sodium hexameta-phosphate for heavy metal sequestration and corrosion control. The


Moorhead (Minn.) Public Service

FouNDeD: | 1896PoPulATioN ServeD: | 42,000TerriTorY: | Cities of Moorhead and Dilworth, Oakport TownshipCAPACiTY: | 16 mgdSYSTeM STorAge: | 7.9 million gallonsSourCe WATer: | Red River (85%), Buffalo Aquifer (15%)TreATMeNT ProCeSS: | Lime/soda ash softening, ozonation,

dual media filtration iNFrASTruCTure: | 190 miles of water mains, three water towers,

two ground storage tanks, two reservoirs on plant sitesKeY CHAlleNge: | Source water variabilityANNuAl BuDgeT: | $4.5 million (operations)WeBSiTe: | www.mpsutility.com

“When we look at the SCAdA and see our water-quality trends, we want to

see flatlines — everything just humming along. Through teamwork, that’s what we’ve been able to accomplish.”TRoy hAll

plant’s four dual-media filter cells each hold two feet of anthracite coal atop 12 inches of sand. The filtered water goes to the clear well, where chlorine is fed to combine with ammonia and form chlora-mines for disinfectant residual. The water is then delivered to the res-ervoirs and water towers (7.9 mil-lion gallons total system storage).

ozone does itHall notes that ozonation is

the key to odor and taste control. “We ozonate at very high pH [at times 11 or higher] so that we benefit from some advanced oxidation,” he says. “Ozone has been a really big improvement since it came online in 1995. It helps break down the organic material. Sometimes we feed CO2 with the ozone as the pH is dropping down close to that of the product water. That helps with taste and odor, too.”

But it wasn’t technology alone that conquered the variability of Red River water. The plant staff’s diligence had a lot to do with it. “Since we started this plant, we have probably doubled or tripled the amount of online instrumentation,” says Hall. “Our SCADA gives us a lot of infor-mation about water quality and what’s happening in the process, and we’re constantly trying to improve that.”

The system’s programmable logic controllers and other control hard-ware are from Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation), and the SCADA software is from IntelliSys Inc. Online instrumentation in the treatment plant and water system includes:

• Three total chlorineanalyzers fromWallace&Tiernan (SiemensWater Technologies Corp.)

• Monochloramine/ammonia analyzer, five pH monitors, and eightturbidimeters from Hach Company

• Two pH controllers (CO2 auto control), four ozone analyzers and two conductivity meters from Rosemount Analytical (Emerson Process Management)

• Organiconlineanalyzerfroms::canMeasuringSystemsBenchtop lab equipment includes a turbidimeter and spectrophotometer



Water from Moorhead, Minn., won the first two “Best in glass”








“in both 2009 and 2010, we won both the popular and the panel





the process of cleaning the softening basins. Says Hall, “it has been

a fun year.”

“We don’t like to keep secrets

between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCAdA. As a super-visor, I try to involve the operators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up.”KRIS KnuTSon

Part-time water treatment plant operator leslee Storlie uses a Thermix stirrer from Thermo Scientific – Water Analysis in a lab testing protocol.

Water treatment plant operator Dan Haman adjusts gas flow on ozone generator from WeDeCo, a division of Xylem.

Water plant supervisor Kris Knutson adjusts an ozone gas feed valve. ozonation has helped Moorhead Public Service correct recurring odor issues caused by source water variation. (gas fl owmeter by erDCo engineering Corporation, valve by Modentic industrial Corp.)

The SCADA is programmed with the U.S. EPA ozone contact time (CT) requirements for disinfection. The ozone analyzers feed data directly into the SCADA, which calculates the actual CT value in real time. “In operations, we adjust the ozone, pH or whatever parameter is necessary to make sure the actual plant CT value is above the EPA requirements,” says Haman. “Once we meet the disinfection require-ment, 99 percent of the time the odor and taste issues are taken care of.”

As a teamThe staff’s success derives in part from the team atmosphere its lead-

ers try to create. “There’s a lot of overlap in the way we do things — a lot of cross-training,” notes Kris Knutson, water plant supervisor. “We don’t like to keep secrets between positions. We expect all our operators to be very familiar with the SCADA. As a supervisor, I try to involve the oper-ators so they can help me out with data analysis, maintenance tasks, or whatever happens to come up.”

Halbakken adds, “We communicate with each other. If one of us sees a problem, we alert the others. Everybody is always looking to keep the best product going out of the plant at all times. If that means someone has to be called at three in the morning to deal with a problem, everybody’s open to that. Everyone’s willing to help out.”

Notes Haman, “We try to work to each other’s strengths and shore up our weaknesses. For example, Nate is better at plumbing than I am, so I’ll give him plumbing jobs. In turn, he can give me data to analyze to find out when is the best time to order lime. We each have our little projects and our specialties.”




issues. Several years ago, pH variability was a constant challenge. Work-ing together, staff members made the correction by installing pH probes, making plumbing changes, and doing SCADA programming.


Another improvement involved installing a meter in the intake line to sample Red River water for conductivity as a way to predict total hard-ness in the river in real time. The team did the job, including data analy-sis and SCADA programming, entirely in-house, installing a used instrument purchased on the Internet for a few hundred dollars.


Hall calls it a privilege to lead a staff with many and diverse talents. “The strengths of our people make it all work,” he says. “We try our best every day to use the strengths of the people we have.”

The results show up daily in the water glasses of Moorhead residents. wso

The MPS TeAM

Staff members at the Moorhead Public Service water treatment

plant are:

• TroyHall,WaterDivisionmanager,19yearsofservice,ClassAlicense

• KrisKnutson,waterplantsupervisor,sixyears,ClassA

• NateHalbakken,leadwatertreatmentplantoperator,nineyears,

Class A

• JasonYonke,leadwatertreatmentplantoperator,14years,ClassA

• GenaDahl,waterplantchemist,fouryears

• DanHaman,waterplantoperator,sixyears,ClassC

• DarylBrahos,waterplantoperator,fouryears,ClassC

• ChristopherCapecchi,waterplantoperator,oneyear

• ChristopherKnutson,water


Class D

• AlanNeer,waterplantopera-




• KevinYoung,part-timewater


MoRe InFo:Emerson Process Management800/854-8257www.raihome.com

ERDCO Engineering Corporation800/553-0550www.erdco.com

HachCompany800/227-4224www.hach.com

ICSHealy-Ruff763/559-0568www.icshealyruff.com

Infilco Degremont, Inc.804/756-7600www.degremont-technologies.com

IntelliSys, Inc.800/347-9977www.intellisyssoftware.com

Modentic Industrial Corp.www.modentic.com.tw

MWHGlobal303/533-1900www.mwhglobal.com

OI Analytical800/653-1711www.oico.com(See ad page 29)

Rockwell Automation414/382-2000www.rockwellautomation.com

s::can Measuring Systems888/296-8250www.s-can.us

SiemensWaterTechnologiesCorp.866/926-8420www.water.siemens.com

ThermoScientific–WaterAnalysis800/225-1480www.thermoscientific.com/water

Watson-MarlowPumpsGroup800/282-8823www.wmpg.com

Xylem 704/409-9700www.xyleminc.com

“The strengths of our people make it all work. We try our best every

day to use the strengths of the people we have.”TRoy hAll


Reprinted with permission from WSO™ / Month 0000 / © 2012, COLE Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562 / 800-257-7222 / www.wsomag.com




issues. Several years ago, pH variability was a constant challenge. Working together, staff members made the correction by installing pH probes, making plumbing changes, and doing SCADA programming.


Another improvement involved installing a meter in the intake line to sample Red River water for conductivity as a way to predict total hardness in the river in real time. The team did the job, including data analysis and SCADA programming, entirely in-house, installing a used instrument purchased on the Internet for a few hundred dollars.


Hall calls it a privilege to lead a staff with many and diverse talents.

Class A

• JasonYonke,Yonke,Y leadwatertreatmentpreatmentpreatment lantolantolant perator,14years,14years,14y ClassA

• GenaDahl,waterplantclantclant hemist,fouryouryour earsyearsy

• DanHaman,waterplantolantolant perator,sixyixyix ears,years,y ClassC

• DarylBrahos,waterplantolantolant perator,fouryouryour ears,years,y ClassC

• ChristopherCChristopherCChristopher apecchi,waterplantolantolant perator,oneyearyeary

• ChristopherK• ChristopherK• Christopher nutson,water


Class D

• AlanNeer,waterplantolantolant pera-




• KevinYoung,Young,Y part-timewater







One river pump station and two well pump stations deliver raw water directly into the plant. The waters mix in an influent chamber, and the


Public Service

Cities of Moorhead and Dilworth, Oakport Township

Red River (85%), Buffalo Aquifer (15%)Lime/soda ash softening, ozonation,

190 miles of water mains, three water towers, two ground storage tanks, two reservoirs on plant sites

activated carbon were fed at the river pumping station, but at times that wasn’t enough. When taste and odor problems arose, complaint calls came

The MWH engineering firm (then known as Montgomery Watson) designed the new treatment plant. The Moorhead team has steadily improved on the design with instrumentation and updates to the SCADA system, originally supplied by Instrument Control Systems (ICS).

One river pump station and two well pump stations deliver raw water directly into the plant. The waters mix in an influent chamber, and the

Members of the MPS Water Division team are, back, from left, water plant staff members Dan Haman, Kris Knutson, Nate Halbakken, Troy Hall, Jason Yonke, Chris Knutson, Alan Neer, Chris Capecchi and Daryl Brahos; front row, distribution crew members Jared Heller, Chris Perlichek, Matt Andvik, Phil




The event includes a vendor show where water samples from “We don’t like to Part-time water treatment plant operator Leslee Storlie uses a Thermix stirrer from Thermo Scientific






TASTESGREAT!Technology and teamwork help Moorhead Public Service deliver consistently high-quality water from a highly variable source in Minnesota’s Red River

STORY: TED J. RULSEHPHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN BORGE

The Red River is best known for periodic floods that afflict North Dakota, most notably around Grand Forks. Much farther south, in Moorhead, Minn., the river is known for something else, though mainly to the staff at the water treatment plant.

“Up here, it’s not a big river,” says treatment plant operator Dan Haman. “Local events can have a large impact on it. A rain event can often wash interesting water into the river, especially if the weather has been dry for a while.”

Years ago, that led to complaints from customers about odor and bad taste in the water coming from the tap. That no longer happens. In 1995, Moorhead Public Service added ozonation to its treatment process, and it proved to be a reliable cure. In fact, for the past two years, Moorhead’s water has been voted the best tasting in the state in a competition held by the Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association.

Troy Hall, Water Division manager, credits the treatment technology, along with a talented operations team, with keeping the process on track. “When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to see flatlines — everything just humming along,” says Hall. “Through teamwork, that’s what we’ve accomplished.”

Variable sourceWhat the Moorhead team calls the North Treatment Plant (10 mgd

capacity) was built in 1995. The old 6 mgd treatment plant is now rarely used: The staff operates it periodically just to make sure it remains func-tional and available for emergencies. When the plant operates, it treats well water only.

The new plant, with 10 full-time and two part-time staff members, was designed specifically to deal with variable source water in the Red River. The utility also draws well water from the Buffalo Aquifer, but the river provides about 85 percent of the source water on an annual basis.

“There’s a reason it’s called the Red River,” says Nate Halbakken, lead treatment plant operator. Which is to say it’s not what one would call

QUALITYLEADERS

PLANT“When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to

see flatlines — everything just humming along. Through teamwork, that’s what we’ve been able to accomplish.”TROY HALL

When we look at the SCADA and see our water-quality trends, we want to

see flatlines — everything just humming along. Through teamwork, that’s what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

TASTESGREATechnology and teamwork help Moorhead Public Service deliver consistently high-quality water from a highly variable source in Minnesota’s Red Riverhigh-quality water from a highly variable source in Minnesota’s Red River

STORY: TED J. RULSEHPHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN BORGE

QUALITYLEADERS

PLANT

BRIGHT IDEAS:

Automated meter reading in Davie County, N.C. Page 36


Plant upgrades in Rockville, Md.Page 30

TECH TALK:

Keys to success with wireless SCADA

Page 38

Tastes Great!


January/February 2012 www.wsomag.com

MOORHEAD PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERS HIGH-QUALITY WATER FROM VARIABLE SOURCESPage 10

wsoManaging Our Most Valuable Resource

TM

Troy HallWater Division managerMoorhead, Minn.

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This puts the onus on sealing manufacturers to present a compelling case for their offerings, including test data, field case studies and refer-ences. Any group includes those who are cautious and risk-sensitive, and others who are early adopters of technology. In the water industry the lat-ter are few and far between, even though more than half in the survey indicated willingness to consider a new product.

Sealing issues

The interviews also yielded insights to the industry’s principal con-cerns about sealing. The first was installation, defined as proper gasket seating (compression), bolt torque required to attain and maintain an effective seal, matching bolt type and strength to flange type and strength, and contractor skill. The yield and ultimate tensile strengths of ductile iron pipe flanges are lower than for forged ASME B16.5 flanges. Installers of gaskets in the former are not comfortable with the high torques cited

for forged flanges, yet gasket suppliers often do not differentiate between the allowable bolt torques of these materials.

The second concern was flange condition. Respondents cited the need for gaskets able to accommodate misaligned flange faces and withstand field conditions. Gaskets also must compensate for scratches and other damage to flanges inflicted in pipeline construction and installation. The surface conditions of even well-aligned DIP flanges pose the inherent issue of face serrations, which are deeper than those of a B16.5 raised-face flange. This raises a question of whether isolating gaskets made of GRE or metal carrier plates with elastomeric sealing elements can seal properly.

Remaining concerns about gasket performance included electrical isolation, NSF-61 and chemical resistance. Electrical isolation mitigates the effects of destructive galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals, as in mating a DIP flange and stainless steel valves. Electrically insulating gaskets kits typically consist of a gasket, bolt sleeves and washers made of high-impedance, nonconductive materials.

NSF-61 requires that sealing and other materials used in potable water systems be certified for safe contact with drinking water. NSF-61 gasket materials are now available for use in these systems. Concerns about chemical resistance focused on chloramines and hydrogen sulfide, which can degrade certain types of elastomers in gasket materials.

Toward solutions

These and other concerns have been addressed by sealing manufac-turers and application engineers. Isolating gaskets kits are available to thwart galvanic corrosion. Installation can be improved with classroom and field training coupled with proper procedures and quality checks. And flange condition, NSF-61 and chemical compatibility can be solved by adherence to sealing best practices and use of proven gasket designs.

Thorough assessment of the application and equipment service conditions will point the way to the right product and guidance for its proper installation.

ABOUT THE AUTHORSJim Drago, P.E., is senior manager, market intelligence, with Garlock Seal-

ing Technologies, a maker of fluid sealing products for process industries based in Palmyra, N.Y. Angelica Wiume is global industry leader for water and con-struction with GPT, a maker of critical-service flange systems, spring-energized jacketed seals and electrical flange isolation kits based in Wheat Ridge, Colo. wso

Installation can be improved with classroom and field training coupled with proper procedures and quality

checks. And flange condition, NSF-61 and chemical compatibility can be solved by adherence to sealing best practices and use of proven gasket designs.

PH

OT

OS

CO

UR

TE

SY

OF

GP

T, F

OR

ME

RLY

TH

E P

SI A

ND

PIK

OT

EK

CO

MPA

NIE

S

(Continued from page 33)


Green roof reduces water runoff for Badger Meter

Badger Meter installed a 10,000-square-foot green roof at its Milwaukee, Wis., headquarters. The new roof is estimated to reduce annual runoff by 90 per-cent (249,000 gallons). Bad-ger Meter received $48,138 for the project as part of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s green roof incentive to help reduce the volume and number of sewer overflows.

WILO names interim CEO, sales managers

Mark D’Agostino resigned in June as president and CEO of WILO USA to pursue other career opportunities. Jeff Bredeson, senior vice pres-ident, Region Americas, will serve as interim president and chief execu-tive officer. The company also named Ricky Flores northeast regional sales manager for its water management group and Yates Timmerman western regional sales manager-building services.

KSB Pumps opens Canadian headquartersKSB Pumps, a member of the KSB Group, opened its new Canadian

headquarters and engineering facilities in Mississauga, Ontario. The pump manufacturer also introduced its new line of MOVITEC standard-ized industrial pumps for the water and wastewater industries.

Layne Christensen sells SolmeteX division

Layne Christensen Co. sold its SolmeteX division to Gemini Inves-tors, Riveria Investment Group and the management team of the Solme-teX division. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Thomas & Betts publishes electrical brochures

Thomas & Betts published a series of electri-cal solution brochures, available at www.tnb.com under the resources tab, in response to electrical power and service needs. The Solution Set bro-chures address corrosion prevention, safety, ground-ing and bonding.

ETS drinking water systems NSF/ANSI Standard 61 certified

ETS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Neptune-Benson, has been certified as NSF/ANSI Standard 61 compliant for its UV drinking water system.

Metso flow control products receive SIL certification

Metso has certified several flow control products to SIL standards. Its Neles X and D series ball valves, L6 and Mapag B-series butterfly valve, B-series actuators and ValvGuard VG9000 intelligent safety solenoid can be used in safety loops requiring safety integrity level (SIL) 3 classified automated on/off valves. Metso’s Neles Finetrol eccentric rotary plug valve and ND9000 intelligent valve controller can be used in flow control loops requiring SIL classified control valves in applications where a con-trol valve can perform the safety action.

Benko Products celebrates 30-year anniversary

Benko Products celebrated its 30th anniversary in October. Based in Sheffield Village, Ohio, the industrial safety products company was founded in 1983 by John Benko, inventor of the Sahara Hot Box warming oven.

Pump Solutions Group acquires Finder

Pump Solutions Group, an operating company within Dover Corp., acquired Finder S.p.A., designer and manufacturer of API engineered pumps. Finder has operations in Merate and Querceta, Italy, and Venis-sieux, France, as well as representatives in 75 countries. Finder will oper-ate as a business unit within PSG and expects to generate revenue of approximately $80 million in 2013. wso

INDUSTRY NEWS

This puts the onus on sealing manufacturers to present a compelling case for their offerings, including test data, field case studies and refer-ences. Any group includes those who are cautious and risk-sensitive, and others who are early adopters of technology. In the water industry the lat-ter are few and far between, even though more than half in the survey indicated willingness to consider a new product.

Sealing issues

The interviews also yielded insights to the industry’s principal con-cerns about sealing. The first was installation, defined as proper gasket seating (compression), bolt torque required to attain and maintain an effective seal, matching bolt type and strength to flange type and strength, and contractor skill. The yield and ultimate tensile strengths of ductile iron pipe flanges are lower than for forged ASME B16.5 flanges. Installers of gaskets in the former are not comfortable with the high torques cited

for forged flanges, yet gasket suppliers often do not differentiate between the allowable bolt torques of these materials.

The second concern was flange condition. Respondents cited the need for gaskets able to accommodate misaligned flange faces and withstand field conditions. Gaskets also must compensate for scratches and other damage to flanges inflicted in pipeline construction and installation. The surface conditions of even well-aligned DIP flanges pose the inherent issue of face serrations, which are deeper than those of a B16.5 raised-face flange. This raises a question of whether isolating gaskets made of GRE or metal carrier plates with elastomeric sealing elements can seal properly.

Remaining concerns about gasket performance included electrical isolation, NSF-61 and chemical resistance. Electrical isolation mitigates the effects of destructive galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals, as in mating a DIP flange and stainless steel valves. Electrically insulating gaskets kits typically consist of a gasket, bolt sleeves and washers made of high-impedance, nonconductive materials.

NSF-61 requires that sealing and other materials used in potable water systems be certified for safe contact with drinking water. NSF-61 gasket materials are now available for use in these systems. Concerns about chemical resistance focused on chloramines and hydrogen sulfide, which can degrade certain types of elastomers in gasket materials.

Toward solutions

These and other concerns have been addressed by sealing manufac-turers and application engineers. Isolating gaskets kits are available to thwart galvanic corrosion. Installation can be improved with classroom and field training coupled with proper procedures and quality checks. And flange condition, NSF-61 and chemical compatibility can be solved by adherence to sealing best practices and use of proven gasket designs.

Thorough assessment of the application and equipment service conditions will point the way to the right product and guidance for its proper installation.

ABOUT THE AUTHORSJim Drago, P.E., is senior manager, market intelligence, with Garlock Seal-

ing Technologies, a maker of fluid sealing products for process industries based in Palmyra, N.Y. Angelica Wiume is global industry leader for water and con-struction with GPT, a maker of critical-service flange systems, spring-energized jacketed seals and electrical flange isolation kits based in Wheat Ridge, Colo. wso

Installation can be improved with classroom and field training coupled with proper procedures and quality

checks. And flange condition, NSF-61 and chemical compatibility can be solved by adherence to sealing best practices and use of proven gasket designs.

PH

OT

OS

CO

UR

TE

SY

OF

GP

T, F

OR

ME

RLY

TH

E P

SI A

ND

PIK

OT

EK

CO

MPA

NIE

S

(Continued from page 33)


“We must be one of the

earliest plants to employ

full-scale UV. We’re proud

of the fact that we are not

adding chemicals to our

discharge. We maximize

the biological activity —

let the microbes do their

thing. Engineers design

the best plant they know

how to, and contractors

build it as well as they

can. In the end, though,

it’s the operators who

make it work.”

Joni EmrickAn Original Environmentalist

WATER RESOURCE MANAGERKalispell (Mont.) WastewaterTreatment Plant

Get your FREE subscriptionand read about original

environmentalists like

Joni each month in

Treatment Plant Operator.

COLE PUBLISHING INC.tpomag.com800-257-7222

Proudly Serving the Environmental Service Industry Since 1979


1|Asahi/America part search app The part number search tool app from Asahi/America enables

the user to locate part numbers and list prices for any Asahi/America product. The free app can be used with iPhone, iPad and Android devices. 800/343-3618; www.asahi-america.com.

2|GMI maintenance-free single gas monitorThe maintenance-free PS1 Series single gas monitor from Gas

Measurement Instruments features sensor options for monitoring hydro-gen sulphide, oxygen, carbon monoxide or sulphur dioxide. The self-monitoring device has on/off capability and field-adjustable alarm settings. During hazardous conditions users are alerted via vibration, red flashing LEDs and audible buzzer. The monitor has a stainless steel alli-gator clip that attaches onto a collar or vest, putting it near the breathing zone for maximum protection. 713/559-9290; www.gmiusa.com.

3|In-Situ environmental monitoring app The smarTROLL multiparameter handheld and iSitu smartphone

application from In-Situ are designed for environmental monitoring, includ-ing water quality spot checks and surface-water monitoring. No training is required to use the probe or intuitive smartphone application. Techni-cians can read results for 14 water-quality parameters. The iSitu app is designed to run on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. The smarTROLL system includes probe, smart sensors and battery clip-on battery pack with Blue-tooth wireless technology. 800/446-7488; www.in-situ.com.

4|Mean Green industrial-strength degreaserMean Green industrial strength cleaner and degreaser from

CR Brands is a blend of biodegradable detergents formulated for chal-lenging fleet and equipment washing applications. The cleaner removes dirt, tar and road grime from vehicles and trailers and can be used for spot removal on carpets, seats and dashboards. It also degreases equip-ment, concrete and asphalt. It can be used with pressure washers and cleans with no environmentally harmful solvents. www.meangreen-degreaser.com/industrial-strength.

5|International Products assembly lubricant P-80 RediLube from International Products Corp. provides

temporary lubrication that can ease the assembly of tight-fitting parts. It

is solvent-free, water-based, biodegradable, nontoxic and nonirritating to eyes and skin. 609/386-8770; www.ipcol.com.

6|Hach silica analyzer The 5500sc silica analyzer from Hach has a pressurized

reagent delivery system that helps eliminate frequent maintenance. The analyzer can operate continuously for up to 90 days on 2 liters of reagents. Predictive diagnostic tools help reduce downtime. 800/227-4224; www.hach.com.

7|HEMCO lab workstation enclosuresEnclosures from HEMCO are designed to isolate liquid-handling

workstations, HPLC equipment, sample weighing, high throughput screen-ing, powder handling and other lab automated processes by providing exhaust air systems or HEPA filtered clean workstations. 800/779-4362; www.hemcocorp.com.

8|Hayward pleated filter cartridges Pleated filter cartridges from Hayward Flow Control are avail-

able in polypropylene or cellulose media for use in Hayward’s CFLV and MFLV cartridge adapter kits. Available micron ratings include nominal

Solar-powered thermometer replaces mercury-in-glass models

Solar-powered digital thermometers from Palmer Instruments are a direct replacement for industrial mercury-in-glass (MIG) and bimetal thermometers.

“It doesn’t require any batteries. It doesn’t require any line power,” says Tadd Ayers, product engineer for Palmer Wahl Instruments. “You just have to have 10 lumens of light and the unit will come to life and function.”

Completely mercury free, the environmentally friendly ther-mometer with high-impact ABS case is available in a base model (PST500) or with 4-20 mA transmitter capability (PST550) for con-nection to a remotely installed controller or recorder. The transmit-ter has a temperature range of -58 to 302 degrees F and ambient operating temperature of -15 to 185 degrees F. Maximum load resis-tance is 775 watts with a 24-volt DC supply.

The thermometer features an easy-to-read 1/2-inch LCD screen that can be set for C (Celsius) or F (Fahrenheit) readings. An adjust-able angle fitting enables the casing to rotate 180 degrees for optimal viewing and the stem to be positioned in 10-degree increments.

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTBY ED WODALSKI

PRODUCT NEWS

13 5

26

4

1, 5, 10 and 30 in 10-, 16-, 20- and 30-inch lengths. All cartridges have DOE Plastisol PVC endcaps for maximum sealing. 888/429-4635; www.haywardflowcontrol.com.

9|Dialight LED linear fixtureThe SafeSite LED linear fixture from Dialight is designed for

Class I, Division 2 hazardous applications. The fixture is intended to replace traditional fluorescent and HID (high-intensity discharge) light-ing. Delivering 106 lumens per watt, the fixture is available in 2-foot (33 watt) and 4-foot (66 watt) models and stands less than an inch tall. 732/919-3119; www.dialight.com.

10|Wilden air distribution systemThe Pro-Flo SHIFT air distribution system (ADS) from

Wilden Pump & Engineering, part of the Pump Solutions Group, is made for use in Advanced Series bolted and Original Series clamped air-oper-ated double diaphragm (AODD) pumps, enabling them to reduce air con-sumption by 60 percent. The pump is available in 1 1/2-, 2- and 3-inch sizes with discharge pressures to 125 psig and maximum flows of 243 gpm. It can handle up to 1/2-inch solids and is available with suction lifts of 23 feet (dry) and 30.6 feet (wet). 909/422-1730; www.wildenpump.com.

11|WILO horizontal split case pumpsHorizontal split case pumps from WILO USA are available in

64 models. Sizes range up to 500 hp, heads to 750 feet and flows to 15,000 gpm with a temperature range of 18 to 250 degrees F. The horizontal split casing enables bearings and the mechanical seal to be replaced without disturbing system piping. Other features include hydraulically balanced double-suction impeller for minimal axial thrust, tongue-and-groove neck that eliminates rotating assembly seizing and permanently lubri-cated, single-row bearings. 866/945-6872; www.wilo-usa.com.

12|Subaru centrifugal pumpsThe PKX line of centrifugal pumps from Subaru Industrial

Power Products feature an overhead cam engine with heavy-duty strainer to protect the pump from large solids. Self-priming is available in 2-, 3- and 4-inch models. The 2-inch PKX201 is powered by the EX13 4.5 hp engine and delivers 158 gpm. The 3-inch PKX301 is powered by the 6 hp EX17 engine and delivers 256 gpm. The 4-inch PKX401 is powered by the 9 hp EX27 engine and delivers 356 gpm. The pumps have an abrasion-resistant, cast-iron, three-blade impeller and hardened, cast-iron volute. 800/277-6246; www.robinamerica.com.

13|Stahlin DiamondShield nonmetallic enclosures DiamondShield series nonmetallic enclosures from Stahlin

are designed for high-end electronics and harsh corrosive environments, both indoors and outdoors. Available in more than 150 configurations, sizes range from 6 by 6 to 20 by 16 inches. Features include flat, bonded window with clear cover and four cover securement options. Other fea-tures include field interchangeable covers and hardware, unobstructed walls for ease of conduit or component placement and NEMA 1, 3, 3S, 4X, 12, 13 and IP66 certified. 616/794-0700; www.stahlin.com. wso

“They were really designed for the HVAC market, but they have application potential anywhere there’s mercury-in-glass,” Ayers says.

Suitable for indoor and outdoor use, including 100 percent humid-ity, rain covers are available for full-time outdoor installation.

“Another thing that makes these unique is you can get one unit that will take you from -50 degrees F all the way up to 300 degrees F,” Ayers says. “Previously you had to have multiple thermometers for that range.” The thermometers, which update every 10 seconds, have an ambient temperature range of -30 to 140 degrees F with 0 temperature error. They require no maintenance or cost to operate.

“It’s easy to install,” Ayers says. “It basically takes care of itself. There’s no power you have to run to it and no batteries you have to change. It also has full conformance with federal specification GG-T-321D.”

Temperature-sensing cast aluminum stem options include industrial, bimetallic and air duct. 800/421-2853; www.palmerwahl.com.

13

8

7

10

11

12

9

Solar-powered digital thermometer from Palmer Instruments


1|Asahi/America part search app The part number search tool app from Asahi/America enables

the user to locate part numbers and list prices for any Asahi/America product. The free app can be used with iPhone, iPad and Android devices. 800/343-3618; www.asahi-america.com.

2|GMI maintenance-free single gas monitorThe maintenance-free PS1 Series single gas monitor from Gas

Measurement Instruments features sensor options for monitoring hydro-gen sulphide, oxygen, carbon monoxide or sulphur dioxide. The self-monitoring device has on/off capability and field-adjustable alarm settings. During hazardous conditions users are alerted via vibration, red flashing LEDs and audible buzzer. The monitor has a stainless steel alli-gator clip that attaches onto a collar or vest, putting it near the breathing zone for maximum protection. 713/559-9290; www.gmiusa.com.

3|In-Situ environmental monitoring app The smarTROLL multiparameter handheld and iSitu smartphone

application from In-Situ are designed for environmental monitoring, includ-ing water quality spot checks and surface-water monitoring. No training is required to use the probe or intuitive smartphone application. Techni-cians can read results for 14 water-quality parameters. The iSitu app is designed to run on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. The smarTROLL system includes probe, smart sensors and battery clip-on battery pack with Blue-tooth wireless technology. 800/446-7488; www.in-situ.com.

4|Mean Green industrial-strength degreaserMean Green industrial strength cleaner and degreaser from

CR Brands is a blend of biodegradable detergents formulated for chal-lenging fleet and equipment washing applications. The cleaner removes dirt, tar and road grime from vehicles and trailers and can be used for spot removal on carpets, seats and dashboards. It also degreases equip-ment, concrete and asphalt. It can be used with pressure washers and cleans with no environmentally harmful solvents. www.meangreen-degreaser.com/industrial-strength.

5|International Products assembly lubricant P-80 RediLube from International Products Corp. provides

temporary lubrication that can ease the assembly of tight-fitting parts. It

is solvent-free, water-based, biodegradable, nontoxic and nonirritating to eyes and skin. 609/386-8770; www.ipcol.com.

6|Hach silica analyzer The 5500sc silica analyzer from Hach has a pressurized

reagent delivery system that helps eliminate frequent maintenance. The analyzer can operate continuously for up to 90 days on 2 liters of reagents. Predictive diagnostic tools help reduce downtime. 800/227-4224; www.hach.com.

7|HEMCO lab workstation enclosuresEnclosures from HEMCO are designed to isolate liquid-handling

workstations, HPLC equipment, sample weighing, high throughput screen-ing, powder handling and other lab automated processes by providing exhaust air systems or HEPA filtered clean workstations. 800/779-4362; www.hemcocorp.com.

8|Hayward pleated filter cartridges Pleated filter cartridges from Hayward Flow Control are avail-

able in polypropylene or cellulose media for use in Hayward’s CFLV and MFLV cartridge adapter kits. Available micron ratings include nominal

Solar-powered thermometer replaces mercury-in-glass models

Solar-powered digital thermometers from Palmer Instruments are a direct replacement for industrial mercury-in-glass (MIG) and bimetal thermometers.

“It doesn’t require any batteries. It doesn’t require any line power,” says Tadd Ayers, product engineer for Palmer Wahl Instruments. “You just have to have 10 lumens of light and the unit will come to life and function.”

Completely mercury free, the environmentally friendly ther-mometer with high-impact ABS case is available in a base model (PST500) or with 4-20 mA transmitter capability (PST550) for con-nection to a remotely installed controller or recorder. The transmit-ter has a temperature range of -58 to 302 degrees F and ambient operating temperature of -15 to 185 degrees F. Maximum load resis-tance is 775 watts with a 24-volt DC supply.

The thermometer features an easy-to-read 1/2-inch LCD screen that can be set for C (Celsius) or F (Fahrenheit) readings. An adjust-able angle fitting enables the casing to rotate 180 degrees for optimal viewing and the stem to be positioned in 10-degree increments.

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTBY ED WODALSKI

PRODUCT NEWS

13 5

26

4

1, 5, 10 and 30 in 10-, 16-, 20- and 30-inch lengths. All cartridges have DOE Plastisol PVC endcaps for maximum sealing. 888/429-4635; www.haywardflowcontrol.com.

9|Dialight LED linear fixtureThe SafeSite LED linear fixture from Dialight is designed for

Class I, Division 2 hazardous applications. The fixture is intended to replace traditional fluorescent and HID (high-intensity discharge) light-ing. Delivering 106 lumens per watt, the fixture is available in 2-foot (33 watt) and 4-foot (66 watt) models and stands less than an inch tall. 732/919-3119; www.dialight.com.

10|Wilden air distribution systemThe Pro-Flo SHIFT air distribution system (ADS) from

Wilden Pump & Engineering, part of the Pump Solutions Group, is made for use in Advanced Series bolted and Original Series clamped air-oper-ated double diaphragm (AODD) pumps, enabling them to reduce air con-sumption by 60 percent. The pump is available in 1 1/2-, 2- and 3-inch sizes with discharge pressures to 125 psig and maximum flows of 243 gpm. It can handle up to 1/2-inch solids and is available with suction lifts of 23 feet (dry) and 30.6 feet (wet). 909/422-1730; www.wildenpump.com.

11|WILO horizontal split case pumpsHorizontal split case pumps from WILO USA are available in

64 models. Sizes range up to 500 hp, heads to 750 feet and flows to 15,000 gpm with a temperature range of 18 to 250 degrees F. The horizontal split casing enables bearings and the mechanical seal to be replaced without disturbing system piping. Other features include hydraulically balanced double-suction impeller for minimal axial thrust, tongue-and-groove neck that eliminates rotating assembly seizing and permanently lubri-cated, single-row bearings. 866/945-6872; www.wilo-usa.com.

12|Subaru centrifugal pumpsThe PKX line of centrifugal pumps from Subaru Industrial

Power Products feature an overhead cam engine with heavy-duty strainer to protect the pump from large solids. Self-priming is available in 2-, 3- and 4-inch models. The 2-inch PKX201 is powered by the EX13 4.5 hp engine and delivers 158 gpm. The 3-inch PKX301 is powered by the 6 hp EX17 engine and delivers 256 gpm. The 4-inch PKX401 is powered by the 9 hp EX27 engine and delivers 356 gpm. The pumps have an abrasion-resistant, cast-iron, three-blade impeller and hardened, cast-iron volute. 800/277-6246; www.robinamerica.com.

13|Stahlin DiamondShield nonmetallic enclosures DiamondShield series nonmetallic enclosures from Stahlin

are designed for high-end electronics and harsh corrosive environments, both indoors and outdoors. Available in more than 150 configurations, sizes range from 6 by 6 to 20 by 16 inches. Features include flat, bonded window with clear cover and four cover securement options. Other fea-tures include field interchangeable covers and hardware, unobstructed walls for ease of conduit or component placement and NEMA 1, 3, 3S, 4X, 12, 13 and IP66 certified. 616/794-0700; www.stahlin.com. wso

“They were really designed for the HVAC market, but they have application potential anywhere there’s mercury-in-glass,” Ayers says.

Suitable for indoor and outdoor use, including 100 percent humid-ity, rain covers are available for full-time outdoor installation.

“Another thing that makes these unique is you can get one unit that will take you from -50 degrees F all the way up to 300 degrees F,” Ayers says. “Previously you had to have multiple thermometers for that range.” The thermometers, which update every 10 seconds, have an ambient temperature range of -30 to 140 degrees F with 0 temperature error. They require no maintenance or cost to operate.

“It’s easy to install,” Ayers says. “It basically takes care of itself. There’s no power you have to run to it and no batteries you have to change. It also has full conformance with federal specification GG-T-321D.”

Temperature-sensing cast aluminum stem options include industrial, bimetallic and air duct. 800/421-2853; www.palmerwahl.com.

13

8

7

10

11

12

9

Solar-powered digital thermometer from Palmer Instruments


PEOPLE/AWARDSDoug Brooks of Kentucky American Water received the 2013 Opera-

tor Meritorious Award from the Kentucky/Tennessee Section AWWA. Brooks is chief operator of the Kentucky River Station II at the Hardin’s Landing water treatment plant in Owen County.

John Wills, coordinator of the Dickinson County (Iowa) Clean Water

Alliance, received the Ace Cory Conservation Award. The Okoboji Pro-tective Association presented the award for his efforts in fashioning part-nerships between organizations to preserve water quality.

Howard Neukrug, Philadelphia water commissioner, received the

Public Officials Award from the Water Environment Federation. Walt Baker, director of the Utah Division of Water Quality, received

the Association of Clean Water Administrators’ top honor, the Environ-mental Statesman Award, recognizing leadership in national water issues.

WSO welcomes your contribution to this listing. To recognize members of your team, please send notices of new hires, promotions, service milestones, certificatio ns or achievements to [email protected].

EDUCATION

AWWAThe AWWA is offering a Regulatory Update Webinar on Dec. 12.

Visit www.awwa.org.

ArkansasThe Arkansas Rural Water Association is offering these courses:• Nov. 12-14 – Advanced Distribution, Gassville• Nov. 19-21 – Basic Distribution, Lonoke• Dec. 3-5 – Basic Treatment, Lonoke• Dec. 10-12 – Advanced Treatment, Nashville• Dec. 17 – Basic Math, Lonoke• Dec. 18 – ADH Compliance, Lonoke• Dec. 19 – Applied Math, LonokeVisit www.arkansasruralwater.org.

CaliforniaThe California-Nevada Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 12 – T1-T2 Review, West Sacramento• Nov. 13 – T1-T2 and T3-T4 Math Review, West Sacramento• Nov. 14 – T3-T4 Review, West Sacramento• Nov. 15 – Backflow Refresher, Rancho Cucamonga• Dec. 4 – Water use Efficiency Grade I, Rancho Cucamonga• Dec. 6 – Backflow Refresher, Rancho Cucamonga• Dec. 6 – Backflow Refresher, West Sacramento Visit www.ca-nv-awwa.org.

ColoradoThe Rocky Mountain Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 14 – Biosolids Annual Workshop, Colorado State University,

Fort Collins • Nov. 21 – Action Now Water Seminar, Grand JuctionVisit www.rmwea.org.

FloridaThe Florida Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 21 – Fluoride Measurements with SPADNSII Reagents Webinar• Nov. 30 – Florida AWWA E-learning, online• Dec. 31 – Florida AWWA E-learning, onlineVisit www.fsawwa.org.

IllinoisThe Illinois Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 13 – Social Media for Water Utilities webinar• Nov. 14 – Pumping and Control System Updates, Romeoville• Nov. 19 – Failures of Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency

Response Plans, St. Charles• Nov. 20-21 – High-Tech Operator Course 2, Lombard• Dec. 3 – Chemical Properties, Safety and Security, Danville• Dec. 4 – Dealing With Unexpected Petroluum in Utility Excava-

tion, online• Dec. 5 – New ASTM Standards for HDPE Fusion Process, St. CharlesVisit www.isawwa.org.

New YorkThe New York Section of AWWA is offering an Emergency Planning

and Water System Security course on Dec. 11 in Woodbury. Visit www.nysawwa.org.

North Carolina

The North Carolina Section of AWWA and WEA are offering these courses:

• Dec. 4 – Construction Issues Seminar, Raleigh• Dec. 12 – North Carolina Water Pollution Control System Opera-

tors Certification Commission exams, Kenansville, Morganton, Raleigh, Salisbury and Williamston

Visit www.ncsafewater.org.

OhioThe Ohio Section of AWWA is offering a Biosolids Workshop on Dec.

5 in Lewis Center. Visit www.ohiowea.org.

OklahomaThe Oklahoma Environmental Training Center is offering these courses:

WSO invites your national, state or local association to post notices and news items in the Worth Noting column. Send contributions to [email protected] Noting

Nov. 6-7AWWA Nebraska Section 2013 Annual Conference, Kearney. Visit

www.awwa.org.

Nov. 10-13AWWA North Carolina Section 2013 Annual Conference, Concord.

Visit www.awwa.org.

Nov. 20-21Illinois Section AWWA Water Lab Alliance Security Summit, Chicago.

Visit www.isawwa.org. Dec. 1-5

AWWA Florida Section 2013 Annual Conference, Champions Gate. Visit www.awwa.org.

EVENTS

• Nov. 18 – Water Lab Operator Refresher, Stillwater• Nov. 18-21 – C Water Operator, Stillwater• Nov. 19-21 – D Water and Wastewater Operator, Tulsa• Dec. 3-5 – D Water and Wastewater Operator, Stillwater• Dec. 6 – Department of Environmental Quality Open Exam, Stillwater• Dec. 11 – Water Operator General Refresher, Tulsa• Dec. 11-12 – C Water Operator, Tulsa• Dec. 13 – Department of Environmental Quality Open Exam, Tulsa• Dec. 17-19 – D Water and Wastewater Operator, TulsaVisit www.accuratelabs.com.

TexasThe Texas Water Utilities Association is offering these courses:• Nov. 19 – Calculations, Victoria• Nov. 19 – Management, GatesvilleVisit www.twua.org.

UtahThe Intermountain Section of AWWA is offering a Special CEU Sale

in Herriman on Dec. 3. Visit www.ims-awwa.org.

WisconsinThe Wisconsin Rural Water Association is offering these courses:• Dec. 5 – Bloodborne Pathogens/Hazard Communication GHS/

Control of Hazardous Energy, Plover• Dec. 11 – Improving Your Residential Cross Connection Control

Program, Kaukauna• Dec. 12 – Continuing Education For Licensed Cross Connection

Control Assembly Testers, Plover• Dec. 17 – Permit-Required Confined-Space Entry Training, West SalemVisit www.wrwa.org. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Engineering –

Professional Development is offering these courses:• Nov. 12-13 – Fleet Management - Effective Practices for Public and

Private Fleets, Madison• Nov. 12-13 – Soil Engineering for Non-Soils Engineers and Techni-

cians, Madison• Dec. 3-5 – Sanitary Sewer and Collection System Engineering, MadisonVisit www.epdweb.engr.wisc.edu. wso

‘‘The team members are the greatest resource at this plant. They do the work. I’m support staff. I coordinate what they do, and the best way for me to do that is to listen to what they have to say.”Nate Tillis, Operations and Maintenance Supervisor,Beloit (Wis.) Water Pollution Control Treatment Facility

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PEOPLE/AWARDSDoug Brooks of Kentucky American Water received the 2013 Opera-

tor Meritorious Award from the Kentucky/Tennessee Section AWWA. Brooks is chief operator of the Kentucky River Station II at the Hardin’s Landing water treatment plant in Owen County.

John Wills, coordinator of the Dickinson County (Iowa) Clean Water

Alliance, received the Ace Cory Conservation Award. The Okoboji Pro-tective Association presented the award for his efforts in fashioning part-nerships between organizations to preserve water quality.

Howard Neukrug, Philadelphia water commissioner, received the

Public Officials Award from the Water Environment Federation. Walt Baker, director of the Utah Division of Water Quality, received

the Association of Clean Water Administrators’ top honor, the Environ-mental Statesman Award, recognizing leadership in national water issues.

WSO welcomes your contribution to this listing. To recognize members of your team, please send notices of new hires, promotions, service milestones, certificatio ns or achievements to [email protected].

EDUCATION

AWWAThe AWWA is offering a Regulatory Update Webinar on Dec. 12.

Visit www.awwa.org.

ArkansasThe Arkansas Rural Water Association is offering these courses:• Nov. 12-14 – Advanced Distribution, Gassville• Nov. 19-21 – Basic Distribution, Lonoke• Dec. 3-5 – Basic Treatment, Lonoke• Dec. 10-12 – Advanced Treatment, Nashville• Dec. 17 – Basic Math, Lonoke• Dec. 18 – ADH Compliance, Lonoke• Dec. 19 – Applied Math, LonokeVisit www.arkansasruralwater.org.

CaliforniaThe California-Nevada Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 12 – T1-T2 Review, West Sacramento• Nov. 13 – T1-T2 and T3-T4 Math Review, West Sacramento• Nov. 14 – T3-T4 Review, West Sacramento• Nov. 15 – Backflow Refresher, Rancho Cucamonga• Dec. 4 – Water use Efficiency Grade I, Rancho Cucamonga• Dec. 6 – Backflow Refresher, Rancho Cucamonga• Dec. 6 – Backflow Refresher, West Sacramento Visit www.ca-nv-awwa.org.

ColoradoThe Rocky Mountain Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 14 – Biosolids Annual Workshop, Colorado State University,

Fort Collins • Nov. 21 – Action Now Water Seminar, Grand JuctionVisit www.rmwea.org.

FloridaThe Florida Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 21 – Fluoride Measurements with SPADNSII Reagents Webinar• Nov. 30 – Florida AWWA E-learning, online• Dec. 31 – Florida AWWA E-learning, onlineVisit www.fsawwa.org.

IllinoisThe Illinois Section of AWWA is offering these courses:• Nov. 13 – Social Media for Water Utilities webinar• Nov. 14 – Pumping and Control System Updates, Romeoville• Nov. 19 – Failures of Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency

Response Plans, St. Charles• Nov. 20-21 – High-Tech Operator Course 2, Lombard• Dec. 3 – Chemical Properties, Safety and Security, Danville• Dec. 4 – Dealing With Unexpected Petroluum in Utility Excava-

tion, online• Dec. 5 – New ASTM Standards for HDPE Fusion Process, St. CharlesVisit www.isawwa.org.

New YorkThe New York Section of AWWA is offering an Emergency Planning

and Water System Security course on Dec. 11 in Woodbury. Visit www.nysawwa.org.

North Carolina

The North Carolina Section of AWWA and WEA are offering these courses:

• Dec. 4 – Construction Issues Seminar, Raleigh• Dec. 12 – North Carolina Water Pollution Control System Opera-

tors Certification Commission exams, Kenansville, Morganton, Raleigh, Salisbury and Williamston

Visit www.ncsafewater.org.

OhioThe Ohio Section of AWWA is offering a Biosolids Workshop on Dec.

5 in Lewis Center. Visit www.ohiowea.org.

OklahomaThe Oklahoma Environmental Training Center is offering these courses:

WSO invites your national, state or local association to post notices and news items in the Worth Noting column. Send contributions to [email protected] Noting

Nov. 6-7AWWA Nebraska Section 2013 Annual Conference, Kearney. Visit

www.awwa.org.

Nov. 10-13AWWA North Carolina Section 2013 Annual Conference, Concord.

Visit www.awwa.org.

Nov. 20-21Illinois Section AWWA Water Lab Alliance Security Summit, Chicago.

Visit www.isawwa.org. Dec. 1-5

AWWA Florida Section 2013 Annual Conference, Champions Gate. Visit www.awwa.org.

EVENTS

• Nov. 18 – Water Lab Operator Refresher, Stillwater• Nov. 18-21 – C Water Operator, Stillwater• Nov. 19-21 – D Water and Wastewater Operator, Tulsa• Dec. 3-5 – D Water and Wastewater Operator, Stillwater• Dec. 6 – Department of Environmental Quality Open Exam, Stillwater• Dec. 11 – Water Operator General Refresher, Tulsa• Dec. 11-12 – C Water Operator, Tulsa• Dec. 13 – Department of Environmental Quality Open Exam, Tulsa• Dec. 17-19 – D Water and Wastewater Operator, TulsaVisit www.accuratelabs.com.

TexasThe Texas Water Utilities Association is offering these courses:• Nov. 19 – Calculations, Victoria• Nov. 19 – Management, GatesvilleVisit www.twua.org.

UtahThe Intermountain Section of AWWA is offering a Special CEU Sale

in Herriman on Dec. 3. Visit www.ims-awwa.org.

WisconsinThe Wisconsin Rural Water Association is offering these courses:• Dec. 5 – Bloodborne Pathogens/Hazard Communication GHS/

Control of Hazardous Energy, Plover• Dec. 11 – Improving Your Residential Cross Connection Control

Program, Kaukauna• Dec. 12 – Continuing Education For Licensed Cross Connection

Control Assembly Testers, Plover• Dec. 17 – Permit-Required Confined-Space Entry Training, West SalemVisit www.wrwa.org. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Engineering –

Professional Development is offering these courses:• Nov. 12-13 – Fleet Management - Effective Practices for Public and

Private Fleets, Madison• Nov. 12-13 – Soil Engineering for Non-Soils Engineers and Techni-

cians, Madison• Dec. 3-5 – Sanitary Sewer and Collection System Engineering, MadisonVisit www.epdweb.engr.wisc.edu. wso

‘‘The team members are the greatest resource at this plant. They do the work. I’m support staff. I coordinate what they do, and the best way for me to do that is to listen to what they have to say.”Nate Tillis, Operations and Maintenance Supervisor,Beloit (Wis.) Water Pollution Control Treatment Facility

People.

tpomag.comSUBSCRIBE FOR FREE

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Serving municipal water treatment systems across North America.

November 2013

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