FEATURES

Clear as Mud
The challenge of sediment criteria and TMDLs
Matthew T. Moore, Sam Testa III, Charles M. Cooper, Sammie Smith, Jr., Scott S. Knight, and Richard E. Lizotte, Jr.

Even though sediments are natural aquatic ecosystem components (due to weathering of parent material), excessive amounts of sediment may impair a waterbody. In fact, according to J.M. Fowler and E.O. Heady, the largest water pollutants in the United States, by volume, are instream suspended sediment and bed load.

To mitigate such problems, Sec. 304(a) of the Clean Water Act requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop and implement sediment quality criteria. Much debate has occurred about the practicality and purpose of sediment criteria. Criteria proponents are concerned about sediment quality because of the possible detrimental effects of contaminated dredge material. Some opponents of sediment criteria feel too much uncertainty is involved. Nevertheless, sediment effects on aquatic ecosystems must be addressed.

Practical Management
Minnesota has learned that watershed plans need to address scientific, social, and financial issues concurrently in order to be effective
Steven C. Woods

There is no such thing as watershed management without money — real, dependable, local money. Unfortunately, in the desire to consider holistically what is physically possible, socially needed, and tantalizingly simple, many watershed management professionals shortchange the need for money.

As scores of shelved watershed plans demonstrate, we clearly have no trouble immersing ourselves in planning principles and espousing the need to collect and analyze available physical, chemical, and biological data; set mission statements and goals; and lay out implementation strategies for achieving the ever-popular "measurable outcomes." Some of us also attempt to clear the nonphysical hurdles standing between an idea and its fruition — but believe that such financial, political, and social hurdles should be overcome (largely through education, persistence, and regular infusions of grant money) after we have determined whether certain capital improvements might be feasible physically.

However, watershed managers must consider physical and nonphysical hurdles concurrently to have a shot at winning stakeholder support and minimizing the rise of opponents who fear unknown costs and repercussions.

The Power of Preventive Maintenance
Denver, Colo.'s experience demonstrates that a stitch in time really does save nine
John B. Gaines

According to a report of a recent survey by Trenchless Technology Inc. (Pennisula, Ohio; see "Rehab Survey Results" in the August 2000 issue of Rehab Showcase), up to 8% of respondents performed no routine maintenance of their sewer systems. However, of the 92% of wastewater treatment facilities that do have preventive maintenance programs for their sewer systems, how many have fully developed programs that are the best they can be?

NEWS

Climate Change Compounds Challenges for Wastewater Industry
Climate change and its potential to cause or exacerbate a wide range of human health threats should be flashing across the radar screen of community decisionmakers everywhere, but particularly those in coastal areas vulnerable to sea-level rises, in floodplains, in municipalities with aging wastewater infrastructures, and in tourist resort areas with large numbers of septic tanks, according to a recent national assessment by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP).

Groups Spar over Winning Formula for Funding Infrastructure Rehab
What is the proper role of the federal government - and government funding in particular - in supporting and maintaining water and wastewater infrastructure? What responsibility for sustaining this infrastructure should be borne by utilities and ratepayers? These core questions underlie an ongoing debate over a report released Feb. 13 by the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN; Washington, D.C.), a coalition of about 30 organizations representing local elected officials, drinking water and wastewater utilities, state environmental and health administrators, engineers, labor unions, and environmental groups.

Future Uncertain for Dioxin Reassessment
The Science Advisory Board (SAB) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has delivered a controversial report on dioxins to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman with a recommendation that she release it. But what Whitman will do with the report and what its effect will be on proposed biosolids regulations are unclear.

WEFTEC 2001 PREVIEW

Market Outlook: Rapid Changes, Slow Growth
Consolidation, privatization, and the entry of European firms into the U.S. market are recent market trends that are likely to continue, according to two analysts who track the wastewater treatment industry.

Holistic Approach, Rational Expectations Needed, Asano Says
Professor Takashi Asano, recipient of the 2001 Stockholm Water Prize and adjunct professor at the University of California-Davis's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will be one of the featured speakers at WEFTEC 2001's Opening General Session in Atlanta, Ga. Asano, a member of the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) since 1965, is considered one of the world's foremost experts on water reuse. He recently shared some of his advice and wisdom with WE&T.

Desert Child Babbitt To Address Water Scarcity
Bruce Babbitt, best known for his stint as U.S. secretary of the interior under President Bill Clinton, will speak at WEFTEC's Opening General Session on Oct. 15. Babbitt was appointed Secretary of the Interior and held that office from 1993-2000. During his tenure, he drafted plans to restore the Florida Everglades, helped enact the massive California Desert Protection Act, and negotiated the largest land swap in the history of the lower 48 states to protect the new Grand-Staircase monument and other parks in Utah.

OPERATIONS FORUM
A special section for operators

Are You Experienced?
O&M specialty conference promises 'three days of peace, love, and wastewater treatment'
Heather Young

Where can operations and maintenance (O&M) personnel meet internationally renowned guest speakers, attend comprehensive workshops, and experience interactive hands-on training to help them with everyday operations and maintenance of small and medium-sized wastewater treatment plants? Such unique opportunities will be found at the Third Annual Plant Operations and Maintenance Conference on Sept. 16-18 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Using activated sludge process control software, testing an innovative lift station spray system, and analyzing settleability using jar tests are just a few of the training experiences offered to O&M personnel at the 3-day event.

Sponsored jointly by the Ohio Water Environment Association (Columbus) and Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.), the conference is one of the most comprehensive training opportunities available for O&M staff of small and medium-sized wastewater treatment plants. Focused on the theme "Connecting You To A Higher Level Of Expertise," the conference is designed to be an essential tool to attendees' professional development.

Waste Not, Want Not
Installed out of necessity, but operated out of conscience, a Seattle-area plant's water-reclamation and -reuse system just makes cents
Richard Finger, Showell Osborn, Teresa Schoonejans, and Andrew Strehler

The King County (Wash.) Wastewater Treatment Division (KCWTD) operates two regional wastewater treatment facilities (located in the Washington cities of Seattle and Renton), which serve metropolitan King County. In the early 1990s, KCWTD negotiated with the Washington State Department of Ecology and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and agreed to upgrade its West Point primary wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to include secondary treatment.

From 1991 through 1996 — when the construction and upgrades were taking place — the 133-mgd (503 000-m³/d) West Point WWTP's consumption of city water increased steadily, from 45.7 million to 266.0 million gal (173 000 to 1 007 000 m³). Although earlier studies conducted by the county had concluded that reclaimed water could be substituted cost effectively for certain potable water applications, installing a water-reclamation facility at West Point was delayed until after the upgrade to secondary treatment was completed, to avoid conflicts with the construction project.

After the upgrade was complete, King County installed a 0.72-mgd (2700-m³/d) water-reuse facility at the West Point plant to service both internal demands and reduce the WWTP's reliance on city-supplied water for nonpotable purposes. Reclaiming and reusing water within the WWTP was expected to offset a significant portion of the approximately 190 million gal/yr (719 000 m³/yr) of potable water that the new secondary facility would use for nonpotable purposes. The reclamation facility met KCWTD's expectations; since it went on-line in 1997, the WWTP's potable water consumption has dropped significantly — to 30.3 million gal (115 000 m³) in 2000. The WWTP's use of reclaimed water reached 221 million gal (837 000 m³) in the same year.

Characterizing Change
Dramatic initiatives to increase performance can make staff miss their mark - learn how to manage the emotions of change
Woodie Mark Muirhead

Determining how to become more efficient, thus more competitive, is a goal of virtually all businesses — especially public agencies trying to achieve a performance level comparable to that of private-sector businesses.

The steps necessary to achieve competitiveness can have profound emotional effects on individuals and workgroups - which range from work shifts to entire departments. Successful organizational change requires support and ownership at all levels. Managers, supervisors, union leaders, and rank-and-file employees must work as partners to develop and implement a successful competitive plan. Understanding the emotions and behaviors that individuals experience as their employers strive to become more competitive, and how these emotions can influence workgroup cohesion, can facilitate an organization's desired improvements.

No "I" in Team
New York facility scores a winning goal with a multidisciplinary process control workgroup
Jane Ork, Roberta Gaiek, James Keller, and Daniel Bentivogli

The Buffalo Sewer Authority (BSA; Buffalo, N.Y.) has instituted a new approach to link the sometimes divergent areas of process control and operations into one more-productive entity, with the goal of optimizing its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). A process control group was formed to develop and implement process control strategies, investigate innovative operating procedures, set process goals, train the WWTP staff, and develop standard operating procedures.

The group comprises a diverse array of individuals, including a professional engineer, a sanitary chemist, and a 4A-licensed operator who are permanent members of the group, and a second plant operator who is assigned to the group on a 6-month rotating basis. The process control group and members of BSA's operations and maintenance departments meet each morning to review plant status, set priorities for the day, and discuss ongoing projects. The process control group also submits a weekly report to the operations staff summarizing the past week's operations and establishing operational goals for the upcoming week.

Since the group has existed, interaction among all of BSA's departments has improved because the operations, maintenance, process, and administrative staffs have come together as a team. The group also has helped implement several innovative approaches to wastewater treatment that encourage operators to understand how and why processes work and to pay attention to key biological process variables rather than using a "black-box" approach to wastewater treatment.

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