The full cost of ownership related to operating a water or wastewater treatment facility consists of the initial capital, commissioning, training, spare parts, maintenance, and calibration costs for the lifetime of the equipment.
- By James E. Gallagher
- September 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) was created to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation's water. One of the specific goals of the CWA is the complete elimination of pollutant discharge into navigable waters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting Program, which supports the CWA, requires permitting for all point source discharges to U.S. waters (i.e., "direct discharges").
- By Rudy Matousek
- September 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Biosolids -- in the United States, more than 19,000 municipal wastewater treatment facilities generate 7 million dry tons of this material every year. Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of sewage sludge, which is the name for the solid, semi-solid, or liquid untreated residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility. Wastewater treatment plants spend $1.1 billion to treat and dispose of the stuff. Over 80 percent of it is recycled and reused.
- By Karen DeCampli
- September 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Sludge dewatering operations at the Lancaster wastewater treatment plant run continuously five and a half days every week, processing an average of 95 cake tons per day. Before it adopted a new polymer preparation approach to more fully activate cationic polymer, belt-press dewatering at the facility had become highly expensive and inefficient.
- By Barry Bracken
- September 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Computer simulation can substantially improve the design of ultraviolet (UV) light technology used to disinfect water and wastewater. In UV disinfection design, bacteria and viruses must flow in close proximity to a UV lamp for a sufficient period of time to dimerize their DNA.
- By Eugen Nisipeanu, Muhammad Sami, PhD
- September 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
A powerful, novel technology for mercury removal in waste streams provides an ounce of cure for municipalities, government, and industry. Scientists at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed Thiol-SAMMS, or Self-Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports, as an effective and voracious tool for adsorbing mercury.
- By Shas Mattigod, PhD
- September 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
The majority of industrial manufacturers discharge their wastewater to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) after some form of pretreatment. However, approximately one-third of industrial facilities operate their own wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).
- By Bipin R. Ranade, Robert D. Sproull, PhD, PE
- July 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 07/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Access to safe drinking water and contamination of surface water bodies is a major problem in many areas of the globe. In the year 2000, approximately 1.1 billion people (18 percent of the world's population) lacked access to safe drinking water, and 2.4 billion (40 percent of the total population) lacked adequate sanitation.
- By Ellen Bohon Zeytoun
- July 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 07/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
In-situ biological treatment (bioremediation) systems have now gained widespread acceptance for dealing with sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons. However, at many remediation sites, the need to pump groundwater to maintain gradient control still generates a stream of contaminated water requiring treatment, even if in-situ technologies are being employed.
- By Scott D. Wallace
- June 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Most companies that deal with environmental liabilities usually manage a broad array of projects and sites with varying degrees of contamination. While the remediation and cleanup options for many properties can be readily identified, environmental decisions for some sites can be somewhat difficult.
- By David Laughlin
- May 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
This article explores the nature, utilization and differences between centralized and decentralized sanitary sewer systems. It explores how and why the majority of sanitary wastewater is routed to centralized sewer systems, and some of the benefits and problems associated with centralized sewers.
- By Patrick T. Gates
- May 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
With the promulgation of new laws and regulations pertaining to water quality, extensive stormwater and sanitary sewer management plans are no longer a luxury for rapidly growing and affluent communities. Neglecting corrective action to bring systems into compliance can have far-reaching consequences, including polluted drinking water sources, heavy state and federal fines and jail time. In this regard, cities and municipalities are being mandated to assume roles as water resources managers and enforcers of water quality protection.
- By Seth Johnson, John R. Haestad
- April 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 04/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Fiberglass composites have become the material of choice in many water or wastewater treatment operations. For mild to severe corrosion service, they can often be the materials of choice for economy and durability.
- By J. Albert Rolston, PE, FAIChE
- March 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
The use of conventional gravity flow sewers for the collection and transport of wastewater from residences and commercial establishments continues to be popular, especially in areas where the density of development is low.
- By Douglas Maitland
- March 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Water treatment plants and pumping stations supported by variable-frequency drives (VFDs) may be unwittingly threatened with power system problems including interruptions, interference, downtime and even disruption of instrumentation and other sensitive equipment due to an elusive culprit called harmonic distortion, an undetected condition that has been said to cost between $16 to $40 billion in annual losses due to downtime, equipment failures and malfunctioning systems.
- By John Cherney
- March 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Odoriferous exhaust gases generated by wastewater treatment facilities can create major problems. No one likes foul odors, especially people who are not responsible for them yet must live with them daily. In fact, many communities are becoming less tolerant of odor-generating facilities and respond with new laws and/or fines against them.
- By Charlie Gans, PE, BSME, MBA, MSIS
- March 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Wastewater collection and treatment has developed over at least the past two thousand years, but if you step back and look, it does not seem to have evolved much. Animals do not seem to pay much attention to where they discharge their waste, even if confined to rather small spaces. When in the "wild," animals let the natural environment take care of this issue.
- By William W. Bohnhoff, ASLA
- January 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Cost-effective engineering has enabled the City of Poteau, Okla., to achieve major savings while undertaking recent upgrades to municipal wastewater treatment facilities. The approach could provide a model for other communities that must stretch their resources in this troubled economy.
- By Eugene L. Smith
- January 01, 2004
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
When the Oneida Indian Nation was expanding its operations from a small bingo/casino facility to a full resort complex, it began professionally designing new nine-hole and 18-hole golf courses. The two courses were initially designed to include both groundwater and public water systems to support their irrigation needs.
- By Daniel Ramer
- November 01, 2003
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2003 issue of Environmental Protection.
Metals are commonly used in manufacturing plants and technical facilities. Production processes for the metal finishing, transportation (automotive, aviation, railroad, subway), electronics (including computers and semiconductor devices), telecommunications and mechanical parts fabrication industries consume vast quantities of heavy metals cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), etc.) and metal-containing chemicals every day.
- By Francis J. Brady, Imran M. Jaferey
- September 01, 2003
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2003 issue of Environmental Protection.