June 2021
New Podcast Asks “Waters Up?” with Water/ Wastewater Issues
MWUA and MEWEA are pleased to bring you a first of its kind unique podcast learning experience that is completely free! And listeners are eligible to earn TCHs, also for free.
Rob Pontau, Assistant General Manager of the Brunswick Sanitary District will host a new podcast addressing pertinent water/ wastewater issues in the state.
Waters up? Now is your chance to find out!
Join Rob as he discusses PFAS and COVID with two experts: Mike Abbott, Associate Director at the Maine CDC Division of Environmental and Community Health, and Brian Kavanah, Director Bureau of Water Quality at the Maine DEP.
Special guest appearance by Maine's beloved Dr. Nirav Shah!
The first episode will air Live at noon on June 1, 2021. The podcast can be found here:
https://youtube.com/channel/UCMeYVXytZZ-O-NPDVIGUI_Q
Be sure to tune in for the live show so you can participate in the chat! If you can't make the live show, no worries. Watch the show at a later date and subscribe to the page.
Rob hopes to get at minimum of 100 subscribers to get a custom URL!
Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) Announces Water & Wastewater Apprenticeship
Are you looking to hire a new employee? Are your current staffing needs being met? Are there skills missing from your workforce?
MRWA is developing a Water and Wastewater Apprentice Program in partnership with National Rural Water Association (NRWA) and the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Maine Apprenticeship Program (MAP) to recruit new water and wastewater professionals for our current and future workforce needs.
MRWA’s program is focused on developing high quality professionals by offering structured training, both on the job and in the classroom. The goal is to improve technical knowledge and work skills by developing a deeper understanding of the industry for both current and future needs. The program will provide employers the opportunity to either hire workers who are enrolled in a structured program or select candidates after they’ve successfully graduated. Operator certification test prep will also be included in the curriculum.
If you need to add new staff to your team or know someone looking for work within the Water and Wastewater industry, contact Humza Khan at humza.khan@mainerwa.org.
NEWEA Virtual Spring Meeting June 8-10
NEWEA’s 2021 Spring Meeting will be taking place entirely virtually on June 8-10, 2021. The program will feature six technical sessions, as well as panels and networking events hosted by NEWEA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DE&I) and Women’s Environmental Network (WEN).
Program and registration information will be released soon.
NEWEA’s Spring Meeting & Exhibit is an annual three-day technical meeting for water quality professionals in the wastewater industry. Attendees can:
• Network with colleagues
• Learn the latest trends in technical sessions
• See the latest technologies from exhibitors
• Earn Training Contact Hours (TCHs)
NEWEA is expecting over 200 engineers, consultants, scientists, operators, and students to attend and participate in the annual three-day event.
For more info, go to www.newea.org.
Maine Water Utility Association (MWUA) Summer Outing at Brunswick Naval Air Station
MWUA is excited to announce an in-person Summer Outing on August 12th at the Old Naval Air Station MidCoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, also known as the Brunswick Landing, in Brunswick Maine. The Summer Outing event is a joint effort between MWUA and MEWEA.
Starting at 8:00 AM, the event will begin with two hours of training. The first session will cover the proper operation of tractor, backhoe and loader equipment, and the second hour will be chainsaw operation and safety. MWUA has applied to both DEP and BLWSO for continuing education TCH's for these sessions.
Next on the agenda, attendees can participate in a corn hole tournament and water main tapping contest.
The highlight of the event will be a pig roast lunch. There will also be steak, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and veggie burgers available.
MWUA & MEWEA hope you will join them for the fun, food, training, and networking event. For more info, go to www.mwua.org or contact Bruce Berger at bberger@mwua.org.
Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) Water/ Wastewater Classes this Fall
Are you looking to further your water/ wastewater education through a certificate program? Or just want to brush up on your skills?
SMCC in South Portland is offering an exciting fall lineup of classes to meet the needs of new or seasoned water/ wastewater professionals. These include Wastewater Treatment, Collection Systems, Drinking Water Treatment, and Water Distribution Systems.
SMCC’s Water Technology program is an expansion of the Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) Water Treatment Technology (WTT) program. Classes will utilize state-of-the art virtual technology, combined with in-person labs, field trips, and hands-on projects.
According to instructor Patrick Wiley, this program is unique because it provides hands-on experience with water and wastewater processes, equipment, and lab analyses that supplement classroom instruction and discussion. Wiley noted, “our objective is to prepare students to become the next generation of certified water and wastewater industry professionals”.
Classes are a hybrid of in-person sessions and remote learning designed to fit the schedules of busy professionals.
Questions? Contact Patrick Wiley at pwiley@smccme.edu.
MEWEA Fall Convention – In Person at Sunday River!
With vaccinations happening across the state, MEWEA is making plans for its Fall Convention to take place at Sunday River on September 16th and 17th.
A golf tournament on September 15th will kick off the convention.
MEWEA is also very excited to announce that Travis Mills will be speaking at a special session during the convention. Travis and his wife Kelsey are the founders of the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed to benefit and assist post 9/11 veterans who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation. The veteran and their families receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, barrier-free vacation to Maine where they participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maine’s great outdoors.
For more info, go to www.mewea.org.
Webinar Schedule
The Department has been sending a schedule of webinars approved for TCHs to certified operators. The list is updated monthly. It also includes companies and associations that offer on-demand virtual training.
The lists can also be found on the DEP website, https://www.maine.gov/dep/water/wwoperator.
1. Phosphorus is:
A. a form of nitrogen.
B. a nutrient that promotes ciliate growth.
C. a nutrient that promotes fungi growth.
D. a nutrient that promotes algae growth.
2. A major source of phosphorus in sewage comes from
A. Fertilizers & industrial cleaners
B. Paper mill wastewaters
C. Metal plating operations
D. All of the above
3. Samples collected for Total Phosphorus:
A. Must be analyzed within 15 minutes or preserved for later analysis
B. Are preserved with sulfuric acid to pH <2 and cooled ≤ 6 degrees C
C. Have a maximum holding time of 28 days once preserved
D. All of the above
4. Phosphorus can be treated chemically using:
A. Ferric chloride
B. Aluminum sulfate (alum)
C. Lime
D. All of the above
True/False
5. Alum is preferred over lime for chemical phosphorus removal because it is lower cost.
6. Pumps handling lime slurry are not subject to wear because the lime forms a protective coating over the moving parts.
7. Phosphorus cannot be taken up by bacteria.
8. Phosphorus removal by “luxury uptake” takes place in a well-aerated basin.
9. A wastewater plant that analyzes Total Phosphorus for MEPDES permit requirements in their facility’s on-site lab is required to obtain State of Maine laboratory certification.
Select the best answer
10. A treatment plant uses lime for chemical phosphorus removal. A dosage of 2 mg/L of lime is needed. If the flow rate is 800,000 mgd, how many pounds of lime are required per day?
A. 1.6
B. 13.3
C. 16
D. 800
Recently the Board of Environmental Protection approved an Administrative Consent Agreement (ACA) with an industrial facility for unauthorized discharges of oil and reporting violations over a period of years. In total, the facility agreed to a penalty of $310,225 with $110,225 suspended contingent upon stormwater sampling to be conducted during storm events over the next year to verify that oil contaminated stormwater is not being discharged to the river.
If you have any questions about these actions or about the Department’s compliance and enforcement policy, please contact Pam Parker at 207-485-3038 or pamela.d.parker@maine.gov.
Copyrighted material. Reprinted with permission from Environmental Leverage, Inc. www.environmentalleverage.com. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein.
It’s summer again. As we usher in the warm weather, the hot seasonal weather can also bring wastewater treatment problems for operators. The most common problems encountered during the summer months are:
- too high a sludge age, resulting in deteriorated sludge solids quality (increased solids/TSS in the final effluent),
- filamentous bulking caused by too low an F/M ratio (too old SRT), and
- odor control problems.
This month we will discuss potential problems from having too high a sludge age.
The sludge age problem starts with an increased rate of biological activity during warm weather. For every increase of 10 degrees C in temperature, the reproductive rate of the bacteria increases by one log’s growth (ten-fold increase). Therefore, to hold a desired food to microorganism ratio (F/M) and sludge age, you need to increase the wasting rate in an activated sludge plant. If you don’t make this seasonal adjustment, these are some of the things that can happen.
The solids concentration in the system will grow faster than the food supply, causing the older bacteria (usually those on the inside of a floc) to starve to death and lyse.
BOD and nutrients are re-released from the dead cells. This can be critical in municipalities where the supernatant from sludge digesters or supernatant from dewatering equipment is recycled back to the head of the system. This can cause an overload of ammonia (NH3) and orthophosphate (O-PO4), making it hard to meet nutrient removal limits.
As the cell wall ruptures and other bacteria feed on the dead cell’s protoplasm, older, anaerobic dead spots build up in the floc. The floc structure is now weaker, which can result in shearing of the floc. This older, smaller floc can be lost over the weirs of the secondary clarifier as "pin floc"/turbidity (floc particles of less than 1/32 inch in size).
Ashing may also occur. This is when fine particles rise and spread over the surface of the clarifier (and the settleometer) because the floc is over-oxidized. The addition of flocculants or coagulants will help a little, but not to a satisfactory degree. Wasting is usually the best measure.
Gassing can occur, causing sludge particles to float and go over the weirs, contributing to poor settleability and TSS problems. This is due to holding the solids too long in the clarifier with insufficient free oxygen, resulting in denitrification or gasification.
Future articles will discuss more issues encountered in the summer months, including algae, duckweed, and filamentous bacteria.
Copyrighted material. Reprinted with permission from ©Triple Point Environmental, www.tpenv.com. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein.
Spring is in the air, and for some wastewater lagoons, that means foul lagoon odors are in the air, too. In this short article, we’ll talk about seasonal lagoon turnover, why the spring turnover can be the most severe, and how to prevent it.
What is lagoon turnover?
An improperly mixed wastewater lagoon will settle into layers, with denser, cooler water at the bottom and lighter, warmer water at the top. This is known as thermal stratification. In spring and fall, the change in ambient temperatures causes the layers to mix and eventually create a uniform temperature. As they begin to de-stratify and mix, the settled solids become re-suspended and the odorous gases trapped at the bottom are released to the surface. In a healthy, functional lagoon, this process should take about a week. In a well-aerated and mixed lagoon, it won’t happen at all.
What makes spring lagoon turnover so severe?
Spring is usually the time of highest BOD loads in a wastewater lagoon. You’ve got the BOD that’s been stored over the winter, new influent BOD, and the BOD demands of the accumulated sludge at the bottom of the lagoon.
In the spring, increased sunlight warms the top layer of the lagoon, melting the surface ice and allowing sunlight to penetrate, creating convection currents. Gradually, with the sun’s warmth and wind, the entire lagoon reaches a uniform temperature and circulation increases.
This increased circulation disturbs the accumulated sludge and solids that have been lurking at the bottom of the lagoon. They get pushed to the surface, releasing hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the stinky gas that is generated by anaerobic digestion. The dislodging of the settled sludge and solids also results in benthal feedback or benthal release, which is when nutrients like nitrogen and inorganic materials like metals that have been trapped in the sludge get released back into the lagoon. Benthal feedback can cause ammonia levels in the lagoon to be higher than in the influent.
As water warms in spring, sludge and accompanying odors can rise to the surface
Once the temperature hits 50°F or so, bacterial action begins in earnest and starts to consume all of the BOD that’s been stored up over the winter. The problem is, BOD-eating bacteria need dissolved oxygen to work, and there just isn’t enough. In the spring, a wastewater lagoon can need as much as triple the usual amount of DO—as much as 5–6 lbs of O2 per pound of influent BOD—to handle the increased load.
Problems Caused by Lagoon Turnover
Without sufficient DO, the bacteria resort to anaerobic digestion, which is a slow and smelly process. Sludge accumulates, odors linger, and effluent violations from under-treatment are likely. Symptoms of anaerobic digestion include:
1. Floating sludge: As the increasing sunlight and wind circulate the water, the solids settled at the bottom, which have been quietly anaerobically digesting, are churned up. The anaerobic digestion process releases gas as a byproduct, which becomes entrained in the sludge. Once dislodged, the gas trapped in the sludge causes it to rise from the bottom of the lagoon and float.
2. Intense Odors: With the rising gas byproduct of anaerobic digestion, unpleasant lagoon odors are released into the atmosphere all at once. These odors, coupled with those of the floating sludge mat, are strong during lagoon turnover. If picked up by the wind, these odors will make your neighbors complain.
3. Lagoon Treatment Suffers: Lagoon turnover can be a sign that your lagoon is septic and is breaking down nutrients via anaerobic digestion. Expect a spike in effluent BOD, TSS, and other treatment parameters at some point in the near future if corrective action is not taken.
How to Prevent Spring Lagoon Turnover
To prevent lagoon turnover you need to combat the causes of the problem itself:
1. Increase circulation to prevent stratification: By continually circulating the water, the lagoon layers will never be able to fully stratify. With both a homogeneous lagoon water temperature and environment, no spring lagoon turnover will occur.
2. Increase dissolved oxygen levels to combat low DO: One of the easiest ways to do this is to add aeration to your lagoon. By maintaining an aerobic environment, you will limit the production of noxious H2S gases.
3. Increase mixing to prevent sludge buildup on the bottom: Proper lagoon mixing limits sludge accumulation by keeping it up into the water column where it can break down aerobically and odor-free.
All facilities that participate in the DMR-QA program should have received the announcement letter for Study 41. Once again, the dates for the study were adjusted to account for possible disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a reminder, contact/ address verification must be completed by June 4. You can verify receipt of the study announcement either by returning the NPDES Permittee Address Verification Form from the announcement packet or by sending an email to Brett.A.Goodrich@maine.gov with the required information found at the bottom of the NPDES Permittee Address Verification Form.
You can meet your DMR-QA requirements by participating in a specific DMR-QA 41 study or a WP study. See page 3 of the DMR-QA Study 41 Announcement for more information on participating in WP Proficiency studies to satisfy DMR-QA requirements.
All results must be reported to the DMR-QA supplier by August 27, 2021. If you participate in a WP studies, you must meet the WP Study deadline, even if it is sooner than the August 27th deadline. So be sure to pay attention to the dates for the study being performed by your facility. All studies must be performed in the January 1 – August 27, 2021 time frame.
For those of you that may not have received a copy of the announcement letter for Study 41, the latest version can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-04/documents/dmr-qa_study-41_rev-1-21.pdf
If you have questions about the DMR-QA program please contact Brett Goodrich at 207-287-9034 or Brett.A.Goodrich@maine.gov.
1. D
2. A
3. D
4. D
5. False
6. False
7. False
8. False
9. True
10. B. 13.3 lbs/day
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