For municipal waterworks supervisors, keeping curb boxes in good working order is critical. But this job can become even more complicated by the prevalence of acidic soils across the U.S., which accelerates corrosion along with costly repair and replacement.
Reasons for changing water or wastewater asset management practices include unacceptable process downtime, statutory requirements for documenting infrastructure integrity, or the desire to refine process cost-effectiveness and maintenance-budget ROI. Here are examples of strategic approaches that can better match desirable asset management outcomes to the real needs of water utility operations.
A variety of research indicates that industry loses 3 percent to 5 percent (and in some cases more) of its productivity annually to unplanned shutdowns due to equipment failure. With all the data and connectivity available through today’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology and SCADA systems, water and wastewater treatment operations can reduce those losses significantly…if management is willing to consider and adopt proven strategic approaches.
Every city facing infrastructure or operational challenges or concerns about maintaining quality of life in the face of population growth or a changing environment has benefits to gain from a unified smart-city approach. Here are some concepts for promoting understanding and acceptance among utility and government decision-makers, plus several examples of benefits already being garnered by smart cities large and small.
The cost of water delivered to customers is as much about the energy needed to move it as the chemicals required to treat it. Balancing water chemistry, infrastructure costs, and energy consumption is key to optimizing the overall cost of operation. Experience shows that some astute water suppliers are closer to achieving their ideal outcomes than most people realize. Here are some insights into how that works.
With a federal judge deciding it needs to do a better job to combat E. coli discharge into its waterways, Washington, D.C. could be turning to an unlikely ally in its struggle to clean up local rivers: mussels.
The documented performance of ion exchange (IX) resins for treating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) offers new opportunities for more practical solutions in many applications. IX has demonstrated its ability to reduce both capital and operating costs compared to the conventional granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment approach.
For most water or wastewater system operators, engineers, and repair crews, the only thing worse than facing a 24”-main emergency repair is facing an even larger one. To those who have never performed an emergency line stop and bypass, the idea of completing repairs with no service outage, no long-term shutdown, and no ‘boil water’ notice is almost beyond belief. To those who have, it’s a sigh of relief.
Hurricane Dorian has left a trail of devastation over the last few days, but an onslaught of destructive floods have hit communities all across the country this summer. From small towns in the Midwest and Southeast to large cities like Washington and New York, torrential rains have inundated homes, cut power, and disrupted lives.
Wastewater treatment systems are all too familiar with the nation’s buried infrastructure problems — throughout the country, sewer systems have been neglected for decades to the point where the U.S. EPA estimates that $271 billion is needed to upgrade and maintain them in the near future.
The term “cellular” often calls to mind certain assumptions and limitations based on prior experience with consumer cellphone networks. Don’t confuse cellular-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications with past cellular experiences, though. The relatively new Long Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M) standard represents a whole new ballgame. In short, “This is not your father’s cellular network.”
Your body is a machine. Like most machines, you have to properly maintain your body in order for it to function properly. Along with regular cleaning and checkups, you also have to be cognizant of what food you put into your body or else it won’t work at its maximum potential. An industrial reverse osmosis water treatment system actually works in quite a similar way.
A combination of culprits has water utilities spending more than necessary for production while failing to collect all the revenue that should be flowing in. Implementing solutions to water loss in a specific order is critical for municipalities to effectively get a handle on the problem. This systematic approach addresses issues in their order of impact and return on investment with simple, low-cost measures at the start that boost revenue.
The State of Florida is facing a problem shared worldwide at this time of year: a prevalence of toxic algae in source water brought on by the combination of warmer temperatures and nutrient runoff. So it’s worth paying attention to a potential fix being implemented in the Sunshine State.
Can you imagine the excitement and nervousness aerospace engineers must be experiencing when the countdown for rocket launch begins? "Three, two, one, blast off!" The next minutes, hours, and days test the team’s ability, experience, and knowledge put into the project. While this analogy may not be as applicable here, we environmental engineers also experience substantial enthusiasm and anxiety when water or wastewater projects enter the construction and commissioning phases.
Chemical dosing plays a pivotal role in water and wastewater treatment operations, so selecting the optimal feed system is critical to achieving quality goals and meeting permit requirements. With multiple technologies available, it is important to understand the benefits and downsides of each.
Denver Water and engineering partners resolve major water quality challenge in crucial South Platte River exchange reservoirs.
Constant monitoring of critical motors while de-energized prevents failures on startup, reduces unscheduled downtime, saves on major rewinding repairs and increases personnel safety
Fluctuations in pressure are the best indicator that a problem is brewing in a water distribution system, so monitoring pressure at strategic points can provide valuable insight about potential leaks. However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. The good news is that technology is available to gather pressure data that can be used to enhance service and improve asset management without a large capital investment by utilities.
Addressing past due accounts traditionally means sending out a crew to turn off the water and then sending them back to restore service when the bill is paid. This can create a less-than-ideal situation by generating significant labor costs while having a potentially negative impact on vulnerable populations. Fortunately, there is a newer method available to address revenue capture while providing enhanced customer service by avoiding a turnoff.
In areas where water, infrastructure, and resources are scarce, a natural and novel solution has emerged — arriving out of thin air, so to speak.
The digital ecosystem continues to evolve, bringing more brainpower to “smart” technologies — and more efficient water treatment operations and asset management to utilities.
The lessons of Flint should be well heeded, and lead mitigation continued, but the big-picture story of lead exposures in the U.S. is a tale of tremendous progress.
With concerns over stormwater management escalating, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) offers a multi-benefit, cost-effective solution.
Most utilities understand they have a nonrevenue water problem, but few know how to deal with it correctly. Start by learning more about how the issue affects your utility and what options are available.
The journey toward intelligent water can be expedited with eight key steps — a guideline for gliding through the Digital Water Adoption Curve.
Presidents and CEOs aren’t typically the types who get the “cool” label, or at least not in the James Dean sense. But when you rise through the ranks of your industry, challenge the status quo, protect everyday citizens, and ride a motorcycle, you have earned the distinction. This brief Q&A gives insight into the history, motivations, and aspirations of current AWWA President Jim Williams — a lifelong champion of the water industry … and a darn cool guy.
Using seawater desalination RO treatment systems, coastal communities and island nations can achieve clean and safe water. So why do some countries utilize this advanced treatment technology, while others do not?
Water. It’s vital to human life, our economy, and ecosystem - the very survival of our planet. But water challenges are growing more intense than ever before. Increasing volatile weather patterns fueled by climate change, crumbling infrastructure, pollution, and over population that is causing a surge in the demand for water. This means the world’s supply of clean water is rapidly declining putting our future at risk.
The main lift station serving the waste water treatment plant in Morgan’s Point, Texas, continually experienced problems with its three standard non-clog pumps. The pumps frequently clogged when rainfall totals reached or exceeded 2 inches. Shop rags, pieces of 2 x 4 lumber, plastic bottles, gloves, and wet wipes all commonly clogged the pumps when the standard demand increased. Pump removal, unplugging, and recurring repairs were required, but the service company was not always available for immediate assistance, causing problems for residents serviced by this lift station.
The main component of mixed oxidant solution (MOS) is chlorine and its derivatives hypochlorite and hypochlorous acid (ClO−, HClO). It also contains trace amounts of other chlor-oxygen species which work synergistically with the hypochlorite/hypochlorous acid to improve efficacy and performance. MOS is made from brine (salt) and energy, and is used for disinfecting, sanitizing and reducing the risk of infection due to pathogenic microorganisms in water and in other applications. It is particularly useful for customers who have specific challenges such as controlling biofilm or reducing disinfection byproducts exacerbated by biofilms.
World Water Works inDENSE™ system increases process throughput and performance through the selection of dense sludge aggregates with improved settling rates and the promotion of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR).
Many public drinking water supplies contain fluoride, which is added by water systems to help prevent tooth decay in consumers. But a new study has called into question whether those health benefits are outweighed by potential health risks.
The storm was a one-in-ten-year event. But it’s one that the engineers at TasWater, the water and wastewater agency for Tasmania, realized the people in the region would remember for a long, long time.
The intrinsically safe AWT210 two-wire modular transmitter is a single-channel device for the measurement and control of pH, ORP or conductivity in hazardous and non-hazardous area applications.
For more than 30 years, Aqua-Aerobic has provided thousands of industry professionals with education and training through the company’s highly-regarded technical seminar program. Our industry-known seminar is ideal for those individuals involved in the design, application, procurement and operation of water and wastewater treatment plants.
With just a single inlet and outlet, the MD-3 multi-diaphragm pump makes installation simple. Built-in controls makes not only ordering the MD-3 uncomplicated, it is extremely operator friendly to set up.
The ability to continuously and accurately measure water quality is a key requirement in many processes. ABB’s continuous water analyzers help their customers' precious water resources go further around the world. Their trusted range of water analysis solutions provide real-time data on process conditions that can be used to improve efficiency, tighten performance and safeguard quality.
Global leader of sustainable technologies, De Nora today announces the launch of its next generation of ClorTec® on-site sodium hypochlorite generators at WEFTEC, the Water Quality Event in Chicago this month. The new high efficiency ClorTec® Gen III system uses an optimized electrochlorination process that reduces salt and power consumption to deliver a 15 percent operating cost savings over the previous ClorTec® DN Gen II system that was launched last year at WEFTEC 2018.
Aqua-Aerobic Systems announces the release of the OxyStar® aspirating aerator to their portfolio of aeration and mixing products, which includes the Aqua-Jet® Surface Aerator, AquaDDM® Direct Drive Mixer, and OxyMix® Pure Oxygen Mixer.
Yesterday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Department of the Army Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James announced that the agencies are repealing a 2015 rule that impermissibly expanded the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act.
The quality of the water used as drinking water, irrigation, aquaculture, food processing or recreational activities has significant public health implications worldwide. Pollution from fecal pathogens continues to be a major concern for health in the environment, water and food.
At an event in Washington, D.C., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Department of the Army Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James announced that the agencies are repealing a 2015 rule that impermissibly expanded the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act.
The Orange County Water District (OCWD; the District) Board of Directors voted to award the contract to construct the 30 million gallon per day (MGD) Final Expansion of the world-renowned Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) to Shimmick Construction Company, Inc.
Thompson Pump and Manufacturing Company is proud to announce it is the winner of the 2019 Engineering News-Record (ENR) Award of Merit in the Water/Environment category for its work in Puerto Rico during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which made landfall in September 2017.
Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-13) recently introduced a bill to invest $100B to remove lead pipes and lead paint from homes across the United States – which is enough to eliminate every lead pipe in the country and remove lead paint from 7 million American homes.
Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) is showcasing its Bredel line of heavy duty sludge pumps and Qdos range of peristaltic chemical metering pumps in booth 2638 at WEFTEC 2019, the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference.
The Water Research Foundation (WRF) has announced that Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are available for 8 new research projects.
Tsurumi Pump will showcase multiple product lines to attendees of this year’s WEFTEC conference, which runs from Sept. 21 to 25 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Nalco Water, an Ecolab company, has opened a customer experience center at its Clearing production plant outside of Chicago to demonstrate how the company’s technologies can reduce water use, improve performance and optimize costs.
Approaches to stormwater have improved dramatically. This free collection of articles provides detailed examples of successful and sustainable solutions that water and wastewater quality managers may be able to adopt to address their own stormwater dilemma.
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Join us in Chicago, Sept. 21-25, to engage with water professionals from around the world, participate in prestigious programming, enhance your professional development skills, and discover innovative technology and solutions to the water sector’s most important issues. Register by July 12 to save.
Are you going to WEFTEC? Do you have a question about disinfection or filtration? Be sure to stop by Booth 1312 – you can book an appointment here and see a quick rundown of our can't-miss events here.
The OPTISONIC 7300 is a universal 2-path ultrasonic gas flowmeter for process and utility gas measurements in oil and gas refineries or the chemical or petrochemical industries. It is also suitable for non-custody transfer natural gas applications or applications with (compressed) air, mixed or flue gases (up to +180°C / +356°F). Using the transit time differential measuring principle, the OPTISONIC 7300 delivers high performance over a wide flow range (up to DN600 / 24", turndown ratio: 100:1). Its patented titanium transducers are perfectly focused, equalizing process fluctuations and avoiding acoustic feedback.
The ADDIGEST® is an aerobic wastewater treatment system designed for both municipal and industrial applications. The trade name ADDIGEST® is derived from "add-on-digestion" and attests to the versatility of this system. It offers treatment from basic BOD and TSS removal to nutrient removal and advanced treatment. The ADDIGEST® Treatment Plant is available in both a Factory-Built ADDIGEST® system and a larger Field-Erected ADDIGEST® system. Both treatment systems offer infinite flexibility to meet varying treatment volumes and design parameters.
Shelco's Single Cartridge Housings have been a standard in the industry for more than 30 years. Constructed in 304L or 316L stainless steel, brass head with 304L body or cast iron head and steel body; and available with wide variety of gaskets, our metallic housings are designed to be compatible with most fluids and work in a wide range of applications. Our plastic housings are constructed of FDA materials and offer a high-quality, economical alternative to metallic housings in applications with corrosives or sensitive fluids.
The FilterWorx® Automatic Control System by Leopold is a complete filter control package consisting of all instrumentation and control equipment for the automatic monitoring and control of municipal water filtration systems.
Built on a century of water metering experience, the ORION® product family has provided utilities comprehensive Advanced Metering Analytics (AMA) for interval meter reading and data capture using both one-way and two-way communications.
For over 50 years Endress+Hauser has supplied the process industries with high quality instruments and innovative systems for process measurement and automation.
Complete energy saving aeration solution for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. The SmartAerator provides up to 50% annual energy savings for wastewater treatment facilities. Ideal projects are those that require large horsepower aerators and projects with multiple aerators where energy savings would be significant.
The Parkson DynaSand® EcoWash® Filter is a unique system that filters liquid suspensions to the designed effluent quality, while at the same time cleaning the sand bed so the filter is not shut down during the backwash time. Feed water is passed upwards through the sand bed and exits the top of the filter as clean water. At the same time, sand can be removed from the bottom, cleaned and returned to the top. A small portion of the filtered water is used to wash the sand and leaves the filter as a reject stream.
Water. It’s vital to human life, our economy, and ecosystem - the very survival of our planet. But water challenges are growing more intense than ever before. Increasing volatile weather patterns fueled by climate change, crumbling infrastructure, pollution, and over population that is causing a surge in the demand for water. This means the world’s supply of clean water is rapidly declining putting our future at risk.
World Water Works inDENSE™ system increases process throughput and performance through the selection of dense sludge aggregates with improved settling rates and the promotion of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR).
The intrinsically safe AWT210 two-wire modular transmitter is a single-channel device for the measurement and control of pH, ORP or conductivity in hazardous and non-hazardous area applications.
For more than 30 years, Aqua-Aerobic has provided thousands of industry professionals with education and training through the company’s highly-regarded technical seminar program. Our industry-known seminar is ideal for those individuals involved in the design, application, procurement and operation of water and wastewater treatment plants.
At De Nora Water Technologies we make water treatment easy. That’s why we offer a range of innovative treatment technologies used the world over, to help protect and preserve the world’s most precious resource. Learn more.
Providing expert insight into the most important topics in the water and wastewater industry.
Water Online is the leading source of technical information and thought leadership for the drinking water and wastewater treatment community. If you are an operator, municipal manager, engineering consultant or industrial plant manager involved in the design or maintenance of stormwater, clean water and wastewater systems, you now have access to a comprehensive Web community delivering the latest updates on water and wastewater collection, treatment and distribution technologies to give you the knowledge to succeed in your industry.
In providing this technical information, the site offers detailed coverage of the basic operational elements of the water and wastewater industry: the resource management, supply, treatment and distribution of drinking water and the collection, treatment and disposal of stormwater and wastewater. Water Online covers the many ancillary functions that are required such as: nutrient removal, contaminant removal, wastewater aeration, water instrumentation, utility management and automatic meter reading (AMR), water quality analysis, water membranes, reverse osmosis and desalination, drinking water disinfection, wastewater filtration, pumps, flow control & measurement, stormwater management and sludge conditioning and disposal.
Water Online serves the information needs of engineers, water management planners, operational managers, consultants, elected officials, government personnel and others who are involved in the municipal water supply industry, and the municipal and industrial wastewater treatment field. Reflecting the dynamic and interactive character of the Web, Water Online is the most convenient source of technical, operational, product, management and regulatory information available for the water and wastewater industry.
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