One of the most commonly used measurements in the water and wastewater industry is pH. A measurement of how acid or alkaline a substance is, a pH reading can instantaneously indicate a problem with the water. Another common and useful measurement is oxidation-reduction potential (ORP). Treatment facilities use ORP sensors to optimize disinfection and biological nutrient removal processes.
Utilities have relied on numerous instruments for process control and monitoring for many years. But in today’s world, instrumentation is more crucial than ever. Most treatment facilities, pump stations, and other system components are automated to some extent. Instrument failure or inaccuracy may result in serious public health or environmental consequences. Resilient instruments can power through adversity and keep utilities running smoothly.
Vermont is bulking up its drinking water for PFAS by adding three substances to the warning.
Accurate flow measurement is critical for process control and regulatory compliance. Flow meters are essential instruments for water and wastewater facilities, installed at multiple locations throughout entire systems. For the most part, these are permanent installations. However, portable flow instruments prove beneficial in certain situations.
As demand on water resources rises, will there be a mad rush to grab up the nation’s last untapped water resources?
The city of Buhl, Idaho, obtains all of its drinking water from groundwater sources through multiple wells. Prior to 2009, the city did not treat the groundwater but only added chlorine in the form of bulk 12.5% sodium hypochlorite to provide a disinfectant residual. A combination of factors including: changes in EPA and state DEQ regulatory requirements, growth of the residential population and growth of the industrial food processing customers forced the City to build a new water treatment plant to provide filtration to address the naturally occurring arsenic present in the groundwater.
Water has never been more in demand, and innovative approaches to improving water security have never been more imperative. As our global population grows exponentially, cities and towns expand to accommodate new inhabitants, providing the resources and services they need. Rapid agricultural and industrial development continues apace.
In its quest to gain greater remote accessibility and increase ease of use, a progressive sewerage authority elects to think outside the traditional SCADA box.
Flanders pioneers the internet of Water, a unique intelligent water management system based on a network of connected sensors, that enables a permanent and real time follow-up of water quality and water quantity. This internet of Water will enable Flanders to tackle the growing threat of water inconvenience, water scarcity and water pollution.
Water utilities rely on accurate and dependable flow measurement for critical process controls. Regulatory agencies also require flow monitoring and reporting, with specific accuracy limits.
Nitrogen pollution flowing into the Gulf of Mexico by way of Iowa has grown by nearly 50 percent over the last two decades, according to a new University of Iowa study.
A lot has changed over the past 15 years. Back in the early 2000s, many utilities weren’t interested in understanding what was in their water beyond the contaminant and disinfection byproduct levels they were regulated to comply with. But as Pat Whalen, President and CEO of LuminUltra, explains in this ACE 2018 Water Talk interview, a steady stream of ongoing education and the modern data storage and analytics that cloud computing provides, has developed some rabid fans eager to explore the microbiology of their water systems.
Historically, most fire hydrants sit idle after they are installed. They were there for that one day that hopefully never shows up. But in today’s connected world, fire hydrants are becoming an important asset in understanding the water distribution system, allowing utilities to monitor their water system operation and predict leaks.
The Upper Trinity Regional Water District (UTRWD) is a conservation district created by the State of Texas in 1989 to provide water, wastewater, solid waste and storm water services to numerous towns and cities approximately 50 miles northwest of Dallas. In 2010, the UTRWD installed three 2,000 pound per day (PPD) chlorine equivalent Microclor® OSHG systems. The systems continue to provide UTRWD with a reliable supply of hypochlorite for disinfection in a manner that is less expensive and less risky than gas chlorine or liquid bulk hypochlorite delivered via truck or rail through such a heavily populated area.
Recently, I had the opportunity to tour a unique and innovative facility, the Bureau of Lab Services (BLS), the “water quality heartbeat of the Philadelphia Water Department” (PWD), as described by BLS director Gary Burlingame.
For many utilities, failing pipelines and non-revenue water are atop the list of concerns. However, these issues can be greatly mitigated by leveraging readily available data in an intelligent way — through smart water management.
A real-world, industrial application of remote process monitoring proves that a little technology can go a long way in terms of cost savings and process improvement.
Rather than waiting on water scarcity and reacting to a crisis, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is forging its own future, and that of others, by blazing a trail of water-reuse practice and policy.
Not just a solution for water-scarce cities by the sea, desalination is also vitally important for industrial processes and many inland utilities reliant on groundwater. Like other treatment technologies, continued water security and prosperity depend on improvements in the processes and developments on the horizon.
With resources constrained and needs abundant, water and wastewater utilities are obliged to understand and evolve with trends in asset management.
As manufacturing across the world further develops, new chemicals and contaminant threats are being introduced into the environment, creating new challenges for industrial and municipal treatment operations.
This overview of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling for wastewater treatment plant design reveals how it is applied to different system components, as well as why (i.e., the benefits) and when (in the design process) it should be applied.
Utility managers and operators rely on flow meters to provide critical information for process monitoring and control. They require and fully expect the flow data to be accurate and reproducible.
Two businesses are being sued by the U.S. Attorney’s office for allegedly contaminating drinking water on Long Island.
Rangely is a remote town with a population of just over 2,200 people located in the upper northwest area of Colorado, thirteen miles from the Utah border. During the course of their routine maintenance, operators noticed problems with a distribution pump. Read the full project profile to learn how Process Solutions’ trained service technicians were able to walk them through a series of diagnostics to further isolate the problem and get the system was back up and running in a short period of time.
Nick Burns, director of water treatment technology for (the Americas region of) Black & Veatch, discusses the health concerns, current regulatory status, and documented presence of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), also sometimes called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in drinking water supplies — as determined by sampling under the U.S. EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 (UCMR3).
Veolia furnished West Deptford Energy with a BIOSTYR® Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) and Hydrotech Discfilter system, allowing effluent from a municipal wastewater plant to be reused, with a treatment capacity of 7.35 MGD, in the operation of their new “green” energy station.
Henry County Water Authority in Georgia, USA, had been relying on acoustic leak detection for eleven years, working with a dedicated leak detection company that uses noise loggers and other acoustic listening devices to find leaks. However, these traditional ground-based methods of monitoring Henry County’s extensive water catchments and infrastructure have their limitations.
Water and wastewater utilities rely on accurate flow measurement for important process controls. These may include recycle streams, chemical dosing systems, and other operational functions. In addition, regulators require utilities to measure certain flows, such as treatment plant influent and effluent and potable water pumping. Accurate flow measurement is also important for monitoring and reducing unaccounted-for water.
An audit by Baltimore officials has found that water meter readers wasted $120,000 through unproductive activities and slacking on the job.
At AWWA’s ACE 2018 event, Maury Gaston, Manager of Marketing Services for AMERICAN’s Ductile Iron and AMERICAN SpiralWeld Pipe product lines, presented on reducing energy through pipe selection, evaluating the City of Huntsville and its 1,297-mile long network. Gaston presented his findings and explained the energy savings in terms of dollars but also kilowatt hours, carbon equivalents and bond values.
Do you know that people throw away about around 4 million tons of rubbish on a daily basis, of which 12.8 percent is plastic?
The key to high rate clarifiers such as inclined plate settlers is flow distribution says Tom Grubb, Regional Manager with Meurer Research. “Each inclined plate is like a miniature little sedimentation basin,” Grubb told Water Online in a recent Water Talk interview at AWWA’s ACE 2018. “To get good effluent quality, it’s critical that you have the same flow to each plate.”
Much like investing in water infrastructure, the country often overlooks the pressing need to invest in a skilled workforce to manage these systems. Nearly 1.7 million “water workers”construct, operate, and maintain water systems found in every region, whether employed in utilities, engineering firms, or other industries. And many water workers are in short supply due to a wave of retirements and a lack of younger talent, even though they earn more competitive wages, tend to only need a high school diploma or less, and develop valuable skillsets over time.
San Jose Water Company (SJWC) provides drinking water for over a million people in the greater San Jose Metropolitan region and is a recognized leader in drinking water treatment and distribution system water quality management. With over 90 water storage facilities in service, planned maintenance and rehabilitation of capital assets is a key component of SJWC’s CIP program.
Aqua Engineers is a local Hawaiian company founded almost 40 years ago which delivers operations, engineering, and construction management to the water and wastewater industry throughout Hawaii. Also, as an owner and operator, Aqua Engineers is keenly focused on the return on investment for process equipment decisions, but also on the safety of its operators and surrounding community. Read the full case study to learn why Aqua Engineers chose the Microclor OSHG system provided by UGSI Solutions for both their sites in 2016.
When it comes to the future of utility management, every arrow points toward greater adoption of 'smart' systems. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is smart, in a sense, but the mere existence of a SCADA system at your facility won't maximize efficiency and optimization. The capabilities and opportunities available to utilities through data and analytics are going largely untapped, according to two experts who joined Water Online for Water Talk, but a new initiative could help unlock its ever-growing potential.
Utilities are obsessed with taking contaminants out of water, but what about contaminants that are emitted into the atmosphere? While it's not their job to remove such pollutants, water utilities can help achieve cleaner air by not being part of the problem. It's an effort that may not be top of mind, but perhaps it should get more consideration; after all, water utilities are stewards of the environment — a badge of honor — and care for the environment most certainly includes the air we breathe.
Historic Punta Gorda, located on the shores of scenic Charlotte Harbor on the west coast of Florida prides itself in the proactive management of its water supply. With the responsibility of providing water to over 34,000 customers in the 38 square mile service area, Punta Gorda manages 237 miles of distribution pipe and two water storage facilities. The 1 million gallon (MG) Burnt Store elevated tank and the 2 MG Punta Gorda Isles ground storage tank provide distribution system balance as well as the ability to meet peak demands and fire protection capacity.
It will take months to repair the fallout from a broken water main in Philadelphia’s Center City that poured 15 million gallons of water into city streets.
Accurately measuring flow is critical for water utility operations. Also, regulatory agencies mandate flow monitoring and require annual calibration of meters. But even a meter in perfect condition and properly calibrated can read inaccurately. Flow disturbances are a common cause of accuracy and repeatability errors.
Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) serves about 142,000 customers in Riverside County, CA. The EMWD service area is one of the largest for any water district in arid southern California. On the drinking water side, EMWD manages two water treatment plants and over 15 reservoirs. With 70% of the district’s water coming from the Metropolitan Water District with chloramine disinfection, EMWD has become reliant on chloramine disinfection to manage long transmission lines and longer detention times.
Wastewater treatment professionals know the value – and challenges - of phosphorous removal. Excess phosphorus in surface water can lead to eutrophication, prompting excessive growth of plants and algae in ponds, rivers, streams, lakes, and other bodies of water.
Fluence Corporation Limited is pleased to announce that it has secured a contract for the deployment of the Company’s first seawater desalination plant in the Bahamas – three (3) NIROBOX™ smart-packaged seawater (SW) desalination units – that will be commissioned within six months.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has joined partners across federal, tribal, state, and local governments in preparation for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. On June 5, EPA senior leaders gathered in New Orleans, Louisiana, to discuss the Agency’s preparations for the 2018 hurricane season.
Yakun International Investment and Holding Group ("Yakun International" or the "Company") (YIHG) today announced that through an open bidding process, its controlled subsidiary QHY Environmental Science & Technologies Oceania Limited (the "QHY Oceania") has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Wastewater Treatment Cooperation (the "MOU") on July 10, 2018 with Open Country Dairy Limited (the "Open Country"), a representative company of the New Zealand Dairy industry and the second largest global exporter of premium Whole Milk Powders.
Algal blooms have the potential to negatively impact potable water treatment works, increasing maintenance and reducing efficiency to drive up costs.
American Water, the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, announced recently the company and its employees have raised more than $2M in the last decade for Water For People, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to improved water and sanitation systems and services in developing countries.
Jennifer Duffy has been named HDR’s water reuse practice lead, based in the firm’s San Diego, California office.
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Rapidly produce FREE engineering designs for activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. |
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Headquartered in Ansonia Connecticut, we have been serving the North American wastewater industry quickly and reliably for 35 years through our network of competent and locally committed factory trained distributors and service centers. Our 40,000 sq. ft. engineering & test center, workshop, and warehouse facility is fully equipped to help design, build, deliver, and service all your wastewater handling needs. |
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The Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference, WEFTEC®, is the largest conference of its kind in North America and offers water quality professionals the best water quality education and training available today. WEFTEC® 2018, September 29-October 3, 2018, in New Orleans, LA., is THE event for water professionals, industry experts, and the most innovative companies from around the world to gather for the advancement and transformation of the water sector. Learn more. |
Cristina Ahmadpour, President/Managing Director
Isle Utilities
Visit the Water Intelligence Panel page.
The Biolac® System is a well-accepted biological wastewater treatment process with over 30 years of experience and hundreds of successful installations treating municipal and industrial wastewater. Using an innovative long sludge age, activated sludge process, the Biolac® System provides an extremely simple and cost-effective solution for many treatment applications.
Designed and built specifically for well head treatment, AdEdge AD26 systems are engineered as stand-alone systems for the removal of iron, manganese, sulfide, and arsenic if it coexists with high levels of iron.
The AM-TBR was designed to be cost effective to purchase and even more cost effective to maintain. The turbidimeter is modular to make servicing and cleaning quick and easy. The compact sample volume of 30 ml means that you will go through less calibration solution over time.
The Sensus OMNI™ Verification (V²) portable test meter gives you a fast and efficient solution to test the accuracy and performance of your large meters. The test meter will quickly become an important part of your water system’s maintenance operation. Piping and flow pattern irregularities can influence your meters’ accuracy and testing them in-line provides a truer indication of in-service accuracy. With OMNI V² you no longer have to take your meters out of service to test them.
Optional Component – Ensure that your critical alarm and process information finds you anywhere via text-to-voice phone calls, SMS text messages, emails and pagers. Dial into your application using your application security account to check levels, acknowledge alarms, change setpoints, or send commands to equipment.
Experience absolute precision with our ready-to-use diluted certified reference materials (CRMs). Thanks to their exact concentrations, expanded measurement uncertainty, and direct traceability to NIST primary reference materials, our CRMs ensure that your results are correct and comparable worldwide.
The Aqua Caiman™ represents the next generation of multi-rake mechanical bar screens. In designing the screen, Parkson combined over 40 years of experience working on thousands of in-channel screen installations with in-depth market and engineering research. This allowed us to better understand the weaknesses of existing multi-rake and articulating rake screens.
This video provides a detailed explanation of the process and benefits of the MRI Inclined Plate Settler System over conventional settling methods. MRI’s Inclined Plate Settlers and Hoseless Cable-Vac Sludge Collectors combine in this system to provide a reduced footprint, cost savings, zero energy usage, and superior efficiency and effluent quality.
Find out the importance of total cost of ownership in wastewater treatment applications and how Atlas Copco supports this approach.
The new Ovivo MBR Knowledge Center and MICRODYN-NADIR Manufacturing Plant for BIO-CEL MBR Membrane Modules is a 27,000-square-foot facility that houses a fully automated, cutting edge membrane module production line, as well as offices for Ovivo designers, engineers, and technicians.
See and hear from the Head of Business Unit Americas, from representatives of GF Piping Systems sales companies in the US, Canada and Mexico, and from representatives of each manufacturing company in the US. This video introduction includes footage from inside and out many of the GF facilities in North America.
This video provides a simple overview of the screen’s creation, function, features and benefits. From the beginning, Parkson engineers took it a step further by working with a leading design firm to rethink the industry standard step style screen from the ground up. They reviewed current offerings on the market and improved upon the common weak points. The result is the most durable escalating screen out there – the Aqua Rhino.
ABB is the best partner throughout the entire water cycle. From extraction and treatment, to distribution and the management of the wastewater process, ABB supplies an extensive range of reliable measurement products and solutions. With the most expertise in water and wastewater applications worldwide, ABB is the partner to help customers choose the optimal measurement solution precisely meeting their requirements. 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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