The following technical sessions have been scheduled for the 2010 SWWA Conference:

• Canada Wide Strategy for Management of Municipal Wastewater
• On Bringing Central Water to an Existing Town
• Transient and Surge Related Pipe Bursts, Water Loss and Damage Prevention
• The New Wastewater Strategy – The Analytical Perspective (unraveling the mystery)
• Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBR)
• Application of Process Instrumentation in Water/Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Haloacetic Acids (HAA) & THM Formation Potential – Testing Methodology
• Wastewater Disinfection Methods
• Optimizing Nutrient Removal Through Instrumentation
• Lagoon Optimization
• Is Your Drinking Water Safe?

Canada Wide Strategy for Management of Municipal Wastewater

Wednesday, November 3 – 8:30 to 9:15 am

Effluent from wastewater systems represents one of the largest sources of pollution, by volume, in Canadian waters. Negative impacts to aquatic ecosystems and to Canadians from harmful substances in wastewater effluent have been documented domestically and internationally for over 20 years. In Canada, the management of wastewater effluent is subject to shared jurisdiction, which has led to inconsistent regulatory regimes and varying levels of treatment across the country.

Through various consultation processes, interested Canadian parties have consistently indicated the need for all levels of government to develop a harmonized approach to managing wastewater. In 2009 the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) endorsed the Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent (CCME Strategy). This strategy facilitates the development of a harmonized regulatory framework to manage wastewater effluent in Canada. To implement the CCME Strategy, the federal government committed to develop regulations under the Fisheries Act.

Environment Canada (EC) published proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations in Canada Gazette, Part I, on March 20, 2010. This was followed by a 60-day comment period. EC is currently in the process of finalizing the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations and continuing to work with provinces and territories.

Presented by Amanda Lwanga-Thompson, E.I.T., Environment Canada; Ondiveerapan Thirunavukkarasu (Arasu), P. Eng., Ministry of Environment.

On Bringing Central Water to an Existing Town

Wednesday, November 3 – 8:30 to 9:15 am

The nearly 2,000 residents of the Town of Pilot Butte have been depending on the nearly 700 individual home wells for all their domestic and yard needs. Regulators concerns over potential ground water contamination and the Town’s recognition of its potential for expansion led to discussions on a central water system. With federal and provincial cost-sharing funding becoming available in 2009 the Town became serious about central water and retained Bullee Consulting to lead them in that direction. The presentation will explain the funding, regulatory, aquifer factors, design and public relations aspects of the project and will indicate time lines for central water and distribution system installation and residential hook-up.

Presented by Bill Bullee, P.Eng., Bullee Consulting Ltd.

Transient and Surge Related Pipe Bursts, Water Loss and Damage Prevention

Wednesday, November 3 – 8:30 to 9:15 am

This paper will give an overview of transients or surges in a piping network and the resulting pipe bursts which are very common problems. Power or PLC failures, improper valve operation or pumps without adequate control valves cause rapid changes in liquid velocity in a pipeline. This velocity change – released as pressure – can destroy fittings, pipes, valves, instrumentation and pumps. Pressure waves travel the length of the pipeline from the offending device at constant speed until they meet a barrier where they are reflected and then strengthened by incoming waves. This causes transients or surges leading to “pipe burst” or equipment failure. Repair costs, possible litigation for third party damages, plus potentially significant cost of the lost water are extremely expensive. A variety of mitigating solutions that can significantly decrease a system’s number and frequency of pipe bursts will be discussed, and a brief explanation of the applications and intricacies of the associated equipment will be outlined.

Presented by Brad Clarke, Singer Valve Inc.

The New Wastewater Strategy – The Analytical Perspective (unraveling the mystery)

Wednesday, November 3 – 9:45 to 10:40 am

This session will examine the new testing requirements under the CCME Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent. New tests that operators have not had to carry out in the past such as carbonaceous BOD and bioassays will be explained. Information will be provided to assist operators with proper sampling and handling techniques to ensure sample integrity is not compromised, followed by a discussion of what the results mean. Also to be discussed are the various reporting and data management options available and questions that all operators should be asking their lab.

Presented by Annette Woodroffe, ALS Laboratory Group.

Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBR)

Wednesday, November 3 – 9:45 to 10:40 am

Activated sludge is the most widely used wastewater treatment process around the world. The process was originally developed as a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) in Manchester, UK around 1914 using a “fill and draw”, ie. aerate, settle and discharge reactor. However, the continuous aeration tank-and-clarifier system became more popular and widespread. Then, in the early 1980’s when reliable technology was becoming more acceptable, eg. automatic PLC controls systems and valves, SBR’s became popular once again. Today, they are recognized as suitable and cost effective treatment for municipal and industrial wastewater, with systems treating populations of 50 to over a million. This paper will discuss types of SBR, process description, operation, performance and equipment. Some examples of plants from small pre-fabricated units to large multi-level stacked systems will be shown.

Presented by Nigel Slater, P.Eng., AWT Technologies Inc.

Application of Process Instrumentation in Water/Wastewater Treatment Plants

Wednesday, November 3 – 9:45 to 10:40 am

Operators and managers today face many challenges. For example:

• Greater urbanization, increased demand for drinking water and increased sewage flow.
• Regulatory mitigation of Combined Sewer Overflows and better storm water management.
• Acquiring data from and monitoring diverse locations.
• Aging of infrastructures.
• High cost to upgrade or replace existing infrastructure.
• Increasing energy costs.

This paper discusses some innovative process control approaches/solutions, along with their benefits, limitations and recent trends that can address those issues, using mainly Canadian case studies and real life examples.

Presented by Vijay Acharya, Siemens AG.

Haloacetic Acids (HAA) & THM Formation Potential – Testing Methodology

Wednesday, November 3 – 10:40 to 11:25 am

The Guideline for Haloacetic Acids (HAA) was added to the “Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality” in 2008 and the Guideline for THM was lowered a few years ago. HAA and THM may be generated from the chlorination of water in drinking water supplies. HAA and THM Formation Potential tests provide valuable information to assess the formation potential of source waters and to evaluate the various processes used to optimize treatment systems before chlorination. The methodology and some typical experimental scenarios will be presented. Data from tests performed on several unnamed provincial water systems will be discussed.

Presented by Dr. Wo Yuen, Saskatchewan Research Council.

Optimizing Nutrient Removal Through Instrumentation

Wednesday, November 3 – 10:40 to 11:25 am

Proponents of Nutrient Removal indicated that on-line instrumentation is critical to operating & optimizing a nutrient removal system.

However one must research questions such as: what instrumentation provides best value; what will the information mean; and what measurements should be done in a lab. Unfortunately, research has revealed the lack of topical information with no centralized reference material.

The goal of this paper is to introduce a reference guide to assist in making instrumentation decisions. It will make recommendations of on-line instrumentation and lab testing to monitor and optimize nutrient removal facilities from the “Minimum Category”, to “Medium Transparency” and “Maximum Performance Category”. The information is based on four different nutrient removal processes ( Modified Ludzak-Ettinger, Four/Five Stage Bardenpho & Three Stage Phoredox).

Presented by Duncan Hoyle and Bob Dabkowski, Hach Company

Lagoon Optimization

Friday, November 5 – 9:00 to 9:45 am

Wastewater facultative lagoons can be an effective way of treating municipal wastewater. This paper will discuss methods an operator can use to get the best performance from his/her community lagoon system.

Presented by Martin Hildebrand, P.Eng., Nelson Environmental.

Is Your Drinking Water Safe?

Friday, November 5 – 10:15 to 11:00 am

Water treatment strives to ensure that drinking water is always clean and free of contaminants to ensure proper health and wellness. Routine inspection of drinking water facilities is critical to determine the levels of sediment and by-product that may exist, especially in settling basics, quiescent zones and reservoirs as a result of the treatment process. It is also crucial for the operator to realize the structural integrity of the water reservoir.

This paper will outline actions that an operator can take to effectively recognize problems with the potable water tank. In addition, this paper explains how on-line robotic inspection and cleaning of potable water tanks assist in maintaining drinking water systems and drinking water quality, and how a real time video recording of the process can assure the cleaning was performed to the owner’s satisfaction.

Presented by Trevor Klock, Scantron Robotics Inc