manganate does not pose an environmental issue.

Hydrogen suldes and tannins will foul oxidizing lter media, reducing its efciency. Oxidizing lters work best with water low in organic material and phosphate. Chlorine adversely affects the catalytic property of the lter media and it should be added after ltration.

(Continued from page 11)

Oxidation
Oxidation is required before precipitation, ltration or settling. Soluble ferrous iron is oxidized to a ferric iron, which readily forms an insoluble iron hydroxide complex. Manganous is oxidized to manganic, which forms insoluble manganese dioxide. The insoluble metals can be removed by ltration or precipitated out in a settling tank. Aeration can be an effective, low-cost method of oxidizing iron. Water is passed through a series of porous trays by gravity to provide contact between air and water. Air stripping towers can also provide aeration. The water trickles down through a tower packed with open plastic media while air is forced up through the media. Aeration towers also remove suldes, radon and volatile organic chemicals. Aeration is not effective if humic materials or iron bacteria are present. The rate of reaction for manganese is very slow at pH values less than 9.5. Chlorine can be used as an oxidant. The chlorine feed rate and contact time can be determined through jar testing. However, trihalomethanes can be a problem if organic material is present in the water when using chlorine. Potassium permanganate is a very efcient oxidant for iron and manganese. It is more expensive than chlorine, but the capital equipment costs are less. The dose of potassium permanganate must be carefully controlled. Too little will not oxidize all of the iron and manganese, and too much will leave a pink hue in the water.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELECTRO STATIC TECHNOLOGY

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF ELECTRO STATIC TECHNOLOGY

Settling or ltration

A detention tank can be used to allow contact time for the oxidation process to occur. The size of the detention tank depends on ow rate, tank conguration, oxidation method, and other contaminants in the water. A bench test or jar test can be useful in selecting an oxidation method and detention time. Aeration oxidation followed by a settling tank is an inexpensive treatment option for small water systems that do not require chemical additions. It is not effective in all cases, and bench or jar tests must be done to determine the cost and feasibility of this method. Inclined plate settlers, bafes or tube settlers can be used in the settling tank to provide the maximum detention time, and the settling tanks must be designed to allow the precipitate to be removed periodically.

The Vertical Motor Solution developed by Independent Electric Machinery Co., uses a tooled ceramic-coated thrust-bearing carrier and an AEGIS bearing protection ring to divert voltage that would otherwise damage motor bearings.

Reliable pumping
The grounding rings design includes nanogap technology rows of continuous, overlapping conductive microbers encircling the motor shaft to provide hundreds of thousands of discharge points. As the bers wear slowly, they conform to the shaft for excellent electrical contact throughout the life of the bearing. They also divest small amounts of grease, oil lm and dust away from the shaft. Electron transfer technology involves three processes working simultaneously to ground across gaps less than 2 nm, between gaps from 2 nm to 5 nm, and across gaps greater than 5 nm. As the rst 10 reconditioned motors returned, an Independent Electric representative at the plant conrmed that voltages were below the level at which they could damage the bearings. Once the motors were installed, Koci sent the remaining seven out for repair. For the plants four horizontal pump motors, technicians installed a grounding ring at the nondrive end and ceramic-coated bearings at the drive end. The pumps have run without problems for more than a year. The shaft-grounding rings werent on the market when we designed the plant, says Biby. The cost is insignicant when compared with the cost of new facilities. Furthermore, while variable-frequency drives can save 30 percent or more in energy, repairing or replacing motor bearings can wipe out those savings while diminishing the reliability of the entire system. wso

Filtration
Filtration is the most common method of removing iron and manganese after oxidation. Slow sand lters, pressure lters, bag or cartridge lters, or conventional lters can remove the oxidized contaminants. Conventional and slow sand lters are the most expensive, and they are not normally used for removing iron and manganese unless bacteria, colloidal particles or other lterable contaminants are present. Bag or cartridge lters have a very low capital cost but a higher maintenance cost. Automatically backwashing pressure lters have a higher capital cost and a lower maintenance cost. Community leaders decided to use air stripping towers because the raw water also contained signicant levels of volatile organic compounds, and trihalomethanes have been a problem at the facility in the past. ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Rowe, Ph.D., is a professor of Water Resources at Florida Gateway College in Lake City, Fla. wso

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UV disinfection kills coliform bacteria and other pathogens.

Droughts have lowered water levels on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs on the Savannah River. Mike Anderson (left), eld operator, and Mark Field, lead operator, observe water that will soon enter the treatment plant.

ber of things we are proud of, says Grifn. In terms of surface area, we are the largest utility in the country in the use of SCADA technology. While we have a good-sized population, its not that many relative to our 900-square-mile service area. Its a far-ung, relatively non-dense infrastructure. We rely on SCADA and well-trained personnel to interpret and understand the data, and dispatch crews only when necessary. The SCADA system is the nerve center of the operations and is critical to the authoritys comprehensive asset management and maintenance management plans. An asset inventory is tied to the utilitys GIS, which maintains digitized as-built drawings on all assets and monitors the physical condition and operating efciency of all assets. The system helps the staff develop operations and capital budgets and track progress We rely on SCADA on all construction projects. and well-trained Were continuing to rene our personnel to interpret asset management system, says Grifn. Were moving to merge it and understand the data, with our workforce mobility sysand dispatch crews tem. When our customer service group gets a call about a problem only when necessary. with one of our wells, or a leak, KEN GRIFFIN they can immediately communicate electronically with our dispatchers and crews and let them know everything they need to know about that asset repairs needed and other utilities in the area, for example. The maintenance records can be updated, as well. All assets have been inventoried and entered into a computerized maintenance management system. Assets are detailed down to their component parts, and maintenance schedules and work orders are produced daily, weekly and monthly. Grifn reports that during scal year 2011, the authority accomplished 16,650 hours of planned programmed maintenance and only 3,920 hours of emergency maintenance.

Shawana Williford, laboratory technician, performs a phosphate check on a water sample.

The authority has also incorporated state-of-the-art drive-by meter reading, which records usage and relays the information to the customer service department for billing. The team is also developing a comprehensive management dashboard system to contain data that will keep management abreast of asset management, costs, maintenance and other parameters. Once again, Grifn says, the authority used the recent slowgrowth period to make these improvements.

People power
In the end, Grifn credits people for the success of the authoritys programs and systems. Customer service is a critical priority, he says. While the customer service department has primary responsibility for pleasing customers, every employee needs to provide excellent service. We judge the quality of the customer service operation with three criteria: timeliness, effectiveness and courtesy, he continues. Of the three, timeliness is the most signicant challenge. The authority maintains regular communications and training programs for all employees. We have email access to every single person on our staff, Grifn says. Its a wonderful and effective way to communicate. We have a well-thought-out compensation program, with career ladders for most positions, and we encourage and provide training to our staff, enabling them to qualify for higher license classications. Grifn points with pride to the authoritys record of attracting highly qualied employees to its ranks, and the stability of its workforce: Team members average more than 15 years of service. We seek to hire qualied employees, he says, and to keep them throughout their careers. wso

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Staff pride in the plant is evident in the landscaping. Flowers, shrubs and trees grace the plants entrance, which is visible from the highway. The six-lane Dale Mabry Highway is about 50 feet from our entrance, so we wanted to make sure the grounds look good, Kavanagh says. Lacking funds for a beautication project, the operators raised the money to buy pallets of sod and various plants. They recycled cans and bottles and sold candy bars to help pay for the project. With that money, they bought a vending machine for the break room to raise money on a regular basis, while providing food and snacks for operators working long shifts. Anyone who comes off the freeway and drives by our plant cant help but be impressed by how good it looks, says Kavanagh. When we received the 2011 Most Improved Class B Water Treatment Plant Award from the FSAWWA, we were told that one reason we won was because of the effort we put into the plant beautication project.

Doing it all
Senior operator David Hauser observes, Everybody works together at this plant. Everyone is extremely exible, and everyone brings something to the table. And theyre encouraged to do whatever theyre good at. Paul gives us free rein in that sense. Plant operators monitor in-line analyzers and collect wet samples of inuent/efuent a minimum of every four hours. They clean and paint equipment to minimize corrosion and perform regular maintenance, such as cleaning and calibrating analyzers and minimizing leaks to prevent ow interruptions. Four years ago, the utility centralized the maintenance, says Kavanagh. It can take a while for maintenance workers to get out here, depending on their workload, so if we see a problem, we try to get ahead of it by handling the smaller stuff ourselves. For example, when a pinhole on the ammonia feed line required a minor repair, We shut down the system and switched to another pump and injector so the operator could replace the half-inch polyvinyl line, Kavanagh explains. The system was only down for an hour. Operators also handle water-quality complaints or questions for the county. We may handle anywhere from a few complaints to multiple calls a day if we have a line break, says Kavanagh. We attempt to walk customers through problems that are inside the home and past the point of our responsibility.

Luis Ortega takes a sample from the ClorTec sodium hypochlorite generator (Severn Trent Services) to test specic gravity and determine bleach strength.

You know the saying: If youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem? Well, my staff members are the solution. I wouldnt trade them for anything.
PAUL KAVANAGH

That may include helping them place their water softener in bypass, telling them how to shut the water off if there is a leak, or answering general questions. If we suspect it may be a problem within the distribution line, we create a service request and pass it on to the appropriate supervisor, says Kavanagh. Our goal is to be at the customers door within two hours. A reclaim/potable water specialist helps with the countys reclamation plant, physically checking each reclaim station and setting operation parameters such as system pressure and tank levels. The plant operators monitor and control the water reclaim system via SCADA. Most of the systems 11 storage tanks are at or near the utilitys wastewater plants. We pump the reclaim water for the entire northwest section of the county, says Kavanagh. This can include moving water from storage tanks in one location to storage tanks at a different location, as demand dictates, as well as directly to our customers. The potable water specialist is also cross-trained on operations. More than 23 mgd of reclaimed water is delivered to 15,000 residential and commercial customers each day.

Mitch Zitch ushes a hydrant at the plant. In 2010, the plant reclassied all water quality eld technicians, formerly called hydrant ushers. Cross-training and shift trading helps everyone learn new skills.
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Always improving
Plant upgrades over the past six years have helped ensure high-quality water, redundancy and hurricane preparedness. Besides additions to the ammonia feed system, these upgrades include: New 43-ton sodium chloride tank for additional salt storage. Complete replacement of switchgear and the motor control center with newest efcient technology and labeling of all breakers with arcash ratings. Installation of a security camera system that covers the entire site. Integration of all six variable-speed, high-service pumps with the generator. Installation of a hurricane shelter over sodium hypochlorite and ammonia tanks. Replacement of four sodium hypochlorite and four uoride pumps (Grundfos). Installation of concrete sidewalks to all sample points for safety. Installation of a catwalk on top of the diesel storage tank. Creation of a professional weather center with integrated multi-sensor that collects weather data and relays it to plant control room display console. The plants 1,330 hp diesel generator (Caterpillar) with a 20,000-gallon diesel storage tank can run the plant continuously for about 21 days. We have a hurricane plan in effect, says Kavanagh. We had a Category 2 storm once. Were prepared for a Category 4.

The Lake Park facility was named the Most Improved Water Treatment Plant in Florida by the state AWWA section. From left are David Hauser, senior operator; Paul Kavanagh, plant manager; AWWA representative Marvin Kaden; Hillsborough County representative Kay McCormic; and Wayne Cichocki, operator trainee.

The Lake Park plant team is always looking to the future. Goals include small items like replacing all pump room lights with energy-efcient lighting, to larger initiatives like helping operators achieve Class A Meet the Top Ops certication. An upgrade to the plants programmable logic controller Besides winning FSAWWA awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Lake (PLC) is also planned. Park plant won the 2009 and 2011 Florida Department of Environmental Also on the wish list are achieving recognition as the safest water Plant Operations Excellence Award from the state DEP. Perhaps the bigplant in which to work and continuing to lead the way in innovative pracgest honor, though, was competing in the Top Ops competition, held durtices to produce the best product for their customers. ing the AWWA annual conference and exposition. The plant team placed Says Kavanagh, We have designated a plant safety representative to second in the state in 2007 and 2009-2011 and third in 2008 and 2012. In hold safety meetings once a week and relay information to the operators. 2010, they placed 10th in the nation. We have a safety action plan, which all operators must read and sign, saying they are aware of their responsibilities and underThe six-lane Dale Mabry Highway is about 50 feet from our stand our procedures in case of an accident or entrance, so we wanted to make sure the grounds look good. incident. A safety-related walk-through every month identies potential issues. The plant also has an emerPAUL KAVANAGH gency action plan. The team started preparing for the competition in 2007. We had very Securing the funding to maintain the plant at optimal performance is little time to prepare, as we decided to participate at the last minute to Kavanaghs greatest challenge. Each plant is awarded a budget for gensupport the FSAWWA and their efforts to promote the competition, recalls eral operation and maintenance, he says. Any funding request outside Kavanagh. With only about six weeks to prepare, the operators studied on this budget is taken up the chain of command through a project request their own time after picking the chapter and areas they wanted to cover. form where we state why the request It was worth the effort. Even though the competition can be stressful is needed. We work with the equipMORE INFO: and fast-paced, the operators will tell you that the thrill of challenging ment every day, so we try to keep Caterpillar, Inc. oneself against others is a feeling that is hard to beat, says Kavanagh. ahead by requesting that outdated 309/675-1000 Besides Kavanagh, who holds a Class A water license and has been or aging equipment be replaced as www.cat.com with the plant for seven years, and Hauser (Class B, four years), the opersoon as viable. Grundfos Pumps ations team includes: Kavanagh isnt worried about 800/921-7867 Plant supervisor Mark Chafn (Class A, seven years with the county). the future, since he knows his www.grundfos.us Senior plant operator Harry Williams (Class A, 12 years). team will nd a way to make it all Severn Trent Services Senior plant operator Kevin Krajaulis (Class B, four years). work. You know the saying: If 866/646-9201 Plant operators Brian Milligan (Class C, ve years) and Mitch Zitch youre not part of the solution, www.severntrentservices.com (Class C, one year). youre part of the problem? he Operator trainees Luis Ortega (one year), Wayne Cichocki (10 years) Tanner Industries, Inc. says. Well, my staff members are 800/643-6226 and Ronnie McGee (four years). the solution. I wouldnt trade them www.tannerind.com Environmental Specialist II Thomas (Toby) Ruff (10 years). for anything. wso Reclaim/potable water specialist Emmet Lee (Class C, 13 years).

The plant gives tours to schools, scouts and sports groups. Anyone who is interested can request a tour, says Kavanagh. We give the school kids a questionnaire at the end of the tour to see if they were listening. We also reward each correct answer with a water-related prize, which, of course, the kids are very receptive to. The Lake Park plant also participates in community service events such as Florida Disability Mentoring Day and a job fair with the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities.

Future wish list

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WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR