Water & Wastewater News Logo

Poll

Feature

Joining the Mainstream

December 1, 2004By T. David Chinn, PE

As effluent discharge standards become more stringent, advanced treatment alternatives such as membrane bioreactor technology are gaining acceptance with municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants

For more than 30 years the Clean Water Act (CWA) has established programs and requirements to protect the quality of U.S. rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. In that time, this regulatory framework has succeeded in doubling the number of water bodies in the United State that are considered swimmable and fishable. Today, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more than two thirds of water bodies are regarded as healthy compared to only one third in 1972 when the CWA was first created by Congress.

A Tiny Solution to a Big Problem

September 1, 2004By Shas Mattigod, PhD

Using nanotechnology, scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a simple tool to adsorbing large quantities of mercury without creating secondary waste

A powerful, novel technology for mercury removal in waste streams provides an ounce of cure for municipalities, government, and industry. Scientists at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed Thiol-SAMMS, or Self-Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports, as an effective and voracious tool for adsorbing mercury.

Analyze This

September 1, 2004By Mike Purcell, Brian Wallace

Innovative solutions for automated total organic carbon analysis of difficult matrices

Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis can be used as an effective industrial wastewater monitoring tool. However, heavily particulated sample matrices present significant challenges for most TOC analyzers. The following guidelines address the various considerations for performing automated TOC analysis on these types of samples.

Boosting Polymer Power

September 1, 2004By Barry Bracken

A new mixing regime optimizes the work value of polymer serving the biosolids dewatering operations at the Lancaster, Pa., wastewater treatment plant

Sludge dewatering operations at the Lancaster wastewater treatment plant run continuously five and a half days every week, processing an average of 95 cake tons per day. Before it adopted a new polymer preparation approach to more fully activate cationic polymer, belt-press dewatering at the facility had become highly expensive and inefficient.

Choose Your Disinfection Weapon

September 1, 2004By Rudy Matousek

A closer look at the disinfection alternatives available for wastewater treatment

The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) was created to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation's water. One of the specific goals of the CWA is the complete elimination of pollutant discharge into navigable waters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting Program, which supports the CWA, requires permitting for all point source discharges to U.S. waters (i.e., "direct discharges").

Letting Your Malodors Fly Away

September 1, 2004By Anthony J. Sadar, CCM

Water treatment plant malodors can be moved by the wind to populated communities where odors can become an unwelcome neighbor, but effective techniques can mitigate odor impacts

One pleasant June morning, I was relaxing on my patio, when I observed a robin hovering momentarily above the grass in the backyard. Its fluttering wings were forcing the air beneath to wave the lush green grass. The air in motion (the simplest definition of wind) generated by the robin was in the range of what meteorologists call the microscale.

Sorting Through the Muck

September 1, 2004By Karen DeCampli

An overview of the technologies used to convert municipal wastewater residuals into useful products

Biosolids -- in the United States, more than 19,000 municipal wastewater treatment facilities generate 7 million dry tons of this material every year. Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of sewage sludge, which is the name for the solid, semi-solid, or liquid untreated residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility. Wastewater treatment plants spend $1.1 billion to treat and dispose of the stuff. Over 80 percent of it is recycled and reused.

The ABCs of A Green Education

September 1, 2004By Valerie Weadock

Educating the youth of today about sustainability issues will benefit the environment tomorrow

While reminiscent of the many ranches that once occupied this region, the slowly turning windmill and large cisterns on the Roy Lee Walker Elementary School campus in McKinney, Texas, are not intended for decoration. They're examples of the many sustainable practices the school district has incorporated to protect the environment and teach environmental awareness through hands-on learning.

The Overlooked Oasis

September 1, 2004By Peter S. Cartwright, PE, George R. Alther

Can economic recycling of wastewater help reduce water shortages?

Water shortages have become a problem in America due to an ever-increasing population and a dwindling water supply. Areas where water is being restricted are the west coast states, the southwestern states, and even states in New England.

A Winning Combination

July 1, 2004By George R. Alther

Organoclay with activated carbon proves to be a successful option for removing creosote products from groundwater

Creosote and other non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) are responsible for high pump-and-treat costs in groundwater remediation because, due to their molecular size, they tend to clog activated-carbon pores quickly. The result is frequent change outs, which renders the pump-and-treat method too expensive.

Going Global

July 1, 2004By Ellen Bohon Zeytoun

Increasing your business in the booming world market of water and wastewater technologies

Access to safe drinking water and contamination of surface water bodies is a major problem in many areas of the globe. In the year 2000, approximately 1.1 billion people (18 percent of the world's population) lacked access to safe drinking water, and 2.4 billion (40 percent of the total population) lacked adequate sanitation.

A Matter of Trust

May 1, 2004By Ken Kirk

Our roads and airports have dedicated funding sources, why not do the same for water with a national clean water trust fund?

Americans demand that their water be safe and clean. And polls and surveys find that Americans are willing to pay their fair share to guarantee the quality of their water. The message to the U.S. Congress is both new and compelling -- if highways and airports are worthy of multi-billion dollar trust funds, so are the nation's waterways. The problem is no longer someone else's; it belongs to each and every one of us -- just as the nation's rivers, lakes, streams, beaches, bays and estuaries belong to us all.

Controlling the Flow

May 1, 2004By Rex Hansen, PE

A city/county project solves detention maintenance issues, addressing flooding while meeting detention requirements for urban runoff and wetland and stormwater criteria

A nine-year, $5.29 million road improvement project in Washington County, Ore., is finally coming to a close in June 2004. With its completion, a community and wetland will begin to enjoy its benefits, including improved pedestrian safety and traffic flow, and protection from erosion and flooding for nearby Johnson Creek.

Going Their Separate Ways

May 1, 2004By Patrick T. Gates

A closer look at the advantages of cluster sewage systems, a decentralized sanitary sewer system option for larger, low-density population areas

This article explores the nature, utilization and differences between centralized and decentralized sanitary sewer systems. It explores how and why the majority of sanitary wastewater is routed to centralized sewer systems, and some of the benefits and problems associated with centralized sewers.

Storm II: Looking for NEMO

May 1, 2004By Kristine Uhlman, CGWP, RG, Dr. D. Phillip Guertin

The University of Arizona's Cooperative Extension Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Program helps the arid and semiarid Southwestern states with stormwater management

Stormwater takes on a new dimension during times of drought and amid concern for climate change, especially in the desert Southwest of the United States where our rivers are mostly dry beds of sand and gravel. Stormwater Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) communities seeking appropriate best management practices (BMPs) to address sediment load -- the principal nonpoint source pollutant in the arid Southwest -- may find base flow conditions exhibiting no water and a high potential for in-channel scour and sediment loading.