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AWWA, ANEAS, Agree to Share Expertiseand Resources for Improved Water Supply

September 6, 2007

AwwaRF Sponsors Meeting on Climate Change and Drinking Water

September 6, 2007

Knowing the Business

August 1, 2007By L. K. Williams

Schneider Electric's expertise translates into a healthy bottom line

A little more than one year after launching its Water Wastewater Competency Center, Schneider Electric’s North American division’s orders are up more than 50 percent.

Simplicity is in the Eye of the User

July 1, 2007By Troy A. Hertog

Incorporating plant and operator needs is essential to effective automated control and telemetry system design

While the demand for automation is on the rise, facility managers interested in simplifying their operations should ensure that such a system actually will make work easier.

The Right MAP Will Get You There

July 1, 2007By Michael Cherniak

Benchmark assessment offers utilities comparative data to better direct future performance

Utility performance has been the subject of many benchmarking tools over the last decade. Professional water and wastewater associations have offered programs to their members to fill this need, focusing on various indicators. Typically, the measures are broad and all-encompassing at higher levels of management and more specific and narrow at the lower levels of an organization.

Thompson Pump Makes History by Helping

July 1, 2007By Debbie Bolles

A major supplier to the water and wastewater industry does not often get a chance to become a part of history. But that is what occurred when Thompson Pump & Manufacturing Co. helped retrieve a sunken Confederate submarine off the coast of South Carolina in 2000.

Water & Wastewater News Roundtable 2007

June 1, 2007By Water and Wastewater News Staff

Despite the roar from the municipal water and wastewater industry about the lack of funds for infrastructure, Water & Wastewater News’ roundtable participants seemed to agree that the money is “out there,” it is just a matter of finding the right source.

No Foul, No Harm

March 1, 2007By George R. Alther

Experiments test organoclay's sorptive capacity

While cationic and anionic resins typically last a long time in industrial wastewater and groundwater applications, they frequently become fouled by any of several compounds. The fouling eventually will destroy the resins' capacity to adsorb metals or other materials.

The New Alchemy

March 1, 2007By Robert Rubin, Ph.D., Edward W. Miles

Chemical Process changes brown grease glut into energy resource

Heavy Metal Combo

November 1, 2006By Ratana Kanluen, MSc., Sultan Amer, Ph.D.

A new treatment successfully removes arsenic, selenium, and mercury from a variety of waste streams

Arsenic, selenium, and mercury occur widely in nature, though at low levels, and are associated with sulfide ores, elemental sulfur, and in crude oil and coal deposits. These metals are used in the manufacture of numerous industrial products, such as semiconductors, fuel cells, photographic processes, agricultural products, preservatives and pharmaceuticals, to name just a few.

Probing for Better Data

September 1, 2006By Bob Dabkowski

A new sensor is helping operators control aeration and provide more accurate readings

Switching from a membrane-type dissolved oxygen (DO) probe to new, breakthrough luminescent technology has brought tighter control to the conventional aeration system serving the Holland Area Wastewater Treatment Plant. Plus, a four-month trial demonstrated that the new luminescent DO (LDO) probe performs well monitoring high-DO effluent from the facility's pure oxygen system. Until now, it had been difficult for the plant to find a reliable online measurement instrument for this environment.

Exorcising Groundwater Contaminants

January 1, 2006By Joseph L. Devary

New remediation technologies are seeping out of the labs and into the market

Groundwater and soil contamination are among the most time-consuming and costly environmental remediation challenges facing our communities today. Solvents, metals, organic compounds, and other chemicals remain in the soil and seep into groundwater long after the facilities that used or created the contaminants have stopped operating.

Under Surveillance

January 1, 2006By Corey M. Willson

A growing Florida county utility uses high-tech markers to see underground

The Wastewater Operations Division of Charlotte County Utilities in Charlotte County, Fla., operates in a unique underground construction setting. The county is in the process of substantially expanding its utility infrastructure to serve thousands of platted residential lots and accommodate the demands of rapid population growth.

Scaling Back the Mineral Problem

November 1, 2005By Daniel J. Cho

Electronic descaling is saving millions in pipe cleaning and maintenance costs

Physical water treatment (PWT) is a general term that refers to non-chemical methods of controlling or preventing fouling, especially mineral fouling or scale. PWT technologies use the laws of physics to impact water chemistries and mitigate scale without the use of chemical additives. Such technologies target lime scale, an extremely adhesive crystalline precipitate of calcium carbonate, which is responsible for the majority of scaling problems. Calcium carbonate also traps other minerals, such as magnesium, to form combined scales, just as it traps soap in residential sinks and bathtubs to form so-called "soap scum."

A Different Kind of Water System

September 1, 2005By David Cain, PhD

New IT developments can make water compliance management more effective

Water quality is intimately connected to quality of life. Although this fact of life has been understated for many years, water professionals have long known that clean water is an increasingly scarce and valuable commodity that cannot be taken for granted. The Clean Water Act brought about increased regulatory oversight, resulting in recent criminal charges and fines against violators, and environmental organizations are succeeding in bringing about public awareness of the need to protect water resources by encouraging businesses to include water stewardship and utilization in corporate sustainability reporting.