Transcript WASTEWATER SYSTEM MANAGEMENT

WASTEWATER SYSTEM
MANAGEMENT
by John Lisenko
• Wastewater systems are indispensable for
community health. One of the signs of progress
and civilization is how a society deals with its
waste products.
• WA = Department of Ecology
• OR = Department of Environmental Quality
WASTEWATER SYSTEM
MANAGEMENT
• The managed “product” is waterborne
waste. It needs to be transported, treated
and disposed of properly.
• Transportation, treatment and disposal may
be under one jurisdiction, or could be
handled separately, e.g. transportation by a
city, treatment by a special district and
disposal by a joint powers authority.
Management objectives for
wastewater systems
•
•
Accept the waste from the generator
(residential, commercial, industrial) and
dispose of it in a cost-effective manner
that protects public health and safety.
Return the waste, and the water used to
transport it back to the environment in an
acceptable form.
Management objectives for
wastewater systems
• Objective 1 is usually achieved under the guidance
of local authorities and local public input.
• Objective 2 is achieved by complying with state
and federal regulations which may be promulgated
as a result of non-local interests and over which
local authorities have little control.
• The 2 objectives are not always compatible.
Basic Responsibilities: Planning, Financing,
Constructing, Maintaining and Operating
• Planning:
– determine ultimate service area (topography
usually dictates)
– determine service area demographics
(city/county general plans)
– Evaluate needed vs. existing service capacity
Basic Responsibilities: Financing
• Sewer finances are based on reliance on user fees
for existing service and connection/annexation
charges for new service.
• User fees include operations, maintenance and
capital replacement charges.
• Making sure new users pay a fair share is one of
the biggest challenges.
Basic Responsibilities: Constructing
• Reasons for construction vary and include new
facilities to accommodate growth, replacement of
old facilities that have exceeded useful life and
new facilities to address new and more stringent
treatment requirements.
• Construction is financed by user fees and new
development fees. Little if any federal/state $$$ is
available.
Basic responsibilities: Maintaining
• Asset management programs and systems
take different forms but have one goal in
mind – reliability over the useful life, of any
system component.
• Key aspects of any good asset management
system is good data that is easily accessed
and up to date.
Basic Responsibilities: Operating
• Collection system – keeping the stuff moving is
the challenge – grease, roots and rags are the
obstacles.
• Treatment – big topic, lots to discuss, not enough
time. Basically it’s like cooking – you mix the
ingredients, monitor the time and temperature, and
hope it comes out right in the end. If not, the
regulatory agencies will give you lots of
indigestion!
Basic Responsibilities: Operating
(cont’d)
• Disposal – the liquid waste stream is
relatively simple to get rid of – the solids
(sludge) are more challenging.
Current Issues
• Sewage spills – more often than not the result of
errors, mostly human. Big headlines due to high
visibility.
• Collection system monitoring, reporting and
management plans (SSMP). Effort underway to
put collection system management on par with
treatment plant management with respect to
reporting, permitting, etc.
Current Issues
(cont’d)
• Reclamation is a requirement of most water
supply analyses. Seldom is the water
purveyor also the sewage treatment
authority. As a result, the priorities may be
in conflict and the rate structure as well.
• Privatization – not as much of a push now,
but always lurking in the background and
keeps public sector on its toes.
Current Issues
(cont’d)
• Sludge disposal and the classification of
sludge as a hazardous waste. With
incineration generally frowned upon due to
air pollution concerns, how to get rid of
sludge is a challenge for the future.
SUMMARY AND Q&A
• Because sewer revenue is subject only to
the political will of the governing board to
raise rates, there is no excuse for doing a
less than satisfactory job. This puts a lot of
responsibility on managers to use their
resources effectively and to do as thorough
and complete a job as possible.