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20th Annual U.S. Epa Clean Water Act Recognition Awards

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 06:00 CST

By Anonymous

The following winners of the 20th annual U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act Recognition Awards have demonstrated outstanding achievements in the water quality field. Nominated by regulators and evaluated by specially appointed selection panels, these U.S. wastewater treatment facilities, programs, and projects met EPA's rigorous criteria and were honored at an awards ceremony held during WEFTEC.05 in Washington, D.C.

For more information on the national awards program, contact Maria Campbell in EPA's Office of Wastewater Management at (202) 564- 0628.

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE AWARDS

LARGE ADVANCED PLANT CATEGORY

First Palce (tie)

Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (Denver)

The Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District has demonstrated outstanding performance treating an average flow of 133 mgd (503,000 m^sup 3^/d). The district has had 10 consecutive years of 100% compliance with its discharge permit. Metro attributes its sustained success to sound management and maintenance of three areas: its equipment, its collection system, and its plant staffing and training.

Plant staffing and training ranks high in Metro District priorities. Employees have access to substantial training opportunities to meet today's technological and organizational demands.

Metro stresses that maintenance activities should be planned in advance, and achieves this through its computerized maintenance management system that schedules performance targets for preventive and corrective maintenance. Only emergency work is scheduled separately.

Metro also emphasizes strong financial management and expects that all of its existing debt will be retired by 2014. Moreover, through its careful fiscal planning, the district has managed to maintain low user rates.

First Place (tie)

Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility (Tigard, Ore.) operated by Clean Water Services (Hillsboro, Ore.)

The Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility provides technologically advanced and costeffective tertiary treatment while operating under some of the nation's strictest permit limits. The plant meets these strict limits even though its average daily flow of 25 mgd (95,000 m^sup 3^/d) exceeds its design flow of 22.6 mgd (85,500 m^sup 3^/d).

Moreover, the facility's unified fermentation and thickening process for phosphorus removal was awarded a patent in 2002 and saves $100,000 a year.

The Durham facility is managed by Clean Water Services, a regional service district in Washington County, Ore., that operates four municipal wastewater treatment facilities. The district's water quality laboratory is reportedly one of the best in the nation based on proficiency tests by EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey. The district strives to maintain a team of highly performing employees through innovative pay-for-performance and goal sharing programs. The district also provides comprehensive in-house training and development.

Second Place

Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant (Shakopee, Minn.)

A key element in the 27-mgd (102,000-m3/d) Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment Facility's success in promoting its goals is a strong public education and community service program. For example, the Blue Lake facility teamed with Minnesota's St. Cloud Technical College to promote the college's environmental technology program. The facility provides an onsite wastewater treatment plant laboratory and classroom facility and offers students an opportunity to observe and participate in the plant treatment operation to supplement classroom training.

The facility also sponsored a multi-agency disaster drill at the plant that involved police and firefighters, hazardous materials teams, and ambulance crews from many communities as well as the Minnesota National Guard. The scenario involved a terrorist attack on chlorine tanks resulting in a simulation of a major toxic gas release.

Moreover, all biosolids from the facility are processed into fertilizer as a result of a 1999 Metropolitan Council of Environmental Services solicitation seeking proposals to design, build, and operate the Blue Lake Final Stabilization Facility with an emphasis on environmental sustainability. The solicitation resulted in a public-private partnership with the New England Fertilizer Company (North Quincy, Mass.) which manages the Final Stabilization Facility, using labor provided by the Metropolitan council.

MEDIUM ADVANCED PLANT CATEGORY

First Place (tie)

Mount Holly (N.J.) Water Pollution Control Facility

In July 2004, a 1000-year storm event hit the 25.91-mi^sup 2^ (98,000-km^sup 2^) area served by the 5.0-mgd (19,000-m^sup 3^/d) Mount Holly Water Pollution Control Facility. The Rancocas Creek flooded extensively and severely, and several dams failed. The Mount Holly Municipal Utilities Authority even lost its primary pump station. But personnel responded quickly to bypass this disabled station via a temporary diesel-fueled pump station enabling complete conveyance of wastewater and stormwater to the plant. This quick action prevented public health issues associated with the backup of wastewater into homes and onto streets.

Additionally, the staff has developed custom software for data management and process monitoring and control. This has resulted in increased productivity, energy savings, and outstanding operational consistency and compliance. This facility has not had a reportable national pollutant discharge elimination system violation in more than 10 years.

First Place (tie)

Northwest Water Reclamation Facility (Kennesaw, Ga.)

The Cobb County (Ga.) Water System and the Northwest Water Reclamation Facility have shown impressive leadership in applying automation to wastewater treatment. The operations strategy at the 8.0-mgd (30,000-m^sup 3^/d) Northwest facility is to allow its automation system and supervisory control and data acquisition system to monitor and adjust facility parameters. The automation system accurately and efficiently maintains the plant at all times.

Of special note also is the facility's unique management of biosolids. The county mixes the biosolids from the Northwest facility with the county's trash at a fully enclosed and odor- scrubbed compost facility. This process reduces the volume of trash and sludge and produces a useable soil-like compost.

Second Place

Wheaton (Ill.) Sanitary District

The 8.9-mgd (33,700-m^sup 3^/d) wastewater treatment plant, operated by the Wheaton Sanitary District, incorporates a unique combination of trickling filters and activated sludge to achieve high-quality effluent. Operators use the plant's new supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to obtain real-time data and automatically manage such process controls as return activated sludge rates, dissolved oxygen levels, and sludge wasting rates. The SCADA system also is used to control sludge handling processes and disinfection.

The plant's maintenance staff prides itself on finding cost- effective solutions to its problems. For example, when a serious electrical equipment corrosion problem occurred in the primary treatment building, staff monitored the air and identified low levels of hydrogen sulfide as the culprit. The staff solved the problem by modifying the ventilation system and, after extensive research, installing sublimating chemical blocks in the electrical cabinets to protect exposed copper surfaces.

Additionally, the district has put in place a comprehensive energy reduction program, which includes such changes as switching from coarse to fine bubble diffusers, minimizing dissolved oxygen levels in the aeration basins, shedding peak loads, installing high- efficiency motors and controls, and purchasing electrical power from alternate suppliers. Through these efforts, the district reduced its electric power costs from 10% to 8% of its annual operating budget.

SMALL ADVANCED PLANT CATEGORY

First Place

Brownstown (Ind.) Wastewater Utility

With the 2001 expansion and upgrade of its wastewater facility to a 0.69 mgd (2600 m^sup 3^/d) plant, the small community of Brownstown, Ind., reaped new efficiencies through automation of treatment processes, new biosolids management equipment, and a program to better manage equipment maintenance. Additionally, a new oxidation ditch allows the plant to operate in a "storm mode," which handles high wet-weather flows. The plant's peak flow is 2.8 mgd (10,600 m^sup 3^/d).

The plant used a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to automate its fine screen, grit removal, ditch rotor, weirs, and more. By using a local contractor with nonproprietary software, the facility can add new equipment to the SCADA in the future. The SCADA also enables remote access of the plant systems to react to process alarms.

A global positioning system (GPS) is producing accurate maps of land application sites and preventing the spread of biosolids in setback areas for the plant's biosolids management program. Moreover, a current GPS project is mapping the facility's collection system.

To improve its equipment maintenance management, the facility purchased a low-cost program that tracks various equipment needs, maintenance, and performance. Thisallows preventive maintenance which among other benefits, minimizes system downtimes.

Second Place

Village of Lima (N.Y.) Wastewater Treatment Plant

The 0.3-mgd (1100-m^sup 3^/d) Village of Lima Wastewater Treatment Plant operates a Draimad Sludge Dewatering System 5 days per week. However, in order to save $5700 per year - 8% of its annual budget for treatment and solids disposal - the plant purchases the polymer to dewater its solids and plastic bags to package the product from other vendors in bulk. After soliciting price quotes from several suppliers and bulk purchase, the village reduced the cost of a 12-bag run from $35 to $13.

The plant also has implemented an aggressive inflow and infiltration (I/I) reduction program in the collection system, which has significantly reduced I/I and enabled better and more consistent treatment plant performance.

Whether it is solids disposal or I/I reduction, safety is a priority in every activity the utility performs. All work is assessed for potential hazards, and appropriate precautions are taken. Plant employees and contractors receive informal safety training in a "tailgate" setting - potential dangers are discussed in such a way that all employees performing the task participate. Getting employees involved in the decision-making process has made them more aware of workplace dangers and reduced plant injuries and accidents.

LARGE SECONDARY PLANT CATEGORY

First Place

Lawrence (Kan.) Wastewater Treatment Plant

The City of Lawrence operates and maintains a 12.5-mgd (47,300- m^sup 3^/d) wastewater treatment plant that can handle up to 65 mgd (246,000 m^sup 3^/d) in peak flows using its unique excess flow treatment system. While not intended to treat normal-strength wastewater, this system has proven effective in treating extraneous flow before it is discharged to the Kansas River. Though this type of facility has been used in drinking water treatment, the City of Lawrence installation was the first one to be used for wastewater in the United States.

In addition, the facility's maintenance is proactive, preventive, predictive, and planned. All equipment is placed on a schedule for action and the schedule is tracked and managed through a proprietary computer database.

Biosolids management also gets high priority in Lawrence, including land application or other means of recycling biosolids. Currently 90% to 95% of the biosolids are applied to agricultural fields as a fertilizer and an organic matter source. The remainder is distributed to the public for such appropriate residential uses as landscaping and gardening.

MEDIUM SECONDARY PLANT CATEGORY

First Place

Fountain (Colo.) Sanitation District

The 2.73-mgd (10,300-m^sup 3^/d) Fountain Sanitation District is served by a superior laboratory, which has made significant improvements to its management and documentation practices in 2004. First, charts were created to track the performance of each piece of equipment. The lab later updated the charts to show performance and status for each tool related to other tools of the same group. This enabled the facility to identify problems more quickly and to identify which tools need different preventive maintenance schedules.

The lab has incorporated a tool replacement program as well as added a lab calibration and maintenance log on the computer.

The lab attributes much of its improved equipment management to the computer, calling it "the lifeblood of the plant." The computer does many jobs and saves time and money by freeing the operators from tedious paperwork, enabling them to create an even more efficient lab.

SMALL SECONDARY PLANT CATEGORY

First Place

Newington (N.H.) Wastewater Treatment Plant

The 24-year-old Newington Wastewater Treatment Plant, a small secondary wastewater treatment plant, has won accolades and recognition from federal, state, and local officials as well as citizens throughout the last several years. The state's environmental agency has lauded the plant's updated laboratory as outstanding.

Newington is a small community of 796 residents in the southeastern part of New Hampshire. Its 0.3-mgd (1100-m^sup 3^/d) activated sludge extended aeration facility (composed of two package plant units) serves more than 600 people across 6 mi^sup 2^ (16 km^sup 2^). Three employees operate the plant for a contract operation company. The plant management cites its partnership with the Newington Sewer Commission for the quality effluent discharged to the sensitive shellfish waters of the Piscataqua River. The plant has had no NPDES violations since 1998.

The Sewer Commission has committed an average of $150,000 per year to capital improvements, and the plant estimates using contract labor has saved rate payers between $100,000 and $150,000 during the last 5 years.

Second Place

Town of Canton (Conn.) Water Pollution Control Facility

The 0.80-mgd (3000-m^sup 3^/d) Town of Canton Water Pollution Control Facility uses a unique team approach to improve operation and performance. A recent example of this teamwork is illustrated by the staff's solution to a problem that arose after a recent expansion.

The facility's new rotating biological contactors (RBCs) did not show sufficient bacterial growth. The staff determined that the old trickling filters were removing too much of the organic load in the summer and not enough in the winter to maintain consistent operation of the RBCs. In response, the staff, using equipment procured from a neighboring facility, installed a series of pumps and piping to divert a small but constant flow of primary effluent directly to the RBCs. As a result, overall facility performance has greatly improved.

Additionally, the facility has put in place an extremely effective collection system maintenance management program to cost- effectively protect the community's long-term assets. A detailed system inventory, prioritized maintenance program, and new sewer development review and inspection controls are the tenets of the program, which has significantly lowered infiltration and inflow in the collection system, reduced sewer blockages, and minimized emergency maintenance requirements.

LARGE NONDISCHARGING PLANT

First Place

North Conway (N.H.) Wastewater Treatment Facility

The North Conway Wastewater Treatment Plant consistently produces high-quality effluent while accomplishing several outstanding achievements.

For example, the plant spearheaded a proactive program to get a large number of failing individual septic systems offline to further protect critical groundwater sources. High-quality effluent is necessary to protect the sensitive groundwater resources in the Saco River Valley Aquifer, which feeds a number of drinking water supply wells for the Town of North Conway.

An outstanding and efficient staff provides training to other publicly owned treatment works operators throughout New Hampshire and the Northeast. The plant staff also has overcome numerous operational problems stemming from low influent flows. The plant is designed to treat 1.5 mgd (5700-m^sup 3^/d), but the average daily flow is only 0.428 mgd (1620 m^sup 3^/d).

The facility also has an excellent maintenance and process control program. For example, the staff took actions to ensure proper conditioning, provide adequate aeration, and minimize septage and leachate in-tank detention times to eliminate odors. This resulted in taking the odor control system offline and a direct cost savings of $25,000 per year.

SMALL NONDISCHARGING PLANT

First Place

South Blue River Wastewater Treatment Facility, Breckenridge (Colo.) Sanitation District

The new 0.04-mgd (150-m^sup 3^/d) South Blue River Wastewater Treatment Facility replaces three separate facilities that failed to meet new, more stringent permit requirements for discharge to groundwater. The facility relies on a system of rotating biological contactors, which operate well in the region's extreme temperature fluctuations and in times of high seasonal flow.

The Breckenridge Sanitation District, which provides service for 450 people, operates the facility. The facility discharges secondary effluent to a soil absorption system (SAS) to eliminate phosphorus discharge directly to the Blue River and Lake Dillon. The SAS essentially acts as a cost-effective form of tertiary treatment, binding phosphorus in the soil and preventing it from reaching surface waters.

The Breckenridge Sanitation District operates its five plants with a combined capacity of 4.5 mgd (17,000 m^sup 3^/d) with a staff of only nine operators, one lab technician, and one collection system foreman. All operators are cross-trained at the South Blue River Facility to provide maximum coverage with minimal personnel. Because of the District's use of advanced supervisory control and data acquisition systems, the South Blue River Facility is staffed only three days a week, but is continuously monitored through a radio telemetry system that contacts the on-call operator in emergencies.

EXEMPLARY USE OF BIOSOLIDS

LARGE OPERATING PROJECTS [MORE THAN 5 DRY TON/D (4.5 DRY TONNE/ D)]

First Place

District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Biosolids Management Program (Washington, D.C.)

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) has made dramatic improvements in its biosolids management program. Partnering with institutions such as Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on research projects enables DCWASA to better manage a variety of issues. Research on lime mixing, for instance, has helped D.C. ensure more consistent product quality, reduce odors, and save nearly $1 million a year. The program also boasts diversified reuse options, including land application to agriculture, silviculture, reclamation, and a poplar tree plantation on an abandoned gravel mine; incineration; and landfilling.

D.C. has extensive outreach and public involvement efforts, including a monthly report, a proactive approa\ch in informing elected officials about the benefits of biosolids reuse, and contracted independent field inspections for odors. DCWASA restructured its agreements with contractors to include nutrient rebates totalling $250,000 annually, which it is obligated to use for supporting biosolids research. DCWASA also developed a National Biosolids Partnership-certified and independently verified biosolids environmental management system.

Honorable Mention

Butler County (Ohio) Department of Environmental Services Biosolids Program

Butler County has demonstrated beneficial reuse of the more than 9 dry ton/d (8 dry tonne/d) of aerobically digested Class B biosolids produced at its LeSourdsville and Upper Mill Creek water reclamation facilities and four satellite treatment plants.

In March 2004, the Butler County program became the sixth in the country to achieve National Biosolids Partnership certification of its environmental management system (EMS). In conjunction with the development of its EMS, Butler County updated its standard operations control procedures; established a program-performance tracking system and an extensive worker training program; as well as improved internal and external communications, document control procedures, and stakeholder relations.

Other recent program improvements include replacing a belt filter press with a centrifuge, achieving 22% cake solids, and receiving approval to land-apply at the agronomic rate on more than 2000 ac (800 ha). Butler County has also developed and implemented a proactive communications plan and public outreach program, including an annual stakeholders meeting, brochures, articles, tours, and a Web site.

SMALL OPERATING PROJECTS [LESS THAN 5 DRY TON/D (4.5 DRY TONNE/ D)]

First Place

Lawrence (Kan.) Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility

Lawrence Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility has successfully run a long-standing recycling program that includes biosolids application to parks and agricultural land as well as public distribution to homeowners. Its current contract cost for land application ($10.60/yd^sup 3^; ~$13.50/wet ton or $67.50/dry ton) is cost-effective when compared to the alternative of landfilling at a tipping fee of more than $32/wet ton. A residuals coordinator oversees the biosolids programs, including general biosolids management, farmer relations, media and public education relations, and evaluation of options necessary for project and contract management.

Lawrence, a charter member of the National Biosolids Partnership, has spent considerable time developing and implementing its biosolids environmental management system, and is currently undergoing its third-party audit. The program has enjoyed a high degree of public acceptance from both residents and the local farming community; it conducts an effective public education effort through the use of written materials, exhibit booths, and tours.

Second Place

West Jackson County (Miss.) Land Application Facility

The West Jackson County Land Application Facility is responsible for final use and disposal of the biosolids generated by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Wastewater Authority (Pascagoula). The facility began operation in 1988 with two application sites totaling 10 ac (4 ha). Today, West Jackson land-applies an average of 3.5 dry ton/d (3.2 dry tonne/d) of aerobically digested biosolids for hay production. The 17 fields, totaling 160 ac (65 ha), produce 40,000 to 50,000 bales of hay per season.

The land application fields also provide additional habitat and a site for viewing endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes and other wildlife. To accommodate future expansion, the facility purchased an additional 320 ac (130 ha) in 1995.

West Jackson has added five concrete storage pads with a total capacity of 900 yd^sup 3^ (700 m^sup 3^), as well as equipment to enhance field operations. The facility tracks each load of biosolids it receives and individual field loading rates, as well as data on metals, pathogen reduction, vector attraction reduction, nutrients in biosolids, and the results of soil and groundwater monitoring.

Honorable Mention

Tri-Cities North Regional Wastewater Authority (Dayton, Ohio)

Tri-Cities North Regional Wastewater Authority (TCA) has taken an innovative approach to landapplied biosolids. TCA eliminated the need for a fleet of semi-tractors and tanker trailers to transport liquid biosolids. A 7-mi-long (11-km-long) underground transmission line runs from the anaerobic digester in the main treatment plant directly to six homogenous storage tanks at the TCA-owned and leased, dedicated land-application site. The 634-ac (257-ha) farm site, divided into 22 fields, uses drag-line, tractor-pulled injector systems to apply the biosolids. This approach has helped reduce truck traffic, effects on public roads, and soil compaction of turn-around areas, while improving public perception of the program, which has the appearance of a farming operation rather than a sludge disposal site.

Local farmers, selected via a periodic bidding process, lease the application fields to grow and harvest grain crops for livestock feed. Yields have consistently met farmers' expectations. The fields are divided into a grid system via global positioning system for monitoring soil, crop tissue, groundwater, and nutrients. A supervisory control and data acquisition system tracks process information such as digester feed, sludge-to-farm flow, and digester temperature.

Tri-Cities' community relations and educational efforts include the development of technical papers, participation in "open house" farm site visits, the Children's Water Festival, and Honey Creek Watershed activities.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

First Place

Dr. Ken Barbarick and Dr. Jim Ippolito, Colorado State University, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences

Ken Barbarick and Jim Ippolito have conducted extensive, long- term research on the agronomic and environmental effects of land- applied biosolids in the Western United States. Their efforts have included studies on crop quality and production, fate of nutrients and trace metals, soil and water quality impacts associated with projects involving anaerobically digested biosolids applications, biosolids applications to high plains desert ecosystems, composted biosolids application to a severely burned forest area, and studies of the fate, mobility, and extractability of biosolids-borne trace metals in long-term field experiments. The results of their studies have been widely reported in presentations at local, regional, and international conferences, proceedings documents, and journal articles.

PRETREATMENT

CATEGORY 2 [6-20 SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USERS (SIUs)]

First Place

City of Wilsonville (Ore.) Water Pollution Control Facility

The 5.32-mgd (20,100-m^sup 3^/d) City of Wilsonville Water Pollution Control Facility has a strong pretreatment program across the board. The program includes control of significant industrial users as well as a control program for smaller industrial users, developing a fats, oils, and grease (FOG) control program for smaller industrial users, and significant public outreach and awareness. The facility's average daily flow is 1.82 mgd (6890 m^sup 3^/d), about 20% of which comes from industrial sources, such as metal finishing and electroplating services, restaurants, auto services, photo labs, printers, and dentists.

Wilsonville facility created a master list of industrial users that is updated annually. The facility has a strong enforcement record - no violations have been contested and all violators have been brought back to full compliance.

Moreover, the facility has developed best management practice agreements for dischargers too small to require a permit, but too large to not to be given special attention. For example, to address the problem of FOG discharged into the collection system from restaurants, the city requires grease pumpers or haulers to provide notice of when they will empty grease traps so the integrity of traps and interceptors can be evaluated. The concentration of FOG in the system has decreased from 33 mg/L to 22 mg/L, and the city has only finished about two-thirds of the restaurants in town.

The facility environmental services staff members also communicate extensively with the general public. Industries in significant non-compliance are identified and published annually in a statewide newspaper. Local newspaper articles have included information on household hazardous waste disposal events, litter pickup events, and procedures to reduce pollution in the storm sewer from vehicle washing.

Personnel also assist local high school science classes with stream monitoring projects and give presentations on water pollution prevention to community college classes. Staff members host wastewater treatment plant tours and open houses so the public becomes familiar with the facility.

Second Place

Upper Merion Municipal Utility Authority (King of Prussia, Pa.)

The Upper Merion Municipal Utility Authority is recognized for its strong communication with industrial users, its development of a compliance group for further interaction and better communication with and among industrial users, and using industrial user awards as compliance incentives. The authority has an average daily flow of 6.6 mgd (25,000 m^sup 3^/d) of which 26.8% comes from industrial users such as a pharmaceutical manufacturer, a chemical research and development company, and a leather tanning operation.

The authority uses personal contact, telephone calls, and e-mail to reach its industrial users. It has also used direct sewer billings to deliver up-to-date notification on issues affecting publicly owned treatment works.

New industrial users receive tours of the water pollution control centers for a greater understanding of the treatment plant and are paired with experienced users who help them understand program requirements.

The township createdthe industrial users group from the permitted user base and the industrial pretreatment program. The program enables users to help develop guidelines to facilitate a general understanding of the program's goals and objectives and the well- being of affected users.

Annually, the authority presents awards to users who maintain 100% compliance with their industrial wastewater discharge permit for the calendar year. It also acknowledges users' efforts to be proactive in reducing solid waste, water, and electrical usage.

CATEGORY 3 (21 OR MORE SIUS)

First Place

Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (Martinez, Calif.)

The Central Contra Costa Sanitary District is recognized for its coordination with other agencies to identify and update industrial users, its use of different classes of permits to categorize users, its extensive communication with industries and the public, and its numerous pollution prevention programs.

About 17% of the district's average daily flow of 43.6 mgd (165,000 m^sup 3^/d) comes from industrial flows. The system is designed to handle 53.8 mgd (204,000 m^sup 3^/d).

The district's participation in interagency partnerships allows efficient sharing of resources and better coordinated program implementation. For example, licensing or permitting authorities are periodically used to obtain information on groups of businesses. The district has used dental licensing board records, stormwater permits, and a county hazardous material program list to complete its database of regulated businesses.

The district uses various methods to communicate with industries and the public, including direct communication with source control inspectors, permits, informational handouts and newsletters, promotional advertisements, workshops and trade association meetings, and a focus group of permitted industrial users.

The district's comprehensive pollution prevention program complements the pretreatment program. It has offered workshops on less-toxic gardening techniques and products to 2150 people, collected 99 1b (45 kg) of elemental mercury and 17 1b (7.7 kg) of mercury in mercury-containing household hazardous waste, exchanged more than 2300 mercury thermometers since 1999, and reduced the number of overflows due to grease blockages from 74 in 1994 to one reportable overflow in 2004.

Second Place

Broward County Water and Wastewater Services (Pompano Beach, FIa.)

The Broward County Industrial Pretreatment Program (BCIPP) is recognized for its aggressive monitoring program and its strong support of pollution prevention programs. The facility handles an average daily flow of 66 mgd (250,000 m3/d); of which 5% is industrial flow. Nondomestic contributors include non-hazardous waste haulers, metal finishers, food processors, commercial laundries, centralized waste treatment plants, non-hazardous leachate from landfills, and hospitals.

BCIPP has implemented a number of monitoring programs in its jurisdiction, such as the Septage Receiving Facility's Hauled Waste Compliance Enforcement Program, a partnership with the Broward County Environmental Protection Department to identify industrial users, a surcharge program to address nondomestic loading, a system of checks and balances to monitor program performance, and a reclassification of minor contributors to control nondomestic dischargers.

BCIPP uses pollution prevention programs and best management practices to minimize the regulatory burden, liability, and cost of pretreatment administration. For example, to address high levels of total recoverable petroleum hydrocarbons, total toxic organics, and heavy metals from vehicle maintenance and repair facilities, BCIPP suggested sealing floor drains in vehicle service areas or converting oil/water separators into holding tanks.

The program also saved about $4125 in expenses by developing a Code of Management Practice for Silver Dischargers - in conjunction with The Silver Coalition - that eliminated 55 industrial user permits and testing requirements.

INDUSTRIAL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

First Place

Continental Maritime of San Diego, Inc.

Continental Maritime of San Diego Inc., a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles) and a full-service ship repair facility situated on approximately 32 ac (13 ha) of land and water on San Diego Bay, has taken receiving-water protection to the next level by becoming the first facility of its type to achieve "zero discharge" status. The facility ceased discharging by systematically diverting or eliminating virtually all effluent, preventing as many potential pollutants as possible - most notably copper - from commingling with their storrnwater runoff.

For example, unnecessary discharges from the facility's saltwater fire protection system were eliminated by an electronic logic system that optimizes pump size to demand from the ships. Air conditioning condensate now is collected in drums, processed, and discharged to the sanitary sewer. Steam condensate from boilers is rerouted back to boilers - as a bonus this change increased boiler efficiency. The facility's freshwater fire protection sprinkler system was retrofit to allow test water discharge to be collected, processed, and sent to the sanitary sewer. A repaired and redesigned sprinkler head pattern eliminated irrigation runoff from landscaping, and all other industrial stormwater sources were diverted into the sanitary sewer.

Continental Maritime's exemplary pollution prevention program uses transferable technology. Other facilities could apply these fixes, which save Continental Maritime about $90,000 per year in energy savings.

Copyright Water Environment Federation Nov 2005

Source: Water Environment & Technology

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