FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – This week, the Orange County Water District (OCWD) has officially stopped producing water from its world-renowned water purification plant, known as Water Factory 21. Water Factory 21, named for its use of 21st century technology – mainly reverse osmosis – was the nation’s pioneer sewer water purification facility. The Water Factory was shut down in anticipation of construction of an improved, high-tech and larger water purification plant to come on line in 2007. The Water Factory will be demolished later this year to make room for the new water purification plant.

Online since 1975, Water Factory 21 is a worldwide, water-industry landmark for its purification of sewer water that ultimately meets or is better than drinking water standards. For almost 30 years, Water Factory 21 has produced about 15 million gallons of purified water each day. Visitors, such as the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, the Head of the Environmental Protection Agency from Catalonia Spain, the Secretary of Agriculture for Israel, and many other officials from around the globe have come to Orange County and OCWD to learn more about water purification, groundwater management and how to prevent subsidence and seawater intrusion.

Water Factory 21 was included as part of major water management and water purification textbooks since the mid-1970s. Hundreds upon hundreds of water managers, engineers, scientists and students from around the world have visited Water Factory 21 each year for the past many years.

“This is both a sad and an exciting day for Orange County,” said Denis Bilodeau, president of the Orange County Water District Board of Directors. “Water Factory 21 has been the model for the rest of the world to follow. But as we close one chapter in Orange County’s water history, we are starting another new exciting one with the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System, which will also be a worldwide model for future water management.”

The Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System, a new high-tech water purification system, will produce water similar in quality to bottled water. GWR System water will be used to service a larger, expanded seawater barrier and to help drought-proof Orange County’s groundwater basin by providing better water reliability and more local control over part of our water future.

Using some of the same processes as bottled water companies, food manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies, the new GWR System purification process will include microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light with hydrogen peroxide, producing water of near-distilled water quality. The GWR System is a joint project between the Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District. The new GWR System will ultimately provide enough water – 72,000 acre-feet per year – to meet the annual needs of 140,000 families.

More information on the Groundwater Replenishment System can be found by visiting www.gwrsystem.com.

Alexander, VA -- The Water Environment Federation (WEF) welcomes good news for biosolids recycling -- the practice of treating, processing, and recycling organic wastewater byproduct into fertilizer and other usable products -- and applauds the recent actions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of the practice.

The National Biosolids Partnership (NBP), which includes WEF as one of its partnering organizations, is expecting success this year with its pilot-tested environmental management system (EMS) for the biosolids program. EMS verification signifies that an agency supports excellence in biosolids management, exceeds regulatory compliance obligations, and provides meaningful opportunities for public participation. To date, two agencies have achieved independent, third-party verification and a total of seventeen new agencies are expected to undergo audits in 2004.

Recently, several court decisions over local regulation of land-applied biosolids have been in favor of the practice. In November 2003, a Federal Court ruled to reject anti-biosolids ordinances in Appomattox County, Virginia capping a string of legal victories for Virginia farmers seeking to end the County's illegal ban on biosolids.

According to Mike Moore, Chair of WEF's Residuals and Biosolids Committee, "WEF is pleased by the positive progress of the biosolids recycling program and believes that the recent collective actions taken by EPA demonstrate that it is committed to the program's success and supports ongoing research while encouraging wastewater agencies to better manage their biosolids through an EMS."

On 10-7-03 a petition from the Center for Food Safety called for EPA to place an emergency moratorium on the land-application of biosolids. WEF was part of a Municipal Coalition that submitted a response letter to EPA on 10-23-03 urging the Agency to deny the Center's petition. On 12-22-03, the EPA responded to the Center with a 22-page document outlining its findings -- that the assertions made by the Center for Food Safety concerning the hazards of land-applied biosolids were not substantiated.

In related actions, on 12-31-03 EPA published in the Federal Register its final action plan responding to the National Research Council's recommendations from its July 2002 report on the land application of biosolids. The plan included 14 specific projects to enhance the Agency's ongoing research and outreach activities and presents the results of its review of existing biosolids regulations to identify additional pollutants for potential future regulations.

The Agency also issued a proposed rule on 12-10-03 to revise the current compost designation to include compost made from biosolids and announced on 10-17-03 its final decision not to regulate dioxins in land-applied biosolids. After five years of study, including outside peer review, EPA determined that dioxins from this source do not pose a significant risk to human health or the environment.

WEF will hold its 18th Annual Residuals and Biosolids Management Conference, February 22-24, 2004 at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah, where these and other topics will be discussed. For more information about the conference, visit www.wef.org.  To obtain background information on these recent actions visit www.biosolids.org. 

Kansas City, MO -- Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, announced today that the company has earned a Project Merit award for its innovative implementation of membrane systems in several significant water and wastewater treatment plant designs in 2003. The Environmental Business Journal annually recognizes outstanding performance and will present the award at the Environmental Industry Summit in March.

According to Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International and editor of the Environmental Business Journal, the 2003 awards recognize top performance in what many executives continue to characterize as challenging times for the environmental industry. Said Ferrier, "Black & Veatch has demonstrated both technical and management excellence in incorporating an advanced technology in new ways and at new heights to meet water and environmental sector needs."

With a combined membrane design capacity of more than 500 million gallons per day (mgd) and experience that ranges from research and evaluation to design and design-build delivery, Black & Veatch has helped utility, government and industry clients worldwide creatively combine and adapt all types of membrane systems to local needs and requirements.

The Environmental Business Journal specifically recognized Black & Veatch for its membrane achievements in 2003, including the company's design of the largest ultrafiltration (UF) facility for potable water treatment in North America - the 70-mgd Columbia Heights Membrane Filtration Plant for the Minneapolis Water Works in Minnesota.

Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in the fields of energy, water and information.  The company's Web site address is www.bv.com

People post their requests for help and offer their suggestions to others in our open forum.

Mr. Patterson wants aerate a tank full of oily water:

I have a storage tank that holds oily-wastewater from tank bottoms and ship bilges. The tank is a large above-ground steel tank (2 million gallons) with a diameter of 50 feet and a height of 75 feet.

I am investigating ways of aerating the tank to prevent the waste from becoming septic because it can produce high levels of hydrogen sulfide. The mixture is mostly water. The tank has a fixed metal roof and access is only one 3 foot hatch.  (Click here to post a reply)

Ken Patterson
U.S. Navy
ken.patterson@navy.mil

Mr. Sati needs get rid of red worms:

We operate a 5 MGD sewage treatment plant in Mumbai.  Recently in January 04 we have seen a wave of red colored worms swimming on the surface in swarms.  They move together.

Should we continue with the process or shut it down?  Does this growth hamper the treatment process?  How do we get rid of these worms?
(Click here to post a reply)

Kailash Sati
RCF Ltd.
kcsati@vsnl.net

Help Forum:  Share your expertise with others in our Help Forum.

Drainage/Stormwater Engineer - Nevada

LOCATION:  Las Vegas, NV

SALARY:  $65000-75000

COMPANY BRIEF:
Well-respected Las Vegas civil engineering firm.  Multi discipline with focus on commercial site development and water issues.  They are urgently seeking to add an engineer to work on drainage projects for Casinos, throughout the entire valley.  The job offers tremendous variety in tackling drainage issues in the high desert environment.  Las Vegas has an affordable cost of living and excellent school systems among its attributes.

JOB DESCRIPTION:
This person will provide engineering design expertise and guidance to the Engineering Drainage Dept.  The design projects focus on desert water systems, including multi-purpose water quality/detention storm water facilities, infiltration ponds, sewer systems, etc.

REQUIREMENTS:
Qualified candidate will have at least 5 years in design of above project types, with a BSCE (or equiv.). And PE (pref.)

If this sounds like you, please forward your resume and the best time for me to call you.

Beth McNeely
Bethmcneel@aol.com

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This week's homepage photo is of a Bioway System to remove H2S and odor from the contaminated air-stream in Jacksonville, FL. It utilizes a chemical-free biological approach and synthetic media with a 20+ year life expectancy.  The design criteria for the application is 28,000 cfm and an average H2S loading of 350 ppm.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Neary of Bioway America, Inc.

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