Bethlehem, PA -- The traditional Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) test is becoming the "canary on duty" for many wastewater treatment plants, predicting possible plant upsets before they occur, like the canaries once used by the miners to detect potentially toxic gas concentrations.

A standard EPA-accepted or approved COD test is required for EPA reporting, but a more rapid and mercury-free method is now available for testing influent streams when reporting is not required. When test results are needed immediately for process control decisions, quicker and easier is definitely better.

The test, from Bioscience, Inc., measures contaminants that can be readily oxidized. High COD in the influent can signal an abnormal event such as slug loading of BOD or industrial discharge. High COD in the effluent may indicate that a toxic chemical is inhibiting or killing the biomass, or that a non-biodegradable compound is passing through the plant. As a rough prediction, for domestic wastewater COD is generally about 2.5 times the five-day BOD.

A standard Bioscience micro-COD test takes two hours. A 2.5 ml sample is placed in a twist tube with pre-measured reagent, digested for 2 hours at 150 degrees C and read in an inexpensive colorimeter. The quick variation suggested by Bioscience substitutes a mercury-free reagent, which allows for simpler and usually cheaper disposal, while shortening the digestion time to as little as 15 minutes. Shortened digestion time typically results in COD readings 5 to 15 percent lower than those using standard digestion. Tests with varying digestion times should be used to confirm that the results are within acceptable accuracy for a particular wastewater.

The colorimeter microprocessor selects low or standard COD range, displays the test sequence and indicates results in ppm. It displays the appropriate built-in light filter to match one of 40 programmed test parameters. It also indicates percent light transmittance and absorption so that users can develop calibration curves for proprietary analyses.

The system uses the same or twist tubes similar to as Bioscience's EPA-approved accu-TEST COD method which requires a spectrophotometer to conform to EPA Method 410.4. The colorimeter can also be used with a wide variety of other pre-measured reagents to measure specific toxicity or inhibitory compounds in the waste stream.

Source: http://www.bioscienceinc.com/

ASCE : CH2M Hill Leader Honored

Reston, VA -- Ralph Peterson, P.E., M.ASCE, chairman, president and CEO of CH2M Hill Companies, Ltd., a global engineering and construction company that serves the infrastructure and environmental needs of both public and private clients, will be awarded the 2005 John I. Parcel–Leif J. Sverdrup Civil Engineering Management Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The award is given to an engineer of high character and professional integrity who has made a definite contribution in the field of civil engineering management, and will be presented on Thursday, October 27, 2005, at the Leadership and Management Luncheon being held during ASCE’s Annual Civil Engineering Conference in Los Angeles.

Peterson, who is being recognized for innovative leadership, sustained company growth and influence of global environmental policies, started working for CH2M HILL in 1965 as a student. He began as a surveyor for the then 147-person company, which now operates on five continents, has over $3 billion in annual revenue and 14,000 employees worldwide. Since Peterson took over the leadership position in 1991, the company has seen a 15 percent growth per year.

A global leader, Peterson is a member of the World Economic Forum (Engineering and Construction Governors), and has previously served as a delegate for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the World Water Forum and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change’s Business Environmental Leadership Council, a group of companies demonstrating leadership by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, investing in efficient technologies and supporting international action to lower emissions.

He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Oregon State University and a master's degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University. Peterson also received an honorary doctorate from the Colorado School of Mines and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 137,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2002.

OXNARD, CA -- Amiad Filtration Systems announced today that it has been awarded a contract from Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) to supply Self-Cleaning Filters for the newest US Navy aircraft carrier program.

This contract comes following three years of intensive testing by the US Navy and Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) comparing the Amiad filters to those of other manufacturers.

Amiad Filtration Systems has a proven track record of more than 40 years of experience in filtration and system designs. The company offers a complete line of filtration products, including filtration degrees of 3500 to 3 microns, and those made from various body materials. Amiad’s automatic self-cleaning filtration systems can be designed for any flow rate.

Among the company’s other product offerings are plastic filters that range in size from ѕ-inch to 3 inches, ScanawayTM Filters in 2-inch and 3-inch sizes, manual steel filters that range from 2 inches to 14 inches and fully automatic, self-cleaning filtration systems up to 24 inches.

For nearly 25 years, Amiad N.A. has been an industry-leading manufacturer and supplier of water filtration systems, including manual and automatic, self-cleaning filters, valves and accessories to the irrigation, industrial and municipal markets. The company is headquartered in Oxnard, California, with sales and distribution offices located throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

For more information about Amiad or its products, visit the company’s web site at  http://www.amiadusa.com/

. Insituform to Appear on The History Channel Insituform Technologies, Inc., which specializes in rehabilitating water and sewer pipes without digging and disruption, will be featured on a History Channel special.

Dr. Sandino To Deliver Keynote Address
Julian Sandino, Ph.D., will be a featured speaker at the 2005 Stockholm Water Symposium/World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, August 21-27, 2005.
 

Asian Ultrapure Water Market To Top $2.3 Billion It is already the largest purchaser of ultrapure water products and services for power plants, flat panel displays, disk drives, and semiconductors.

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

Ms. Fuller-Bloechl has a problem with black-bugs:

We have a large about of black bugs about the size of a pin head floating in the mix liquor. All of the bugs appear to be dead. They have a lot of "whiskers" when I look at them under the microscope. What could cause this?

The bugs crunch when I put the top microscope slide on them, so it is difficult to get a good view of them without being crushed.

What could cause a large about of bugs to die? Are the presence of these bugs a concern?
(Click here to post a reply)

Thanks,
Patti Fuller-Bloechl
pfbloechl@ci.muscatine.ia.us
City of Muscatine WPCP

Mr. Picard wants help wastewater system design:

I'm actually designing a wastewater treatment system for a small manufacture doing in the screen printing / glass etching industry. That wastewater system will be use principally to remove fluoride from their rinsing baths they use after the ammonium bifluoride etching operation (70 USGAL/min). Moreover, we want to keep it in a close-loop to recycle that water and use it again for rinsing operations.

I must admit that company's administrators are kinda greedy and the challenge is to come with a really cheap solution (just to give you a rough idea, I will buy most of my equipment from a printed-circuit board manufacture that are closing their doors to move to China). So forget about micro-filtration, nanofiltration or reverse-osmosis. Fortunately, the species present in the wastewater stream are limited, so the precipitation process will be straightforward: pH adjustment with 50% caustic and precipitation with calcium chloride (lime would produce too much sludge), followed by a chemical flocculation.

For sludge settling and removal, I tough to the possibility to use a polypropylene lamella settler, however, that solution is too expensive for administrators expectations. So, I came with the idea to design a simple settling plastic tank (2000 USGAL, conic bottom with baffles to reduce turbulence from inflow and outflow, an overflow at the top and an exit at the bottom to pump settled sludge). Once in a while, the settled sludge would be sent to a cyclonic separator and pumped to a filter press.

I would just like to have a quick second opinion about that solution. Will it be efficient? We don't need to remove all particles in suspensions as water will be recycled for rinsing operations and surely the system will be surely flushed twice a year. (Click here to post a reply)

Thanks in advance,
Daniel Picard, P.Chem.
Sérigraphie Richford
srindp@serigraphierichford.com

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

i

i

Wastewater Operator/Trainee - Colorado

Eagle River Water & Sanitation District is seeking a qualified Wastewater Operator to monitor system operations and perform routine maintenance of wastewater treatment facilities and related equipment. High school diploma or G.E.D required. Wastewater certification strongly preferred. Will consider A.A./B.S. Degree in a science related field with mechanical/electrical experience.

Must possess a valid Driver's license, be insurable under District's standards, and pass pre-employment drug-screen and extensive background checks. This is a FT, year-round position with an excellent benefits package. Competitive salary based on qualifications and experience. An application must be completed.

Please stop by to complete an application: Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, 846 Forest Road, Vail, CO 81657. Or e-mail a resume to: rcawrse@erwsd.org application available by downloading from website http://www.erwsd.org/

EOE

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© 1999-2005 Water and Wastewater.com
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Water and Wastewater Newsletter
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With over 8,100+ subscribers, our goal is to provide information to improve your business by using the resources available on the Internet.

Memorial:  The week's newsletter is dedicated to the memory of David A. Ward who passed away July 8th

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Joe Taylor, Editor
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Wastewater Engineering:
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This weeks photo is an Aquastore elevated water storage tank in Malaysia.  Aquastore tanks can be designed to meet AWWA-D103 standards and glass coating is ANSI/NSF 61 certified for potable water storage.

Photo courtesy Tom Renich of Aquastore

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