HOUSTON, May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A newly constructed state-of-the-art biosolids heat drying and pelletization facility is now providing service for Pinellas County, Florida and operating with environmentally friendly designs that recycle the wastewater, the air emissions, and the sewage sludge entering the plant.

The Florida facility was designed and built by a team led by Synagro Technologies Inc. and is seen as a model biosolids treatment concept by the many interested neighboring municipalities that have visited it recently. According to County Utilities Director, Pick Talley, "Pinellas County now has one of the most sophisticated wastewater facilities in the country. We are delighted to officially open this plant."

The facility is processing the biosolids within a contained building to reduce odors and also is treating the air emissions from the plant to allow for a "good neighbor" relationship between the County and surrounding residents. Further, the facility utilizes methane gas produced from other portions of the wastewater treatment process as a renewable energy source. Utilizing this methane helps reduce greenhouse gases.

The biosolids heat drying pelletizer recently began operations after a formal acceptance of the project by the County which followed their review of successful system performance tests conducted in March. Synagro was authorized to initiate the operations of the facility on April 24, 2003.

The Pinellas County operation is now converting dewatered biosolids into a Class AA fertilizer product (approximately 30 dry tons of Class AA biosolids are produced daily) which will be marketed by Synagro and distributed for commercial and residential use under the Granulite brand name. Synagro currently markets over 150,000 tons of Class AA (Exceptional Quality or EQ) pelletized biosolids annually.

"We are very pleased to have this environmentally and technically advanced facility now operational and serving the residents of Pinellas County," said Ross M. Patten, Synagro's Chairman and CEO. "Pinellas County's state-of-the- art wastewater treatment facility is providing a cleaner and more pleasant environment for the community and basically recycling the water, air and waste all under one roof," according to Patten.

"This is a world-class heat drying facility located within a world-class wastewater treatment plant. It is an excellent example of how public-private partnerships can be formed to address municipal biosolids management needs, environmental challenges and local community concerns," Patten said.

More Than Biosolids

Pinellas County Utilities Director, Pick Talley explained, "The completion of the privatized heat drying operation by Synagro means that all of the wastewater residuals coming into the plant will be recycled. This includes reuse of all the 30 million gallons per day of reclaimed water, the methane gas generated during the digestion process that will fuel the biosolids drying operation, and the solids product sold to the local Florida fertilizer market."

According to Talley, "Today, the South Cross Bayou Water Reclamation Facility is one of the most sophisticated wastewater treatment facilities in the country. The social value of total recycling will make the plant a focal point of environmental education for the Pinellas County community of over one million people."

Pinellas County awarded Synagro a contract in 2001 to design, build and operate a municipal biosolids pelletizing facility using the state-of-the-art Andritz Drum Drying System which includes innovative processing features and a "good neighbor" design. The project utilizes the most environmentally and technologically advanced biosolids process currently available. Combined with partner company Andritz' now renowned Drum Drying System (DDS), the project enabled Pinellas County to build a facility that is invisible to the neighborhood and able to deliver treatment service at a reasonable cost to local residents.

For additional online information about Synagro Technologies Inc. contact www.synagro.com or call (800) 370-0035. Contact: George Clarke (202) 789-6248 gclarke@synagro.com

Source: Synagro Technologies Inc.

Laramie - WY: In-Situ, Inc. has announced the release of the Multi Parameter Troll 9000E (MP Troll 9000E) water quality sonde, specifically designed for long-term deployment. The sonde offers extended battery life of close to 7 months. This feature offers a notable benefit and important advantages to those wishing to deploy a water quality instrument long-term.

Extended deployment capability offers the advantages of increased accuracy due to less site disruption as well as cost savings from reduced labor associated with site visits. As an option, MP Troll 9000E joins the field-proven family of In-Situ MP Troll 9000 water quality sondes, offering the ability to simultaneously monitor up to 9 water quality parameters, including: Temperature, Pressure, Level, Depth, DO, Conductivity, pH, ORP, TDS, Resistivity, Salinity, Nitrate, Chloride, Ammonium, Ammonia & Turbidity.

As a family, the MP Troll 9000 uses the most current sensor and electronics technology to bring to market a robust, durable and user-friendly sonde. Innovations in the MP Troll 9000 aim to address many of the shortfalls found in similar products currently on the market.

Included in the list of innovations are "Smart Sensors", "Digital D.O.", "Factory Pre-Calibrated Sensors", "Single Quick-Calibration Solution", and "Extended Deployment Time" specifically with the MP Troll 9000E. Battery life of the MP Troll 9000E is rated at up to 200 days while sampling up to 9 parameters at 15-minute intervals.

In-Situ, Inc. designed the MP Troll 9000 family from the inside out, using the most current proven technology. This technology includes: "Smart Sensors" which are pre-calibrated directly at the factory. These sensors may be plugged into one of the option ports and put to immediate use. "Digital D.O." ensures that dissolved oxygen measurements are correctly compensated for changes in temperature, salinity and barometric pressure, allowing for exceptional accuracy.

A patented "Single, Quick-Cal Solution" allows the user to calibrate D.O., Conductivity, pH, and ORP simultaneously to a high degree of accuracy, saving valuable time and decreasing the likelihood of user error. The above-mentioned innovations are enabled by utilizing new advances in microelectronics, as well as patented sensor designs. Up to (9) nine sensors may be monitored concurrently in a small 1.79" diameter form factor.

For over 25 years, In-Situ, Inc. has been building world-class environmental monitoring instrumentation. In-Situ's mission is to provide experts with the tools they need for reliable, accurate assessment of current and long-term site conditions. For more information please contact an In-Situ product representative or visit the In-Situ website at: http://www.In-Situ.com 

Pennington, NJ -- To support community-driven initiatives that protect habitat, improve water quality, and enhance outdoor recreation, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced nearly $15 million in grants to 20 watershed organizations selected as part of a new Watershed Initiative.

"This national competition for these Watershed Initiative grants generated an outpouring of outstanding proposals, each with the enthusiastic support of their respective governors and Tribal leaders," said Administrator Whitman. "EPA is very excited to commit significant federal dollars to support these top watershed efforts, all of which will serve as national models for other communities to follow. The organizations selected today stand ready to achieve on-the-ground water quality improvements. Two years from now, I am confident that we will see cleaner water and measurable environmental change – such as the return of native bass and trout fisheries and increased recreational opportunities."

"The Watershed Initiative builds on the energy, commitment, in-depth knowledge of local problems, and enthusiasm of citizen-driven efforts," said EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water, G. Tracy Mehan, III. "These Watershed Initiative grants will help tackle some of the nation's most pernicious water quality problems – problems such as habitat loss and alteration, nutrient enrichment, pathogens, and invasive species, all of which continue to harm watersheds nationwide."

During last year's State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush asked the nation's governors and tribal leaders to nominate proposals to support community-based approaches to clean up the nation's watersheds. This year, Congress appropriated $15 million of the President's original $20 million dollar funding request.

The winning watersheds cover more than 90,000 square miles of the nation's lakes, rivers and streams. They represent our country's unique and varied landscape – from the forests of Maine to the tropics of Hawaii. These watersheds reside in urban and rural areas, encompass agricultural land, and are often threatened by suburban sprawl. Funds will go toward restoration and protection projects, such as stream stabilization and habitat enhancement, implementing agricultural best management practices, and working with local governments and homeowners to promote sustainable practices and strategies. The grants range from $300,000 to $1 million.

For more information log on to http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/initiative

Regional and national experts selected the winners from a highly competitive field of more than 176 nominations. Today's winners were chosen because they best demonstrated the ability to achieve on-the-ground environmental results in a short time frame. Each of these watershed organizations exhibited strong partnerships with a wide variety of support, showed innovation, and demonstrated compatibility with existing governmental programs.

Whitman announced the grants at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association's Watershed Nature Reserve in Pennington, N.J. and presented a $15 million check to the nation's watersheds. She applauded the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association and the other organizations working on behalf of clean water and a healthy environment.

Training : New Courses Designed to Extend WaterObjects Technology

WATERBURY, CT, USA—April 28, 2003— Haestad Methods announced today that it is expanding the 2003 WaterObjects training schedule to include additional courses for each month throughout the year. The focus of these new courses is WaterObjects, the company’s latest addition to its state-of-the-art water resources software portfolio, designed to provide programmatic access and customization of WaterCAD and WaterGEMS software. The next round of training for engineers and managers will be held May 21-23 at Haestad Methods’ Connecticut-based educational facility.

What is WaterObjects?

WaterObjects is a full-featured software development kit (SDK) that leverages the water modeling capabilities of WaterCAD and WaterGEMS through third-party custom applications. WaterObjects is the same technology that Haestad Methods’ developers used to create modules for WaterCAD and WaterGEMS, including cutting edge features such as Skelebrator, GeoGrapher, and ModelBuilder.

“Our clients can use this new technology for customization and extension of Haestad Methods’ products,” said Nicole Beckom, Director of Continuing Education for Haestad Methods. “Engineers can use WaterObjects to create simple but powerful MS Office macros that perform custom tasks or calculations using WaterCAD/WaterGEMS data. Application developers can use the complete WaterObjects SDK to create complex, high-end third-party applications using WaterCAD and WaterGEMS modeling and data-mining capabilities with object-oriented programs.”

Who Should Attend WaterObjects Training?

This course is structured so that it will benefit engineers with limited programming experience as well as professional software developers. Hands-on exercises are geared toward the students’ level of expertise, ranging from creating MS Office macros to developing custom applications using WaterObjects.

To Learn More About WaterObjects Training:

Professionals interested in attending WaterObjects training can view complete course agendas and registration information by visiting www.haestad.com/ced/waterobjects , calling 1-800-727-6555 (U.S. or Canada) or +1-203-755-1666 (worldwide), or e-mailing training@haestad.com.

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

Fil needs help with sludge carryover:

I currently have a small problem on our first treatment lagoon. Wastewater (from abitor) is treated by our CAF, which is then gravity fed to our first lagoon. At the moment there is a sludge build up on the surface approx 1-inch thick that is a black looking color and unsightly. We are currently coming into winter. Quality of water from lagoon is as follows:

TDS 1200 mg/l
pH 7.2
BOD 160mg/l
SS 330 mg/l
Temp 28-32 degrees Cel.

Perhaps this is chemical carryover from CAF, products used in this are a CIBA flocculent (7635) and Coagulant (Ferric Sulphate). What would be the best way to fix and manage.
(Click here to post a reply)

Regards
Fil
Tatiara Meat Company Pty. Ltd.
filf@tatiara.com.au

Mr. Edwards need help with a vivarium facility:

I am looking for some typical effluent numbers for a vivarium facility. Characteristics? Loadings? treatment?
(Click here to post a reply)

B. Edwards
Stantec Inc.
bedwards@stantec.com

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

LOCATION: Fairbanks, AK

JOB DESCRIPTION: Full service Architectural and Engineering firm in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Prefer candidate with 2+ years experience in sewer and water treatment and distribution.  All design work is prepared with AutoCAD 2000.  This is an exciting environment if you like the great outdoors and are ready for your ALASKA ADVENTURE!!!  Full benefits, career position with excellent growth potential.

SALARY: $50,000-65,000

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

Beth McNeely
beth@mr-oly.com

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This week's photo was taken inside the Lapinierre - Laval, Canada, wastewater treatment pumping station. This plant treat an average of 240,000 cubic meter per day of wastewater, for a population of 280,000.  Photograph courtesy of Alain Brouillette of Pretal 2000 Inc.

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