Woodbridge, VA -- On this edition of the Pipeline, we will take a look at how the Service Authority is focusing on "greener" operations and business practices. We also explain how a new technology is making it easier to detect leaks in the water distribution system.

Taking a trip to a mountain lake that can help boost our water supply in times of severe drought. And we stop by the campus of a Manassas school where area children learned about the importance of community service and the value of clean, quality water.

The Pipeline updates customers about the innovative ways in which the Service Authority provides safe drinking water and quality service. Each issue begins with a message from the General Manager followed by feature articles and interviews with Authority Board members, key staff and industry leaders.

The Pipeline is but one part of a considerable outreach strategy dedicated to sharing important information about drinking water and water reclamation services with customers and the community.

The new video newsletter can be viewed on the Service Authority's web site or by clicking here.

“We wanted to give Service Authority customers a clear understanding of what we as an organization do every day to be responsible stewards of the environment while remaining committed to meeting our customers’ needs,” said Keenan Howell, Director of Communications.

The Prince William County Service Authority provides drinking water and water reclamation services to more than 75,000 accounts.

Web site: http://www.pwcsa.org/

New Microsensor Measures VOC's in Water

Atlanta, GA -- Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a miniature sensor that uses polymer membranes deposited on a tiny silicon disk to measure pollutants present in aqueous or gaseous environments. An array of these sensors with different surface coatings could be used during field-testing to rapidly detect many different chemicals.

Since this new sensor allows water and air samples to be analyzed in the field, it is an improvement over classical techniques that require samples be carried back to the laboratory for analysis. This research, funded by the National Science Foundation, was presented on August 20 at the American Chemical Society's 234th National Meeting.

The heart of the disk-shaped sensor is a microbalance that measures the mass of pollutant molecules.

"When pollutant chemicals get adsorbed to the surface of the sensor, a frequency change of the vibrating microbalance provides a measure of the associated mass change," said Oliver Brand, associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Cantilever-type balances, which move up and down like a diving board, are common when measuring the amount of a chemical in the gas phase. However, the mechanical vibrations of the balance used to detect the mass changes are damped in liquids, causing the sensitivity of the balance to decrease. Thus, Brand and graduate students Jae Hyeong Seo, Stuart Truax and Kemal Safak Demirci searched for structures whose vibrations were less affected by the surrounding medium.

The researchers chose a silicon disk platform for the sensor. The disk shears back and forth around its center with a characteristic resonance frequency between 300 and 1,000 kHz, depending on its geometry. With proper actuation and sensing elements integrated onto the microstructures, Brand can electrically excite the resonator and sense these rotational oscillations.

Since each sensor has a diameter of approximately 200-300 microns, or the average diameter of a human hair, an array of a dozen sensors is only a few millimeters in size.

To determine how to selectively detect multiple pollutants in the same sample, Brand began collaborating with Boris Mizaikoff, an associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of its Applied Sensors Laboratory.

Mizaikoff and graduate students Gary Dobbs and Yuliya Luzinova selected commercially available hydrophobic polymers and deposited them as thin film membranes on the sensor surface. They continue to investigate innovative ways to consistently deposit the polymers at the disk surface, while ensuring sufficient adhesion for long-term field applications.

"By modifying the silicon transducer surface with different polymer membranes, each sensor becomes selective for groups of chemicals," explained Mizaikoff.

An array of these sensors, each sensor with a different chemically modified transducer surface, can sense different pollutants in a variety of environments ranging from industrial to environmental and biomedical monitoring applications.

Brand and Mizaikoff aim to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in aqueous and gaseous environments. VOCs are pollutants of high prevalence in the air and surface and ground waters. They are emitted from products such as paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment and craft materials.

A common VOC is benzene, with a maximum contaminant level set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at five micrograms per liter in drinking water. Many VOCs are present at similar very low concentrations, so effective sensors must accurately measure and discriminate very small mass changes.

"We've been able to measure concentrations among the lowest levels that have been achieved using this type of resonant microsensor," noted Brand. "While we have not achieved the required sensitivity yet, we are constantly making improvements."

Brand and Mizaikoff have tested their sensor device in the laboratory by pumping water with specific pollutant concentrations through a simple flow cell device attached to the sensor.

A typical test begins by flowing a water sample containing a known amount of pollutant over a sensor coated with a polymer membrane. When the sample flows through the cell, the mass of the microstructure increases, causing its characteristic vibration frequency, or resonance frequency, to decrease. By monitoring this resonance frequency over time, Brand and Mizaikoff can detect the amount of aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene present in water.

The researchers plan to run field trials to investigate the use of this new microsensor in aqueous and gaseous environments for rapid on-site screening of multiple pollutants.

"With benzene and other VOCs high on the EPA priority pollutant list, it would be a major advantage to get a rapid reading of VOC concentrations directly in the field," said Mizaikoff.

Source: Georgia Institute of Technology, http://www.gatech.edu/

Tubingen, Germany -- The world market is about 2 billion Euros in 2006 and expected to increase over 25 billion Euros by 2020. But the competition is growing fast too. The key is the knowledge in biotechnology, molecular science, nano-bio-it convergence.

Helmut Kaiser Consultancy released a new study about the markets for biogas plants worldwide. The world markets for Biogas and Biogas Plants increase since some years with 20 to 30 percent depending on the country. Germany as a technology leader reached in 2006 about 700 million Euro with 400 companies, 100 companies offering the whole value chain, the export is between 10 and 15 percent. Only 2006 are 900 plants build and reach about 3.600 plants in total.

It is expected a market size of 7.5 billion Euro by 2020 for plants, 30 percent export and 85 000 jobs in Germany only. The world market is about 2 billion Euro in 2006 and expected over 25 billion by 2020. But the competition is growing too, worldwide. USA and China show a much greater potential as Germany and Europe. Many plants are low tech and easy to reproduce and design. The key is the knowledge in biotechnology, molecular science and optimization in the future.

The total energy mix of the future will be more regenerative and sustainable. The generation and storage of renewable energy will be the fastest growing sector in energy market for next 20 years. The market volume of renewable energy worldwide will increase from US$ 95.8 billion in 2007 to US$ 124.4 billion in 2010 and reach US$ 198.1 billion in 2015. These figures and developments are based on the whole value chain.

Biogas power plants are a combination of anaerobic digestion systems with associated electricity generators such as gas turbines or gas engines. The electricity they produce is classified as renewable or green energy and if sold into the national grid attract subsidies. In the last 20 years, biogas utilization been successful in wastewater treatment plants, industrial processing applications, landfill and the agricultural sector.

The future increase use of biogas is a strong goal in most countries, not only because is it a renewable energy source but it will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and soil degradation and last not least it will change agriculture sectors in many countries worldwide to produce partly energy.

This study is the first research worldwide for biogas plants in 50 countries with the potentials and developments to 2030, with the technologies and competition worldwide.

For more information visit: http://www.hkc22.com/biogas.html

. Control Microsystems Announces SOLARPack 410 New solar power electronic flow measurement system delivers all-in-one design expandable to full SCADA with integrated radio.

New Hach HQd Plug-and-Play Meters
The new Hach HQd Plug-and-Play Meters with IntelliCAL(TM) Probes will give you confidence in your measurement results.
 

WEFTEC.07 Sets New Exhibitor Records This year’s exhibition will host 1,013 companies which continues a three-year trend of record-breaking numbers for the Federation.

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Construction Manager - WWTP in Winchester, VA

O'Brien & Gere is an employee-owned engineering and project delivery company with 800 scientists, engineers, construction, and operation personnel located in 26 offices across the U.S. With a 60-year history of applying technology and innovation, O'Brien & Gere is a leader in providing total environmental and water solutions, and capital & facilities solutions. We currently have an opening in Winchester, VA for a Construction Manager.

Responsibilities:
- Inspect, observe, and ensure a construction project is constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications by the design division
-Maintain accurate field notes/daily diary
-Identify unforeseen conditions or errors in the plans and specifications of the project, become knowledgeable with right of ways, permits, test procedures, schedules, shop drawings, and utility locations
-Maintain healthy relationships with contractors or sub-contractors and engineering/architectural design team.

Requirements:
-Familiarity with concrete, steel, mechanical systems, HVAC, electrical and instrumentation
-Experience with wastewater treatment plant construction
-Experience with pipe line installation or process piping
-Requires a Bachelors degree and 3+ years related experience or 7+ years of related experience with no degree
-Basic computer skills including word and excel are a must

At Brien & Gere, a variety of benefits have been established to provide a sense of security, support career goals, encourage health and wellness, and foster a feeling of camaraderie among employees.

To apply and to learn more about our benefits, culture and challenging opportunities, please visit our website, www.obg.com and reference job ID 1156-CFS-654.

AA/EOE M/F/D/V

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