I conded how my wife didnt care for me playing basketball two nights a week now that we had a baby

at home. In a bit of macho bluster, I added, Thats too bad because Im playing and thats it. He looked at me and said, You know, shes right. Youre not a kid anymore. Maybe you should be spending more time at home. I took it to heart. I didnt give up what was, after all, my favorite sport, but I dialed it back and was never sorry.

Making utopia
I got another lesson back in college when I took a course on Utopia during the January interim session. (This qualies as a lesson from an unofcial source because interim courses often had less to do with learning than with nding a way to earn a course credit while saving the maximum time for drinking beer.) The idea was that our group of 20 students would read books about different visions of perfect societies, then use what we learned to devise such a place for ourselves. I started with a pretty clear idea of what Utopia was, and it included a culture that relied to the minimum on mechanical, energy-consuming devices. As we began shaping our Utopia, I realized that mine was a minority view that my classmates werent much interested in a place where people cut wood to heat their homes, got about on bicycles, and washed clothes by beating them on rocks. In other words, there were more ways of looking at the world than my own. I came away pleasantly humbled: The experience helped me shake off a sort of dogmatism I badly needed to get rid of. And I suspect that was just the outcome our wise young professor wanted for us. Years later, I took the opportunity to thank him.

Learning the ethic

Another lesson, this one in the work world, came from a crusty old lifer in a soda pop plant where I worked for a summer during college. Back then I looked at work as something I was forced to do to earn money. I did what I was told and put in my time (often not cheerfully), and that was it. One day after lunch, after hearing me grumble at the break table, the old-timer pulled me aside and essentially told me I needed to get my mind right. If youre on their payroll, you need to be on their team, he said. Take an interest in your job. Youll be a lot happier. Of course, he was right. And that brings up a favorite work story of mine. In the 1890s, a gang was working on the railroad tracks out west when a train pulled up and out stepped the president of the railroad. He gave a short speech, after which an old track worker raised his hand and said to the president, You and I started work on the very same day 35 years ago. How is it that youre up there and Im still here? The president replied, Thats easy. You went to work for 90 cents an hour. I went to work for the railroad. wso

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wsomag.com February 2013

We dont need to bring in any outside microbial community. We take advantage of naturally occurring microbes and put them into the right environment to treat what were targeting. The bacteria grow on media inside the xed-bed systems and form a biolm. CHRIS CLEVELAND

wso: Would the system always be installed at the wellhead? Or

could it be installed at a water treatment plant? Cleveland: It depends on the community. If its a small city in an agricultural area that has only a few wells in spread-out locations, they may put a wellhead treatment system at each site. For a larger community with well elds, it probably makes more sense to have a central BIOTTTA treatment facility.

We have bench-scale data that shows removal of environmentally relevant amounts of chromium 6 from 10 to 100 micrograms per liter to below detection. We have data on a number of VOCs being removed. We also have had success with uranium and arsenic.

wso: To what kinds of systems does this treatment serve as an alternative? And what are its advantages? Cleveland: This system removes contaminants usually treated with RO or ion exchange. It destroys many of the contaminants, whereas RO and ion exchange concentrate them into high-strength waste streams. The process has a very high water recovery rate. The only wastewater we produce is from backwashing of the lters, and thats very infrequent. The process is very robust and exible it can handle multiple contaminants. Suppose you have to deal with nitrate and we design a system for that. Then down the road, perchlorate or chromium 6 shows up into your well. This system, in most cases, will be able to handle that additional contaminant with just some operational adjustments without having to add a second treatment process. wso: How would this system destroy a constituent like hexavalent chromium? Brown: It destroys nitrate, perchlorate and VOCs. For example, nitrate is converted to nitrogen gas, which oats off to the atmosphere. With chromium 6, were not destroying it, but were making it less toxic, and were putting it into a solid form that is much easier to dispose of than a liquid concentrate. The process reduces chromium 6 to chromium 3, which is less soluble. It typically comes out of solution as a chromium hydroxide, which is ltered out in the system and removed during backwash. wso: What are the energy inputs to this system? Brown: The main energy inputs relate to pumping across the twostage process, and occasional pumping during backwash. There is very low pressure loss across these systems. The aeration energy demand is quite low, as well. There isnt as big of an oxygen demand as in a wastewater treatment process. All we need is to get the water back to an oxic state say, 3 to 8 mg/L dissolved oxygen. You can do that through an aeration process, or you can do that by addition of liquid oxygen or hydrogen peroxide. wso: What chemicals need to be added to the process? Brown: Right up front we add nutrients for the bacteria they need an electron donor to reduce the contaminants. The other chemicals come in between the two stages. We condition the water coming out of the rst stage with a polymer or some coagulant, so that the polishing lter in the second stage will remove biomass. If we add oxygen in a chemical form, that also happens between the two stages. Then theres a nal chlorine disinfection step. wso: What treatment results have you seen with this process? Brown: Weve treated a huge array of constituents. We have bench and pilot test results that show phenomenal removal of nitrate, perchlorate and chromium 6. In one pilot test, were removing 80 mg/L of nitrate in a 4-minute contact time; perchlorate is also in that water and is removed to below detection.

wso: How does this process get designed, delivered and installed? Cleveland: Its offered in a turnkey approach. Weve done a lot of standardization so that we have the ability to deliver a solution that includes the design, manufacture and installation, with options for either technical support or full operation. For smaller projects, we have six to eight standard offerings to cover ows from 100 to 1,000 or 1,500 gpm. Larger systems can be custom-designed but still delivered as a package. wso: Where do you see the most potential to deploy these systems in the eld? Brown: Anywhere you have agriculture, youre going to have nitrate contamination. Agriculture goes on at some scale in almost every state in the U.S. Cleveland: Our process is the only biological treatment system of its type that has approval from the California Department of Public Health for groundwater treatment. California is moving toward regulating chromium 6, and the current target is to have a draft maximum contaminant level (MCL) by next summer. The U.S. EPA is working on an MCL for chromium 6 as well. wso

wsomag.com February 2013

17

Mason Huston checks ltering status on the plant SCADA systems WorldView graphical user interface (Survalent Technology).

The 2011 Excellence in Water Treatment Plant Performance Award shows how far the plant has come in four years. The states Drinking Water Recognition Program honors water systems that show excellence in performance and operations and in treating and distributing drinking water. Treatment plants are eligible if they meet stringent state-established ltration and clarication performance criteria. The plant upgrade helped us win the award, but it was also the operators commitment to the plants performance and their valuable input during the construction process, says Moon. It takes the whole package to make this work. Kelly observes, I have a good group of people with a lot of experience. One employee has 41 years in the business, and I have young people coming up through the ranks with a lot of knowledge. Kelly has 23 years experience in the business (18 at Manassas), and a Virginia Class I water operator license. His team includes: Shift supervisors Larry King, 41 years; Terry Fearnley, 39 years; Steve Siler, 39 years; Scott Berghuis, 22 years; Mark Kaiser, 5 years; and Christopher Lutz, 4 years with 33 years total water experience (all have Class I water operator licenses) Operator II Mason Huston, Class II, 2 years Operator IV Sorel Stoutenburg, Class IV, 1 year Operator trainee James Mauger Maintenance supervisor Sid Budd, Class I, 29 years Utility maintenance workers Dennis Hein, Class V, 5 years; and Kevin Jones, 4 years Compliance ofcer Sarah Taylor, Class I, 4 years Lab technician Samantha Sifre, 2 years

Staying focused
Nine operators (including shift supervisors) work four days on, three days off, and at least two operators must be on duty at all times. They per-

form a variety of tasks to ensure optimal water distribution system performance. That includes monitoring tank levels, pump operation and system pressures. The SCADA system helps operators monitor water quality processes, chemical supplies and distribution system performance. Lab tests include turbidity, disinfection residuals, iron, manganese, pH and hardness. Operations and maintenance staff members perform routine tasks such as painting, cleaning and minor repairs. Everyones job assignment is changed on a weekly basis to facilitate cross-training that improves the operators skill set, says Kelly. Moon notes that while much of the work is routine, there are times when it is anything but. One The 6 mgd SuperPulsator (Inlco time, the bladder that controls the Degremont) treatment train includes lake dam got stuck at two oclock disinfection with chlorine (chemical in the morning, he says. We had feed tanks shown). just had ve inches of rain, and the level in the lake was high. Steve Siler observed on the SCADA system that the bladder wasnt performing as it should. His vigilance enabled a timely repair. The staff has also gone above and beyond to complete jobs. We had an incident where the valve on one of our four pumps broke, recalls (Continued on page 29)
wsomag.com February 2013

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WINNING THEM OVER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EL PASO WATER UTILITIES

Less Is Better
El Paso Water Utilities succeeds with a fresh campaign to get customers to reduce their water consumption
BY PETE LITTERSKI

This still picture was taken from an ad in the El Paso Water Utilities Less Is the New More campaign, emphasizing watering schedules.

hen your organization provides water to a major city in the middle of the second-largest desert in North America, a conservation message never gets old all that might change is the delivery. Thats why the theme of the El Paso (Texas) Water Utilities Less Is the New More campaign seems tting. Christine Montoya, vice president of marketing and communication, says EPWU has been conducting water conservation campaigns for more than two decades, but in the face of a record drought and a growing population, it cant afford to back off. Less Is the New More launched in January 2012, and by the end of September, customers had reduced consumption by 635 million gallons versus the same period in 2011. Thats roughly the amount of water delivered during an average week in 2010.

Outside assistance
Located at the far western tip of Texas, El Paso is home to Fort Bliss, a historic Army base that has grown rapidly in recent years. The city is also across the border from Juarez, Mexico, and people from that city have been crossing the border to ee drug violence.

Between the new people and WSO welcomes stories the drought, we wanted to reinvigabout your public information orate our message, says Montoya. and education efforts for It had to be dramatic; it had to future Winning them Over get peoples attention. We didnt articles. Send your suggestions to editor@wsomag.com or want to preach to people. We call 877/953-3301. wanted to excite them about the possibilities. Montoya worked with The Laster Group, a local advertising agency that came up with the campaign tagline and concept and helped incorporate them into the utilitys media and public relations outreach and advertising. The agency designed the new campaign to grab peoples attention quickly. The catchphrase was just the rst step, and the next key decision was the look of the campaign.

Between the new people and the drought, we wanted to reinvigorate our message. It had to be dramatic; it had to get peoples attention. We didnt want to preach to people. We wanted to excite them about the possibilities.
CHRISTINE MONTOYA

This is probably the most different approach that weve taken, Montoya says. One thing that probably makes it the most different is that there isnt even a drop of water in some of the materials you see with this campaign. We took a risk with going for something different, but the result has been very positive.

On the tube
The most visible element may be a series of three TV commercials running on local television stations in English and Spanish (www.epwu. org/multimedia/). The TV, radio and online/mobile ads feature comedic looks at people who overindulge in everything from burgers to makeup (for granny) and spray cologne (for a teenage boy). The idea is to contrast too much of a good thing with the EPWU theme of Less Is the New More. The $100,000 budget covers media time, print ads and posters on buses and bus stop shelters. EPWU also co-sponsored the citys annual downtown Neon Desert Music Festival, which attracted 15,000 people. The utility set up booths around the festival site and handed out bottles of tap water with information about conservation. We saw our reach on

The EPWU mascot Willie the Water Drop visits venues that include local area home and building supply retailers.

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WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR

NEWS
Pepperl+Fuchs receives product certication
Pepperl+Fuchs received UL Class I, Division 2, ATEX Zone 2 and IEC-Ex Zone 2 certication for its 15- and 19-inch industrial panel products. The product line includes the PC8200 series panel PCs, KM8200 series monitors with integral KVM, and RM8200 series remote monitors.

INDUSTRY

Pural hires water, wastewater market specialist

Pural named Ni Wei, also known as Wills Ni, water-wastewater market specialist for Asia, serving as a central communication point for customers and manufacturing representatives relating to wastewater sales in China. His responsibilities will progressively include Southeast Asia, covering Japan and Korea. Ni has seven years of industry experience.

Xylem acquires Heartland Pump

Xylem acquired privately-held Heartland Pump Rental and Sales. Heartland, based in Carterville, Ill., has been a business partner with Godwin, a Xylem Brand, in dewatering pump rental, services and systems design since 1995. Heartland has 100 employees with branches in Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Warren Rupp promotes vice presidents

IDEX Corp. and Warren Rupp promoted Bill Jones to vice president of operations, East Asia, Shawn Fortune to vice president of supply chain and operations, and Shane Wiltanger to director of operations, responsible for management of the Warren Rupp factory. Jones will be responsible for the IDEX Technology Services facility in Suzhou, China, and Fortune will be responsible for the manufacturing process, including the sourcing, purchasing and inventory management functions of Warren Rupp.

Veolias Pinero receives ANSI recognition

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) awarded Ed Pinero, chief sustainability ofcer for Veolia Water North America, the 2012 Howard Coonley Medal, part of its 2012 Leadership and Service Awards, for his work to benet the economy through standardization as a management tool. Pinero also is working with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District on drafts of the Global Water Stewardship Standard.

SJE-Rhombus names Thomas CEO

SJE-Rhombus named David Thomas chief operating ofcer following the retirement of Laurie Lewandowski. Thomas had been president/director of Standard David Thomas Laurie Lewandowski Products. Lewandowski joined the company 31 years ago, serving as president, vice president of marketing, purchasing director and IT director. She has seen the company grow from a garage assembly operation to a global business with six locations and 100-percent employee ownership.

Endress+Hauser launches operations app

The operations app from Endress+Hauer is designed for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad mobile devices. The free app lets instrument engineers and maintenance technicians download operating instructions and technical information for Endress+Hauser instruments and analyzers and data from the Life Cycle Management program. The app can be downloaded at https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/endress+hauser-operations/id556777232.

Adedge names applications engineer

Adedge Water Technologies named Khushbu Karan applications engineer, responsible for sales engineering support, proposal preparation, system design, project scoping and execution of water treatment projects. She has a bachelors degree in chemical engineering and masters degree in management science.

Denso offers training videos, product gallery

Denso released petrolatum training videos and an online product gallery. The videos show different methods of applying petrolatum tapes on straight pipes and irregular surfaces. The videos and product gallery can be viewed at www. densona.com.

Flowserve names vice president, treasurer

Flowserve Corp. named John E. (Jay) Roueche III vice president, treasurer and investor relations. He will be responsible for managing strategies, operations and practices related to corporate nance.

Smith & Loveless releases pumping system catalog

Smith & Loveless released Pumping SOLUTIONS 4.0. The pumping systems catalog includes specications, technical drawings and literature, including its 6-inch X-Peller pumps impeller, SAWS station advance warning system and Station Comm two-way text communication. The catalog can be ordered by calling 800/892-9122 or visiting the company website at www.smithandloveless.com.

Extech offers app for remote clamp meter readings

The EX845 METERLINK industrial app from Extech Instruments enables plant workers who use Extechs EX845 clamp meter to remotely view and display readings from the meter on an Android phone or tablet from 30 feet away. The app is available at the Google Play Store, https:// play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ir.ex845.

Hach sensor receives FDT certication

Hach Co. received certication from the FDT Group for its multisensor device type manager, available as a free download (www.hach. com/sc200) for the sc200 Universal Controller with Probus DP.

Danfoss launches uid controls website

Danfoss launched DanfossDirect (www.danfossdirect.com). The website features an online conguration tool that enables users to custom-design a complete valve package and order direct. The tool also makes suggestions for proper coils and accessories based on the users valve selection.

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WATER SYSTEM OPERATOR