Management Guide to Retrofitting Wastewater Treatment Plants

FROM THE PREFACE

Since Federal funding is scarce for massive upgrades, and/or complete new Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) construction, treatment plant operators, superintendents, managers, city councils, boards, etc. must get more creative on funding and coordinating process equipment replacements. Contained herein you will find hints, tactics and procedures aimed at getting the "biggest bang for your public buck." During the 1970s and 1980s, through grants, the Federal Government paid 80% of costs to build new or expanded wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and collection system renovations. The majority of the grants were to upgrade primary treatment facilities to secondary, and secondary to tertiary treatment status based on Clean Water Act regulations. If your facility was fortunate enough to receive grants, you were in good shape for approximately 20 to 30 years (depending on community growth rates).

Since most wastewater treatment facilities are designed to last 20 years, many of the new or expanded facilities in the 70's and 80's are reaching the end of their service life. Some may have reached it sooner due to growth beyond the expected rate, inadequate preventive maintenance, or design inadequacies when built. Now you have identified problems with insufficient aeration capacity, equipment mechanical failure, insufficient pump station capacity, infrastructure deterioration, etc. and need to do something about it before you violate your NPDES permit (if you have not already). This equipment seems very costly to replace because you now must pay 100% opposed to 20% with the grants.

Many WWTP are in need of replacement and/or upgraded equipment. The equipment itself is typically about 25% to 50% of the total project cost. This cannot be changed much. However, the remaining 50% to 75% (engineering, installation labor costs and project management) may be whittled down dependent on how active and creative the project coordinator (yourself) wants to be in the process. When EPA funded 80% of project costs in prior years, it was no big deal to have an "open pocketbook" attitude. Those days have changed forever and so have procurement procedures for projects.

A Management Guide to Retrofitting Wastewater Treatment Plants is geared towards the managerial and administrative scope of a Lead Operator, Superintendent, Facility Manager type of Wastewater individual. All the junior college courses available, practical operator experience, and certification status will still not offer the opportunity to learn administrative and cost savings techniques (similar to operating a business). But soon, your job may demand these skills.

This book is a handy reference for making the task of upgrading/retrofitting wastewater process equipment easier and less costly. It includes ideas for selling upgrade ideas to superiors, pre- and post-project activities, and certain management techniques useful for successful retrofitting or upgrading in past projects. This book should prove helpful to those who find themselves involved in retrofitting their facility, and need assistance on resolving facility problems, including treatment plant operators, superintendents, managers, city council members, and boards.

It is also a valuable reference guide for municipal operations individuals who want to retain control of their facilities, but don't quite know how. It was written with the front line operator, superintendent, and manager in mind, in common operator language in order to allow easier understanding. It contains many tips and techniques which operators can implement immediately.