the · 2017. 9. 1. · the 5s society annually selects up to three worthy ap-plicants to become...
TRANSCRIPT
THELouisiana Water
EnvironmentAssociation
2 President's Message3 WEFTEC Announcement5 Award Recipients7 Membership Survey
8 New 5S Members Inducted 9 WEF: Accelerating Resource Recovery12 Officers and Committees13 Membership News
Member of the Water Environment Federation
IN THIS ISSUE
Louisiana Water Environment AssociationAugust 2017 Newsletter
August Issue Contributors: Cheree Carlson, Linda McConnell, Henry Graham, Jessica Keasler, WEF's Patrick DubeDesigner: Melanie Koskie Cover Photo: Aimee Killeen
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 2
LWEA Members:
I am honored to be representing Louisiana Water Environmental Association as the Presi-dent for the 2017-2018 Term. I am looking forward to working with the wonderful people who give their time and knowledge voluntarily to our organization and our partner organi-zations to get the word out to help keep the importance of water quality at its highest level of awareness possible.
One of the major water quality events to be held in 2017 will be the WEFTEC Conference which will be held at the McCormick Place located in Chicago, Illinois, September 30 to October 4, 2017. Exhibitions will be held October 2-4, 2017. It will be an informative event filled with technical speakers, workshops, tours, meetings, an exhibition hall and lots of networking. Plus don’t forget the Operations Challenge. Definitely an event to add to your calendar and attend. For more information please visit www.weftec.org.
Locally in Louisiana, we will have our own networking conferences to be held in the spring of 2018 in partnership with Louisiana Conference and the Louisiana Solid Waste Associa-tion as well as several Chapter Luncheons throughout the year with our LWEA Chapter. Watch for our publications of the CROCK for more information.
I would like to give a special “Congratulations!” to our 2017 Harold Norman Memorial Scholarship Award winner Ms. Aamani Kura, a Chemical Engineering student at Louisiana State University in the amount of $1500.00. Also a cheer of “Congratulations”, to the win-ners of the Operations Challenge!
In closing we want to assure that we are meeting the needs of our members with topics that we can apply to our everyday working situations. If you have a request on a topic that you would like covered please feel free to email me at [email protected]. If anyone would like to volunteer their valuable knowledge and time to help represent LWEA and our goal of the importance of water quality awareness please contact myself, or one of our board members to volunteer.
Remember: We are the voice for water quality!
Thank you,President LWEA,
Cherree Carlson
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEBY CHERREE CARLSON
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 5
LWEA & WEF AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIP
BEDELL AWARD
Jessica Keasler, Terracon Consultants
The Bedell Award was established to acknowledge extraordinary personal service to a WEF Member Associa-tion. The award is named for Arthur Sidney Bedell, WEF’s second presi-dent for his long devotion and service to the New York Sewage and Indus-trial Wastes Association, now the New York Water Environment Association. He was Chief of the Bureau of Sewage and Waste Disposal of the New York State Department of Health.
HATFIELD AWARD
Jerome Marshall, Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans
The Hatfield Award is presented to operators of wastewater treatement plants for outstanding performance and professionalism. The award was established in honor of Dr. William D. Hatfield, Superintendant of the Decatur, Illinois, Sanitary District, who was President of the Central States Sewage Works Association in 1944-45 and served as President of the Federation in 1958-59.
David Hawley presenting Jessica Keasler with the Bedell Award
David Hawley presenting Jerome Marshall with the Hatfield Award
LWEA ANNOUNCES 2017 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERThe Louisiana Water Environment Association (LWEA) is proud to announce the following student has been selected to receive a scholarship in 2017:
Ms. Aamani Kura, a Chemical Engineering student at Louisiana State University, has been selected to receive the Harold Norman Memorial Scholarship Award of $1,500.
The LWEA plans to pay student membership dues in LWEA and WEF for our scholarship winner. The win-ner and her mom were invited to the June 29th LWEA meeting in recogni-tion of her selection.
Henry Graham and Jessica Keasler with Aamani Kuri, the Harold Norman Memorial Scholarship recipient.
6thelwea.com • JUNE 2017
7TH ANNUAL LWEA OPERATIONS CHALLENGESewerage and Water Board of New Orleans
The competition showcases the skills and talent of Operators who work at Louisiana’s wastewater treatment plants and collections facilities. These employees perform highly specialized tasks by treating millions of gallons of wastewater every day, keeping Louisiana’s waters safe and clean. Congratulations to all of our participants.
SWBNO winners of the 7th annual LWEA Operations Challenge
AWARDS CONTINUED
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 7
The Survey Results are in. Overall, members who completed the survey indi-cated they found value in LWEA Membership, with a majority of responders indi-cating they read The Crock for information. Many re-sponders expressed interest in LWEA events outside of the Baton Rouge area; we hear you and will work on scheduling events in New Orleans and Lafayette areas in the near future.
How does your opinion compare with the results of the survey, shared here?
MEMBERSHIP SURVEYBY JESSICA KEASLER
28% No Preference
55% Lunchtime
17% Dinner
Do you have a preference for meeting time?
What topic areas are ofinterest to you?
13% Industry
33% RegulatoryCompliance
16% Stormwater
10% Groundwater
28% WastewaterTechnology
Some of the suggested topics include:
Lightning & Grounding ProtectionSurface Water
Municipal WWTP Compliance Stormwater Management related to
Climate Change
How long have you beena member?
35%>10 years 12%
1-2 years
17.65%5-10 years
17.65%<1 year
17.65%2-5 years
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 8
Fellow members of the “Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovellers” (5S), you have selected the following persons to rise to the top of the biosolids (sludge) pile in recogni-tion of their “outstanding, meritorious service above and beyond the call of duty” to the Louisiana Water Environ-ment Association and the Water Environment Federation.
We hereby elevate Ms. Jessica Keasler and Ms. Cherree Carlson to the top of the biosolids (sludge) pile in order to aerate them into our membership.
Since there were no strong, odious objections, we bestowed upon them the title of “Select Sludge Shovel-
ler” at the recent LWEA meeting on June 29, 2017. The 5S Society annually selects up to three worthy ap-plicants to become members of our note (nose) worthy organization. Please contact me ([email protected]) if you would like to nominate an LWEA member for the 5S Society.
Fellow 5S members are urged to wear your “golden shovels” at any WEF or LWEA meeting or risk award-ing our new members with a suitable libation at your expense in honor of their esteemed selection.
SELECTION OF NEW 5S MEMBERS
Looking to get more involved? Join one of our committees:Collection Systems • Constitution and ByLaws • Database Management
Hospitality • Program • Public Education Safety • ScholarshipMembership • Student/Young-Professionals Training & Certification • Website
Contact [email protected] for more information.
Left: Henry Graham with new 5S member Cherree Carlson
Right: Henry Graham with new 5S member Jessica Keasler
BY HENRY T. GRAHAM, JR., P.E.
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 9
Fred JohnsonRobert Herrington
(225) 383-4999225-383-4998
1200 South Acadian ThruwayBaton Rouge, LA 70806
Justin Haydel, P.E. Kenny Ferachi, P.E.10542 S. Glenstone Place | Baton Rouge, LA 70810
tel (225) 448 3972 | fax (225) 454 6065www.manchacgroup.com
Biosolids can be used to create valuable products at water resource recovery facilities
Biosolids produced during wastewater treatment commonly are land applied. While this method is a great option to provide an excellent fertilizer that helps promote healthy soils, biosolids also hold much po-tential to help mitigate climate change, foster sustainability, and achieve zero waste. Resource recovery from biosolids represents an exciting op-portunity and potentially can provide additional value while promoting meaningful change.
Utilities hoping to recover resources face questions and roadblocks when seeking the best decisions for their communities. Policies and regulations vary among states and the national level and may hinder recovering resources from biosolids. Likewise, many current resource recovery technologies are not yet established and present more risk than utilities are accustomed to. And lastly, communicating the value of a product derived from biosolids to the public can be challenging.
But solutions exist and others have already blazed many of these trails. To help utilities overcome these challenges and to promote recover-ing resources from biosolids, WEF has updated the 2013 publication, Enabling the Future: Advancing Resource Recovery from Biosolids.
The 2017 update, released in April, is titled Accelerating Resource Recovery: Biosolids Innovations and Opportunities (https://www.e-wef.org/Default.aspx?TabID=251&productId=58093345 or http://bit.ly/2017-biosolids-rr). This guide aims to help promote biosolids as a valuable resource to help meet renewable energy needs, promote inno-vative technologies, and accelerate resource recovery.
ACCELERATING RESOURCE RECOVERYBY PATRICK DUBE, PH.D.
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 10
ENERGY RECOVERYThe energy contained in wastewater and biosolids is five times the amount of energy needed to treat it; this means that water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) are potential energy generators. The latent energy in waste-water solids combined with energy management and conservation in the facility offers an excellent opportunity for WRRFs to save money by producing energy on site to offset facility costs.
Anaerobic digestion is a long-established technology that can turn solids to energy by converting digested sludge to biogas via microorganisms. The process has many differ-ent designs and can be varied by adjusting temperature, implementing a pretreatment step, co-digesting the solids with other wastes and more. The generated biogas has an excellent energy potential and can be burned for electric-ity or upgraded to other fuels.
On the other hand, thermal conversion is a develop-ing technology that uses heat to generate energy from biosolids. While thermal conversion has a higher energy output potential than anaerobic digestion, it requires more energy to remove the moisture from the solids, resulting in a lower net energy recovery. New technologies in development are looking to incorporate thermal con-version with higher moisture solids. This combination, it is hoped, would reduce energy costs and derive a higher energy potential.
NUTRIENT RECOVERYCurrently, most agricultural nutrients — specifically, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) — come from non-re-newable, energy intensive sources. Yet at WRRFs, utilities
remove these nutrients from wastewater to meet discharge limits. The utilities face high resource and energy costs to remove them as well as a waste stream that must be dis-posed of. Herein lies an opportunity to recover instead of remove these nutrients. The result would be a renewable, valuable product that can help offset costs and generate money for the utility.
To recover nutrients, N and P first must be concentrated either biologically (using microorganisms to accumulate N and P), physically (implementing a process like adsorp-tion or ion exchange), or chemically (using a metal salt addition to precipitate out P). The concentrated nutrients then are released (typically biologically) before being extracted.
One example of a potential recovered product is struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate). Struvite is generat-ed by controlling pH and then adding a chemical precipi-tant. The process removes high concentrations of N and P and generates a product that can be sold as a commercial fertilizer.
Each nutrient removal method has positives and nega-tives. And each utility must determine how economically feasible each technology would be for their utility to adopt these systems.
POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKSThough the potential rewards of resource recovery are great, so are the challenges. Regulations and policies have the potential to help or hinder biosolids resource recov-ery. Some, federal regulations, such as the 40 CFR Part 503 biosolids rule, have helped outline the importance
ACCELERATING RESOURCE RECOVERY
Working on or wrapping up a unique project?
Try something new that worked?
Showcase your project in The Crock!
Contact [email protected]
to submit your article for the next issue.
ADVERTISE in the Crock!
Contact Alex Sheffieldat [email protected]
for ad rates and information.
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 11
of biosolids and set in place incentives for their benefi-cial use. On the other hand, regulations also can hinder. Examples include limiting where biosolids can potentially be applied (USDA Code 590) or changing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and lowering the value of renewable identification numbers (RIN) for biogas.
Likewise, state regulations and policies help or hinder. Elements of solids handling such as odors, phosphorus content, and co-digestion all can be specific to states, and, therefore, regulated differently — both positively and negatively.
One of the best ways to ensure that regulations and poli-cies help biosolids usage is to have interagency coopera-tion to help address issues. This could mean joining voluntary programs to promote biosolids, such as the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) or pollution pre-vention programs, and encouraging research into topics that could become issues in the future.
New and innovative technologies are needed to enhance resource recovery from biosolids. There are many promis-ing companies attempting to generate valuable products from biosolids and wastewater. These products include fertilizers, biodegradable plastics, and biofuels; but many are still in their infancy. Not only does the high moisture content make it difficult to develop an economically viable technology, but the variable nature of the solids means a universal technology isn’t possible; each utility must find its own solution.
Research into a typical utility’s efficiency, cost, energy balance, and recovered product is nonexistent; this means
each utility must do this on its own. This increases costs and makes the barrier to entry higher. The Water Envi-ronment Federation (Alexandria, Va.) and Water Environ-ment & Research Foundation have developed the Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT) program to help fill this gap. LIFT promotes research into resource recovery technologies, creates a clearinghouse of informa-tion, and takes some of the risk away. But there are more hurdles to leap to bring these solutions to market.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURERecovering resources from biosolids represents an exciting opportunity for utilities to promote the beneficial use of biosolids while generating valuable consumer products. It begins at utilities, where professional development and skills must be developed and fostered. With this knowl-edge, biosolids programs can thrive and increase the qual-ity of their products for consumers.
Effective communication with consumers is paramount. When they understand the benefits of biosolids, they will rightfully translate that into a better perception of the products. A commitment to research and development is key to develop technologies that can expand the resource recovery of biosolids.
Patrick Dube, Ph.D, is the Biosolids Program Manager in the Water Science & Engineering Center at the Water Environment Federa-tion (Alexandria, VA). He manages the Residuals & Biosolids and the Air Quality & Odors Control Committees. He can be contacted at [email protected].
ACCELERATING RESOURCE RECOVERY
thelwea.com • AUGUST 2017 12
AWARDS CHAIRAdrienne Kelly - [email protected]
COLLECTION SYSTEMS CHAIRJosh Graham - [email protected]
HOSPITALITY CHAIRBeth Hitt - [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRLinda McConnell - [email protected]
PUBLIC EDUCATION CHAIRAimeé Killeen - [email protected]
SAFETY CHAIRAdrienne Kelly - [email protected]
SCHOLARSHIP CHAIRHenry Graham - [email protected]
Program • Government • Young Professionals Community Outreach/Education • WEFTEC Advisory Chair
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
PRESIDENT • CHERREE CARLSON225-241-8773 • [email protected]
PRESIDENT-ELECT • DIANA DAY956-202-2911 • [email protected]
VICE-PRESIDENT • TJ TRUXILLO985-859-9681 • [email protected]
SECRETARY • MAGHEE [email protected]
TREASURER • ALEX SHEFFIELD225-755-1000 • [email protected]
PAST PRESIDENT • JESSICA KEASLER225-344-6052 • [email protected]
WEF DELEGATE • AIMEÉ KILLEEN225.766.7400 • [email protected]
PWO REP. • STEVE HOSS225-400-2115 • [email protected]
LWEA 2017 – 2018 OFFICERS
OPEN POSITIONS
Representations by advertisers of products, ser-vices or professional qualifications in this pub-lication are the sole responsibility of the adver-tisers. The LWEA assumes no responsibility or warranty of such representations. The LWEA assumes no responsibility for statements and opinions expressed by contributors to this publi-cation. Views expressed in editorials and articles are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the position of LWEA.
TO ADVERTISEContact: ALEX SHEFFIELD [email protected]. 225-755-1000
13thelwea.com • JUNE 2017
Providing Sustainable Water and
Wastewater Engineering Services in Louisiana
E N V I R O N M E N T A L E N G I N E E R I N G
BUCHART HORN, INC.Building 6
Suite A, 18163 East Petroleum DriveBaton Rouge, LA 70809-6104
(225) 755 2120 I www.bh-ba.com
The CrockTN_DblVertl Ad BH2015.indd 1 12/15/2014 2:50:04 PM
Chase Tower, Downtown Baton Rouge 225.387.3221 www.taylorporter.com
Environmental Practice Group
Robert L. CocoAnne J. CrochetPaul O. Dicharry
Thomas D. GildersleeveMichelle Marney White
Erinn NeyreyTimothy J. PochéRobin Price ToupsGerald L. Walter, Jr.
Come swim with the best water quality professionals in the business.
17170 Perkins Rd | Baton Rouge, LA 70810 225-755-1000
Contact: [email protected]
Please welcome the following new members, who recently joined WEF and LWEA:Estelle Crawford, Baton Rouge, LAAnna Koonce, Baton Rouge, LARick McEwen, Metairie, LAAlok Shah, CH2M, Baton Rouge, LAAbby Shortess, Baton Rouge, LA
Membership Benefits to Your Company1. Choose Your Training – WEF offers training designed for any budget and in various formats, including WEFTEC®, Specialty Conferences, hot topic seminars, workshops, and webcasts.
2. Increase Production – Your employees will remain one step ahead of developments and best practices through WEF's highly regarded technical publications, online resources, and education.
3. Build Valuable Relationships – The WEF and Member Association community allows your employees to build valuable relationships with industry partners and prospects.
4. Gain Recognition in the Field – Each year, WEF presents awards for outstanding contributions to the water environment profession.
5. Enhance Overall Performance – Access Water Knowledge, legislative alerts, and stimulus funding resources are just a few tools available to assist in maximizing performance, while implementing cost-efficiencies.
Non-members, Expired MembersFor WEF/LWEA membership information, visit wef.org/JoinWEF or contact Linda McConnell at [email protected] or 225/292-9007.
I can forward you a PDF of the current application form or can look up your expired member number for use in communications with WEF.
BY LINDA MCCONNELL • MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMEMBER NEWS