Entries for 'Genevieve'

Touring a State of the Art Reverse Osmosis Treatment Plant

Genevieve posted on August 30, 2010 09:55

I spent a few days job shadowing a circuit rider from the Illinois Rural Water Association. A memorable stop we made was a small town in Illinois that has a reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plant. This state-of-the art plant, which is just over 8 years old, took 3 million dollars to build. It takes two operators to run the RO plant; Mark is the lead man, and has been a water operator for 23 years, and Travis has been an operator for three years. Mark and Travis gave me a tour of the plant and explained how they work to provide their town with clean water.

From Well to Tap

Before the town updated their water supply, water in the town was said to be black. The distribution system was also outdated, built in 1889. When the town decided to build a new treatment plant, they also decided to drill new wells in order to obtain cleaner groundwater. The town drilled three 85-foot wells located about ten miles outside of town. Two of these wells are run at a time.

From the wells, the groundwater is pumped to the treatment plant and sent through iron and manganese removal sand filters. From these filters, about 600 gpm (gallons per minute) of the water is sent to an RO unit, while 215 gpm is sent to a holding tank. Of the water sent to the RO unit, 150 gpm concentrated is sent to a settling lagoon. The rest is aerated for carbon dioxide removal, mixed with the holding tank water, and sent to town. It takes about three days for the water that leaves the plant to reach the town. The town has around 1775 service connections and uses about 395,000 gallons of water a day.

Reverse Osmosis Treatment

Water that is treated with reverse osmosis is forced through the RO unit at a pressure of 134 psi. To put this into perspective, tap water runs at 50 psi. I was told that the membranes are so small that even a virus can’t fit through. Because of this, the water becomes 100% purified. RO is such an efficient process that it removes essential nutrients, so it’s necessary to add untreated water to the RO water before it is sent to town. Although the process is complex, the town’s residents are happy to have some of the highest quality tap water around.

Posted in: TA Providers, Careers, RWAs, Water Treatment

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Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)- How it can help you

Genevieve posted on June 15, 2010 08:50

The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) is an organization that we at SmallWaterSupply.org believe offers great resources for water and wastewater operators across the country.

Regional Partners

RCAP is divided into six regional partners who provide services for water and wastewater operators in rural communities. For example, they may provide loans for water and wastewater infrastructure, technical assistance, training sessions, and useful publications. Check out the national RCAP website to see what regional partner your state is a part of:

http://www.rcap.org/regions

The Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) is one of these regional partners. The RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The RCAC is great for water and wastewater operators because it provides numerous training opportunities that are free of cost.

For example, on July 14 the RCAC will host a workshop in Redding, California titled “Water System Inspections and Sanitary Surveys.” This practical 1-day workshop will provide you with the necessary tools to be able to conduct a sanitary survey for your water system and qualifies for 6 contact hours in California. For more information on workshops such as these, take a look the RCAC’s website, http://www.rcac.org, or use SmallWaterSupply.org’s event search.

State Offices

Each RCAP regional partner is further divided into state offices which provide additional assistance for water and wastewater operators. Each RCAP state office has a different name. The Illinois RCAP office, for example, is called the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies (IACAA), while the West Virginia RCAP is called the West Virginia Community Action Partnership (WVCAP).

Ohio has a very active state office which is part of the Great Lakes RCAP regional partner. On August 24-25, the Ohio RCAP is hosting a conference titled “Small Towns, Big Futures.” This conference will feature useful training sessions for operators on topics such as rate-setting, collecting water and sewer bills, and fixing leaks. For more information on this conference, check out the Ohio RCAP’s website:

http://www.glrcap.org/ohio/

We at SmallWaterSupply.org try our best to keep our document database and event search up-to-date with useful organizations such as the Rural Community Assistance Partnership.

Posted in: TA Providers, Events, Helpful Tips, RCAPs, Training/CEUs

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“Virtual System Explorer”- Interactively Learn the Basics of Water System Operations!

Genevieve posted on May 10, 2010 11:21

The Virtual System Explorer CD is an easy and fun way to learn the basics of water system operations. Users will learn how to recognize system deficiencies, perform a security risk assessment, and improve the financial and management capacity of a system. The CD takes users on a virtual journey through three small water systems: an untreated groundwater system, a treated groundwater system, and a surface water system.

Features

Exploration Basics- This course presents an overview of public water system operations and covers the following topics:

-Source

-Treatment

-Distribution and Storage

-Pumps and Facilities

-Regulations and Monitoring

-Management and Operations

Exploration activities- allow you to experience system operation scenarios in a virtual environment

Video Tours- showcase examples of actual small water systems from source to sink.

Glossary- introduces you to need-to-know terminology.

How to use the Virtual System Explorer

The Virtual System Explorer program can be used in either a computer or DVD player.

Computer- Allows users to interactively train and track their progress.

DVD- Allows users to view the material as a training video.

Earning Credit

It may possible to earn continuing education credit upon the completion of the Virtual System Explorer program. The certification agency in your state can let you know if it’s possible to receive CEU credit.

Virtual System Explorer is free!

You can download the program from the Montana Water Center, one of the 8 USEPA Technical Assistance Centers for Small Water Systems at http://watercenter.montana.edu/training/ve/default.htm.

If you want a hard copy, they are available from the National Environmental Services Center, or we’d be happy to send you a copy of free of charge! Simply email us at info@smallwatersupply.org, or call us.

Posted in: TA Providers, NESC, TACs, Training/CEUs

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Document Database Update

Genevieve posted on October 06, 2009 13:00

The document database continues to grow...

The number of documents out there for water operators is truly astounding, and at times overwhelming. Everyday we discover new TA providers that provide useful resources for water operators. We've almost reached 5,000 documents in the document database and we expect to find thousands more.

Why are there hundreds of documents for some states, and only a few for others?

A large portion of the document database comes from state primacy agencies. These agencies provide useful manuals, factsheets and forms for water operators. We've collected documents from about two-thirds of the state primacy agencies, so if you can't find documents applicable to a particular state, we most likely have not gotten to that state's primacy agency yet.

What if my organization's documents are not in the database?

If your organization provides documents that have not been catalogued in our database, please let us know. We will provide a link to the document itself, a link to where the document was retrieved, and a link to your organization's homepage. The more resources we can highlight from your site, the more likely operators will be inclined to use you as a resource.

Posted in: Document Search

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