Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine – May 2008

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May 2008

Petrolia upgrades its water treatment system Solving sewer odour complaints and corrosion problems Wastewater reuse by Canada’s oil industry Storage Tanks Containment & Spills

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Contents ISSN-0835-605X May 2008 Vol. 21 No. 2 Issued May 2008

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ES&E invites articles (approx. 2,000 words) on water, wastewater, hazardous waste treatment and other environmental protection topics. If you are interested in submitting an article for consideration in our print and digital editions, please contact Steve Davey at steve@esemag.com. Please note that Environmental Science & Engineering Publications Inc. reserves the right to edit all text and graphic submissions without notice.

FEATURES 7 12 16 18 20 22 28 30 33 34 36 40 58 62 65 66

The incompatibility of plastic bags and aquatic life - Editorial comment by Tom Davey NS town uses an effective combination for water/wastewater monitoring and control Long sewer retention time found to be the cause of odour complaints and corrosion problems Canada’s “Victorian Oil Town” upgrades its water system with a microfiltration membrane plant Big brother is watching - Dealing with Ministry of Environment inspections How Canada’s military is optimizing its water and wastewater plants Stormwater drainage system a key component in a major Dartmouth brownfield re-development project Compact treatment system used to treat mining industry effluents Uninterruptable communication networks can prevent environmental disasters Putting numbers on risk factors for contaminated sites AWWA estimates US water utilities will need to invest $325 billion over the next 20 years Drain-water heat recovery saves energy in food processing plant Wastewater reuse by Canada’s oil industry can protect the environment and help improve public water supply Water for People works to remove arsenic from contaminated water supplies Denso protects the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls Special activated sludge system works well at small town’s first WWTP

Pages 42-56 42 Canada’s first composite elevated water storage tank installed at Henvy Inlet First Nation - Cover Story 44 Reactive barrier wall solves space and on-going activity problems during remediation project 46 Secondary containment under severe winter conditions 48 An environmental emergency calls for just the right containment solution 50 PVC liners prolong life of steel and FRP storage tanks 52 Best management practices for testing chemical properties during emergency situations 56 Simulated explosion scenarios for aboveground storage tanks

DEPARTMENTS Environmental News . . . 74-80 Product Showcase . . . . . 68-72 Professional Cards . . . . . 74-80 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

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Comment by Tom Davey

The incompatibility of plastic bags and aquatic life the sophistication of modern garbage collection orldwide, some five trillion plastic shopping bags are discarded annually. Thousands of shopping malls have free plastic bags displayed at check outs to load groceries and other goods, immediately after the register transactions. Few ever think about the environmental consequences of something weighing less than ten grams and fewer still would link its origin to oil fields in the Middle East, the Far East and diverse oceanic oil drilling operations around the world.

At the time of writing, London was considering banning plastic shopping bags, perhaps leading other UK cities and towns to emulate its initiative. At least 33 London councils, as well as an overwhelming number of their constituents, now regard plastic shopping bags as environmentally bad, even perhaps evil. The councils appear headed to imposing either a complete ban or a tax on every bag.

British supermarkets distribute more than 17 billion plastic bags each year, creating an estimated 60,000 tonnes of plastic for the landfill sites. And the UK is only one country in the prosperous European Union.

Across the Irish Sea from Britain, Ireland had already taken an aggressive approach with what was dubbed the “Emerald Isle’s Plastax”. The Irish Government began charging consumers

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20 cents for each plastic shopping bag as early as 2002. Only three months later, it was announced that stores had reduced the number of plastic bags given out by 90% - 277 million fewer bags. The market mechanism clearly can work.

While Canadian cities are still pondering the issue, San Francisco, Dacca, Bangladesh, and other cities have already imposed plastic bag taxes which may simply direct shoppers to use other containers - such as paper bags - which at least are biodegradable. But paper bags come from trees; but let’s not go there, at least for now.

Generally speaking, taxing environmental usage of commodities which society wishes to discourage seems to be gaining popularity around the world. In Canada, local governments are trying to make people think about the multiple problems involving drinking and wastewater treatment, garbage disposal and energy consumption.

But there may be simpler ways to reduce the throwaway plastic bags. Supermarkets could simply emulate the Irish and try charging for plastic bags but it is always risky charging for something people have always got for free. A cultural and monetary territorial imperative? Perhaps, but charging for the ubiquitous bags could encourage the public to simply re-use the ones they already have, saving money and the environment quite painlessly.

Increasingly, municipalities are providing residents with systems that encourage separation of garbage items from recycling containers. Many Ontario communities recently issued Green Bins for kitchen wastes, some towns even using the tax bills as a catchy reminder, saying: “The Bin is in.” Hardly Hamlet, I know, but his soliloquy was uncannily prescient for today’s garbage disposal ethos when it noted: “The evil that men do is oft forgotten, the good is oft interred with their bones.”

But now household garbage collection - once at the bottom end of environmental concerns - has developed into sophisticated operations which require skill, muscle and versatile garbage trucks.

Operators have to drive large and increasingly complex vehicles which can imbibe a range of wastes, including the large cardboard boxes the stuff originally was contained in. Recently I took note of just how much diverse junk was put out along our narrow rear laneways.

I watched, admiringly, as drivers navigated their wide and high garbage trucks along these laneways - made narrower by parked cars. Operators hopped out nimbly to pick up a variety of large, sometimes heavy, discarded items, including furniture and fridges.

Nor was all the garbage put out neatly in the ubiquitous green bags. continued overleaf...

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Comment by Tom Davey

Environmental Science & Engineering Editor TOM DAVEY E-mail: tom@esemag.com (No attachments please) Managing Editor SANDRA DAVEY E-mail: sandra@esemag.com Sales Director PENNY DAVEY E-mail: penny@esemag.com Sales Representative DENISE SIMPSON E-mail: denise@esemag.com Circulation Manager VIRGINIA MEYER E-mail: virginia@esemag.com Production Manager CHRIS MAC DONALD E-mail: chris@esemag.com Publisher STEVE DAVEY E-mail: steve@esemag.com

Technical Advisory Board Jim Bishop Stantec Consulting Ltd., Ontario Bill Borlase, P.Eng. City of Winnipeg, Manitoba George V. Crawford, P.Eng., M.A.Sc. CH2M HILL, Ontario Bill DeAngelis, P.Eng. Associated Engineering, Ontario Dr. Robert C. Landine ADI Systems Inc., New Brunswick Marie Meunier John Meunier Inc., QuĂŠbec Environmental Science & Engineering is a bi-monthly business publication of Environmental Science & Engineering Publications Inc. An all Canadian publication, ES&E provides authoritative editorial coverage of Canada's municipal and industrial environmental control systems and drinking water treatment and distribution.

Readers include consulting engineers, industrial plant managers and engineers, key municipal, provincial and federal environmental officials, water and wastewater plant operators and contractors.

Information contained in ES&E has been compiled from sources believed to be correct. ES&E cannot be responsible for the accuracy of articles or other editorial matter.

Articles in this magazine are intended to provide information rather than give legal or other professional advice. Articles being submitted for review should be e-mailed to steve@esemag.com.

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Recently our town councillors ordained that all putrescibles had to be placed in Green Bins, the contents of which are dumped in special compartments inside the trucks.

Thankfully, we have disposal depots for toxic residuals such as paints, solvents, gardening chemicals and other diverse toxins.

But for every large green garbage bag destined for landfill, there is a plethora of small plastic bags entering our ecosystems which, individually, are trifling but collectively seriously impact fish and other creatures in our oceans.

tom@esemag.com

Letters to the Editor Dear Mr. Davey I was very disappointed in reading the article by David Beck in the March issue of ESE Magazine entitled "Asset management and life cycle cost analyses combine to abate water main failures." I was hoping to read something that was rigorous and actually looked at life cycle costs. Instead the reader gets a simplistic and erroneous impression that PVC technology is the answer to asset management. The writer bases some of his conclusions on a survey conducted by the NRC and a report funded by the PVC industry.

The report in question had no analysis of pipe age and other important factors such as soil bedding, backfill materials, ground water conditions, climate or installation and operational factors which would influence water main breaks. Factors such as the corrosivity of the soils and whether or not effective corrosion control was implemented were also ignored and are extremely important considerations in analyses of this type.

The NRC report has limitations and to conclude anything from the report is not good engineering. Attached are 2 files that the Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association has prepared in reviewing the NRC report in question.

Normand De Agostinis, Eng. Senior Regional Engineer Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association NACE Certified Corrosion Specialist www.dipra.org

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While the evolutionary defences of this aquatic life have been fine-tuned over millennia to deal with storms, tides and even the dangers from shipping, nothing has trained ocean creatures to deal with the deadly aftermath of our plastic discards. Many of these we have used just briefly before being discarded forever, yet ironically they might match the Egyptian Pyramids in longevity.

So much environmental damage for so little benefit. Tragic.

Re: ES&E Magazine celebrates two decades of publishing Tom, ES&E's two decades of existence remind me of a time 14 years ago when I was learning English from your magazine!

I was taking ESL courses and at the same time I was trying to read your articles. It was hard at the beginning and mostly not understandable... but there were a lot of pictures accompanying articles to help me. This is how I learned the terminology and learned about the latest events and achievements in civil engineering in Canada.

All the time while I was having job interviews, or was on my work placement or on a co-op course, and finally when I got a job, ES&E helped me feel more comfortable in a new country. I haven't been reading your magazine for the last few years... Today I read your March 2008 issue and felt like I was coming back home.

Thank you and happy birthday to ES&E! Marijana Bulatovic Senior Engineer, City of Toronto Thanks, Marijana. It was gratifying to know that our magazine had such a positive influence on a young woman’s engineering career at such a pivotal time.

Tom Davey

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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NEWS Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation announces 2008 scholarship winners he Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation has announced its national “Dream to be an Engineer” scholarship winners which, following the Montreal Polytechnique massacre, was created to encourage women to enter the profession.

Joanne Bailey of Arnprior, Ontario, is the winner of the 2008 AMEC Masters Scholarship in Engineering worth $10,000. The scholarship also includes summer employment at an AMEC office in Canada. Ms. Bailey, a mechanical engineering student at McMaster University, is specializing in thermafluid sciences.

Third-year engineering student Deanna Burgart of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is the winner of the 2008 AMEC Aboriginal Undergraduate Scholarship worth $5,000. Ms. Burgart is studying chemical engineering at Lakehead University.

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Along with the scholarships, each received an AMEC expense-paid trip to the CEMF Annual Awards Luncheon held in Québec City at the Annual General Meeting of Engineers Canada on May 23, 2008.

CEMF is committed to creating a world where engineering meets the needs and challenges of Canadians by utilizing the skills and talents of men and women alike, promoting engineering as a career choice with the generous support of Canadian corporations and individual engineers from coast to coast.

The Foundation provides a total of 16 scholarships at the undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. levels of study and promotes engineering as a career choice for women through their website, press releases, Annual Awards Luncheon and scholarship winner presentations to high school students.

Joanne Bailey

Deanna Burgart

AMEC formed a partnership with the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation in 2006 to encourage more Canadian women to pursue a career in engineering. www.cemf.ca

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Instrumentation

An effective combination for water/wastewater monitoring and control in New Brunswick

By Christopher Little he Town of Quispamsis is located along the Kennebecasis and Hammond River waterways in southwestern New Brunswick. In the language of the local Maliseet First Nation, the name Quispamsis means “little lake in the woods”.

By 2004 the town surrounding that ‘little lake’ had grown from 8,446 residents in 1991 to over 13,760, making it the province’s most rapidly expanding municipality according to Statistics Canada.

In 2002, CBCL Ltd. conducted a Regional Wastewater Feasibility Study for the Towns of Quispamsis and Rothesay which were sharing water/wastewater infrastructure. Following the release of this study, it was decided that it was time for the two towns to monitor and control their own sites using their own Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.

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Physical infrastructure As part of this separation, the Town of Quispamsis wanted to incorporate into their new system seventeen remote water/wastewater management sites.

These are spread out over twenty-five square miles of steep hills and deep valleys. These sites included remote well houses, a series of wastewater pumping stations, the newly upgraded wastewater treatment facility, and a new water reservoir. The sites were originally being monitored by MOSCAD remote telemetry units (RTUs) which communicated with the main office via a licensed UHF radio frequency.

By August 2004, CBCL Ltd. was awarded the design and implementation (programming and commissioning) of the system.

Marc Arsenault was team leader of the project.

Design CBCL spent the next two months designing the new telemetry system, selecting monitoring equipment and RTU assemblies/enclosures. One of the top priorities was to eliminate the expense of the licensed radio frequency they had previously used to relay information to the main office. A cellular based system would have been more expensive given that this was a real-time monitoring system and data charges are usually billed on a ‘per megabyte’ basis. Leased line systems typically have a high monthly leasing rate, typically billed on a ‘per kilometre’ basis.

It was therefore decided that the licensed radio grid would be replaced by a network of Microwave Data Systems Transnet 900™ spread spectrum radios.

Although more time-consuming to set up, due to the necessity of keeping clear

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Instrumentation lines of sight between transmitters, they provide a more reliable signal across hilly terrain and are more resistant to external interference. Best of all, this approach uses non-licensed radio frequencies and carries no ongoing monthly fees to operate.

For this approach to work, they first needed to replace the existing RTUs that provided monitoring and control at each of the existing remote sites. They were sharing a SCADA system with the Town of Rothesay and they wanted to operate their own. The few existing Motorola Moscad RTUs were removed and Control Microsystems SCADAPack RTUs installed into these sites plus all the additional sites they wanted to monitor.

One of the reasons for replacing the existing RTUs was that they were primarily designed to work with the UHF radios they wanted to substitute. Plus, replacement components for the existing units were expensive and harder to obtain. SCADAPacks, on the other hand, were available locally, easier to program, and integrated easily with spread-spectrum radios.

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VTScada software The last piece of the puzzle was a SCADA software package that could communicate with the new radios and RTUs plus other common brands of hardware that the town might choose to

add to the system in the future. This software would also need to be userfriendly enough to allow city developers to add, remove, and reconfigure hardware themselves as the system concontinued overleaf...

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Instrumentation

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Screen shot of overview ‘map’ with two remote site ‘pop-up’ windows.

tinued to grow and evolve.

CBCL had been creating water and wastewater systems for municipalities since 1995. It was at that time they started using VTS Human Machine Interface (HMI) software from Trihedral Engineering.

Trihedral went on to use VTS as the foundation for its VTScada software which was developed specifically for the water/wastewater industry. VTScada includes features such as industry-specific reports, auto-generated graphic displays, and automatic historical data logging.

Although there are no plans to change the name to the ‘City of Quispamsis’, there are some big plans ahead for their water/water management system.

VTScada is able to communicate with a wide variety of monitoring and control hardware, thanks to an extensive library of over one hundred proprietary and non-proprietary device drivers. This allows utilities to purchase a variety of hardware brands based on their specific needs and budget.

Another advantage is that, within VTScada, the radio network is transparent to the operator. This means that once the radios are up and running, the radio network just becomes a pipe. In this case, spread spectrum simply appears as

a serial tag.

The completed solution The new spread-spectrum radio network connects the new remote site RTUs to the main server located at the town hall and to a redundant back-up server at one of the near-by utility buildings.

A series of auto-generated and custom-made overview pages allow treatment plant operators to perform daily monitoring of the whole system. This includes duties like charting the performance of the remote pump stations and tracking ongoing issues. Process Control staff use the integrated Historical Data Viewer to do more in-depth trouble-shooting in the event of anomalous data or an unexplained event at one of the remote sites.

The future According to New Brunswick’s Municipalities Act, the population of Quispamsis now qualifies it for ‘city’ status.

Although there are no plans to change the name to the ‘City of Quispamsis’, there are some big plans ahead for their water/water management system. There are applications pending for the next major phase of the town’s water/wastewater upgrade which, if approved, will add over 45 new remote sites.

Christopher Little is with Trihedral Engineering Ltd, E-mail: chris.little@trihedral.com

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Collection Systems

Long retention times cause odour and corrosion problems for Bayham Ontario’s sewer system

By Bryan Box and Bryan Haan

The BIOXIDE process is applied using simple feed systems that are easily designed for any individual feed characteristics of a specific application.

n the summer of 2002, residents living along Bayham, Ontario’s 17km long sewer collection system complained about odours emanating from the municipality’s sewer line.

Numerous connections to the sewer line made it difficult to pinpoint the odours’ exact point of origin. Not only did personnel at the Port Burwell wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) receive an earful, but so too did the municipality’s councillors and Ontario’s Ministry of Environment (MOE).

Long retention times were causing hydrogen sulphide and other odorous compounds to form. In addition to being an olfactory annoyance, hydrogen sulphide had also begun to corrode the interior of the municipality’s collection system.

During the treatment option evaluation process, the water and wastewater commission voiced concern that any changes in the treatment program’s operation might necessitate the MOE modifying Bayham’s Certificate of Approval. However, the MOE concluded this would not be necessary because any actions taken would be considered maintenance.

Following its investigation, the MOE suggested Bayham use chlorine or hy-

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Adding two more dosing stations along the sewer system alleviated the increased hydrogen sulphide levels near the end of Bayham’s collection system.

drogen peroxide to rid the system of odours. The municipality first dosed chlorine at one of the pump stations, with minimal positive results at the station and no benefit along the sewer line.

Thus, the odours persisted.

Bayham then turned to the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) for suggestions. The agency recommended using the Bioxide® process from Siemens Water Technologies. In the past, OCWA had used the product for odour and corrosion control for a different municipality, with great success.

Bayham thus decided to perform a trial of Siemens’ process to see if it could eliminate odours from its sewer collection system.

The Bioxide process is a very effective, safe, and non-hazardous (nonCERCLA listed) product that is applied using simple feed systems that are easily designed for any individual feed characteristics of a specific application.

Unlike masking agents, the process effectively removes existing hydrogen sulphide and prevents its further formation. The biological environment

created by the process can also effectively remove mercaptans and organic sulphides commonly found in most wastewater systems.

By removing hydrogen sulphide, the Bioxide process also helps prevent corrosion of associated pipe works, buildings and control equipment, thus extending their lifetime and eliminating unnecessary replacement costs. Additionally, it helps reduce sewage BOD loading and increases treatment plant capacity where BOD loading is limiting.

When comparing the Bioxide process to conventional products, costing decisions should be based on the volume of product required and not on the cost per litre. In general, the process can be applied in circumstances where odours are emanating from a wastewater stream that has a biological element present.

The Bayham trial Siemens carried out initial dissolved sulphide and hydrogen sulphide tests at the Eden pumping station. Although the application engineers knew the sewer line’s length, they still needed to deter-

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Collection Systems mine retention time in the system to dose the appropriate amount of Bioxide process for treatment of the entire flow.

The first indication of the product’s effectiveness would be a positive result at the next pumping location approximately 5 km from Eden. Twenty litres applied at the Eden pumping station arrived at the Straffordville location three hours later. The dissolved sulphide value had been reduced from 2 mg/L to non-detectable levels.

The trial was then set up to dose the process continuously into the wet well at Eden and monitor results for the entire system. The retention time for the system during mid-autumn was 24 to 36 hours. Almost immediately after beginning the dosing program, positive results were seen throughout the entire system, with residual Bioxide process observed at the Port Burwell plant. Dissolved sulphide levels were recorded at non-detect levels, hydrogen sulphide was not evidenced anywhere along the sewer system, and neighbours were not noticing odours like they had before.

Results from the Bayham piloting revealed that using the Bioxide process also decreased the amount of defoamer needed at the municipality’s treatment plant, thus saving costs. The process also lessened Nocardia bacteria activity, which is typically promoted in the sulphide environment common to foam or bulking at WWTPs. Any adjustments to the feed rate are done so manually by changing the dosing pump speed. In addition, capital costs are minimal and depend on each particular system as well as the dosing rate required. These factors help determine the required volume for a storage tank.

Post-trial tweaking As a result of the trial, Bayham adopted the Bioxide process as its treatment solution.

In late summer 2003, the municipality noticed hydrogen sulphide levels near the end of the collection system.

Siemens was again asked to evaluate the situation. Application engineers determined that several ancillary sewer lines were injecting into the force main before the flow reached the Port Burwell plant.

Application engineers first increased the flow rate at the beginning of the feed line, with some positive results; however, this was not the most effective way www.esemag.com

to treat the problem. They then looked at dosing at the pump stations that were adding flow to the sewer system, which proved to be the best solution. Adding two more dosing stations along the sewer system alleviated the problem.

Dosing the Bioxide process at these locations prevents sewage that collects in the wet well from becoming septic before it is pumped. As a result, this does not charge the system when the flow is added and therefore eliminates the hydrogen sulphide that occurs.

Adding two more dosing sites did not require two to three times more Bioxide process. The dosing rate at Eden, in fact, was reduced and spread out to the other locations.

Bryan Box, P.Eng., MBA, and Bryan Haan are with Siemens Water Technologies Canada, Inc, in Markham, Ontario. E-mail: bryan.box@siemens.com or bryan.haan@siemens.com.

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Water Supply

Microfiltration membrane plant provides a reliable source of water for Petrolia

The system’s pipes, pumps and filtration modules.

Petrolia water works building. s one of the first sites for crude oil production in North America in the mid 1800s, the Town of Petrolia, Ontario, located on the shores of Lake Huron, became known as “Canada’s Victorian Oil Town.” In the following years, as the oil industry was booming and Petrolia began to flourish and grow in population, establishing a safe supply of drinking water emerged as a primary concern.

In 1896, the Petrolia town leaders decided to build a water treatment facility, the Petrolia Water Treatment Plant, in neighboring Brights Grove to supply water to this booming oil town. Water filtration technology was in its infancy and this plant was no different, as it consisted solely of a settling tank. As technology progressed during the 1920s, the Ontario government began to set minimum water quality standards. In 1929,

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the Department of Health recommended chlorine disinfection and Petrolia complied by installing a gas chlorination system.

By the early 1980s, multimedia filtration technology using anthracite, sand, gravel and stone became more prevalent. In 1984, Petrolia installed one packaged treatment plant, the Neptune Microfloc with upflow clarifiers. This system served Petrolia well for 20 years, when it became clear that the filters and clarifiers had reached their lifespan.

Steel storage tanks began to show signs of stress, and the clarifiers were rebuilt multiple times due to metal fatigue.

Changing times, changing technologies On the advice of Waterworks Environmental Services, Inc., the operators of the Brights Grove facility since 1989, the Town Council decided to incorporate new technology to handle the

changing needs of the town. Petrolia had not only seen a significant rise in population, but also an increased level of turbidity (at times greater than 200 NTU) in Lake Huron, especially during the spring run-off and fall turnover when temperatures and flows were low.

The goal was to deliver a supply of drinking water safely and economically without sacrificing the final water quality. In 2002, the Town of Petrolia retained KMK Consultants Limited, of Brampton, Ontario, to work with the Town Council and Waterworks Environmental Services to design and manage an upgrade to the Water Treatment Plant that would serve a population of 9,000 people.

Evaluating the options Initially, the team considered shutting down the entire Brights Grove Plant and joining the Sarnia Water System in a neighbouring larger city. However, after further discussion, it was determined that joining an existing system was not feasible for Petrolia and its increased capacity and filtration requirements. There were high capital expenses associated with joining the existing system, and preliminary research showed that the town and its residents would benefit most from

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Water Supply building a new plant equipped with modern technology.

Extensive research on different types of water treatment systems ensued.

Pressure membranes emerged as the technology that could best remove the varying levels of turbidity, bacteria, parasites, and other contaminants in Lake Huron’s water.

In mid-2002, Terry Blackmore, Director of Operations for Petrolia, KMK and Waterworks Environmental presented their findings to the Petrolia Town Council, along with the recommendation to proceed with pilot testing of pressure membrane systems. With the Council’s approval, requests for proposals were then sent out.

Three companies were invited to participate in the pilot program, which began in the fall of 2002. Side-by-side testing was planned for the fall, the most pivotal and difficult time of year for the Brights Grove Plant. Increased winds on the Great Lakes cause stronger currents, which stir up contaminants in the water.

In addition, colder water is more dense and difficult to push through the filters.

By measuring the systems’ performances under the worst conditions, the piloting team hoped to identify a system that would operate efficiently throughout the year. The pilot testing lasted for

reliability and cost-effectiveness. There were no broken membrane fibers, the equipment performed flawlessly, even in the harshest conditions, and most importantly, the system produced excellent quality drinking water.

The raw water is drawn from Lake Huron through the intake pipe, which is connected to the low lift pumps suction header. The water is then pumped through screens to the Pall Aria system, which consists of three trains of microfiltration membrane modules and aux-

iliary equipment. Chlorine is added to disinfect the filtered water, and fluoride is added prior to storage. The treated water is then pumped to a nearby reservoir and booster pumping station in the town of Mandaumin. From there, the water is pumped once again to an elevated storage tank in Petrolia.

The last step is for the town’s residents to simply turn on the tap.

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At the conclusion of the pilot testing, the results were compiled and presented in a comprehensive engineering report.

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Regulations

Big brother is watching By Doug Petrie he Regulatory Modernization Act, 2007 (RMA) came in like a lamb in mid-January 2008. It has far-reaching consequences for the regulated community. Once regulations are in place, Ontario’s government regulators and enforcers can share compliance and complaint-related information. Government ministries may also publish information on compliance and convictions against regulated companies on the Internet. Past convictions, even those dated before the RMA, will be used by the courts to increase fines for new convictions.

Beware: What your employees say to a Ministry of Labour inspector can also end up in the file of an MOE inspector.

Companies with multiple points of contact with regulators should consider adapting their contact policies and training accordingly. One step is to appoint and train a compliance coordinator to manage contacts with all provincial regulators.

What a Ministry inspector doesn’t discover during a sanctioned visit through the front gate, he might be able to finagle from another agency when he gets back to the office. That’s because Ontario’s new Regulatory Modernization Act, 2007 will allow staff from 15 ministries to share information and observations “likely to be relevant” to the enforcement or administration of a long list of acts and regulations.

The Act, proclaimed in force on January 17, 2008, will have little impact until the regulations come into force

T

later this year. The list of 15 ministries includes MOE, MOL and MNR. The list of almost 600 acts and regulations includes the EPA, OWRA, CWA, OHSA, Mining Act and Aggregate Resources Act. Ministers can authorize staff to: • Collect, use and disclose information about compliance and complaints; • Publish compliance and complaint information about a company, (including information collected before the RMA came into effect); • Assemble inter-ministry field teams that could allow officers from one ministry to collect information for others during an inspection or audit.

Information sharing between agen-

“A person who is lawfully present in a place in the exercise of powers or performance of duties under an Act or regulation and who makes an observation, visual or otherwise, that is likely to be relevant to the administration or enforcement of another Act or regulation may record the observation and disclose it to a person who administers or enforces the other Act or regulation”.

Regulatory Modernization Act, 2007, s.9(1) cies would not be so unsettling if every ministry followed the same investigative rules. But they don’t. A provincial officer from the MOE has broad powers to access a site, ask questions and collect data on compliance and abatement.

However, as soon as an officer begins to investigate an offence, he or she must obtain consent, or prepare a case and apply to the court for a search warrant

Plant personnel should be careful about what they divulge voluntarily to any inspector, and what they leave in plain view.

20 | May 2008

or an investigative order.

An “end-run” could be challenged in court as a violation of the Charter and an abuse of process. Success in court would be small comfort for the unlucky defendant stuck being the “test case.”

The RMA permits more than just sharing of data. Ministries can form teams to target repeat offenders, and ministers can publish consolidated information about an organization’s complaints and compliance record. Previous convictions for provincial offences under an unrelated law, including those occurring before RMA came into force, will be considered as factors to increase fines and penalties under environmental laws.

All of this means that plant person-

nel should be careful about what they divulge voluntarily to any inspector, and what they leave in plain view. From now on, all inspections should be considered multi-ministry inspections. Companies should be aware that regulators can share compliance data for approval or reporting purposes. Freedom of information confidentiality provisions should be invoked where applicable.

With the enforcement of some 85 statutes and almost 600 regulations loosely tied together under the Act, most businesses will be challenged to recognize the gaps in their compliance with each. Consider designating a single individual at each facility to serve as the compliance coordinator for all provincial regulatory contacts.

Every inspection should be considered a multi-ministry inspection.

Doug Petrie is a Environmental Law Specialist and Partner, Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP. Contact: dpetrie@willmsshier.com

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NEWS

“Virtual Water”Innovator Awarded 2008 Stockholm Water Prize rofessor John Anthony Allan, from King’s College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies, has been named the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. Professor Allan pioneered the development of key concepts in the understanding and communication of water issues and how they are linked to agriculture, climate change, economics and politics.

People do not only consume water when they drink it or take a shower. In 1993, Professor Allan strikingly demonstrated this by introducing the “virtual water” concept, which measures how water is embedded in the production and trade of food and consumer products. Behind that morning cup of coffee are 140 litres of water used to grow, produce, package and ship the beans. That is roughly the same amount of water used by an average person daily in England for drinking and household needs.

The ubiquitous hamburger needs an es-

P

timated 2,400 litres of water. Per capita, Americans consume around 6,800 litres of virtual water every day, over triple that of a Chinese person.

Virtual water has major impacts on global trade policy and research, especially in water-scarce regions, and has redefined discourse in water policy and management. By explaining how and why nations such as the US, Argentina and Brazil ‘export’ billions of litres of water each year, while others like Japan, Egypt and Italy ‘import’ billions, the virtual water concept has opened the door to more productive water use. National, regional and global water and food security, for example, can be enhanced when water intensive commodities are traded from places where they are economically viable to produce to places where they are not.

While studying water scarcity in the Middle East, Professor Allan developed the theory of using virtual water import, via food, as an alternative water “source” to reduce pressure on the scarcely avail-

Stockholm Water Prize Sculpture

Professor John Anthony Allan

able domestic water resources there and in other water-short regions.

Professor Allan will receive US $150,000 along with a glass sculpture, which will be presented in August.

He will also deliver the keynote address during the Opening General Session of WEFTEC®.08, the Water Environment Federation’s 81st annual technical exhibition and conference which is being held in October.

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Water & Wastewater

Optimizing the performance of sewage and water treatment plants at Canadian military facilities

By Major Nicholas Vlachopoulos,Ted Bailey and Sam Rogers n the early 1990s, the Department of National Defence (DND) became concerned about their aging wastewater infrastructure and its ability to meet increasingly stringent objectives. To address these concerns, the Royal Military College of Canada initiated a Sewage Treatment Optimization Program (STPOP). The mission of the program was: “To promote environmental protection through skills transfer as measured by improved and compliant effluent quality at least cost”.

In this program, seven sewage treatment plants across Canada were evaluated.

In 2000, a Water Treatment Optimization Program (WTPOP) was initiated based on the knowledge and experience gained from the STPOP. Following the E. Coli bacteria contamination of Walkerton’s water supply in May

I

2000, the Director of the Land Forces Readiness requested that the WTPOP be expedited to demonstrate due diligence.

In response, a risk assessment survey of water treatment systems was developed to rank plants for follow-up actions and to identify high-priority issues requiring immediate attention. The WTPOP program was the largest single program of its kind - twenty water treatment systems were evaluated, spanning nine provinces.

The optimization approach was based on the Composite Correction Program (CCP). The CCP was used to evaluate the ability of water and wastewater facilities to meet regulatory requirements. As a result of the CCP protocol, cost-effective compliance was achieved.

The objectives of the WTPOP and STPOP were as follows:

• Ensuring provision of safe, reliable drinking water for maximum public health protection and clean, environmentally friendly sewage effluent at least cost; • Developing and implementing water or wastewater quality goals that are sustainable over the long term; and • Enhancing the skills and knowledge of staff and managers responsible for water or wastewater treatment plants through on-site activities.

To implement the program at the twenty-seven facilities (twenty water treatment plants and seven sewage treatment plants), the following general steps were applied: Awareness Plant staff and management at all applicable levels were made aware of the objectives, approach and expected re-

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Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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Water & Wastewater

sults of the treatment optimization program. Optimization demonstrations increased awareness which, in turn, generated initial successes that enhanced the program credibility, support, and momentum. Through meetings, presenta-

tions, workshops, and telephone calls, the Optimization Team was able to promote a better understanding within DND of the relationship between treatment plant performance and the protection of public health and the environment.

Prioritization Risk assessments and performance evaluations were conducted at all facilities to assess the relative risk these systems posed and to identify the major performance limiting factors. Facilities were identified and prioritized based on public health and environmental concerns. Prioritization ensured that the program resources (financial and human) were efficiently allocated to those facilities that would receive the maximum benefits from optimization.

Through the prioritization approach, the performance (over the most recent 12-month period) and capability of existing treatment plants were reviewed; common issues impacting the performance of existing systems were identified and documented; and specific recommendations to enable individual bases and wings to improve public health and environmental protection were developed. For plants that were assessed to be higher risk, follow-up support was offered. continued overleaf...

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Water & Wastewater Evaluation Evaluation teams were assembled from the WTPOP and STPOP team and members of DND’s Water Fuel and Environment (WFE) technicians. Performance limiting factors were identified and a list of activities to be resolved were presented and reviewed by base and wing staff at all levels.

The activities included: an initial meeting to explain the objectives and approach to base staff and management and a technical tour of the facility with the su-

24 | May 2008

pervisor to determine system layout; review of raw, process control and treated to determine performance; evaluation of the plant’s major unit processes to determine their ability to treat flows/loads and in order to identify critical unit processes; interviews with operators and administrators to determine any causes of poor performance; identification, classification, and ranking of the plant performance limiting factors; and an exit meeting with all staff (including supervisors and management at all levels) to present the

evaluation results.

After the initial performance evaluations and risk assessments were completed, several patterns emerged: a)Lack of performance focus – There was often little urgency or incentive for either plant staff or management to address performance issues. In some instances, staff and management were not aware of the compliance limits. b) Prioritize maintenance over process control – Consistent process control was not the prime focus at many of the facilities. Maintenance and general housekeeping activities often received a higher priority. c) Problems with minor modifications – Delays in minor modifications were due to: 1) A lack of awareness of the need for process optimization; 2) A fear of legal implications of approving modifications which were not familiar to the approval staff; and 3) A lack of urgency arising from competing demands and priorities on the bases and wings. d) Role of operators not clearly understood – A hesitancy to acknowledge the key role of plant operators in operating the treatment process was often cited during the evaluations. To optimize performance, operator skills needed to be acknowledged, encouraged and developed.

Other common factors that were identified included: inadequate staffing; inability to apply learned concepts to achieve process control; inadequate testing; inaccurate plant performance monitoring; excessive process flows; and limited process flexibility. No maintenance factors were identified as limiting plant performance.

Follow-up For higher risk systems with performance problems, technical assistance was provided to systematically resolve the factors identified during the evaluation phase. Technical assistance involving site visits and telephone consultation was provided in order to assist plant staff at those facilities with operational, administration, maintenance and/or minor design factors.

The role of technical assistance was to ensure a transfer of skills to plant staff and management (i.e. enhance

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Water & Wastewater knowledge, motivation and confidence in operations staff to achieve and maintain optimized performance), documentation of improved performance (i.e safe, reliable drinking water, public health protection and process control monitoring), and enhancement of the DND program (i.e. improve facilitation skills, provide consistency in operations throughout DND facilities).

A timeline from nine to 30 months was required for the WTPOP and STPOP teams to support base staff to address the performance limiting factors by improving practices and, where necessary, implementing minor design upgrades.

Performance maintenance Continuing efforts are in place to define and implement policies, practices, and procedures to help ensure that such improvements are maintained. However, challenges to implementing a effective performance maintenance phase for both water and wastewater facilities included the high turnover of military managers and trained civilian staff, a lack of clarity in current and future re-

quirements, the lack of defined procedures for reporting and reviewing performance data, and poor or nonexistent documentation of process control procedures.

A number of specific components have been identified for the perform-

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Water & Wastewater and lessons learned can be incorporated into the training of military technicians, supervisors, and managers. Successful implementation of a performance maintenance phase will ensure plants that have achieved their effluent goals continue to deliver this performance, and to promote accountability and ownership by staff for performance.

Summary The efforts at the bases and wings to date have resulted in significantly improved performance and brought treatment plants better into compliance with federal, provincial and local guidelines and objectives. In addition, the program has saved an estimated $12 million in capital costs and $385,000 in annual operating costs. The program was also awarded a Deputy Minister’s Commendation for its achievements.

Improving operator treatment understanding through in-situ plant traning.

to the operators at many facilities to complete process control manuals, and to update existing standard operating guidelines and share them among facilities. Site visits would be conducted on an annual basis for most facilities to

evaluate the plant’s status from the recommendations provided during on-site technical assistance and future compliance requirements.

As well, efforts have been focused on identifying how the program’s tools

Major Nicholas Vlachopoulos, Ted Bailey and Sam Rogers are with the Royal Military College Green Team. Contact: vlachopoulos-n@rmc.ca

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Site Remediation

Precast concrete drainage products used in restoration of Brownfield site oncrete pipe and other precast concrete drainage products played a major role in the infrastructure of Dartmouth Crossing, a 500-acre Brownfield development in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The redevelopment of industrial lands, Brownfields, often makes extensive use of concrete pipe for sewers.

Concrete pipe was chosen to provide design flexibility, ease of installation, and availability within the tight time frame of the construction schedule. The buried infrastructure was expected to have trouble-free service for the design life of the project. Shaw Pipe was able to supply a massive quantity of pipe since it had upgraded its operations with a new Hawkeye Pipe Plus plant.

Halifax is the region’s financial centre with a metropolitan population that is predicted to grow from 385,000 to 450,000 by 2020. It has low unemployment and a large military infrastructure that generates $1.5-billion for the economy each year. The region has five universities that attract research funds and help produce a highly educated population. The federal government has targeted the port facilities for investment to help attract additional trade from Asia and elsewhere. The $280 million Dart-

By Rylan MacDow

C

Standard and three-sided boxes used for culvert construction.

mouth Crossing development by North American Development Group is an innovative retail power centre on a scale and style unlike any other in Atlantic Canada.

In September 2005, a bid for the drainage pipe and manhole components was issued that called for 2,500 pieces of 36-inch diameter Class 65D reinforced concrete pipe for both sanitary and stormwater applications. By the time the purchase order was received, it

Precast concrete arch product used for stream crossing.

28 | May 2008

was mid-January 2006 and the delay in processing the order could have resulted in a production crisis and delays in delivery of products. A back-up plan had been set in place to ensure that all production equipment was ready for a demanding schedule. In mid-January, the plant started operating over a 24-hour cycle, six days a week. Two shifts produced pipe in various sizes while a night shift worked to prepare the pipe for shipment. Delivery of products began on March 30 and continued uninterrupted until June. By the time the final shipment left the yard, nearly 11 kilometres of pipe in 16 different diameters and various classes had been supplied.

The Dartmouth Crossing site is predominantly granite bedrock and over a period of eighty years had been home to a rock quarry, an asphalt plant, and a construction depot. The site development plan included the restoration of two brooks to historic flow patterns.

These brooks had once contributed to the tributary system on the Dartmouth side of the harbour in Halifax, which is aptly named “the City of Lakes”.

The former quarrying operations had diverted the natural water flow through a series of ditches and culverts, pre-

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Site Remediation venting the passage of fish between the lakes, thereby rendering the brooks virtually lifeless. The goal of the North American Development Group was to rehabilitate these waterways, so that fish and other aquatic animals and plants could be re-established.

The location of access roadways within the new development resulted in

The site development plan included the restoration of two brooks to historic flow patterns.

These brooks had once contributed to the tributary system on the Dartmouth side of the harbour in Halifax, which is aptly named “the City of Lakes”. the crossing of one of the two brooks several times. To help restore the natural habitat of the waterways, all stream-

crossing culverts were specified with an open-channel design. The original design specified four-sided precast box units for the culvert structures, but Shaw Pipe had considerable experience with crossing sensitive waterways on other projects, and proposed a more appropriate, cost-effective precast concrete arch solution. The BEBO arch system was utilized to construct threesided culverts that proved extremely effective for the rehabilitation of the streambeds that are once again sustaining aquatic life.

Shaw also supplied multiple precast stormwater treatment chambers using the proprietary system of CDS Technologies.

Almost a year after the initial piece of pipe had been produced for the project, the ceremonial ribbon was cut and the first group of Dartmouth Crossing retailers opened their doors for business.

Flexible Solutions for Clarification

Rylan MacDow is with Shaw Pipe.

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Mining Effluent

High-rate ballasted flocculation technology for mining effluent treatment

By Gaétan Bourdages, Marianne Dupla, Alain Gadbois, Christian Scott, Dave Oliphant ncreasingly stringent environmental regulations pertaining to discharges containing total suspended solids (TSS) and heavy metals (Zn, As, Cu, Ni, etc.,) are being imposed on effluents from the mining industry.

Coupled with often-limited available site area to install process equipment, the development of technically and economically feasible processes for removal of these contaminants from industrial wastewater prior to discharge becomes a necessity.

Conventional treatment (iron or alum coagulation) followed by conventional solids-liquid clarifier separation is a common process for removal of TSS and metals from mining industry wastewater.

The overflow rate of a conventional clarification system ranges from 0.25 to 1.00 gallon per minute per square foot (gpm/sf). This design criterion often results in a large system footprint. Furthermore, conventional treatment processes cannot handle sudden increases in hydraulic loading and the installation of large storage reservoirs may be required to equalize the flow rate in some appli-

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cations. Even if space is available for a storage reservoir, installation of such facilities may be cost-prohibitive.

This article will explore two case studies from the mining industry and how a high-rate ballasted flocculation was used to achieve a compact and robust wastewater effluent treatment.

Process description High-rate ballasted flocculation, patented under the Actiflo® name by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, is a coagulation/sedimentation process that uses microsand as a seed floc formation. As the floc conglomerates around the sand particles, it grows larger and heavier and settles rapidly.

This enhanced settling allows for clarifier designs with high overflow rates, short retention times and smaller footprint than conventional systems of similar capacity. This system has an extremely small footprint, typically requiring less than 15 percent of the space needed for a conventional sedimentation process. Even at a high wastewater flow rate, the high-rate ballasted flocculation process is capable of producing excel-

lent treated water quality. In fact, there are 72 Actiflo units in operation in Canada and more than 300 elsewhere in the world.

The high-rate ballasted flocculation process schematic is shown in Figure 1.

The system includes one injection tank, one maturation tank, a settling tank, recirculation pump and a hydrocyclone. A coagulation stage or reaction stage located upstream of the high-rate ballasted flocculation is required.

Raw water enters the process in the coagulation/reaction tank. Here, a coagulant is added to destabilize suspended solids and colloidal matter or to react with dissolved metals in the influent stream. After initial mixing, the water passes into the injection tank where polymer is added as a flocculation aid and microsand is injected to promote floc formation. The sand particles will provide “seeding” zones where the floc will conglomerate and grow in the next process step.

The Actiflo process continues as water passes through an underflow passage from the injection tank into the

Mobile Actiflo pilot plant.

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Mining Effluent

Figure 1: ACTIFLO速 process schematic maturation tank. In this tank, gentler mixing is used to encourage the formation of polymer bridges between the microsand and the destabilized suspended solids or metal hydroxides. The large surface specific area of microsand promotes polymer bridging and enmeshment of microsand and floc already in suspension. The fully-formed ballasted flocs flow from the maturation tanks to the settling tank. In this tank, laminar upflow through the settling zone provides rapid and effective removal of the microsand/sludge flocs.

Clarified water exits the process via a series of collection troughs. The microsand/sludge flocs are collected at the bottom of the settling tank and pumped to a hydrocyclone for separation. Energy from pumping is converted to centrifugal forces within the body of the hydrocyclone, causing the sludge to separate from the higher density microsand (specific gravity of microsand = 2.65). After separation, the microsand is concentrated and discharged from the bottom of the hydrocyclone for reinjection into the injection tank for reuse.

Sand lost from the system is typically less than 2 g per cubic metre treated.

The sludge is discharged from the top of the hydrocyclone because of its lighter density and may flow to a thickening tank or is discharged for final disposal.

Due to the large inventory of microsand in the system, the process can tolerate changing influent TSS and turbidity loadings much better than conventional clarifiers can. Settling rates on flocculated microsand are as fast as www.esemag.com

most conventional chemically-assisted gravity settling processes. The process is not sensitive to temperature changes, and can easily be placed inside a building for freeze protection. Effluent TSS and turbidity levels achieved are consistently low, typically, less than 10 mg/l for TSS and turbidity ranging from 0.2 to 2 NTU. The short 10-minute hydraulic residence time in the clarifier enables the operator to quickly see the effects of process changes made to the system and enables system optimization and adjustments.

Case Study: Arsenic removal from tailing ponds Higher flow rates coming from the tailing ponds were to be treated for arsenic contamination. It was decided that a conventional liquid/solid separation technique utilizing established chemistries was to be adopted.

Based on jar test results performed on raw water during the summer of 2005, detailed design of the high-rate ballasted flocculation system was developed. Two high-rate ballasted flocculation treatment trains were built within concrete tanks. Raw water is pumped from lagoons towards the highrate ballasted flocculation treatment.

Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) and ferric chloride (FeCl3) are added upstream of the units. A static mixer ensures that these chemicals are completely mixed together before entering the treatment trains. Table 1 summarizes the performance data of the system from April to June 2007. As can be seen in that table, the value of residual arsenic in treated water is always

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Mining Effluent Table 1. Summary of System Performance – April to June 2007

Table 2. Summary of Pilot Tests results for Winter Application

Table 3. Summary of Pilot Test Results for metal precipitation

below requirements. Iron concentrations increased because of the addition of coagulant (ferric chloride) but were still below the monthly mean requirement.

The characteristics of raw water pumped from lagoons change from summer conditions to winter conditions. Ice covering the lagoons makes raw water anoxic during winter. In these conditions, arsenic is not found under the same chemical speciation during summer conditions, As(V), and winter conditions, As(III). During winter conditions, both reaction time and dosage of the oxidizing agent increase. A new pilot test of the Actiflo was performed during these winter conditions and results are presented in Table 2.

These results show that the dosage of the oxidizing agent should be increased compared to the dosage of the full-scale unit. Also, additional contact time is required. Based on these new results, an additional basin will be required upstream from the Actiflo to increase the reaction time.

Case study: Metal precipitation Existing WWTPs can sometimes be challenged at handling increased flow 32 | May 2008

rates resulting from spring runoff. This can lead to capacity limitations of the existing system and a potential increase of discharge concentrations. The options to deal with extra volumes are either to increase storage capacity or improve the WWTP capacity. The treatment train consists of two existing reactor clarifiers (diameter of 41 m). The challenge was to study the applicability of the high-rate ballasted flocculation process to increase throughput. The concept consisted of using the first clarifier to feed directly from the mill pond and to retrofit a high-rate ballasted flocculation process in the second clarifier to treat all extra wastewater.

On-site pilot plant setup Jar tests and an on-site pilot study were used to confirm the design parameters of the full-scale high-rate ballasted flocculation unit. A mobile pilot unit is, in fact, a complete treatment system with mixing tanks, clarifiers, lamella packing, recirculation pumps, PLCs, instruments, control equipment, chemical and polymer mixing tanks and pumping systems. An additional neutralization tank was installed upstream of the pilot unit to allow more reaction time to the

lime. Raw water was pumped from ditches to the neutralization tank. Lime solution was added in this neutralization tank to achieve optimum pH for metal removing. A combination of raw water and lime was pumped to the Actiflo train. The on-site pilot plant trials were conducted during March 2006. A summary of the results obtained during the pilot phase are presented in Table 3. The pilot testing program carried out showed that the high-rate ballasted flocculation process could produce an excellent clarified water quality in regards to monthly and daily requirements.

Design of the full-scale unit The pilot plant results were used to establish the design parameters of a full-scale design system. A design rise rate of 60 m/h was used as the main design parameters of the full-scale system. The available space on site is limited and all new equipment has to be installed in the footprint of an existing clarifier (diameter of 41 m). The water depth required for the Actiflo is the same as that for the existing clarifier.

All required equipment, neutralization tank, Actiflo system and sludge thickener fit correctly inside the available space. Because of the same water depth, the hydraulic profile remains the same.

It was thus shown that the Actiflo process could be retrofitted into an existing clarifier and provide increased treatment capacity and meet discharge regulations.

Precipitation of other heavy metals John Meunier Inc. has conducted many other jar tests and pilot tests for metal removal (Zinc, molybdenum, etc.,) at various pH values and for various TSS removal rates.

Although jar testing will often yield excellent design data, it is possible to bring a mobile high-rate ballasted flocculation trailer unit to site to bring valuable design data for system design and construction.

Gaétan Bourdages, Marianne Dupla, Alain Gadbois, Christian Scott, Dave Oliphant are with John Meunier Inc, (Québec) Contact: doliphant@johnmeunier.com

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Operations

Uninterruptable communications networks can prevent environmental disasters

By Joe Hersch he cost of an accident or failure resulting in an environmental disaster for any sector is enormous. Clean-up can often cost millions of dollars. Glentel’s communication systems can ensure warnings of any equipment failures are received at the network operation center (NOC). Then, actions such as triggering a remote shut off can be engaged.

Glentel has also designed and deployed many water and wastewater wireless communications systems in Canada. Controlling the operation of various pump stations, pressure reducing valve stations and reservoirs, requires constant attention and a reliable communications platform.

The two main challenges which most organizations face when considering options for communications are public voice/data networks and carriers; and the distance and location of the site to be managed.

Public vs. private networks The key challenge confronting many operations is how to control and manage their systems with an existing platform or network. In most cases, customers operate mission critical voice and data systems, meaning network maintenance downtime is not an option.

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Additionally, many clients require systems which will operate in the event of a major disaster or emergency situation. This requires building a turnkey private-based network immune to outages, which may affect other publicbased systems.

Distance and location of sites Creating a single communications platform can be a challenge. While some providers offer services for most areas, these services become scarce, or non-existent, the further the site is away from the carrier’s grid. These challenges can be solved by a single integrated platform. By using terrestrial wireless point-to-point, or multipoint technology, for urban based sites, and satellite technology in more remote areas, capital costs can be balanced with monthly recurring costs to facilitate a single cost control system for its customers. Typically a network would be designed to maximize the terrestrial (near sky) footprint. Where sites are too far from serviceable points, satellite technology is used.

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Brownfields

Putting numbers on risk factors for contaminated sites

By Theresa Repaso-Subang and Jeanette M. Southwood

The properties are down - but have new risks emerged?

cross Canada, many properties in prime locations sit idle.

In some cases, the reason they grow weeds, rather than revenue, has to do with the potential or perceived risks to human health and the environment associated with soil and groundwater contamination. Governments, property owners and others, concerned about potential legal liabilities and unpleasant financial surprises, can be reluctant to see these properties developed.

To help bring these properties back to productive economic use, there is growing acceptance of risk-based methodologies. This form of decisionmaking considers the likelihood of a given event and its consequences, so that plans can be developed to deal with significant challenges.

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While risk-based methodologies have been in practical use in brownfields since the 1980s, like many ideas, they have taken time to gain acceptance.

As well, growing understanding of what the true drivers are in brownfields redevelopment, and how concerns about environmental issues interrelate with planning, socio-economic and other considerations, all help to put risks into perspective and manage them.

Applying risk-based methodologies to brownfields Risk-based ranking of contaminated sites is an accepted approach applied in the National Classification Scheme for Contaminated Sites (NCS), established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment in 1992. The NCS is used for prioritizing sites for remedial

action under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan.

Prioritization schemes, developed by regulatory agencies in North America and internationally, generally evaluate the following risk factors: • Chemical-specific hazard: evaluates the ability of the chemical to move in the environment and cause adverse effects to human health and the environment; • Chemical quality: considers the quantity of chemical, based either on volume of contamination or the size of the area impacted; • Migration potential: considers the potential for the chemical to move through the underground environment; • Distance to receptor: includes the idea that greater distance to a receptor (defined as something that can be affected by the contamination – possibly a building such as a school or dwelling, or an environmental feature such as a wetland or stream) means reduced risk; • Land use/receptor sensitivity: integrates the idea that adjacent land uses influence the nature of human and environmental receptors known or potentially impacted by the site; and • Number of receptors: relates the number of human and environmental receptors, both on- and off-site that are potentially affected by chemicals of concern.

Better decisions made possible With improved understanding of brownfields and other developments, a risk-based prioritization approach can be applied to help property owners, municipalities and others focus their resources on developments considered to be low risk and high economic gain.

Risk-based methodologies can include putting numbers on these risk factors (including land and infrastructure, sustainability, economic and liability considerations) then adding the scores for components to indicate the amount of risk.

These methodologies can also help determine how the property may be developed. This is because on most sites, not all areas are equally contaminated.

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Brownfields There may be areas with no significant levels of contamination, which can be treated like any other property. Some areas can be remediated easily; others are more challenging.

This may mean that plans must be made so that highly impacted areas remain inaccessible under the asphalt of a parking lot or roadway, or are in some other way segregated from the rest of the property. It can also guide the municipality or developer regarding remediation techniques to be used, allowing expensive solutions (possibly including dig-and-dump off-site) to be reserved for the most seriously-contaminated areas.

It is important to note that different principles may apply if the property is close to surface water such as a river, lake or ocean. Because of concern that groundwater and soil contamination will migrate to the water body, higher standards may apply regarding remediation for these sites. This can mean that what might be a prime development site on the water may involve higher risk factors than otherwise.

tasks defined, a logical process indicated, and the development of a realistic budget developed, possibly extending over several years.

For property owners, risk-based analysis can help determine whether any part of the property poses a danger to the environment or to the general public. This, likewise, allows the owner

Successful brownfield development involves factors that go well beyond remediation of the site itself. Increasingly, brownfield projects run into trouble because of conventional planning and development issues Risk-based analysis gives developers, governments and others a tool that they can apply to rank what might be hundreds of derelict properties and to focus available funding on those that are considered to be a priority, based upon decision criteria they consider important. Authorities can then develop a plan for working with other levels of government and the private sector in cleaning up some of those derelict properties and building better communities.

It can help with financial decisions as well. Given the limited budgets of developers or municipalities available for the clean-up of contaminated sites, lenders can determine where the money will do the most good.

The result is that what might have, at first, seemed a huge, intractable problem becomes manageable – the most urgent www.esemag.com

to set priorities regarding spending.

It must be used as a guide, however, and not an absolute rule. For example, it could be that because the municipality has placed a high priority on developing a waterfront, and because there are private-sector entities that will support this financially, the waterfront property should be developed before some of the lower-risk inland sites.

Trends in risk-based methodologies for brownfields Successful brownfield development involves factors that go well beyond remediation of the site itself. Increasingly, brownfield projects run into trouble because of conventional planning and development issues, such as making sure the roadway near the development can support the increased traffic flow, or that adequate water main and sewer hook-ups

are available. Other challenges could include slope-stability issues or a need for pilings that turn an otherwise-profitable venture into a costly learning experience.

In one recent instance, after a successful brownfield clean-up, a planned 20-storey tower had to be reduced to 10 storeys due to floodplain issues. On the other hand, condo units on a successfully remediated site could still turn out to be unsaleable if the development is in an area without local stores, restaurants, or schools.

While these issues are common to all construction projects (and should be a normal part of the business case for the development), experience shows there can be a tendency to miss them in brownfield developments due to focussing on the perceived importance of a property’s environmental concerns. As assessment and remediation technologies become quicker and more dependable and cost-effective, successful development hinges more and more on dealing not so much with issues of contamination, but rather the normal business issues of real estate development.

Theresa Repaso-Subang, BSc. (Hon), QPRA, is with Golder Associates Ltd., Mississauga, Ontario, and a Certified Toxicologist with the American Board of Toxicology.

E-mail: trepasosubang@golder.com Jeanette M. Southwood, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., QPESA, QPRA, is in the Ottawa office of Golder Associates.

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Infrastructure

AWWA estimates US water utilities will need to invest $325 billion over the next 20 years rinking water contaminated with lead. Sewage discharged into the streets. Corroded pipes leaching chemicals.

Sounds like the third world, but it is the crumbling infrastructure of our firstworld nations that is leading directly to

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these health and environmental hazards.

While much attention is focused on the environmental impact of new developments – such as the loss of green space, the destruction of natural habitats, and the atmospheric and ozone consequences of increased emissions –

often overlooked are the severe health and environmental consequences of the deterioration of existing infrastructure, particularly wastewater and potable water systems.

The post-World War II economic strength of North America meant unprecedented growth in infrastructure, urban expansion and booms in commercial and residential construction. As a result of this rapid growth, much of the commercial and residential buildings, and municipal water and sewage systems, that exist today are now more than 30 years old. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, 41 percent of all residential dwellings in Canada were built prior to 1970. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the nation’s sewer lines are an average of 50 to 100 years old.

And this age is taking its toll. The decades-old pipes serving as the circulatory system for waste and potable water for this infrastructure are becoming severely compromised. Compounding this deterioration in potable water systems is water treatment. For the benefit of public health, municipal suppliers add chemicals to the water supply to meet government requirements for control of bacteria levels. These additives, mainly chloramines, are sometimes detectable in water’s smell, taste, and coloration and can also etch into pipe walls. Chlorine etching can slowly erode the pipe, creating pinhole leaks and causing heavy metals to leach into a system’s water supply.

From a health perspective, the most serious consequence of this deterioration is lead contamination from lead pipes and solder. Lead piping was banned in Canada in the 1970s and lead solder in the late 1980s. A nationwide ban restricted the use of lead pipes for drinking water supplies in 1986 in the United States. Structures built before that time (and particularly those built prior to 1950), however, can still contain as much as 60 percent above the allowable lead content.

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Infrastructure

According to the EPA, on average, 10 to 20 percent of a child’s total lead exposure will come from common drinking water. To that end, as recently as last summer, the Ontario provincial government instituted guidelines stating all schools and daycares must test for lead annually, and any of these facilities built before 1990 must flush their systems daily, rather than the previous weekly standard.

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Even for those commercial and residential buildings that do not have lead piping or hazardous plumbing elements, there are still water quality issues associated with the deterioration of their potable water systems as well as the tangible cost associated with the leaks that develop in old pipes. Although the water meter measures the amount of water demanded by the building’s inhabitants, pinholes and cracks mean

that not all the water tracked is actually used.

This type of age-related damage is pervasive. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission observed that an estimated 4,500 customers out of 410,000 customer accounts, or 1.1 percent, reported pinhole leaks to the utility company. With the U.S. Census reporting over 102 million housing units in 1990, the potential residential market for pinhole leaks is eleven million homes, affecting approximately 11.8% of the population.

In the case of drainage and sewer systems, root intrusion, calcification, soil composition, and ground shifting also contribute to pipe deterioration. The consequences of this deterioration vary, from pinhole leaks to major cracks to sewer back-ups. Ex-filtration from the pipe into the soil can leach into ground water. Backed-up sewage in the home creates health risks such as contamination from mold and harmful bacteria.

Blockages and back-ups also cause sewers to overflow, spewing waste into the environment. According to the EPA, approximately 1.2 trillion gallons of

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Infrastructure sewage and drain water per year are discharged into streets, waterways, and onto beaches through pinholes and cracks in municipal water systems – enough to keep Niagara Falls roaring for 18 days.

Governments, businesses, and individuals are recognizing the hazards created by aging infrastructure and are taking on the responsibility of fixing these systems – at great expense. A report by the Water Infrastructure Network in the United States states that the country’s 54,000 drinking water systems and 16,000 wastewater systems face staggering funding needs of nearly $2 trillion over the next 20 years to address infrastructure damage. The American Water Works Association estimates U.S. water utilities will invest $325 billion during the next two decades to replace losses from corrosion and to upgrade water distribution systems.

Though costly, the health and environmental benefits of safe water infrastructure are priceless. Yet fixing deteriorated existing infrastructure is not simple.

According to Greg McTaggart, Manager of Infrastructure Asset Planning

for the City of Kitchener in Ontario, “no one piece of infrastructure can be looked at in isolation; we have to look at it as part of a utility corridor.” So, for example, if a sewer main needs repair, McTaggart and his team have to assess the quality of road it runs under and the state of adjacent infrastructure, such as watermains, and then develop an appropriate remediation program. If the decision is made to reconstruct, all materials

dug up to reach the pipes must be removed (and often trucked away to fill gravel pits), and if any of these materials are considered contaminated (because of years of salting, for example), the soil may require removal to an approved facility for processing.

From a residential and commercial infrastructure perspective, replacing deteriorated pipes and drains can cause a huge amount of disruption and create

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Infrastructure additional environmental consequences.

Traditional repair methods include the removal and replacement of the damaged pipes, which frequently necessitates the destruction of interior and exterior surfaces, building structures, and landscape. This process creates significant amounts of construction waste, much of which ends up in landfills.

So, what environmentally sustainable alternative is available to address the health and environmental damage wrought by deteriorating water infrastructure systems? Rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation of municipal water and sewers systems is typically done in one of two ways, relining or pipe bursting; both of these are considered “trenchless” or “no dig” technologies. Relining sewer infrastructure involves affixing a polyethylene liner to the inner wall of the damaged pipe. In pipe bursting, a machine that is slightly larger than the diameter of the deteriorated pipe is run through the pipe, causing it to break into pieces. A replacement pipe is dragged directly behind the machine into the space created.

For residential and commercial

waste and potable water systems, the solution is a substance typically used as an adherent: epoxy. Epoxy can be used on pipes of any diameter and made of any type of metal, whether copper, lead, stainless steel, or iron. Through a multistep process, epoxy fully relines the interior of compromised pipes, creating a completely inert film that covers any pinholes or cracks and creates a barrier between the corroded pipe wall and the water, preventing heavy metals from leaching into the system.

The first step in epoxy pipelining is to isolate the piping system, identifying logical beginning and end points outside the damaged area. The section of pipe is then dried using hospital-quality dry air. Once dried, an aggregate substance composed of granite is used to clean the system. Next, a vacuum is created at high velocity to take out all the scale and build-up. A final cleaning removes all remaining aggregate. The epoxy is heated to 90 degrees, creating a viscous substance, which is then shot through the pipe to reline the interior walls. Finally, the system is pressure tested, then capped.

An additional benefit of pipe rehabilitation is the limited amount of disruption it causes in the lives of municipal residents and building inhabitants. Reconstruction of municipal water systems often means roads are closed for days, and the water supply may be shut off for hours at a time. For pipe replacement within buildings, lengthy water shut-offs are also often required, and areas of the home or building may need to be cordoned off while walls, floors, and ceilings are cut, then repaired. Pipe rehabilitation limits or avoids almost all of this aggravation.

The overriding benefits of rehabilitation technologies are that they are providing new options for dealing with deteriorating infrastructure. And, given the billions of linear feet of aging infrastructure across Canada and the United States and the associated health and environmental concerns, the more options, the better.

For more information, E-mail: NRoss@nuflow.com

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Wastewater

Drain-water heat recovery saves energy in food processing plant s part of the food processing, at the Unilever facility in Peterborough, Ontario, hot water is used for cleaning bottles and jugs and as part of the cooking process. Excess water falls into a drainage system and is pumped into a tank, filtered and then sent to the sewer. The steam is produced in a boiler using city water and it must remain potable water at all times to be used in a food product.

The company wished to reduce the energy required by the boiler. The drain water from the process was still quite warm; however, the energy could not be recovered by a traditional heat exchanger because of concerns regarding cross-contamination, clogging and fouling.

The solution In order to reduce the energy consumption by the boiler, a Power-Pipe® drain-water heat recovery system was installed in the plant. This system is a specialized heat exchanger manufactured in Canada by RenewABILITY Energy Inc. (REI). Based on the falling film phenomenon, where water flowing down a vertical pipe clings to the inside surface, the heat exchangers efficiently recover heat from wastewater streams without clogging or fouling. This allows for heat to be recovered in many applications where it would be impractical with conventional types of heat exchangers.

In addition, because the Power-Pipe employs a double wall vented design, it is approved for use with potable water, allowing it to be used to preheat the boiler water which must be potable water since it comes in contact with the food product.

As with any type of heat exchanger, a simultaneous flow was required. The Power-Pipe heat exchangers require the wastewater to fall vertically through the drainpipe. In the case of Unilever, an available drop of 10’ existed to install the system.

The situation The plant operates, on average, 20 hours a day, 4 days a week, 32 weeks a

By Gerald Van Decker

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The System has always outperformed expectations

year. The drainwater flow is typically 45-50 gpm at a temperature of 50-55 °C. The water heating efficiency was about 80%. The freshwater flow to the boiler was only 17 gpm and varied from 2°C in the winter to 18°C in the summer. The resulting ∆T was 37°C to 48°C. The calculated theoretical source of energy was 6100 GJ/year.

In order to accommodate the large flow rate of drain water, a Power-Pipe unit incorporating four pipes was installed. The drain water flow is split using a specially designed manifold to keep the falling film of drain water thin enough to effectively lose its heat to the fresh water stream. The warm drain water is piped from a weir to inlet of this manifold, while the fresh water flows through the coils of the heat exchangers.

The units can recover most of the heat from the warm drain water without slowing or affecting the flow. The result is an average heat recovery effectiveness of 70%, which will yield a reduction of approximately 43,000 m3/year in natural gas demand.

The fresh water is preheated to an average of about 29.6°C by the system before entering the boiler. Less energy is then required for the boiler to heat the

hot water to the desired temperature. In addition, the effective capacity of the boiler is increased, as it can reach the desired temperature more quickly.

Economics The incremental cost for the heat recovery system was $25,379, including the heat exchangers, piping and labour.

The system was expected to save the plant 43,000 m3/year of natural gas, representing annual savings of about $16,000 and a simple payback period of 1.6 years. In the first year only, the Power-Pipe has outperformed, saving Unilever $26,136 and reducing CO2 emissions by 130 tonnes.

These heat exchangers require little or no maintenance, which keeps operating costs to a minimum, and provides a long service life in excess of 30 years. If required, cleaning can be performed without shutting down, thus avoiding costs associated with downtime.

Gerald Van Decker is President and CEO of RenewABILITY Energy Inc. www.renewability.com

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NEWS

WERF to fund research on land application of soil amendments The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is accepting proposals for pilot testing a protocol designed to help local environmental and health officials respond to health complaints from citizens who come in contact with land applied soil amendments, including biosolids.

WERF is providing up to $400,000 for researchers to test and refine a protocol for collecting, acting on, and maintaining information about reports and investigations of exposures and health symptoms reported by persons in proximity to municipal wastewater treatment biosolids land application sites. A practical, objective and reliable protocol would be valuable to citizens, health agencies, and environmental agencies, as well as to wastewater treatment plants and biosolids land appliers.

Pilot testing would take place under real-world conditions by local health officials and environmental agencies that are responsible for health issues or biosolids land application practices and requirements.

Proposals are due no later than June 6, 2008. www.werf.org

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er inum perimet lifts the alum e an cess. cr ac t ile en ob Am ide perman ov pr ill w ch walkway, whi

A diverse range of case histories and new developments is reviewed in ES&E’s semi-annual look at tanks, containment systems and spill management.

Canada’s first composite elevated Aquastore rises above Henvey Inlet First Nation otorists on Highway 69, the major Ontario roadway passing between Sudbury and Parry Sound, not far from the shores of Georgian Bay, can now see Canada’s first composite elevated Aquastore™ atop a wooded hill, adorned with the logo of the Henvey Inlet First Nation.

The 25-foot (7.62m) diameter, 38foot (11.58m) high Aquastore containment tank, on a 96-foot (29.26m) high reinforced concrete pedestal, holds 136,000 U.S. gallons (515m3) of water for use by the Henvey Inlet Community.

A high-tech structure, its pedestal houses two rooms of offices, control panels, pumps, alarms, and other sophisticated mechanicals within its base.

The Aquastore was insulated with three inches of mineral wool insulation and wrapped in blue cladding to prevent freezing due to the cold climate location of Henvey Inlet, where minimum daily temperatures for January are approximately 7ºF (-14ºC). Although water

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pumped from the ground is warmer than the crisp air of Ontario’s winters, the very cold water temperatures and relatively low water use, versus the large volume of water in the tank for fire flows, could have resulted in significant ice build-up in the water storage facility.

Greatario Engineered Storage Systems, Innerkip, Ontario, was general contractor on this first-of-its-kind installation. This may even be the world’s first composite elevated, bolted Aquastore tank that is insulated and cladded.

Recommendation The project’s birth is credited to Ross Slaughter, P.Eng., of Henderson Paddon & Associates Limited of Owen Sound.

“I worked six summers on my step grandfather’s farm north of Toronto,” says Slaughter, who has a B.Sc. (Eng) degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Guelph. “I saw Harvestores built in the 1970s that don’t have any noticeable rust even today. So I’ve known about glass-fused-to-steel for some time. I also saw that Greatario had

The finished tank.

put up numerous Aquastore structures without a problem.”

Henderson Paddon & Associates also had experience with Greatario erecting Owen Sound’s 580,000 U.S. gallon (2,200m3) glass-fused-to-steel Aquastore with an aluminum geodesic

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dome for sewage sludge containment. It has been low maintenance since it was built in 1995, Slaughter notes.

In 2003, the firm was asked by the Ontario Clean Water Agency in Toronto to do engineering studies and reports on water systems at three First Nation locations, including Henvey Inlet.

As a result of a water feasibility study done for Henvey Inlet, Slaughter and crew recommended the elevated, composite glass-fused-to-steel Aquastore structure that now stands in place.

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“We told the First Nation that the low maintenance of the installation would more than offset the slightly higher cost of building it,” says Slaughter. “The biggest point is you don’t have to paint it every 15 years,” Slaughter adds.

Capacity enough to fight fires Lionel Fox, Band Councillor for Henvey Inlet First Nation, has been part of the project for the First Nation from its inception. He says there was no question that the quality of glass-fused-tosteel impressed him.

“We looked at cement and steel, too, but once we saw a sample of glassfused-to-steel we said ‘we like this’,” says Fox. “Not having to paint every 10 to 15 years. is what we wanted. The cost savings are big.”

Fox, who runs the Henvey Inlet First Nation’s fire department and emergency ambulance service, said about 30 homes are served by the new Aquastore.

The 136,000 gallon (515m3) capacity is fed by two connected wells and delivers a minimum of 40 psi pressure, enough to supply pressure for fire hoses attached to any of the 23 hydrants in the community. The capacity, greater than what is needed by the community, was determined with fire fighting in mind.

This spring, the First Nation plans on surrounding the tank with spotlights to illuminate the logo on its side.

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Reactive barrier wall solves space and on-going activity problems during remediation project

Installation of gravel filled trenches with simultaneous installation of horizontal HDPE screens near the bottom.

uantum Remediation, a division of Quantum Murray LP, was contracted to install a passive reactive barrier wall in Mississauga, Ontario. The wall was designed to remediate groundwater containing tetrachloroethylene (TCE). What made this job unique was the site location. Installation would occur in an operating commercial centre where site parameters were tight and commercial business operations had to continue during the installation.

The site geology consisted of sand and clay zones overlaying fractured shale bedrock at approximately 6 - 9 metres below grade.

At first considering a conventional slurry trench installation, Quantum ultimately elected to install a zero-valent iron (ZVI) wall and to employ OnePassŠ trenching, developed by DeWind Corporation, Michigan. The decision to go with this technology was the belief that it would give them a number of advantages within the tight site parameters, while avoiding some of the collateral costs and issues of a traditional slurry trench installation. Additionally, since the project was to be carried out in the dead of winter, Quantum wanted to avoid the use of slurry in cold temperatures, especially in an op-

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erating commercial centre.

One clear advantage of using One-Pass was the narrow precision trench cut achievable with this technology. This approach is akin to making an incision using a scalpel. A narrow cut instead of a large open excavation trench results in less soil disruption and less disposal of contaminated spoils, in addition to eliminating sheeting and the need to pump and treat.

And all of this was installed in a single pass under the water table.

The One-Pass technology also alleviates the safety and health hazards

prevalent in open excavations - no small concern in a project located in an operating commercial zone.

Because One-Pass cuts such a precise narrow channel into the ground there was also the potential for cost savings in iron media alone. It was the owner’s request to increase the savings on iron by having DeWind stop the iron wall just above the water table but 3.048 metres below grade.

Quantum chose a trench cut of 0.45 metres. The depth of 10 metres was made uniform thanks to the laser-guided control system that assures accuracy of cut to plus or minus 0.1 ft. It was keyed into a confining layer of clay. The trench itself ran 1,010 metres within a confined parking lot that was crossed by utilities which were removed prior to installation.

The trench was successfully cut and a mixture of zero-valent iron (20% by volume) and concrete sand (80% by volume) was installed, with excess spoils falling in above the ZVI/sand mixture.

The entire installation was accomplished, just as the name suggests, in one-pass in just over 2 1/2 days. With this shortened installation time, there was less disruption and measurably lowered costs in completing this project.

For more information, E-mail: cbusher@dewindonepass.com

Trenchers perform in situ mixing up to 50 feet below grade by homogenizing bentonite slurry directly with the native soil.

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Secondary containment under severe winter conditions onventional secondary containment systems for oilfilled transformers, such as concrete pits, can be negatively affected in winter weather due to accumulation of snow and ice and/or the freezing of standing water in containment sumps and oil-water separators.

The effects can result in: • The containment volume originally designed to contain the spilled oil could be occupied by the standing snow/ice or water.

• The freezing pipes can prevent the flow through the system, flooding the containment area and causing the oil to spill into the surrounding area.

• Frozen pumps and other mechanical devices in the oil-water separator system will fail to operate causing the sump to overflow and discharge oil into the environment.

The potential problems inherent in conventional secondary systems are not

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Severe climate installation.

present in the Sorbweb™Plus system. It is a passive oil containment system solution that offers continuous protection against oil spills from transformers.

This secondary containment system is an engineered “smart” solution that allows water from rainfall and/or melted snow to drain through the composite, re-

Assmann Double Wall Tank with built-in containment security • Double wall capacities up to 6,550 gallons Double wall design assures against hazardous chemical spills in above ground applications Outer shell containment equals 120% of primary tank capacities, exceeding EPA standards Cylindrical storage tanks are rotationally molded from either high density crosslinked polyethylene or FDA compliant low density linear polyethylene.

Both materials are more corrosion and chemical resistant than fiberglass/thermoset resin materials, stainless or mild steel. Uniform wall thicknesses in both primary and secondary containment basins meet or exceed ASTM D 1998-96 standards. Call, fax or write today for more information.

• Double Wall Vertical Horizontal Conical Secondary Containment Feed Stations Portable Bulk Pallets Accessories/Fittings Open Top & Miscellaneous

WHY ASSMANN? See our website: www.assmann-usa.com

Primary tank dome design extends over containment area to eliminate the entrance of rainwater. Shown with convenient top entry fill and suction lines. Flat recessed area available for optional bottom outlet fittings.

®

Assmann Corporation of America, 300 N. Taylor Road Garrett, IN 46738 • Phone: 888-357-3181 F AX: 260-357-3738 E-mail: info@assmann-usa.com Internet: www.assmann-usa.com Manufacturing facilities in Garrett, IN and Marshall, TX

46 | May 2008

taining any oil that might leak or spill from the transformer. Sorbweb Plus has been installed in extreme weather conditions from 40 degrees Celsius to –50 degrees Celsius.

As this system is free-draining where water freely drains out, there is no ice formation in the interstices of the stones and, therefore, the void fraction of the fire-quenching stone layer remains empty. It is expected that fresh snow would cover a small fraction of the top layer of stones and not penetrate to any depth of the fire-quenching stone layer.

It is also expected that an area around the energized transformers would remain free or relatively free of snow due to the radiant heat from the transformer and the melting of the falling snow on the surface of the transformer. As snow falls down on the transformer surface, the snow is converted into liquid water on the transformer wall.

As the temperature of an energized transformer is in the order of 80 degrees Celsius and higher, the conduction of heat from the transformer to the liquid water will make the temperature of the water increase well above the freezing point. This warm liquid water would add to the radiant heat of the transformer, increase the snow free area around the transformer. The liquid water would subsequently drain through the Sorbweb Plus composite.

Based on the relative densities between the spilled oil (920 kg/m3) and

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the fresh snow (160 kg/m3), it would be logical to expect that oil would go through the fresh snow into the firequenching stones. In addition, the heat carried by the hot oil will allow the melting of snow and ice and the melted water to travel with the oil into the stones. As indicated earlier, the fire-

void area of the fire-quenching stones will be over the capacity required for the snow melt that exists.

In event of a decommissioned transformer, based on the relative densities between the spilled oil (920 kg/m3) and the fresh snow (160 kg/m3), it is expected that the spilled oil from the

This secondary containment system is an engineered “smart” solution that allows water from rainfall and/or melted snow to drain through the composite, retaining any oil that might leak or spill from the transformer quenching stones void area will remain empty, as only a small fraction of the top layer will be filled with snow.

As snow is typically 1/10th the volume of water, 1 m of snow would be about 10 cm of liquid water. The system is designed for the highest rainfall event over 24 hours in the past 25 years; therefore, the volume area within the

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transformer at a temperature of –50 degrees Celsius would pass through the fresh snow into the fire-quenching stones. The much lower temperature of the oil in this particular case makes the oil viscosity to be much higher than at 80 degrees Celsius, therefore the mobility of the oil would be much slower.

As oil and the snow would be at the

same temperature, no thermal effects are expected.

With an energized transformer spill, the spilled oil would be able to migrate through the empty fire-quenching stones. Water from the melting snow, if it reaches the oil-absorbing mat before it is sealed with oil, would be able to permeate the system.

With a de-energized transformer, the spilled oil would be at a relatively high viscosity and would slowly sink through the fresh snow into the empty void fraction of the fire-quenching stones. The void volume of the stone layer is capable of holding all the oil from the transformer.

For more information on SorbWeb Plus, contact Scott Lucas.

Albarrie, www.albarrie.com www.sorbwebplus.com

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An environmental emergency calls for just the right containment solution other Nature doesn’t work a 9 to 5 shift. So when she decided to open up the skies one recent weekend for a rainstorm, at the same time an accidental spill occurred in a Canadian rail yard. The response had to be quick and precise to contain the water, treat it and return balance to the local environment.

Facing an environmental challenge It was around 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday in mid-February, the start of a long weekend with local businesses closed on Monday for “Family Day.” That’s when BakerCorp, a company specializing in turnkey solutions for customers’ containment, pumping, filtration and shoring challenges, received a call. An industrial service company’s emergency response division called with news of a spill at a rail yard on the north end of Toronto. Two railcars had released sodium hydroxide into the ground.

Adding to the challenge, the rail yard is built on a stormwater drainage system

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Ten 80,000-litre coil tanks were selected for the job because of the amount of water that needed to be contained and the near-freezing weather outside.

that runs into a nearby containment pond. Continuous rainfall caused the pond’s water level to rise. In fact, it had filled up to about 770,000 litres (or 200,000 gallons) and was getting close to breaching the concrete retention wall at one end and releasing water with high pH levels into a drainage ditch. An immediate solution was needed to contain the water.

Delivering the right solution Since the weather outside was hovering at around minus 7 degrees C, or 19 degrees F, which could cause the water to freeze, Baker recommended a containment solution of ten 80,000litre coil tanks. There was steam access in the rail yard site that could be hooked into the coils. The hot steam could then be forced through the system, transferring onto the product inside the tank and keeping it from freezing.

Baker had just the right equipment for the job. It prepared four coil tanks for delivery, as well as six safety vapour-lined tanks that it specially modified with pigtail heating coil inserts on the top hatches. It delivered three tanks that same day so the job could begin, following up on Sunday and Monday with several more each day, for a total of 10 tanks.

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Pigtail heating coil inserts added to the top hatch of safety vapour-lined tanks allowed the customer to force hot steam through the system and keep the water inside the tanks from freezing.

With the initial containment complete, the industrial service company now faced a new challenge. Normally, it would treat the water in the tanks by trucking it off-site to a nearby wastewater facility, but the water’s pH level was too high to be accepted there. The water in the pond, which had reached a

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pH level of 11, would also require treatment. To bring down the pH to acceptable levels, sulfuric acid would have to be introduced into the tanks and pond.

Baker recommended an on-site mix tank for the job. The customer could use it for batch processing, rather then pouring the solution directly into the stan-

dard tanks. The approach would result in less sulfuric acid being used and a better blend because the water would be in constant motion in the mix tank. The customer could also set up an automatic drip line system for the sulfuric acid that would work in coordination with a pH level monitor.

Since the pond water also required treatment, they were able to treat 67,000 litres of water on-site and then discharge it back into the pond. They continued this process until the pond pH level returned to normal.

The outcome was exactly what the customer had hoped for. The water had been contained and treated, and environmental balance had been restored.

For more information, contact, Kevin Bailey. E-mail: kbailey@bakercorp.com

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PVC liners prolong the life of steel and FRP tanks n 1976, Brenntag Canada Inc. (formerly CIL) in Cornwall, Ontario, had a flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) liner installed in a used riveted horizontal steel tank. The tank, which measured 9'-0" diameter x 22'-6" long, was needed to contain aqua ammonia. The PVC liner was purchased to prevent the aqua ammonia from leaking at the riveted seams.

In 2006, Brenntag Canada contacted Kentain Products Ltd. regarding replacement of the aging liner. After 30 years of service, the old liner was removed and it was determined that the tank was in decent shape as the walls had little signs of deterioration.

In the spring of 2007, Brian MacDonald, Site Manager of Brenntag Canada, contacted Kentain to proceed with the replacement of the old liner.

They began the design and pre-fabrication of a one piece, 40 mil NSF-61 white liner at their plant in Kitchener, Ontario. Working in conjunction with Brenntag Canada Inc., Kentain provided an installation supervisor and two helpers to assist with the procedure.

The lining of a horizontal tank is a fairly straightforward process. The inside of the tank is first visually inspected by the supervisor to ensure it is smooth and free of any scaling.

Once the tank preparations are complete, the new liner is passed into the tank through the open manway. The flexible PVC liner can then be laid out inside the tank. All fittings are sealed off and secured, making the tank airtight. The liner is then pulled up and fitted to the walls by way of a vacuum.

During this process, two Kentain installers remain inside the tank to construct a custom-fit, internal rib-cage out of PVC pipe. Once completed, the vacuum is removed, and the liner becomes freely suspended.

Before the installation is deemed complete, a water test is performed. The liner becomes the main containment, while the tank provides extra security by becoming the secondary containment. A simple leak detection system is added to the tank to ensure early awareness

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should a problem ever occur with the liner.

Since the flexible PVC liner is custom-made and fabricated in this manner, the entire interior surface of the tank, fittings and manway are lined. This prevents the steel tank from coming in contact with any liquid or fumes from the now-contained solution, in this case, the aqua ammonia. Because the PVC liner is not chemically adhered to the tank’s surface, it is not affected by the tank expansions or contractions. With no need to sandblast prior to installation, minimal down time is required. Total installation was completed in just three days.

The one piece construction and excellent chemical resistance make the liner virtually maintenance free.

During the installation of the horizontal tank, Brian MacDonald requested that Kentain also inspect two of their vertical fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) tanks - both containing 12% sodium hypochlorite. The discussion arose on how to proceed with the lining of these two tanks. Brenntag wanted both tanks done at the same time to once again minimize down time. It was agreed that the tank drawings would be sent to Kentain Products so the liners could be fabricated. Actual tank drawings are a benefit but not a necessity in manufacturing custom liners.

In November 2007, Kentain began the installation of the two liners in the FRP tanks. One tank measured 8'-0" diameter x 12'-0" deep and the other measured 10'-0" diameter x 12'-0" deep.

The preparations for a vertical tank are the same as those for a horizontal tank.

Once the tank is ready, the liner is passed through the manway and unrolled onto the floor of the tank. Instead of an internal rib cage, ropes are attached to the roof of the liner and the liner is lifted and attached to the roof of the tank. Again, no bonding of the liner to the tank is required. The liner becomes freely suspended.

Both of the tanks were installed with new liners and fully water tested in five days.

For more information, contact Glen Lippert, E-mail: glen@kentain.com

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Albarrie, a leader in containment technology, in partnership with Kinectrics Inc., offers the SorbWeb Plus secondary oil containment system for power utilities.

• No maintenance • Cost-effective • Proven system • Rain water passes through, no pumps • Can be installed around energized transformers.

Tel: 705-737-0551, Fax: 705-737-4044 E-mail: scott_lucas@albarrie.com Web: www.sorbwebplus.com Albarrie Environmental

Water tanks

Flowtite® Water Tanks are the ideal reservoir for potable and non-potable water applications. They are lightweight and non-corrosive and come in sizes ranging from 2,000 –190,000 litres. The Flowtite line of tanks includes septic, fire protection, rainwater harvesting and more.

Tel: 1-877-CSI-TANK, Fax: 936-756-7766 E-mail: sales@csiproducts.com Web: www.containmentsolutions.com Containment Solutions

Field erected process and storage tanks

Chemical feed stations

Compact feed stations from Assmann store small amounts of liquids and other chemicals. Constructed from high density crosslink or corrosion-resistant FDA compliant linear polyethylene, the feed stations are lightweight, strong and easy to handle with capacities from 40 to 550 gallons and feature easy-to-read volume markers and a pump shelf.

Tel: 888-357-3181, Fax: 888-826-5329 E-mail: info@assmann-usa.com Web: www.assmann-usa.com Assmann Corporation of America

Reinforced membrane

Firestone MultiLiner is a reinforced polypropylene-based membrane that enhances the physical properties of the membrane by inserting a strong, polyester fabric (scrim) between the top and bottom plies. This combination gives it its extremely high breaking/tearing strength and puncture resistance. It is ideal for geomembrane applications.

Tel: 888-292-6265, Fax: 877-666-3022 E-mail: gallantlillian@firestonebp.ca Web: www.firestonebpco.ca Firestone Building Products Canada

Floating turbidity barriers

Equipment rental

BakerCorp maintains an extensive inventory of over 18,000 pieces of quality rental equipment including more than 17 varieties of steel tanks, roll off boxes, pumps, filtration and specialty equipment. For over 65 years, BakerCorp has provided outstanding customer service, quality equipment and application expertise.

Tel: 905-545-4555, 1-800-BAKER12 Web: www.bakercorp.com BakerCorp

The JetMix Vortex Mixing System can be used in bio-solids storage where solids suspension is important. Benefits of using the JetMix system include: Intermittent operation saves 6090% in power consumption; expensive tank cleanout and scheduled maintenance not required; easily installed in existing tanks; multiple tank mixing using a central pump house. JetMix was a recipient of a 1997 Innovative Technology Award from the Water Environment Federation.

Tel: 519-469-8169, Fax: 519-469-8157 E-mail: sales@greatarioengsys.com Web: www.greatario.com Greatario Engineered Storage Systems

Specialist training Practical Hands-on Progressive Formats

Permastore glass-fused-to-steel tanks are manufactured to published quality standards, tested to zero defects and have an accredited 30-year design life. They handle a pH range of 1-14 and are well suited for high strength industrial effluents and flexible tank designs.

Tel: 905-660-0649, Fax: 905-660-9744 E-mail: darrin@h2flow.com Web: www.h2flow.com

Layfield is a premier fabricator and supplier of a complete line of floating turbidity barriers. They are designed to restrict and contain the flow of sediment-laden runoff and to allow the sediment to settle out before being carried into adjacent or joining watercourses.

Tel: 1-800-840-2884 E-mail: cmartin@layfieldgroup.com Web: www.layfieldgroup.com

Tel: 905-578-9666, Fax: 905-578-6644 E-mail: contact@spillmanagement.ca Web: spillmanagement.ca

H2Flow Tanks and Systems

Layfield Group

Spill Management

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Storage/Containment & Spills Product Showcase

Secondary oil containment

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Best management practices for testing chemical properties during first response - Part 2

By Cliff Holland

Practising the emergency plan at a research facility. embers of the committee for the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations, (TDG or TDGR) were pleased in the 1980s that action was being taken to make the shipment of hazardous materials safer. But, there were still serious concerns that individuals would be responding to placards and labels rather than to the actual risks, hazards and dangers at hand.

Prior to TDG, response personnel had to rely on their skills, knowledge and first-hand experiences to handle spills and releases. This was demonstrated at the Mississauga train derailment in 1979. Responders did not have the luxury of today’s indicator and support information provided by warning signs, shipping documents and material safety data sheets.

As much as emergency and contracted Haz-Mat teams feel they have the knowledge, experience and training to handle Haz-Mat events, if the truth were known, the tail is still wagging the dog! Grass roots knowledge and best management practices that include investigative sampling, testing and evaluating of substances is still the basis for understanding potential impacts and scales of impact as well as what has to be done to prevent escalation, maintain site safety and resolve the issue at hand.

Today, all-risk and all-hazard training for emergency agencies, including

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site-specific and product-specific training for industry, is important in evaluating the chemical properties that are in the workplace. It also gives responders first-hand opportunities to handle the chemicals and address potential reactions and spills that may occur in industrial sites, warehouses, laboratories and shipping terminals.

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) incidents, and the intent to harm by terrorists and criminals, are bringing back the need for the older methodologies (still taught today), combined with modern equipment and instrumentation to determine how bad, bad really is. In highrisk areas where skilled and experienced individuals may have had to enter a site to retrieve information or a sample, robots may do the job today. (Can a robot’s movement cause upset, fire or initiate an explosion? Never assume not!)

Testing chemical properties in the field Determining the properties of chemicals and conditions to avoid can be accomplished without sophisticated equipment and supplies if responders are trained with clear language to know what to look for. TDG guidebooks and material safety data sheets (MSDS) take a lot of the guessing out of the equation and start to point responders in the direction they should be looking at for answers. Information will need to be

prioritized, qualified and quantified based on existing conditions before contractors and other personnel are allowed into the site.

Discretion and first-hand experience are needed to maintain site safety during sizing up, sampling and testing of known and unknown substances. After issues such as radiation, toxicity and biohazards are addressed, the main focus should turn to the key risk factors of fire or an explosion. Do they exist or do they not? Another risk factor, the chemical reactions and corrosives that can eat through personal protective equipment, needs to be determined as well. CBRNE events must also include the escalation risk factors of ‘intentional intent to harm and destroy’. The safety factors should include all activities and procedures to handle products from cradle to grave.

Simple chemistry, or as it has often been referred to in the field as kitchen or bucket chemistry, still works the best for initial and immediate verification of chemical properties. Working with small - or trace - amount sized samples, like a grain of salt or less than one millilitre of liquid, may be enough to verify chemical compatibility and potential impacts due to toxicity or chemical reactions.

In earlier days, testing was sometimes simple and done by using a paper towel or a napkin as a test paper. Water, tea or

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coffee was the primary reagent to wet the paper and a lighter was a source of heat or ignition to perform basic experiments.

By dipping a twisted up piece of paper towel into a liquid, getting a few drops on the end of the paper and igniting it, there was enough product to determine if the liquid was highly flammable, slightly flammable or not flammable at all. If the liquid caught fire it meant that it was incompatible with any oxidizers involved at the scene. If it didn’t burn it might be an aqueous or corrosive substance. If the paper was dipped into a sample and it dissolved, or started to smoke, the attention focused towards strong acids, base, oxidizing and reducing agents. Acting on this information was to act on the high side of caution, not ignorance.

Touching the wet paper to a grain of sodium could cause a spark, indicating a water reactive substance was present and the properties of a substance could be verified. Other water reactions may include the generation of hydrogen sulphide gas (smell of rotten eggs) or the effervescence/bubbling of substances like the products ingested for acid indigestion products.

By planning ahead, paper towels can

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be replaced with pH paper and potassium iodide starch paper, and a barbeque lighter and a bottle of water for a reagent. The test papers can be used wet or dry to determine varying results and conditions.

Monitoring corrosive and oxidizing vapours When the test papers are being used as a monitoring or detecting device for aggressive atmospheres, they can be applied to a face shield or on the suit where they are visible. The paper should be applied half wet and half dry. As the damp end of the pH paper starts to turn colour, the responder can visually determine if they are appropriately suited for the corrosive condition. For example, if there is spilled aqueous ammonia inside a building, the concentration of the vapours will be identified as the responder moves into the area. The responder should also be trained that the test paper may be determining the potential for fire. Stop, reevaluate where you are going, and determine if you are properly protected against all eventualities.

Potassium iodide starch paper (half wet) can be used to pick up oxidizing vapours and to alert responders to the

fact that they may be walking into a volatile or explosive condition, e.g., calcium hypochlorite spilled onto an oily floor in a warehouse can produce an instantaneous fire or explosion.

Corrosive test Five basic levels of corrosiveness can be identified; strong acid, mild acid, neutral, mild base, and strong base. If the pH paper starts to show a bleaching of the colour, this may be the first indicator that the product is also an oxidizer.

Flammability test Igniting a few drops on the end of the pH paper will indicate three additional properties for site safety. It will determine: 1) if a product is highly flammable and could cause a fire from nearby ignition sources including static electricity; 2) if the sample burns similarly to a candle, that it will not cause a fire but it will contribute to a nearby continued overleaf...

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fire if it gets involved; and 3) if the substance is not flammable the focus can turn to aqueous products and corrosives. The determinations of flammability are based on personal working experiences associated with fire.

Two other important pieces of information can be determined from the burn test. When the product burns and black smoke is visible, the product is made up of a blend of chemicals with different flash points such as diesel fuel or paint thinner. It is also the first clue that the unknown substance in its formula may be toxic. This toxic information should be considered and acted upon whether the product is on fire or not. This is an

example of acting on the high side of caution not ignorance.

Therefore, responders, including fire departments, should be wearing, as minimal protection, vapour masks as part of their respiratory protection for ‘routine worker safety’ on the site. If the flame burns clearly, a pure product such as alcohol is present and vapour masks should Destruction of high-risk laboratory chemicals (Inset- chemicals to be destroyed by the explosion). be worn in the presence of vapours.

Identifying halogenated solvents Halogenated solvents are identified during the burn test when the acidic vapours of the product cause red to appear on the pH paper. This test result gives responders another reason to protect the entry routes of the body, increase evacuation distances, and ensure that people with respiratory sensitivities are well back from downwind exposure to the vapour, smoke and toxic gases.

Metals such as copper have been identified by the (green) colour of the flame. Perchloric acid has been identified as having an unusual burn pattern.

A drop of a benzol peroxide solution has demonstrated extreme energy upon ignition.

A sample placed on the end of wet test papers may generate the smell of rotten eggs or hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S).

Caution should be taken for concentrations of over a thousand parts per million as these can immediately cause a person’s nervous system to become paralyzed. In other words, CPR is required within four minutes to revive the casualty.

Tests for an oxidizer, reducing agent and explosives Oxidizers and reducing agents have been known to cause off-gassing, heat, fires, and explosions when reacting

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with organic or incompatible materials.

Potassium iodide starch test paper (starch paper) can identify the presence or absence of an oxidizer. On spill sites where awareness of chemical properties is key, if the starch paper changes colour due to a chemical reaction, (not staining), the product should be considered an oxidizer. If the starch paper does not indicate the presence of an oxidizer, treat the substance as a reducing agent until further determinations can be made. This is acting on the high side of caution, not ignorance.

There are times that substances may have a coating on them that will inhibit an immediate positive reading of an oxidizer, so “Never Assume�. Other follow-up tests may have to be done with reagents or a Redox meter to verify the strength of an oxidizer or reducing agent.

Explosive reagents such as ammonium nitrate are labelled as an oxidizer when purchased from the garden shop.

However, if anything that burns, such as diesel fuel, is added to the product you may have created an explosive. (Another reason to do all testing with small-

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or trace-amount sized samples is to minimize the impact of fire and explosion hazards).

Not all oxidizers or reducing agents may show any signs of reactivity when they are mixed with incompatible substances or exposed to various atmospheres. Some oxidizers and reducing agents may slowly off-gas; others may spontaneously ignite, detonate or deflagrate. Others that are mixed to form an explosive compound may need an initiating force to set off the reaction or detonation.

Summary Best Management Practices should be used as a key approach for identifying hazards, providing capability and improvising quick tests that will help keep personnel safe at small roadside spills, train derailments or CBRNE events.

This creative use of test papers can identify the properties of unknown chemicals, and also be used to provide continual monitoring of atmospheres for corrosive vapours. General alarm gas detectors can help locate pockets of flammable liquids, and sources of contamination as well as impacting gasses

and changes in atmospheric conditions.

Best Management Practices for risk and hazard training, first response, testing chemical properties, sizing-up unknown conditions and addressing time-critical issues are a sequence of behaviours and protocols. This common sense approach has been developed and field tested for over 25 years and demonstrates how basic tools, combined with improvising off-the-shelf supplies, as well as clear language for chemicals, can provide response capability at major emergencies and can be used in training to provide insight, awareness and understanding.

Cliff Holland is a regular speaker at Environmental Science & Engineering’s annual CANECT conference. E-mail: contact@spillmanagement.ca

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Simulated explosion scenarios for aboveground storage tanks n today’s increasingly unstable political and social environment, safety and security has become a top concern with facility owners storing petroleum and other flammable materials.

With this heightened awareness of security in mind, ConVault Inc. retained Karagozian & Case (K&C) to complete a blast effects analysis (BEA) on the design of the ConVault protected aboveground storage tank (AST). ConVault ASTs feature six inches of reinforced concrete surrounding both the primary and secondary containment of the fuel tank.

Three different threat scenarios were investigated to determine the inherent blast resistance of the ConVault design.

Scenarios were chosen to reflect blast distances recommended in FEMA’s Reference Manual to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks Against Buildings.

Blast Test Scenarios Vapour cloud explosion (10 psig) 50 lbs. of explosives at 5ft.

500lbs. of explosives at 20 ft.

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Scenarios Simulated A suitcase bomb A car bomb Blast from a vapour cloud

The scenarios investigated were: a blast from a vapour cloud such as might accumulate at a refinery with explosive pressures at 10 psig (the higher end of the range of expected pressures); a blast from 50 lbs of high explosive (HE) TNT as might be carried by a typical suicide bomber; and a blast from 500 lbs of high

Clear the way for productivity

explosive (HE) TNT representing a typical car bomb.

A 2,000 US gallon tank was used to represent a typical ConVault tank design.

The criteria for a successful test was considered to be one where the tank would not move more than two inches, and the integrity of the primary tank would not

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56 | May 2008

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New Appointment

Safety and security has become a top concern with facility owners storing petroleum and other flammable materials.

be compromised. There should be no resulting fuel leaks from the primary tank.

Overall, the Blast effects analysis indicated that the ConVault AST was very resistant to the effects of the blast loads considered. The mass provided by the reinforced concrete outer shell protected the steel tank extremely well, and greatly enhanced the resistance to all blasts. It withstood the blast with high limit pressures resulting from the explosions from a vapour cloud, a 50 lb HE – TNT blast centered at 5 feet from the tank, and a 500 lb HE – TNT blast centred at 20 feet from the tank.

The magnitude of these blasts at the respective proximities would be expected to destroy and/or relocate lighter, less robust fuel storage tanks. However, the ConVault AST would not remain in place, but could survive with no fuel leakage from the primary tank.

Contact Justin Britt, info@core-es.com

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Larry brings with him many years of management experience, most recently as a senior level manager in charge of project development of water and wastewater projects within the Environmental Infrastructure business unit of a major engineering company. With Larry’s previous experience, we expect to provide a high level of service to solve the most challenging water and wastewater applications.

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Wastewater Reuse

Oil industry water reuse protects the envirinment and improves water supplies number of regulatory drivers across the country are creating wastewater treatment challenges for industry.

In western Canada, water scarcity is a topic of almost daily discussion in the editorial pages of newspapers and magazines. It is widely recognized that fresh water has become a finite and limited resource that is critical to sustaining the health of both aquatic ecosystems and the economy. The situation has become so serious, in fact, that the University of Alberta’s David Schindler wrote recently that the area will soon face “a crisis in water quantity and quality with far-reaching implications.”

Wastewater reuse The rapidly growing demands of municipalities and industry, which are competing for water with traditional agricultural users, have focused attention on the need for more efficient use of fresh water to meet forecasted future re-

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quirements. In locations such as the semi-arid regions of southern Alberta, the province has imposed a moratorium on further withdrawals of water from the Bow, Oldman and South Saskatchewan rivers. Alberta Environment has stopped accepting applications for new water licenses from these rivers.

This has forced industry to explore improved methods to increase recycling and reuse of wastewater as a means of conserving and reducing its reliance on the limited availability of fresh water.

Newalta pioneered and has refined the use of centrifuge technology for oilfield applications. Closed-loop drilling systems using portable machines enable 100 per cent of water-based drilling fluid to be re-circulated at the wellhead, thereby reducing both fresh water consumption for oil and gas well drilling and dramatically reducing the volume of drilling fluid requiring disposal. This technology is now deployed throughout

western Canada, Wyoming and Texas.

This technology is also finding application in Alberta’s oilsands. It takes two to four barrels of water to produce one barrel of bitumen. To reduce the demand on surface and fresh groundwater, great emphasis is placed on recycling and reusing the brackish produced water recovered from in situ, thermal production of bitumen.

While most operators use sophisticated produced-water recycling systems, all require effective oil/water separation as the first step in their treatment process. Many struggle with the accumulation of stable oil/water emulsions in the front end of their recycling systems. The emulsions are frequently resistant to traditional chemical treatment methods of separation. Some who rely on flash treatment of these emulsions to evaporate the water fraction now find that this impairs their oil quality by leaving behind residual salts, particularly chloride. Centrifuges are able to effectively separate these emulsions into a clean on-spec bitumen product and a water stream of a quality that can be recycled and reused for steam generation.

In the semi-arid regions of southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan, 5,000 to 7,000 shallow natural gas wells are drilled each year. It is estimated that approximately 1 million cubic metres of fresh water, usually municipal drinking water, is used annually to prepare the hydraulic fracturing fluids that are used to stimulate and improve the productivity of these wells. Approximately 50 per cent of this water is consumed during the fracturing process and the remainder is usually disposed of by deep-well injection.

Recognizing that such consumptive use of communities’ limited supplies of drinking water in these water-short areas is not sustainable, Newalta embarked on a multi-year program to develop a method for recycling the waste flow-back water from gas well fracturing. This resulted in the successful development of a two-step membrane filtration process that produces an effluent which can be reused for prepar-

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Wastewater Reuse ing new fracturing fluids with a comparable cost to using and disposing of fresh water, while offering obvious conservation benefits.

Since this still requires 50 per cent make-up to replace the fraction of water consumed in the fracturing process, Newalta is now working with a community in southeast Alberta to recycle its municipal wastewater effluent into a suitable water supply for industrial use.

This innovative solution will replace oilfield use of potable water, ensuring priority access to drinking water for residents, while providing a secure longterm source of water for industrial users in the region. This approach also holds great potential for broader application across the country.

Wastewater treatment for discharge While a shortage of water is the primary issue in the Prairie provinces, manufacturing and other industrial sectors, more strongly represented in southern Ontario, QuĂŠbec and British Columbia, face other challenges. In these urban locations, the concerns and interests of industry and regulators are more focused on water quality issues, specifically with regards to the contaminants being discharged to municipal wastewater treatment systems and ultimately to the ecosystem.

Many industrial facilities, which by virtue of their size or the nature of their operation find it difficult to treat their wastewater on-site, rely on third-party waste treatment services to process their effluent at off-site centralized waste-

www.esemag.com

Pilot testing membrane filtration technology for recycling of oilfield wastewater.

Author is pictured in foreground.

water treatment facilities. Newalta has treatment facilities across Canada to service such customers.

The focus, first and foremost, is to recover materials of value from waste – the most common of which in industrial wastewaters is oil. A variety of chemical, thermal, and mechanical processes are used for recovery and purification of oil to convert this common wastewater contaminant into a reusable and/or marketable by-product.

Heavy metals, another common contaminant in industrial wastewaters, are precipitated, separated from the wastewater and immobilized in a dewatered

filter cake that can be safely disposed of in non-hazardous landfills.

Dissolved organic compounds, which contribute excessive oxygen demand, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute toxicity, often must also be addressed.

Newalta has invested in the development, demonstration and deployment of wastewater treatment technologies to accomplish these treatment objectives. In Brantford, Ontario, a new state-of-the-art facility was commissioned in 2007 with the ability to treat oily and metal-contaminated wastewaters. It incorporates both horizontal-bowl and disk-stack cen-

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Wastewater Reuse trifuges to process emulsions and produce high quality by-product oil. New filter presses produce a landfill-ready filter cake with low water content which passes the TCLP leaching test. The facility also incorporates some of the most advanced environmental controls of their kind, including tertiary containment in new waste storage and processing areas and thermal oxidation of process emissions, for reliable control of odours and VOC emissions.

At the Newalta Chateauguay Facility on the south shore of Montreal, an aging lamella clarifier was replaced in 2007 with a dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit to clarify treated wastewater and separate precipitated metal sludge. Experience with the technology elsewhere coupled with bench-scale testing indicated that DAF would improve throughput capacity, produce a higher quality effluent containing lower suspended solids concentrations, and generate a thicker sludge for dewatering in the facility’s filter press.

The unit was commissioned in early 2008 and performance has thus far met or exceeded expectations.

Québec is also home to the innova-

tive development of biological treatment technology used to co-treat industrial wastewater and landfill leachate at the Newalta Laterrière Facility near Chicoutimi. Industrial wastewater is pretreated for removal of oil and metals and blended with anaerobically-digested leachate prior to treatment in an aerobic bioreactor. Residual organics are oxidized with ozone and hydrogen peroxide At its Surrey, BC facility, Newalta recently installed electrocoagulation in combination with rotary drum vacuum filtration to provide simultaneous removal of emulsified hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The technology uses electric current and sacrificial depletion of iron electrodes in place of chemical coagulation to destabilize emulsions and precipitate metals. More than a year of operating experience has indicated that the technology is capable of providing effluent quality that consistently meets discharge criteria at a lower operating cost than the facility’s earlier chemically-based treatment system.

An additional benefit has been the simplicity of operation.

Opportunities to deploy electrocoagulation technology at other facilities are

currently being evaluated, including Toronto, where air stripping was recently added to improve the removal of VOCs from treated effluent.

Emerging issues and evolving standards While the ability to provide consistent removal of conventional contaminants such as hydrocarbons, heavy metals and dissolved organics remains important, regulatory standards are continually evolving. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment is currently finalizing its strategy for the management of municipal wastewater effluent. When released, this initiative is expected to prompt municipalities across the country to review their seweruse bylaws and, in some cases, adopt stricter standards for the discharge of industrial contaminants to sewers.

In parallel, public interest and regulatory attention is increasingly turning towards emerging contaminants such as endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceutically active compounds and personal care products. Conventional industrial wastewater treatment technologies commonly used today are not necessarily adequate to deal with these challenges.

Recognizing that technology will be the key to addressing these issues, Newalta continues to invest in the development and demonstration of innovative and new wastewater treatment technologies to ensure it stays ahead of emerging issues and is ready to respond to the needs of its customers as new treatment standards arise.

Summary Industry is increasingly recognizing water as a valued resource to be conserved and used wisely. Effluent standards of yesterday often do not meet the requirements of stakeholders today or the expectations of tomorrow. The evolution of technology will continue to provide opportunities to reduce water use, improve reuse opportunities and improve effluent quality. Those who embrace these technologies will be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.

Clyde Fulton, P. Eng, is Senior Process Engineer for Newalta Corp., based in Calgary. E-mail: cfulton@newalta.com.

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Water Supply

Arsenic mitigation in West Bengal, India: much more than just water n rural West Bengal, India, desperate poverty, hunger, and disease are a daily reality. To make matters worse, their water is killing them.

With every drink of water and every meal they eat, hundreds of thousands of people are being slowly poisoned by the very water they need to survive.

Residents in eight of this region’s 19 districts are drinking and cooking with groundwater contaminated with naturally occurring, highly toxic arsenic.

Tasteless and colorless, the arsenic has slowly seeped into their water sources and then into their bodies. The result: chronic arsenic poisoning of hundreds of thousands of West Bengalis, with many more at risk.

Thankfully, village-by-village, simple, locally developed solutions are making a change for the better. These solutions are providing much more than safe water. They are empowering com-

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munities and contributing to local economies by creating new business and job opportunities.

Where did the arsenic come from?

Arsenic is a naturally occurring semi-metallic compound found in groundwater around the world, including Bangladesh, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, parts of the United States and India.

Some argue that the increasing occurrence of arsenic in groundwater might be the result of the rapid and significant drawdown of aquifers as we struggle to meet our water demands.

While arsenic may be tasteless and odorless, the human impact is deadly evident. Early indications appear in the form of dark spots on the chest, back, limbs and gums; then, in the more advanced stages, wart-like skin eruptions on the hands, feet, and torso. Continuing exposure can result in enlargement of the liver, kidneys, and spleen, devel-

By David Stevenson

oping into malignant tumors and even disorders of the gastrointestinal, circulatory, and nervous systems.

The arsenic problem hasn’t always been present in West Bengal. It is actually the result of efforts to solve microbiological contamination of surface water during the 1970s and 1980s when tube wells were installed throughout the region. The switch to groundwater came with a deadly price and awareness of the issue was slow to come. Because of the extreme poverty of the region, affected people often hesitated to seek medical care. By then, the damage was done. It was in the late 1980s that scientists began to find evidence of arsenic contamination in the groundwater, and by the 1990s the extent of the health impact became widely known.

Partnering sustainable solutions Water For People began working in India in 1996. Its initial effort was a

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Water Supply

Dipak Das makes a living delivering safe drinking water daily to villagers nearby.

small pilot program designed to help eliminate the health threats of arsenic in rural village water supplies. Soon Water For People partnered with Bengal Engineering & Science University to develop a local, sustainable solution.

After pursuing a number of options, the university developed a simple arsenicremoval filter for use at community wellheads, incorporating activated alumina.

The wellhead unit consists of a 12inch diameter, seven-foot, two-inch-tall stainless steel column. Water flows through a 51-inch layer of activated alumina and then through an eight-inch layer of gravel. Every eight to 12 months the filter media is regenerated and the waste safely contained. One wellhead unit can serve up to 300 families and is expected to last for 10 to 15 years, with little maintenance required.

The filter incorporates a simple, highly effective technology, is locally manufactured, easy to operate (no electricity required), easy to maintain, and relatively inexpensive – approximately $2,000 for each wellhead unit. Most important, the technology is sustainable, offering effective protection for years to come.

Working with the local villages, water committees were formed to help implement the installations and encourage ongoing local input and control. To date, Water For People has helped finance the installation of 110 of these units, providing safe, arsenic-free water for more than 33,000 people in multiple villages across West Bengal.

In villages where wellhead units have been installed, the incidence of arsenic poisoning has dropped dramatically. People are reporting living healthier and more productive lives.

The difference, according to one woman, indicates a variety of positive changes. “I used to have indigestion and chronic dysentery. Now all these problems are gone, and I have an appetite. I used to spend 150 rupees (US$3.43) each month on medicine, and now I save this money.”

Safe water and economic opportunities Dipak Das churns the pedals of his three-wheeled bike earnestly. Immediately behind him, packed tightly on the flat platform that’s wedged between the two rear wheels, rest 20-or-so jiggling jugs of his most precious cargo - safe, filtered, arsenic-free drinking water from the wellhead.

Dipak delivers filtered water to 45 families. The 2,800 rupees (US $70) he earns each month is a good living by Indian standards. Before, he ran a roadcontinued overleaf...

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Water Supply side tea shop, worked longer hours and made less money. Now, his deliveries require only four hours a day, giving him time to pursue other business opportunities.

For Nirmal De and his family, their sole source of income is work that is related to the arsenic filter in Daharthuba Village, where they live. He used to work in a plastic toy factory that has since closed. He started out by delivering water to three families. Now that has grown to 50. On every delivery he attempts to sell the service to other families along his route.

Sumitra, his wife, is the paid caretaker for the filter. She spends four hours every morning and three hours every evening operating the pump. She must periodically backwash the filter to ensure its effectiveness. She also keeps the platform clean throughout the day.

The pump station has become the center of the community and even has a television to entertain women as they wait.

Their older son, Sudip, also helps out at the filtration station and with deliveries.

Besides the water delivery, a variety

of other business enterprises often emerge around the arsenic filters. There are vendors who sell jerry cans for carrying the water. Others sell food and snacks at the wellhead. And, at every station, an individual, like Sumitra, earns a salary to collect and record water payments from villagers.

Day-by-day, village-by-village Water For People makes it a point to support our partners in West Bengal, who in turn work closely with communities. The goal is to obtain commitment to each project from community members, enabling them to take ownership of its long-term operation. In 2006, Water for People opened an office in Kolkata with a full-time country coordinator, Rajashi Mukherjee, to facilitate the work in the region.

David Stevenson is a freelance writer who lives in Denver, Colorado.

He has participated in numerous community work projects with the people of the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado.

Visit www.waterforpeople.org

Professor Anirban Gupta, Ph.D., an assistant professor with Bengal Engineering & Science University, was involved with the development of the arsenic filtration technology.

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Corrosion Control

Denso protects the Rainbow Bridge at one of the seven wonders of the world By

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Niagara Falls, whilst not as high as others around the world, is certainly one of the widest and the waterflow is an amazing 6 million cubic feet/minute from a height of 173 feet.

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Wastewater Treatment

Special activated sludge system works well as small town’s first WWTP n Newfoundland and Labrador, a special activated sludge wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for St. Philip’s has been operating successfully since the end of 2003, with a similar and larger plant scheduled to start up for Portugal Cove later this year.

The currently operating plant, with a design average flow of 7.7 litres/sec. and peak flow of 28.5 litres/sec., has consistently met effluent standards for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TKN), phosphorus (P), and fats/ oils/grease (FOG). It has required only minimal, routine, maintenance-class operator attention, and has converted 99.999% of influent solids to landfill-disposable sludge. The larger plant is to handle a design average flow of 15.2 litres/sec. and peak of 34.2 litres/sec.

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Special SBR system represents town’s commitment to proactive environmental protection for its pristine harbour, including exceeding all present guidelines and more stringent guidelines that are pending, without the use of chemical additions.

The ISAM™ Integrated Surge Anoxic Mix System, manufactured by Fluidyne Corp. of Cedar Falls, Iowa, is specially designed to provide for lower amounts of sludge production compared to other activated sludge processes. Here, the system has processed over 129,000,000 US gallons of raw sewage since start-up, and, to date, only about 15,000 US gallons of sludge have been removed.

The St. Philip’s WWTP was the first treatment system for the town. Sewage for the 300 residences and a few commercial operations was previously handled via septic tanks.The WWTP influent levels are BOD, 200 mg/l; TSS, 250 mg/l; TKN, 50 mg/l; and FOG, 50 mg/l.

The Department of Environment and Conservation for Newfoundland and Labrador presently requires effluent treatment levels for BOD of 20 mg/l and TSS of 30 mg/l. A reduction to 10 mg/l for both parameters by both provincial and federal regulators is considered possible within a few years. The new plant has consistently met the 10 mg/l level, with less than 5 mg/l measured more than 90% of the time.

TKN and FOG are also both consistently below 10 mg/l. Phosphorus has been recognized as consistently reduced to the 1 mg/l limit or below, and has

often been non-detectable. Fecal and total coliform counts in the influent at >10,000 cfu/ml, have been reduced to non-detectable.

Design limitations for the new WWTP that were established by the town’s engineering firm included location on pristine oceanfront property; placement within residential development, as close as 60 m to a residence; available footprint of only 1200 sq.m; and service for a small community that did not have a large, trained WWTP staff available, and needed a simplistic and economical plant to operate and maintain.

The alternative technologies that were considered included lagoon, engineered wetland, oxidation ditch, rotating biological contact (RBC), and sequencing batch reactor (SBR).

“The engineered wetland and lagoon Table 1: Reduction of Wastewater Solids at St. Philip’s WWTP.

BOD TSS TKN FOG

Influent

Effluent

200 mg/l 250 mg/l 50 mg/l 50 mg/l

<10/mg/l <10/mg/l <10/mg/l <10/mg/l

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Wastewater Treatment “We wanted to know what the operators liked and didn’t like, and what they would have done differently,” Mills recalled. “Key issues that emerged included process reliability from a controls perspective; user-friendliness of controls and technology; and personnel requirements.

SBR had always been considered the process that achieved the highest levels of treatment, but it was also one of the most complicated, and until the advent of the programmable logic controller (PLC), huge labour input was required.”

“We found the selected vendor had combined a strong process background with good programming people to develop a good controller for the operating plant,” he noted. “What was previously very complex for operators was now simplified. We also learned that SCADA was essential, and that we wanted it for every piece of equipment, so that everything was on the operator’s screen in his office, and changes could be made from his desktop.” continued on page 82...

In SBR tank, jet aeration header, right, has back flush valve that provides means for reversing flow through header manifold, to remove any obstructions that could plug aeration jet.

The overflow weir/scum skimmer, left, takes nitrified mixed liquor back to the SAM compartment for anoxic mixing and denitrification.

options were ruled out early in the selection process because of the large footprint they required, with the lagoon concept also having the disadvantage of open basins in a residential area,” recalled Darryl Mills, project engineer, Newfoundland and Labrador Consulting Engineers (NLCEL), who had been given the mandate in the fall of 2002 to provide the appropriate WWTP. “Oxidation ditches are also open processes, and cannot provide the same level of treatment and technical effectiveness as RBC and SBR, which, therefore, became finalists.”

“Choosing between the finalists, we recognized SBR as a more forgiving technology for a situation where there were no storm sewers, and no separate system underground for groundwater and rainwater runoff,” he continued.

“There was a high potential for infiltration that could cause the flow rate to the WWTP to jump to 7-10 times the average efficiency.”

The initial technology evaluation took about 4 - 6 weeks. After SBR was selected, visits were arranged to six existing SBR sites, representing several different manufacturers. www.esemag.com

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“Above the flow” flowmeter Flo-Dar Radar Velocity Flowmeter operates above the flow and could save thousands a year at each site. It eliminates fouled sensors and the risk and expense of confined space entry. Provides highly accurate flow measurements under a wide range of flows and site conditions. Recipient of the prestigious Water Environment Federation Innovative Technology Award.

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Stormwater solutions

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Hand-off approach to monitoring

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Septage reception system

The new Grace employee monitor employs a small battery operated transmitting alarm unit that is worn by the employee. It detects lack of motion so that, if a worker stops moving, they are given a pre-alert for 8 seconds and then the alarm device emits a 95db audio alarm and sends a radio signal back to the receiver (up to ¾ mile line of sight). Use of a remote antenna and repeaters will allow the unit to cover any size facility.

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New stainless steel pumps Grindex’s new stainless steel pump line combines the integrity of years of tested design with the ingenuity and durability of new technology. Inox pumps can be used in applications that would destroy their aluminum predecessors. Their stainless steel construction enables them to endure pH values from 2 – 10, making them ideal for extreme environments with highly acidic or alkaline contents.

They are ideal for use in copper mines, coal power plants, saltwater fish farms, shipyards, etc.

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The Handbook of Steel Drainage & Highway Construction Products has been reprinted and is once again available (January 2007). There are minor changes to the 2002 version.

Most significant are design examples for large soil steel structures that illustrate procedures using Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC).

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Stormwater management using large diameter corrugated steel pipe under parking areas is a cost-effective way to meet reduced runoff and environmental restrictions while allowing revenue producing services and commercial development. Comprehensive design software is available, FREE. Tel: 866-295-2416, Fax: 519-650-8081 E-mail: info@cspi.ca Web: www.cspi.ca.

The AquaDAF® Clarifier High-Rate Dissolved Air Flotation System is a viable alternative to conventional settling and DAF clarifiers. The AquaDAF is a hybrid of conventional DAF and optimally designed system components. It is highly effective for the treatment of a range of raw water characteristics including troublesome waters exhibiting low turbidity, high TOC, color and algae.

Web: www.infilcodegremont.com

Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute

Degremont Technologies/Infilco

One-Pass trenching

Wet particulate dust collector

With DeWind's One-Pass trencher technology, deep environmental horizontal collection trenches, reactive barriers, and slurry walls are installed in a single pass directly into contaminated water and soil.

There is no need to dewater or remediate.

Tel: 616-875-7580, Fax: 616-875-7334 E-mail: dewind@iserv.net Web: dewinddewatering.com

The Hydro-Lance™ wet particulate dust collector with Submerged Air Venturi (SAVe) technology avoids possible operational issues associated with standard Venturi scrubber systems, including pump failures, small orifice nozzle clogging, material failures, and general maintenance headaches, while still providing the timeproven Venturi collection methodology.

Tel: 989-725-8184, Fax: 989-725-8188 E-mail: info@dualldiv.com Web: www.dualldiv.com

DeWind

Duall Division, Met-Pro Corporation

Water treatment trailer

Life cycle management

Export credit agency

The latest water treatment trailer designed and supplied by EMRP is for the emergency response and groundwater treatment industries. It has a MOE portable C of A for discharge to open environment or sanitary sewers. The trailer is Hazardous Class 1 Div 1 explosion proof.

Tel: 519-751-3405, Fax: 519-751-3443 E-mail: johnt@emrp.ca Web: www.emrp.ca

Full knowledge of your plant status allows for good maintenance planning. W@M – Life Cycle Management from Endress+Hauser provides up-todate and complete information on all your assets, including products from other suppliers. It is an open information management system providing data flow and archiving for the technical and operational management of your plant.

Tel: 905-681-9292, Fax: 905-681-9444 E-mail: info@ca.endress.com Web: www.ca.endress.com

Export Development Canada is Canada's export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC's knowledge and partnerships are used by 7,000 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year.

Web: www.edc.ca/utilities

EMRP

Endress + Hauser

Export Development Canada

www.esemag.com

7 - n ,IFE #YCLE -ANAGEMENT 3UPPORTING YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES

69 | May 2008

Product & Service Showcase

Engineering Textbook

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Genuine parts Quick Ship program

Product & Service Showcase

Gardner Denver offers Quick Ship programs for many common bearing and seal kits. Only genuine Gardner Denver parts can reliably meet the performance standards of the original blower design.

This program ensures superior factory parts and fast delivery.

Tel: 770-632-5000, Fax: 770-486-5629 E-mail: blowersolutions@gardnerdenver.com Website: www.gardnerdenver.com Gardner Denver Engineered Products Division

Emergency notification

ConnexALL® is a powerful software engine which brings diverse emergency monitoring systems together on one platform for monitoring alarms, creating an effective fan-out application. In an emergency event, ConnexALL sends real-time notification of that event to one person or group of persons on any device, anywhere.

Tel: 1-800-661-2340, Fax: 416-635-1711 Web: www.globestarsystems.com GlobeStar Systems

Solids handling pumps

Remediation/Demolition

The Ultra V Series pump is a revolutionary solids handling, self-priming centrifugal pump, available in 3”, 4” and 6” discharge sizes. When system requirements exceed its basic, single stage performance range, it can be configured with a second stage, the UltraMate which increases maximum pressure up to 300 percent, and is simply mounted directly to the discharge of the basic model through an innovative transition chamber.

Tel: 519-631-2870, Fax: 519-631-4633 E-mail: grcanada@grcanada.com Web: www.grcanada.com Gorman-Rupp

Greenspoon Specialty Contracting has been actively engaged in the Demolition and Environmental Remediation industry for over 50 years. Spanning across the commercial, industrial and government sectors, GSC is proficient in all areas of demolition (implosion and dismantlement), asbestos, mould and lead abatement, soil remediation and site decommissioning. Proficient in LEEDs projects. Offices in Toronto, Winnipeg, Buffalo.

Tel: 800-928-8812, Fax: 905-458-4149 E-mail: bill@greenspoon.net Web: www.greenspoon.net

Water level indicator Contact Heron for pricing on the economical Water Tape.

You will be surprised at the low cost. The white, flexible, solid polyethylene tape reinforced with Kevlar makes it extra strong. The permanent markings are indelibly heat stamped and recessed into the tape. Fully encapsulated, water resistant electronic module with A/C signal eliminates probe corrosion. Splicing kits are available. 3 year warranty.

Tel: 800-331-2032, Fax: 905-634-9657 E-mail: info@heroninstruments.com Web: www.heroninstruments.com Heron Instruments 70 | May 2008

Greenspoon Specialty Contracting

Sewer bypass pumping Sewer bypass pumping and applications requiring sound attenuation are ideal for GormanRupp Prime Aire model PA6C60-4045TESP. It offers flows to 2,750 USGPM, heads to 200 feet, 3-inch solids handling capability, sound attenuation and an environmental containment base.This pump has the ability to run dry indefinitely with no pump damage and is standard fitted for automatic float controlled operation.

Tel: 519-631-2870, Fax: 519-631-4633 E-mail: grcanada@grcanada.com Web: www.grcanada.com Gorman-Rupp

Pump flow monitoring The Grundfos Alldos Flow Monitor, specifically designed for DDI series digital dosing pumps provides on-board flow and pressure monitoring directly in the pump dosing head without the need for additional external accessories. Suction and pressure side malfunctions are immediately reported even at very low volumetric flows. The system will shut down and alarm if excess pressure is measured. You can monitor actual system pressure with the touch of a button.

Tel: 905-829-9533, Fax: 905-829-9512 Web: www.grundfos.ca Grundfos

Groundwater level monitoring

HOBO water level logger

The Heron dipperLog measures and records groundwater levels and temperatures over long periods of time. The dipperLog has automatic barometric pressure and elevation compensation together with a recalibration facility that allows for changes in groundwater density. Water levels are reported as either height of water above the transducer or depth of water below a local datum.

The HOBO Water Level Logger is a highaccuracy, pressure-based water level recording device that combines researchgrade accuracy and durability with a price tag that is roughly half the cost of most comparable solutions.

Tel: 800-331-2032, Fax: 905-634-9657 E-mail: info@heroninstruments.com Web: www.heroninstruments.com

Available from Hoskin Scientific Ltd. www.hoskin.ca

Heron Instruments

Hoskin Scientific Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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Submersible pumps

A DS2 Docking Station™ is now available for the GasBadge® Plus single gas monitor.

The GasBadge Plus is a two-year, lowcost, personal gas detector. The DS2 Docking Station recognizes individual instrument serial numbers, performs calibration and bump testing and its instrument diagnostics and record keeping functions limit safety hazards and liability concerns.

KSB’s line of AMAREX KRT submersible pumps features a closed jacket cooling system of the motor. Independent of the fluid handled, it ensures optimal heat dissipation in all operating conditions (wet, dry, partly flooded, or permanently submerged). AMAREX KRT pumps have a maximum flow rate of 10,000 m3/h, with heads up to 100 m.

Tel: 800-338-3287, Fax: 412-788-8353 E-mail: clange@indsci.com Web: www.indsci.com

Tel: 905-568-9200, Fax: 905-568-3740 E-mail: ksbcanada@ksbcanada.com Web: www.ksb.ca

Industrial Scientific

KSB Pumps Inc.

Sediment control North American Green’s Straw Wattles are an effective and economical alternative to silt fence and straw bales for sediment control and stormwater runoff Cylinders of recycled, compressed, 100% agricultural straw, they are wrapped in tubular UV stabilized black synthetic netting. They can be placed and staked along the contour of newly constructed or disturbed slopes. Their use to capture and retain sediment is an EPA-recognized best management practice.

Tel: 1-800-772-2040 Web: www.nagreen.com.

North American Green

Site investigations

RMSS specializes in difficult access site investigations. Our equipment is easily broken down into helicopter, ATV and man portable packages so you can get your job done without huge mobilization costs. Soil sampling, monitoring wells, geo-technical testing, we go anywhere.

Tel: 604-947-RMSS (7677), Fax: 604-947-9500 Web: www.rmsoil.com Rocky Mountain Soil Sampling www.esemag.com

MS Filter

Water filters

Underwater sampling

Stainless steel, carbon steel, NSF coating, Hastelloy, titanium – whatever materials are required, ORIVAL will meet all customer specifications when manufacturing fully automatic self-cleaning filtration systems, in sizes ranging from ¾” to 24”.

Tel: 1-800-567-9767 E-mail: filters@orival.com Web: www.orival.com

RMSS offers an innovative solution for underwater sampling. Our Rossfelder Vibracorer uses contra-rotating dualeccentrics and highfrequency vibrations of 8,000 VPM, to core into the seabed.

Optimum penetration is in the unconsolidated sediments of a marine environment, especially silts and clays.

Tel: 604-947-RMSS (7677), Fax: 604-947-9500 Web: www.rmsoil.com

Orival

Rocky Mountain Soil Sampling

Membrane bioreactor Sanitherm, a division of Wellco Energy Services, has perfected containerizing their SaniBrane® MBR. The containerized SaniBrane is portable, provides excellent effluent on start-up, is operator friendly and comes pre-wired, preplumbed and tested. The system for anywhere needing reliable waste treatment with a small footprint!

Tel: 604-986-9168, Fax: 604-986-5377 E-mail: saneng@sanitherm.com Web: www.sanitherm.com Sanitherm, a division of Wellco Energy Services

Optimization of equipment maintenance can increase electrical availability in your facility. Schneider Canada Services & Projects' multiyear maintenance contracts are designed with your specific operational and financial needs in mind. Maintenance services range from preventive maintenance activities, testing, and inspection to emergency on-site assistance.

Tel: 416-615-3406, Fax: 416-752-8944 Web: www.schneider-electric.ca Schneider Electric 71 | May 2008

Product & Service Showcase

Personal gas detector

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Water treatment Siemens provides innovative water technologies: • Vantage® NF/RO Filtration Systems • TRIDENT® HSC and Trident® HS Packaged Water Treatment Systems • MEMCOR® Membrane Filtration Systems • CenTROL® Filter Systems • MULTIBLOCK® FilterUnderdrains Tel: 800-525-0658 or 724-772-1402 E-mail: information.water@siemens.com Web: www.siemens.com/drinking_water Siemens Water Technologies

Siemens also offers these technologies: • MULTICRETE® II Filter Underdrains • CONTRAFAST® Clarifier • GFH® Arsenic Removal Media • Barrier® M and Barrier® A UV Disinfection Units • OSEC® On-site Hypochlorite Generation System Tel: 800-525-0658 or 724-772-1402 E-mail: information.water@siemens.com Web: www.siemens.com/drinking_water

Although it appears to be a solenoid pump, the Grundfos DMI is actually motor driven.

Whichever model you choose, you get a sturdy, costefficient pump based on a well-proven synchronous motor design. The DMI range can handle feed rates from 0.3 to 18 l/h and pressures up to 232 psi (16 bar).

Tel: 905-678-2882, Fax: 905-293-9774 E-mail: sales@spdsales.com Web: www.spdsales.com SPD Sales

Siemens Water Technologies

Wireless alarm monitor

Product & Service Showcase

Simple, cost-efficient and quiet dosing

Water treatmment

Pressure relief valves

Check valves

Monitor, report, and control your systems with AlarmAgent RACO’s full-featured, web-based service. AlarmAgent is RACO’s newest wireless technology, bringing a stateof-the-art, and web-based interface to our complete line of alarm detection and notification products.

Tel: 905-678-2882, Fax: 905-293-9774 E-mail: sales@spdsales.com Web: www.spdsales.com

Val-Matic’s Surgebuster® Check Valve achieves rapid closure through a short 35° disc stroke and adjustable disc accelerator. The Surgebuster fully meets ANSI/AWWA C508. Val-Matic guarantees that the valve will outperform any air cushion swing-check valves with weight and lever.

Phone: 905-951-8000, Fax: 905-951-8002 E-mail: info@syntecpe.com Web: www.syntecpe.com

The Dynamic Lifter® Sewage Pressure Relief Valve is a directacting, springloaded relief valve. It opens when the inlet pressure exceeds the set point and closes drip tight when pressure falls below set point. It has patented opening and servicing features. Consult Syntec for sizing.

Phone: 905-951-8000, Fax: 905-951-8002 E-mail: info@syntecpe.com Web: www.syntecpe.com

SPD Sales

Syntec

Syntec

Internal joint seals

Trickling filters

Depend-O-Lok is the new standard for joining pipe to 144”. Engineered for restrained and unrestrained systems, Depend-O-Lok allows angular deflection and pipeline thermal expansion/contraction while maintaining seal integrity.

Specify in systems to 600 PSI for strength, reliability and ease of maintenance.

Tel: 905-884-7444 E-mail: viccanada@victaulic.com Web: www.victaulic.com

Waterloo Biofilters® are efficient, modular trickling filters for residential and communal sewage wastewaters, and landfill leachate. Patented, lightweight, synthetic filter media optimize physical properties for microbial attachment and water retention. The self-contained modular design for communal use is now available in 20,000L/d and 40,000L/d ISO shipping container units - ready to plug in on-site.

Tel: 519-856-0757, Fax: 519-856-0759 E-mail: wbs@waterloo-biofilter.com Web: www. waterloo-biofilter.com

Victaulic

Waterloo Biofilter

72 | May 2008

Hydrolift rental program The Waterra Hydrolift-2 is a portable, electrically operated device that is the ideal choice for the frequent user of the inertial pumping system with moderate to extreme pumping requirements. Waterra maintains a fleet of Hydrolift-2s, available for both short- and long-term rentals. Please call for pricing.

Tel: 905-238-5242, Fax: 905-238-5704 E-mail: waterra@idirect.com Web: www.waterra.com Waterra Pumps Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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If itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about water, it will be at

If you can only on nly l attend tt d one water watter t quality lit eventt during d du uring i the th yearâ&#x20AC;Ś make it WEF WEFTEC FTEC and discoverr why it is the lar largest ge est water quality event in North Nortth America.

WEFTEC of offers fffers the e best water quality education educa ation and training available e and is the leading source source e solutions, and cutting-edge technologies. for water quality developments, developments, research, re esearc ch, regulations, re e egulations, c technologiess.

Collection System Systems ms | Facility Operations | Membrane M Technologies Te echnologies | Micr Microconstituents/EDCs oconstituents/EDCs Nutrient Removal | Residuals and Biosolids s | Stormwater Management Manageme ent | Sustainable Practicess Management Utility Managemen nt | W Wastewater astewater Tr Treatment re eatment | W Water ater Reuse | W Watershed atersh hed Management

Online Attend Attendee dee Registration iss Now Open! See you in Chicago.

81st 81st Annual Annual Water Water Environment Environment Federation Federation Technical Technical Exhibition Exhibition and Conference Conference

McCormick Place e | Chicago, Illinois, USA Conference Conference: October Octo ober 18-22, 2008 Exhibition: October Octob ber 19-22, 2008

Visit V isit www www.weftec.org .weftec.org for more m e details mor

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NEWS AGAT Labs appoints new president and BDM for its environmental division Michel Tremblay has been appointed President of AGAT Laboratories’ Environmental Division. He will have direct responsibility for the Division’s operations across Canada and will be working out of the firm’s newly expanded facility in Mississauga.

Camilla Swagar has been appointed Business Development Manager of the Environmental Division. She will oversee all aspects of environmental business development and marketing in Ontario and will be reporting directly to Michel Tremblay. www.agatlabs.com

John Meunier Inc. appoints new Western Canada representative John Meunier Inc., subsidiary of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, has appointed BD Watertech from Calgary as its Western Canada representative in the municipal wastewater market. Among the wastewater technologies available from John Meunier Inc., BD Watertech will have exclusivity on the AnoxKaldnes Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor.

For more information, E-mail sales@johnmeunier.com • ANTHRACITE • QUALITY FILTER SAND & GRAVEL • CARBON • GARNET ILMENITE • REMOVAL & INSTALLATION 20 Sharp Road, Brantford, Ontario N3T 5L8 • Tel: (519) 751-1080 • Fax: (519) 751-0617 E-mail: swildey@anthrafilter.net • Web: www.anthrafilter.net

Aqua Terre Solutions Inc. Environmental Scientists & Engineers Responsible, Practical, Innovative, Cost-effective Environmental Solutions

www.aquaterre.ca

Member of the SNC LAVALIN Group

TORONTO

74 | May 2008

OTTAWA

CALGARY

LETHBRIDGE

SASKATOON

First green roof installed in Collingwood When the Greenland Group of Companies recently expanded its Collingwood engineering office, it implemented “green” construction practices, including recycled and composite building materials, harvesting rainwater for landscape maintenance, creating low maintenance plant gardens, and constructing a permeable parking lot to infiltrate rainfall and reduce local climate warming compared to a conventional black top surface.

The company is also installing a “green roof ”, which will reduce heat island effects by absorbing solar energy and gradually releasing water, which in turn cools the air and reduces the ambient air temperature. Other benefits include the reduction of stormwater runoff from traditional hard surface roofs which Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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NEWS helps prevent erosion and overloading the town’s stormwater infrastructure.

There is also a carbon dioxide exchange as the roof garden puts oxygen back into the environment, thereby improving the air quality through the reduction of greenhouse gases and other airborne particulates.

For further information, E-mail ichan@grnland.com

4 Edmondson St. Brantford, ON, N3R 7J3

Dover Corp acquires Neptune Chemical Pump Company The Neptune Chemical Pump Company is now part of Dover’s newly-formed Pump Solutions Group. Based in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, Neptune’s key product lines are used in metering, dosing and injecting chemicals for water and wastewater treatment.

With over $7 billion in annual revenues, Dover Corporation is a global portfolio of manufacturing companies providing components and equipment, specialty systems and support services for a variety of applications in the industrial products, engineered systems, fluid management and electronic technologies markets.

For more information, E-mail pump@neptune1.com

Uranium removal system allows water well to reopen A new uranium removal system from Water Remediation Technology, LLC, will enable the City of Lawrenceville, GA., to open a well that has concentrations of uranium that exceed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water. The installation of the Lawrenceville system will be the first of its kind in Georgia; plans are in place for additional systems.

Located near Atlanta, Lawrenceville is home to just over 28,000 people. It currently purchases about 90 percent of its water supply from Gwinnett County, which pulls from nearby Lake Lanier.

With the installation of WRT’s uranium removal system, the City of Lawrenceville can begin reducing its dependence on Lake Lanier, which is criti-

Get a clear view of:

“Specialists in non-intrusive ground investigations” Tel: 905.458.1883 Fax: 905.792.1884 E-mail: clearview@geophysics.ca Web: www.geophysics.ca

• UST's, buried metal, debris & fill • Former excavations & structures • Leachate plumes • Voids and fractures • Stratigraphy • Pipes and utilities

continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

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NEWS Accurate and Innovative Laboratory Services Phone: 519-681-0571 Fax: 519-681-7150 Email: info@gapenviromic.com www.gapenviromic.com Internationally recognized laboratory – accredited under ISO/IEC 17025 Standard (CAEAL)

• Microbial Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) • Microbial support for UV reactor validation efforts – bacteriophage and collimated beam analysis

• Pathogen detection (Legionella spp. accredited test)

cal considering the recent record-breaking drought.

According to the USEPA, uranium can be found naturally in soil, water and food at low concentrations. But high levels of these contaminants ingested over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems. WRT will also be responsible for the environmentally safe handling and removal of the uranium from the treatment site to a remote licensed facility, thus preventing future contamination in Lawrenceville. www.wrtnet.com

Earthworms found to contain chemicals from households and animal manure

Focused on the Special Needs of Industrial and Commercial Clients for More Than 20 Years

www.geomatrix.com For more information:

Specializing in:

420 Weber Street North, Unit G Waterloo, ON N2L 4E7 519.886.7500

From multi-billion dollar Fortune 100 companies to family-run Owner-Manager enterprises, Geomatrix serves industrial and commercial clients locally and around the world from our18 North American offices.

Suppliers of Water And Wastewater Equipment

• Drinking Water • Screening / Filtration • Separation / Flotation • Sludge Dewatering / Collection • Biotreatment / Aeration • Centrifugal & PD Blowers • UV Disinfection • Industrial Treatment

H2FLOW EQUIPMENT INC., Concord, Ontario Tel: (905) 660-9775 Fax: (905) 660-9744 Email: info@h2flow.com Website: www.h2flow.com

• Oil / Water Separators • Package Treatment Plants • Stormwater Treatment • Tanks & Tank Covers

Experts in Water, Wastewater, Environmental Planning, and Simulation Software

Hydromantis, Inc. Consulting Engineers ! 420 Sheldon Drive, Cambridge, Ontario, N1T 2H9 Tel: (519) 624-7223 Fax: (519) 624-7224 ! 1685 1 James Street Ontario, L8P L8S 4R5 1G5 Main St. South, West,Suite Suite1601, 302,Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Tel: (905) 522-0012 Fax: (905) 522-0031

76 | May 2008

E-mail: info@hydromantis.com Web: www.hydromantis.com

Earthworms studied in agricultural fields have been found to contain organic chemicals from household products and manure, indicating that such substances are entering the food chain.

Manure and biosolids, the solid byproduct of wastewater treatment, were applied to the fields as fertilizer. Earthworms continuously ingest soils for nourishment and can accumulate the chemicals present in the soil.

The chemicals investigated are considered indicators of human and animal waste sources and include a range of active ingredients in common household products such as detergents, antibacterial soaps, fragrances, and pharmaceuticals. Some of the detected chemicals are naturally occurring, such as plant and fecal sterols and fragrances. All of these chemicals tend to be concentrated in the municipal waste distribution and disposal process and are referred to as anthropogenic waste indicators (AWI).

U.S. Geological Survey scientists and their colleagues from Colorado State University at Pueblo published their new findings in Environmental Science and Technology. The results demonstrate that organic chemicals introduced to the environment via land application of biosolids and manure are transferred to earthworms and enter the food chain.

Scientists found 28 AWIs in biosolids being applied at a soybean field for the first time and 20 AWIs in earthworms from the same field. Similar results were found for the field where swine manure Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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NEWS was applied. Several compounds were detected in earthworms collected both from the biosolids- and manure-applied fields, including phenol (disinfectant), tributylphosphate (antifoaming agent and flame retardant), benzophenone (fixative), trimethoprim (antibiotic), and the synthetic fragrances galaxolide, and tonalide. Detergent metabolites and the disinfectant triclosan were found in earthworms from the biosolids-applied field, but not the manure-applied field.

About half of the 8 million dry tons of biosolids produced in the US each year are applied to the land. Biosolids have been found to be rich in AWIs, compared to levels in wastewater treatment plant effluent. In addition, the 1.3 million farms raising livestock in the US generate an estimated 500 million tons of manure annually, much of which is also applied to fields as fertilizer for crops.

This study is part of a long-term effort by the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program to determine the fate and effects of chemicals of emerging environmental concern in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and to provide water-resource managers with objective information that assists in the development. www.usgs.gov

INTERNATIONAL WATER SUPPY LTD. WWW.IWS.CA

GROUNDWATER TECHOLOGY SPECIALISTS Engineers & Hydrogeologists Serving the Groundwater Industry for 75 Years 342 Bayview Drive, Box 310, Barrie, Ontario, Canada L4M 4T5

Tel: (705) 733-0111, Fax: (705) 721-0138 E-Mail: iws@iws.ca

North Bay store fined for storm sewer discharge Mike & Lori’s No Frills grocery store in North Bay, Ontario, experienced a power outage in July 2006, which caused a large quantity of food products at the store to degrade. The spoiled food was compacted and during the process an unknown quantity of liquid leaked from the compactor, entered the storm sewer and flowed into a nearby creek.

Charges were laid, following an investigation by the Ministry of the Environment’s Investigations and Enforcement Branch.

COMMUNITIES

Specialists in Environmental Planning and Engineering, Hydrogeology, Waste Management and Water Resources

TRANSPORTATION BUILDINGS INFRASTRUCTURE

Head Office: 80 Commerce Valley Dr. E.Thornhill, ON L3T 7N4 t: 905.882.1100 | f: 905.882.0055 www.mmm.ca

Interim phosphorus limits set on discharges to Lake Simcoe The Ontario government has set new interim limits on sewage plants and stormwater facilities around Lake Simcoe, to target phosphorus, a key water continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

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NEWS

Peter J. Laughton, P. Eng. Consulting Engineer

Environmental Engineering Services

King City, Ontario CANADA

p.laughton@pjlaughtonenv.com

tel: +1.905.833.6738 fax: +1.905.833.8497

quality concern for the lake.

The new interim regulation will cut the amount of phosphorus entering Lake Simcoe from specific municipal and industrial sources by: • limiting phosphorus discharges from municipal and industrial sewage plants • stopping new plants that would discharge phosphorus • making new stormwater facilities • serving new development • meeting the highest design standards These rules are in place from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 and will help protect the lake’s water quality until the government brings in comprehensive new laws and measures to protect the lake.

The regulation puts a new annual phosphorus loading limit on each of the 14 municipal sewage treatment plants, and the one industrial plant in the Lake Simcoe watershed. Together, these 15 plants are legally permitted to discharge up to approximately 12.5 tonnes of phosphorus each year. The new limits cut this total loading to 7.3 tonnes a year for the period of the regulation.

Ontario recognizes environmental achievements

engineering toronto london

welland moncton

tel 416 497 8600

78 | May 2008

operations

management

ottawa fredericton

sudbury mumbai

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Four more companies were welcomed into Ontario’s Environmental Leaders program. General Motors, Fielding Chemical, Nalco and Exhibition Place were recognized recently at the Green Living Show for the following environmental efforts: General Motors reduced its total facility greenhouse gas emissions by 49 per cent between 1990 and 2006 while assembling over 12 per cent more vehicles. GM also invested in one of the most environmentally advanced paint systems of its kind for the Oshawa plant.

Fielding Chemical operates a sophisticated chemical and refrigerant recycling plant in Canada, and is converting 750,000 litres of hazardous waste into a re-usable product.

Nalco, a water treatment company, is reducing electricity use by 20 per cent and making a 30 per cent reduction in hazardous waste generation.

Toronto’s Exhibition Place is home to the first urban wind turbine and has committed to 80 per cent waste diversion by 2010.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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NEWS Largest environmental clean-up in St. Catharines history gets federal support The Federal government has announced its intention to clean up the contaminated Surplus St. Lawrence Seaway property in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. The full cost of clean-up is estimated at $7 million.

The clean-up will be a part of the 2008 round of the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, which provides assistance to federal departments, agencies, and consolidated Crown corporations that are custodians of known or suspected contaminated sites. The program assists in evaluating these sites and deals with the environmental and health risks they may pose. It also contributes to employment and promoting innovative technologies to clean up or deal with contaminated sites. Projects will receive funding once the necessary due diligence has been completed and all federal requirements have been met.

You can view the federal contaminated sites inventory at: http://www.tbssct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/cs-sc/.

www.trg.ca Experience, Innovation, Diversity, Teamwork & Commitment

• MECHANICAL • ELECTRICAL • STRUCTURAL • ARCHITECTURAL • ENVIRONMENTAL • CIVIL

Manitoba’s proposed regional hog moratoriums become law Water protection would be strengthened and the long-term environmental sustainability of the hog industry would be ensured under amendments to the Environment Act, Manitoba’s Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said recently as he introduced the legislation.

Under the amendments, the three regional hog moratoriums announced recently would be permanently enshrined in legislation and would legislate the halt to industry expansion in three regions of the province where enhancement of existing environmental protection is necessary: 1. Southeastern Manitoba: This region is classified as an intensively-developed area, meaning it does not have sufficient land base to allow for further sustainable spreading of livestock manure.

2. The Red River Valley Special Management Zone: This high-risk area, which includes the capital region of the province, was identified by the Phosphorus Expert Committee as a vulnera-

Tel: (905) 823-7965 Fax: (905) 823-7932 www.pcbdisposal.com

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continued overleaf... www.esemag.com

79 | May 2008

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NEWS ble region because it is a flood-prone area. At 54 per cent, the Red River is the highest source of phosphorus loading to Lake Winnipeg.

3. The Interlake: This region borders on Lake Winnipeg to the east and Lake Manitoba to the west. In addition, wetlands and other marginal and ecologically-sensitive land make the region unsuitable for further hog industry expansion.

The remaining regions of the province would be subject to new, more strict requirements as recommended by the Clean Environment Committee (CEC) including extending the ban on winter spreading of manure to all operations by 2013. A cross-departmental team led by Manitoba Conservation will be responsible for implementing the CEC recommendations.

Campbellton, NS to get new water treatment plant Residents of Campbellton, Nova Scotia, will benefit from a higher quality and more secure water supply, thanks to a new water treatment plant funded by the provincial, federal and municipal governments.

The $4.5-million project was undertaken in two phases. Under the CanadaNew Brunswick Infrastructure Program, the city improved its water source and distribution systems, which involved the addition of a large-scale water reservoir and ultraviolet disinfection equipment.

Under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, the city installed an under-

ground power line to the water treatment plant, ensuring a secure, efficient power supply for the disinfection system.

The Government of Canada, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Government of New Brunswick, and the City of Campbellton, each contributed $1,483,333 towards the total project costs.

BC mine remediation will help restore fish habitat It is hoped that the $4.5-million remediation of an abandoned Mount Washington open pit copper mine will support the recovery of Vancouver Island fish stocks.

“This is the best long-term solution to clean up toxic copper leachate that has been contaminating the headwaters of the Tsolum River for decades,” said BC Environment Minister Barry Penner.

Remediation will take place in three phases, between 2008 and 2010. The project will include the installation of a thick, pliable, roofing-like material (bituminous geomembrane) that will cover the entire site. This will be covered by a one metre thick glacial till layer, which will be planted with vegetation to stabilize and protect the material from the elements.

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources will lead the project.

In March 2006, the BC government provided the initial $50,000 contribution to the Tsolum River Partnership for an engineering study to develop the optimal remediation plan for the mine site. SRK Consulting, a leading international expert firm in the field of mine remediation was

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80 | May 2008

hired to complete the study, and submitted the plan to the ministries of Environment and Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and the Tsolum River Partnership for review in December 2007. www.tsolumriver.org

Brandon WWTP to be upgraded Brandon’s industrial wastewater treatment facility is to be upgraded, allowing Maple Leaf Foods to expand its operations, increase provincial hog-processing capacity, and better prepare the province to respond to potential trade action including country of origin labeling.

The plant will receive $15.5 million in upgrades, allowing Maple Leaf to increase processing to 86,000 hogs from 75,000 per week with benefits to other industrial users.

The province will provide a total contribution of $7.8 million towards the $15.5-million upgrade. Manitoba’s contribution includes $3.9 million while an equal amount has been allocated under Manitoba’s share of the federal government’s Community Development Trust.

This is a new program to help provinces and territories assist communities and workers suffering economic hardship caused by the current volatility in global financial and commodities markets.

Maple Leaf Foods and the City of Brandon will provide the remaining funding.

WERF announces updated stormwater BMP database Improvements in the International Stormwater BMP Database were recently unveiled by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and its partners. It will better enable BMP searches, data collection and uploading, and access to BMP performance analyses.

The BMP database provides scientifically sound information to improve the design, selection, and performance of BMPs. The program is supported by WERF, U.S. EPA, the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration, and the American Public Works Association. The results, tools and information noted above are all available from the database website. www.bmpdatabase.org

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

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Page

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.www.wcienvironmental.ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.weftec.org . . . . . .dinar@xcg.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.xcgtraining.com

Ad Index

81 | May 2008

Use this information to contact our advertisers directly

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Website

Advertiser INDEX

ACG Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 AECOM Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Albarrie Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Aquastore Tanks & Domes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Armtec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12,13 Ashtead Technology Rentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Assmann Corporation of America . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Associated Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 AWI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 AWWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 BakerCorp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 CAEAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Canadian Safety Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Canadian Water and Wastewater Association . . .14 Cancoppas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 CH2M Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Cla-Val . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Containment Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Degremont Technologies Infilco . . . . . . . . .29,31,33 Delcan Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Denso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Duall Division, Met-Pro Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Endress + Hauser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Fluid Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Greatario Engineered Storage Systems . . . . . . . .45 Greenspoon Specialty Contracting . . . . . . . . . . . .26 H2Flow Tanks & Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Heron Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Hoskin Scientific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Hoskin Scientific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Hoskin Scientific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Industrial Scientific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 IPEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 ITT Water & Wastewater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 John Meunier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Master Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 MSU Mississauga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Mueller Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Myron L Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Neptune Chemical Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Parkson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 ProMinent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Rocky Mountain Soil Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Rusmar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Saf-T-Flo Chemical Injection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Sanitherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 SaskTel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Schneider Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 SEEwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Siemens Water Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Smith & Loveless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 SPD Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Stantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Toronto and Region Conservation Authority . . . . .24 Victaulic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Waterra Pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 WCI Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 WEFTEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 XCG Training & Operations Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

E-mail

May 08 2:ES&E

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Wastewater Treatment

Special activated sludge system (con’t from page 67)

In SBR tank, where the liquid level is monitored while mixing and dissolved oxygen are controlled, a decanter draws off treated water for disinfection and discharge.

Mills added that service availability was also a key consideration. “We wanted to use high-level equipment for

Visit us at AWWA ACE’08 Booth #1746 Series 7000 mechanical diaphragm metering pumps

Neptune’s Series 7000 mechanically actuated diaphragm metering pumps handle viscosities in excess of 5,000 cps and pump chemicals that off-gas (sodium hypochlorite) without binding.

All models provide suction lift to 20 feet.

Maximum capacities range from 15 gph to 300 gph with adjustable 10:1 turndown by micrometer dial; variable speed option allows automated flow control. Liquid ends are available in PVC, Kynar, and 316SS. Neptune Chemical Pump Co. Lansdale, PA Tel: 888-3NEPTUNE or 215-699-8700 E-Mail: pump@neptune1.com www.neptune1.com

82 | May 2008

all system components, to promote maximum reliability for a long-term commitment beyond warranty,” he said.

“This has helped the realization of little on-site presence required for reliable and continuous operation. The operator has been needed on site only for an hour or so every three days, versus an original estimate of an hour to an hour and a half every day.”

For the first four years of operation, the plant has removed about 60,000 litres of sludge to landfill. The second and larger WWTP, for Portugal Cove, is designed to mirror the successful St. Philip’s WWTP, with minor improvements.

In particular, a special piping system will allow for easy transfer of the sludge blanket from one treatment train to another. Both projects have two treatment trains, with one of them redundant at a given time.

“At the request of the superintendent, if the active train gets a peak load, and the biology is killed off due to contaminant shock loading or infiltration, they’ll be able to quickly seed the disturbed train with the undisturbed train just by opening a valve and turning on a pump,” Mills said.

Fluidyne describes its Integrated Surge Anoxic Mix (ISAM) system as a single-train type, with a constant-level anaerobic selector chamber followed by a surge/anoxic/mix (SAM™) tank, and then one or more SBR basins. It is designed to incorporate BOD, TSS, and nitrogen removal with sludge reduction, in an integrated process.

The system has consistently demonstrated 0.15-0.25 lbs of sludge production per lb. of BOD removal, compared to 0.5-0.6 for other SBR systems, and an average daily conversion of influent wastewater to sludge of about 0.1%, compared to a typical conversion rate for other biological processes of about 2%.

In operation, all influent flow enters the anaerobic chamber, where solids settle in the manner of a primary clarifier.

Elimination of primary solids at that stage is said to allow for much smaller SBR basins, at equivalent SRT, than with conventional SBRs.

In SAM tank, which receives influent from the ISAM tank, liquid level is monitored while air is introduced from the atmosphere.

The anaerobic selector creates soluble carbon as a food source for biological nutrient and phosphorus removal, through conversion of settleable BOD to soluble BOD, while forcing the release of phosphorus by subjecting the recirculated biomass to anaerobic conditions.

Influent then continues to the SAM surge basin, also known as the influent equalization basin. This part of the system is said to provide flow and nutrient equalization that allows for optimization of treatment at the full range of flows and loadings.

Mixed liquor is maintained in the SAM tank for immediate reaction with flow from the anaerobic chamber, in order to suppress odours, and also initiate and accelerate carbon and nitrogen reactions. In addition, mixed liquor is recycled from the top of the SBR tank, for removal of scum by a proprietary flow and scum control sub-system.

Nitrates are recycled to the SAM tank for denitrification, with reactions accelerated in the presence of unreacted carbon from the raw sewage entering that tank.

Aeration and energy requirements are said to be reduced, as nitrates are fully reduced to nitrogen gas there.

For further information, E-mail fluidyne@fluidynecorp.com.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine

May 08:ES&E

5/12/08

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May 08:ES&E

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