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Contents Page 32
April 2016 Vol. 29 No. 2 • Issued April. 2016 • ISSN-0835-605X
Page 13
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES History shows tougher environmental laws don’t have to hurt Effective odour control using plant based micronutrients Validation method brings performance and economy gains to UV disinfection Corrugated steel pipe fish ladder completes first field trial Electro-oxidation promising for landfill leachate ammonium removal Diverting healthcare waste from landfill is essential to public health Using zeta potential to determine coagulant and filter polymer dosage How will Ontario’s proposed excess soil management policy work? Training and equipment required when working at heights New options to consider for zebra mussel control Control and communication has advanced in motor control centers Heavy metals remediation of soil and water is a site-specific challenge Sustainable and equitable stormwater funding: a British Columbia case study Retrofits at Hamilton Water Treatment Plant save $400,000 per year Water plant uses powdered activated carbon for pesticide removal Reflecting on over 20 years of Water For People Canada
Special Focus on Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets 30 32 36 38 40 44 48 50 52
How Ontario can cope with its $60 billion infrastructure deficit Small municipalities can no longer afford “big pipe” solutions Brockville benefits from automated equipment and watermain flushing program Trenchless technology can allow for more pipeline rehabilitation Micro-tunnelling used for new Bolton trunk sewer Extending the life of lagoons helps municipal budgets Pilot project improves water quality and saves Newfoundland town money Concrete cloth is an emerging technology for culvert remediation Public-private partnerships help fund municipal infrastructure projects
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Editorial Comment by Steve Davey
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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 emailed to steve@esemag.com. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Second Class Mail Product Agreement No. 40065446 Registration No. 7750 Undeliverable copies, advertising space orders, copy, artwork, proofs, etc., should be sent to: Environmental Science & Engineering, 220 Industrial Pkwy. S., Unit 30, Aurora, Ontario, Canada, L4G 3V6, Tel: (905)727-4666, Fax: (905) 841-7271, Web site: www.esemag.com
6 | April 2016
History shows tougher environmental laws don’t have to hurt
T
wo major events affected the general public and the auto sector almost simultaneously in the early 1970s. In an effort to reduce chronic smog events in many cities, amendments to the U.S. government’s Clean Air Act mandated dramatically lower nitrous oxide emission levels in passenger vehicles. To achieve this, with the simple carbureted technology available at the time, auto manufacturers had to lower average engine compression levels. In one model year (1972-73), they dropped from an average of 10:1 to 8:1. Drivers noticed an immediate impact, as this reduction in compression resulted in a substantial reduction in horsepower. Several years ago, I had to replace the worn out 350 V8 engine in my 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88, which produced 200 net horsepower. The 1973 engine I installed only produced 165 net horsepower. Not unexpectedly, performance dropped dramatically. Catalytic converters and other measures like exhaust gas recirculation were introduced to meet even tougher standards. These further cut horsepower and hence performance. Reduced engine performance also meant drivers suffered with reduced fuel economy. This pain was made even greater when in October 1973 the “Arab Oil Embargo” began. This caused widespread fuel shortages and sent crude oil prices skyrocketing from $3 to $12 per barrel by March 1974. In 1975, the U.S. government created Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, forcing auto manufacturers to improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks. As a result of stricter emissions and legislated fuel economy standards, the end of the big car era seemed imminent. How could V8 carbureted engines with three-speed automatic transmissions survive? High performance was over. Or so it seemed. Fast forward to today and nothing could be further from the truth. In re-
The “Arab Oil Embargo” caused widespread fuel shortages.
sponse to the tighter emission controls and CAFE standards that auto manufacturers had to embrace, new technologies evolved, such as computerized fuel injection and engine management, variable valve timing, etc. Now, a 4 litre engine, that might have produced 90 horsepower in 1976, can easily produce over 400 horsepower. Manufacturers also embraced advanced aerodynamic design and 6-to-8 speed transmissions. The results were astounding. In 2010, a Lincoln Town Car, which is the largest car Ford made, had better fuel economy than the 1974 Pinto, which was the smallest car it made. It’s clear that stringent emissions and fuel economy regulations did not hurt auto manufacturers or drivers over the long run. The same also applies for broader environmental policies. A new study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that countries that implement stringent environmental policies do not lose export competitiveness when compared against those with more moderate regulations. Emerging economies with strong manufacturing sectors like China could strengthen environmental laws without denting their overall share in export markets, it suggests. High-pollution or energy-intensive industries like chemicals, plastics and steel making, whethcontinued overleaf...
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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er in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), or in Europe or North America, would suffer a small disadvantage from a further tightening of regulations. However, this would be compensated by growth in exports from less-polluting activities. “Do Environmental Policies Affect Global Value Chains?” questions whether regulations to curb pollution and energy use hurt businesses by creating new costs. Many feel that tough environmental laws often lead manufacturers to move to countries with laxer regulations. “Environmental policies are simply not the major driver of international trade patterns,” said OECD Chief Economist Catherine L. Mann, presenting the study at the London School of Economics. “We find no evidence that a large gap between the environmental policies of two given countries significantly affects their overall trade in manufactured goods. Governments should stop working on the assumption that tighter regulations will hurt their export share and focus on the edge they can get from innovation.” According to the study, the effect of stringent environmental law is tiny compared to other factors like market size, trade tariffs, globalization and a country’s unique assets. It claims the domestic value added in exports of goods from high-pollution industries from environmentally stringent countries (Denmark, Germany and Switzerland) to the BRICS rose by US$11.157 billion from 1995 to 2008. That figure would have been 3% percent higher if green laws
weren’t so stringent. However, those same laws raised exports in cleaner industries by 3%. The net dollar loss/gain was almost the same amount. As governments consider ways to tighten environmental regulations in line with new climate change pledges, OECD’s analysis offers evidence that doing so would not hurt trade. Factors like market conditions and workforce quality are likely to have much more impact on trade competitiveness. Furthermore, tough environmental standards may also drive firms to become more innovative, improving both their economic and environmental performance. The OECD Environmental Policy Stringency indicator is a composite index based on the explicit or implicit cost of environmental policies related mainly to climate and air pollution. It shows policies have become increasingly stringent in advanced economies since the 1990s. The highest costs on polluting behaviour are in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The UK and U.S. are around average. Policies are more lenient in the BRICS. As is the case with the automobile, economics and the environment need not be adversaries. One can only hope that governments also see that this applies on a much broader scale.
Steve Davey is Editor of ES&E Magazine. Email: steve@esemag.com
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Odour Control
Effective odour control using plant based micronutrients By Derk Maat
O
ffensive odours generated by landfills, wastewater treatment plants, waste transfer stations, food waste receptacles, stormwater ponds and canals are a challenge in both urban and rural environments. Most of the new technology being developed for odour control is based on chemical breakdown of compounds, using UV, carbon, ozone and biological filtration. Other solutions include oxygenating and aerating solid and liquid waste collection basins to prevent septic conditions. The least effective method is the use of chemical masking agents, which are often toxic and have human exposure restrictions. Other initiatives and solutions have been based on the use of biocides to kill bacterial populations that are responsible for the generation of odours. Unfortunately, they also kill nonodour producing beneficial anaerobic/ aerobic bacteria that are responsible for the biological breakdown of waste material. Biocides currently in use consist of chlorine/quartenary ammonia, copper sulphate and formaldehyde solutions. These are highly toxic to the beneficial bacteria and to the environment, as they end up being discharged into receiving surface waters. Selective biological inhibition of odour producing bacteria Anaerobic sulphur-reducing bacteria have been identified as the main source of offensive odourous compounds in organic processes and organic waste treatment systems. These bacteria are active and thrive in the absence of oxygen. A new approach using plant based organic micronutrients has been developed over the last number of years to specifically stimulate aerobes and anaerobes and competitively inhibit sulphur-reducing and ammonia forming bacteria and enzymes. BIOLOGIC SRC/SRC3 from Scicorp International
10 | April 2016
Landfills and wastewater treatment plants pose many odour challenges.
Corp. is one such product. The main active ingredients in micronutrient solutions include plant sourced amino acids, vitamins and other plant based organic constituents and trace minerals. The micronutrient solution itself is biodegradable, as it is
Microorganisms stimulated by the micronutrient solution outcompete the odour producing microbes for macronutrients. consumed by the beneficial bacteria in organic waste streams. These micronutrients eliminate the formation of odours that occur during organic waste degradation. Research has shown that non-sulphur reducing anaerobes and many different types of aerobes are stimulated by the plant based organic micronutrient catalyst
to operate at much higher metabolic rates. Sulphur-reducing anaerobes and ammonia generating enzymes are unable to utilize these micronutrients. As a result, microorganisms stimulated by the micronutrient solution outcompete the odour producing microbes for macronutrients. By means of competitive inhibition, they severely restrict the odour producing microbes’ metabolic activity. This results in a dramatic decrease in the production of odourous gases. The net impact is that odours are significantly reduced, while bacterial breakdown of organic waste continues at an accelerated rate. Other advantages with controlling odours with micronutrients include: • No need for significant infrastructure and space requirements to contain, control and treat odours. • Elimination of 90% of capital investment associated with odour control using chemical and/or biofilter infrastructure. • A 90% reduction of the energy demand associated with conventional odour continued overleaf...
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Odour Control control strategies and technologies, with a significant associated carbon footprint reduction. • No need for biofilters, ozonation units, or carbon units. Treatment of airborne odourous compounds Plant based organic micronutrients can also be utilized in misting systems to treat odourous gases generated by nonpoint sources. These include transfer stations, landfills, garbage rooms, wastewater plants, biosolids processing facilities, and organic material processing facilities such as food production plants and/or pulp and paper mills. Air misting in a hog slaughter house barn and in hog rearing facilities resulted in 85%-90% reduction in H2S/ ammonia concentrations. Commercial misting applications in garbage rooms of stores and institutions achieved similar reductions. Misting applications in transfer stations, the tipping floor and pits in a municipal solid waste incineration plant,
and in chicken rendering plants, have all resulted in dramatic odour reduction and elimination of odour complaints from neighbours. Industrial misting applications in tannery facilities and sludge processing facilities also resulted in significant odour reductions. Using a micronutrient solution in misting applications requires minimal capital investment for infrastructure and has proven to be an effective environmentally sustainable life cycle cost solution. Wastewater treatment plant applications When applied in wastewater plants for odour control, micronutrients were able to improve treatment performance and reduce operating costs. Typical addition rates for odour control in wastewater plants range from 1 ppm to 10 ppm. Application to biosolids processing plants at 50 ppm to 2% TSS sludge mixtures also reduced odours by 80%. Application to wastewater treatment plant influent by direct injection has also resulted in dramatic reductions in
ambient air H2S. Lagoon surface spray applications have eliminated odour generation and odour complaints from lagoons containing effluent from ethanol plants, paper mills, septic tank sludges, hog manure and cherry processing facilities, ranging in volume from 500 m3 to 45,000 m3. Inoculation of sludges from paper mills and wastewater plants prior to dewatering has reduced odours 80%-90%. It has eliminated the need for large biofilters, scrubbers and contaminated air treatment facilities by reducing and/or eliminating the generation of odours at source. Conclusion The use of micronutrient solutions for odour source control and abatement, and for the stimulation of beneficial biodegradation mechanisms, represents an alternative, innovative and proven environmentally sustainable approach. Derk Z. Maat, M.Eng.,P.Eng., is with Maat Environmental Engineering. Email: derk@maatenv.com
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Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Disinfection
Validation method brings performance and economy gains to UV disinfection By Steve Green and Kirsten Meyer
U
nlike chlorine, ozone and other chemical disinfectants whose dose can be quantitatively determined by a CT value, determining the right ultraviolet (UV) dose is not so simple. Until relatively recently, UV design engineers have faced a dilemma. Open channel UV system design has typically been based on either a calculated dose approach, which assumes ideal flow and UV intensity distributions (and not reflecting actual real system performance), or a conservative design approach, which ensures adequate performance but often results in significant overdesign. The first approach risks noncompliance, while the second risks wasting capital and operating funds. Currently, continued overleaf...
Open channel UV system design has typically been based on either a calculated dose approach, or a conservative design approach.
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Disinfection the only way around this dilemma has been to conduct pilot testing. The design team determines the site-specific dose response characteristics of the pathogens of concern, together with appropriate UV system performance assessment, in order to develop the “best fit” design. Pilot testing an open channel UV system is very expensive and time-consuming. Recently, improved understanding of how different pathogens respond to UV light has resulted in a major shift in the necessary sizing of UV systems for wastewater, allowing for best fit design without pilot testing. Qualified, extensive UV system validation testing that considers a large “validation envelope” and is in line with existing guidelines, now offers utilities and design engineers a more cost-effective and scientific approach for open channel UV system design. UV Disinfection Guidance Manual 06 This positive shift in the necessary sizing of open channel UV systems was initiated after publication of the UV Disinfection Guidance Manual (UVDGM) by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006. Different dose levels were determined, together with log inactivation credits by surrogates. Unlike alternative UV validation methods, such as the German DVGW W-294 and Austrian OENORM M 5873, which only test to a single UV dose set point of 40 mJ/cm2 Reduction Equivalent Dose (RED), the EPA UVDGM validation allows for the selection of multiple data points. The result is a highly flexible UV performance prediction formula that can be applied to a broad range of disinfection targets. This way, dose response behaviours, which vary by type of organism (always specific to the range tested) are accounted for. Cryptosporidium, an organism difficult to destroy with chlorine, is effectively inactivated by a relatively small UV dose, while viruses require a significantly larger UV dose to achieve the same log reduction. In order to properly describe the caption performance of a tested UV system on 14 | April 2016
A Duron UV disinfection system by Xylem.
different organisms, a new term “DL” was established. It describes the dose required for 1 log reduction, also known as UV sensitivity. Incorporating such a term into a UV system’s validation formula, based on tests with surrogates exhibiting different UV sensitivities, allows one to determine how a UV system disinfects organisms of different UV sensitivity.
Cryptosporidium, an organism difficult to destroy with chlorine, is effectively inactivated by a relatively small UV dose, while viruses require a significantly larger UV dose. DL Approach The DL approach allows UV system designers to determine a site-specific sensitivity via collimated beam tests for the project. This in turn allows for “best fit” design instead of more expensive pilot testing, provided design conditions are covered by the validation test condi-
tions (validation envelope). Based on the guidance provided in the UVDGM 06, the DL approach may allow for increased flow capacity of given UV systems for wastewater, compared to previous design approaches. This offers significant cost savings for upcoming wastewater projects. Also, many installed open channel systems in North America can be reviewed according to the latest guidelines and benefit from favorable validation results. The DL approach allows for significant flexibility, depending on validation goals and the potential applications for full-scale UV systems. A biological surrogate reacts the same way to UV light as the critical bacteria, but does not have its harmful impact. Testing with multiple surrogates that bracket, or encompass, the range of UV sensitivities, allows for tailoring the site design to the site-specific UV sensitivity of the target organisms (See Figure 1). This is ideal for wastewater designs where disinfection targets, UV sensitivities and site-specific wastewater conditions vary. Because disinfection targets differ from site to site (such as in reuse vs. discharge applications), typical indicator organisms can be bracketed, using this multiple organism approach to allow for best fit design. Since the publication of the UVDGM continued overleaf...
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Disinfection
Figure 1. Validation envelopes.
06, the most commonly used surrogate, or non-pathogenic “challenge” microorganisms, are MS2, T1, T7, and B pumilus spores. This wide variety of surrogates is selected in order to bracket a broad range of sensitivities found in the field (See Figure 2). T1 surrogate, for example, resembles coliform bacteria a lot better than MS-2. The validation formula based on the testing protocol from UVDGM 06 allows for the integration of a specific UV sensitivity (DL) in which these different surrogates are tested over a broad range of UV sensitivities (See Figure 3). This way, a design becomes possible that allows for the particular consideration of the site-specific dose response curve and, correspondingly, the DL of the pathogen targeted (which is easily established using collimated beam tests). The DL is then entered into this validation formula to allow precise dosage delivery based on that specific pathogen’s UV sensitivity. Advancements in technology performance The DL method addresses many of the earlier challenges regarding appropriate sizing of open channel UV systems for wastewater applications. Certain UV technology providers are now using today’s better understanding of pathogen-specific UV sensitivity, along with technical advancements, to make UV an even greater value proposition.
Figure 2. Multiple organism approach.
Figure 3. 16 | April 2016
A viable option The DL approach provides for significantly more accurate UV system sizing and control, often allowing for a smaller UV system design when compared to a generic MS-2 UV dose of, for example, 30 mJ/cm². Considering also the validation factor, it allows for direct comparison between UV manufacturers using a sensitivity appropriate to disinfection goals. By using the DL approach, along with the advancements in UV technology, open channel UV disinfection is a very viable option for medium to large wastewater projects. Steve Green and Kirsten Meyer are with Xylem. Email: steve.green@xyleminc.com, kirsten.meyer@xyleminc.com Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Ecosystem Conservation
Corrugated steel pipe fish ladder completes first field trial By Ray Wilcock
T
hroughout North America, perched culverts and similar hydraulic impasses represent a big problem for migrating fish. Perched culverts are ones with an outlet elevated above the downstream water surface. “Fish ladder” is a term used to describe fishway conveyances intended to help alleviate this difficulty. They generally consist of a stepped series of sequentially elevated water pools, separated by weirs or baffles. Replacing a perched culvert is rarely an economically viable solution. Despite the fact that these obstacles are widespread, little work has been done to scientifically analyze the performance of existing fish ladders in order to improve them. Under the auspices of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), a small
Fish ladders generally consist of a stepped series of sequentially elevated water pools, separated by weirs or baffles.
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Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Ecosystem Conservation group of concerned industry colleagues has been collaborating on a project to design and test an innovative corrugated steel pipe (CSP) fish ladder that will enhance the safe passage of migrating fish. Following the analytical and design stage of the project phase, the first prototype has now completed its first field trial. Overseeing this project are: Dave Penny, Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute (CSPI); Jason Duguay and Jay Lacey, University of Sherbrooke; and Ken Hannaford, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The idea for this research project came about in 2012, when Penny described a concept that Hannaford had for an innovative and improved fish ladder. Penny had learned of this while showing him how using polymer coated structural plate corrugated steel pipe would offer a great base for fabricating these structures. Its corrugations naturally reduce the velocity of water flowing through it, particularly along the edges of the pipe. In fact, the deeper the corrugations, the greater the decrease in
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Perched culverts are just one of many elevation obstacles that can stop the passage of fish migrating upstream.
velocity. Previous solutions have been devised to address the problem, including Denil fish ladders. Inside these, numerous metal fins act as deflecting barriers to slow water flow. However, the fins have sharp edges and, if poorly configured, can create excessive turbulence in the
pools. Moreover, they provide only small zones of calmer water that fish need for resting, before they proceed to the next pool. Sharp baffle edges and excessive turbulence can injure or even kill fish, especially those that are exhausted from swimming against the combined forces continued overleaf...
April 2016 | 19
Ecosystem Conservation of gravity and flowing water. Unfortunately, many of these types of fish ladders are ineffective, non-permanent and non-portable devices, and can become plugged with debris, branches, etc. Penny, Lacey and Duguay collaborated to secure funding from NSERC, which promotes and supports scientific innovation and collaboration among academic experts and industry. “We needed funds to support our work and purchase numerical modeling software to determine the effects of specific design changes on water velocities and turbulences within the fish ladder,” explains Duguay. The team had to ensure that its new design could develop spatial distributions of water velocity and turbulence similar to those of other designs recommended by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). They employed a 3D computational fluid dynamics program to analyze and design a baffle that would deliver equal or better results, while providing easier, safer fish passage over a wide range of flow rates.
“We wanted to ensure that our baffle would respect the minimum criteria laid out in the DFO recommendations and, hopefully, improve upon a few deficiencies that Hannaford saw in the DFO design,” explains Duguay. “First, the DFO design features aligned passages in the centre of each baffle. This channels flow straight down the centre, creating excessive turbulence as the flow enters the next downstream pool. This effectively reduces the area of calm water available in the pool where fish can rest. A lack of effective resting areas can increase the chance of fatigue, injury and rates of mortality during ascent.” “Ken Hannaford came up with the concept of using curved forms, rather than angular ones. Also, by sequentially alternating the baffles on either side of the corrugated steel pipe, I immediately saw its potential to relegate high velocities and reduce overall turbulence in each pool of the fish ladder. Also, the corrugated walls of the pipe help to reduce flow velocities,” explains Duguay. “We were also concerned by numerous reports of debris blockages in the
DFO design. We believe that the curved form of the baffle could also limit debris snags and reduce maintenance costs,” says Duguay. One principal objective of the design study was to make the new fish ladder passable for as many kinds of fish as possible. This meant that they needed to ensure fish had access to larger recirculation areas of relatively calm water and low velocities near the passageways. The DFO design recommends a minimum of 200 mm between the lowest part in the slot and the CSP corrugations, which results in little buildup of water depth in pools. That is a weakness, because deeper water will further reduce turbulence. Conversely, the innovative curves of this new, arched baffle produce significant increases in pool depths during higher flow rates, to minimize turbulence. “I would run simulations and send them to Hannaford,” explains Duguay. “Then we’d discuss the findings via email and proceed to suggest new refinements that might further improve the results we were getting. That was the iterative,
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Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Ecosystem Conservation collaborative process through which we developed the final design. Historically, other hydraulic simulations generated by the software have proved it to be a very accurate tool for predicting real-world measurements. So, we’re pretty confident that our numbers are good; however, we still want to compare results with a real-world model,� he concludes. The curved baffles of the new design provide a primary slot for fish passage, but also a smaller, secondary slot on the opposite side of the baffle. Primary and secondary slots are fixed on alternate sides of each successive baffle, so that flow moves through the primary passageway just above the secondary passageway of the next downstream baffle. In this fashion, velocities through the pools are decreased, which translates into improved passage performance. The primary passage is wider, allowing more water to flow through. This in turn gives fish a larger opening through which they can jump. Previous scientific studies have shown that increased passageway width directly improves jumping success rates. The secondary
passage serves as an alternative slot during high flow rates, not only for fish, but also for debris. Findings Fish ladder simulations were tested at typical seasonal flow rates of streams in which a number of important North American fish species are commonly observed. These include brown trout and cutthroat, as well as Sockeye, Coho and Chinook salmon. Results demonstrate that the new baffle design helps lower the global turbulence in each pool and confines the regions of high velocity to the side of the ladder. This leaves a large portion of the pool free for fish to rest in before continuing upstream. Additionally, the high protruding arch of the baffle helps build pool depth as flow rates increase. This keeps turbulence and velocities within reasonable levels. The increased pool depths observed at higher flow rates also decrease the vertical drop that fish need to overcome between adjacent pools. In some instances, fish may be able to swim directly between pools without resorting to jumping.
The design still needs to be verified for its ability to pass smaller juvenile fish, as well as fish species with weaker swimming abilities. To this end, the team is currently expanding its research, in order to analyze, understand and address the additional needs of these types of fish. In November 2014, the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) came forward with a culvert replacement/fish passage project under HWY 21, on Saugeen Ojibway Nation land. CSPI began work with the MTO design team. The HWY 21 project, completed in December 2015, has become part of their ongoing research and will be presented in detail at the 2016 Canadian Society of Civil Engineers Conference in London, Ontario, June 1-4. Ray Wilcock is Executive Director of the Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute. For more information, visit www.cspi.ca To see more photos and watch the fish ladder in action, visit: www.esemag.com/fish-ladder
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April 2016 | 21
Landfill Leachate Treatment
Electro-oxidation promising for landfill leachate ammonium removal By Chumeng Wu
L
andfill leachate treatment is a major engineering challenge due to the complex and concentrated contaminants within it. Depending on the age of the landfill, weather variations, and type and composition of the waste, leachate may contain large amounts of organic matter, ammonia-nitrogen, heavy metals, and chlorinated organic and inorganic salts. Most commonly in North America, landfill leachate is either hauled or pumped to off-site municipal wastewater treatment plants for disposal. However, due to high ammonium concentrations, especially in the summer season, leachate disposed to off-site facilities has been a problem for plant owners. This is due to more stringent effluent discharge criteria, as well as interference with biological processes at the plants. Onsite leachate treatment is an alternative to the increasing costs associated with hauling and disposal of leachate to off-site wastewater treatment plants. Traditional leachate treatment technologies include biological treatment processes and physical/chemical processes. Biological treatment processes include conventional activated sludge, sequencing batch reactors, membrane bioreactors, aerobic lagoons, trickling filters and constructed wetlands. Physical/chemical processes include flotation, coagulation-flocculation and chemical oxidation. However, these treatment methods are not considered effective in handling the excessive amount of ammonium compounds present in leachate. Electro-oxidation is fast becoming a promising process for removing ammonium from landfill leachate. Degradation of ammonium can be achieved by an indirect electro-oxidation process. With the presence of chloride ions in the leachate, hypochlorite ions can be produced by electro-oxidation, which reacts with a wide variety of nitrogen compounds. A pilot-scale leachate treatment system using electro-oxidation technology was designed, built, installed and tested by Xogen Technologies Inc. for onsite
22 | April 2016
The onsite collection sump transfers leachate to the treatment system.
ammonium reduction. The purpose of the pilot project was to demonstrate an ammonia concentration reduction from over 400 mg/l to less than 200 mg/l; operational consistency, with stable performance 24/7 over a three month period; and a treatment cost of less than $0.001 per litre. Leachate treated in this pilot project was collected onsite from a sanitary landfill. It is required to treat its leachate because of the high concentration of ammonia in sewage sludge accepted for several years. Increases of ammonia concentration in the leachate of the landfill since 2007 have been observed. Although sewage sludge is no longer sent to the landfill, its leachate remains high in ammonia. In 2010, the owner was directed to reduce ammonia levels to less than 200 mg/l from over 400 mg/l. Leachate was pumped from the onsite collection sump at the landfill into the treatment system. The leachate was not pretreated, except for filtration with a 3 mm screen prior to the electro-reactor to avoid plugging by large debris. Leachate was then pumped through the electro-oxidation reactor and entered a liquid gas separator. This was designed to sep-
The 3.8 lpm pilot-scale electro-oxidation leachate treatment system.
arate gas byproducts from the leachate. Treated leachate was then pumped from the pilot plant through an effluent pump. The electro-oxidation reactor consisted of an array of anodes and cathodes spaced closely together. The design treatment capacity of the unit was 3.8 lpm. A programmable power supply was used to supply power to the electro-oxidation reactor. The treatment system was controlled continued overleaf...
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Landfill Leachate Treatment by a Schneider Electric programmable logic controller and was designed to run automatically without the presence of an operator. A human-machine-interface was designed and built by Versatech of Mississauga, Ontario, to operate, control and monitor the process. Ammonium removal results The pilot plant was operated contin-
uously for three months. Ammonium concentrations in the treated leachate effluent varied from 69 mg/l to 196 mg/l, depending on the settings of power capacity and retention time. Power supplied to the electro-oxidation reactor was found to be the dominant parameter that controls the ammonium removal rate. Concentrations in the leachate were found to be reduced
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significantly after increasing the power supplied to the reactor. The lowest ammonium concentrations were observed at the highest power capacity of 3.3 kW. Ammonium removal rate was increased by 24 percentage points from 30.8% at 1.9 kW to 54.3% at 3.3 kW. Larger power capacity provides a stronger driving force for the reaction of ammonium reduction through electro-oxidation. Since the reaction consumes alkalinity, pH drop was also identified in the treated leachate. The pH level was reduced from 7.6 in raw leachate to 6.4 at 1.9 kW. It was further reduced to 6.27 at 2.6 kW. By raising the power to 3.3 kW, pH was reduced to 6.1. Additionally, the hydraulic retention time (HRT) is an important factor affecting ammonium removal from landfill leachate. HRT determines the time required for reactions to take place with ammonium ions in the leachate. At a HRT of 3.7 minutes, average ammonium concentration in the treated leachate was 235.8 mg/l. Average ammonium concentration was reduced by 28.2% to 169.2 mg/l by increasing the HRT from 3.7 minutes to 4.6 minutes. Ammonium concentration was further reduced by 46.2% to 90.9 mg/l when HRT was increased to 6.2 minutes. Operation cost There are two components to the operational cost of the pilot-scale electro-chemical oxidation system: electricity to power up the electro-oxidation reactor, and a scaling control agent to remove deposits from electrode surfaces. After process optimization, power consumption of the pilot leachate treatment system was maintained at around 2.9 kwh, while ammonium concentration was reduced to around 150 mg/l. Electricity cost of the pilot plant was $0.0014 per litre of leachate treated. The chemical cost was $0.00036 per litre of leachate treated. The operation cost of the pilot scale electro-oxidation system was found to be $ 0.0017 per litre of leachate treated, which makes electro-oxidation a cost-effective alternative for onsite leachate treatment. Chumeng Wu is with Xogen Technologies Inc. For more information, Email: ahughes@xogen.ca
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Guest Comment
Diverting healthcare waste from landfill is essential By Jayne Pilot
H
ealthcare facilities are in business to protect patients and to reduce health problems. But, at the same time, they create waste which contains harmful microorganisms that can be dangerous to public health when disposed of in landfills. Managing and controlling waste is crucial for public health, whether it is hospital infectious waste or municipal garbage. The World Health Organization is quoted as saying: “Healthcare waste contains potentially harmful microorganisms which can infect hospital patients, healthcare workers and the general public. Other potential infectious risks may include the spread of drug-resistant microorganisms from healthcare establishments.” Infectious disease is a never-ending threat. The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2013 showed a 1000% increase in the Staphylococcus aureus infection rate between 1995 and 2009. S.aureus is one of the ten pathogens that create the biggest health burden for Ontarians. Infectious diseases - epidemic One in every 25 patients has an infec-
Biomedical waste in Ontario is managed under MOECC Guideline C-4.
tion, according to the National Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. A study by the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found that nearly 5,000 Ontarians die every year from infectious diseases. Biomedical waste in Ontario is man-
aged under MOECC Guideline C-4. Having set up the disposal of biomedical waste in Canada in the early 1990s with Browning Ferris Industries, I was shocked to read the statistics in “The Green Hospital Scorecard (GHS)”, which is a benchmarking and recognition program reflecting hospitals’ envicontinued overleaf...
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Guest Comment ronmental performance. The GHS 2013 reporting data suggests that the average composition of Ontario hospital waste is: 7% biomedical waste; 34% diverted wastes (recycle, reuse and compost); and 59% general (non-hazardous) which goes to landfill. Infection control practices in hospitals have been designed to protect the patient and healthcare workers, but what about the public? How do hospital staff, or the outsourced maintenance or housekeeping staff, know if the healthcare waste contains potentially infectious material? This waste (incontinence, disposable bed liners, diapers, paper towels, absorbent material) will be going to landfills. Public Health Ontario has been doing excellent work in providing scientific and technical advice and support on infectious diseases, prevention and control, as well as environmental and occupational health support. The area of cleaning and disposal of blood/body fluid spill is one I would question though. In one video about cleaning blood/body fluids viewers are advised to: “Dispose of the materials by placing them into regular waste receptacle. If soiled materials are so wet that blood can be squeezed out of them, then they must be disposed of into the biomedical waste container, which is a yellow bag.”
Plastic bags – environment for bacteria growth So, blood/body fluids on the healthcare paper towels or absorbent material are disposed of in regular garbage. This potentially infectious waste contained in a black bag now has the darkness, warmth, dampness and the food (blood/ urine/feces) which are ideal for bacterial growth. The vectors (insects/birds/ animals) at the landfills help to spread disease. We are seeing an increase in viruses: Zika, West Nile, Ebola, flesh-eating disease, Group A streptococcal blood infection, to name a few. When the risk from the Ebola virus came out in April 2015, the Chief Medical Officer of Health issued Directive #4 regarding waste management. Hospitals were notified, but what about waste management companies, funeral homes, and municipal governments responsible for waste? When I enquired in these areas, no one knew of the Directive. Communication in handling these risks is lacking. Government regulations need to be updated Infectious hospital waste represents only a small part of total healthcare waste; however, it can have a huge impact on the spread of disease at a landfill. Where the waste comes from, and what possible or probable risk and impact the waste can have, is where we
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need to start to set policy and purchasing decisions for waste disposal methods. A Canadian system needs to be in place for consistency in managing this waste. Funeral homes are still putting blood and embalming fluids into our sanitary sewers. Patients are no longer staying for long periods in hospitals. They are being treated and recover at home. So, a patient’s waste that was classified as medical waste in a hospital is now municipal garbage. Many cities and regional governments have allowed diapers and incontinence products to be included as compost. What they failed to consider is that AIDS/hepatitis patients, as an example, use these incontinence products in their homes. Healthcare regulations can make a difference by reducing risks. The solution is total destruction of infectious waste and total diversion of healthcare waste from landfills. Jayne Pilot is President of Pilot Performance Resources Management Inc. and was the District Manager for Browning Ferris Industries, establishing medical waste disposal in Canada in the late 1980s and early 1990s. To view an in-depth presentation on this topic and learn more about a petition the author has started, visit: www.esemag.com/healthcare-waste
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SPECIAL SECTION
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
How Ontario can cope with its $60 billion infrastructure deficit By Craig Binning and Andrew Mirabella
M
unicipalities are faced with a growing backlog of infrastructure needs, while funding sources remain limited and constrained. In Ontario, the municipal related infrastructure deficit (for engineering services) is estimated at $60 billion. If other municipal infrastructure, such as parks and recreation, libraries and cultural centres, are added to the total, the true deficit is much greater. Ontario municipalities are faced with addressing this infrastructure deficit by maintaining infrastructure in a state of
30 | April 2016
good repair, while balancing manageable tax and utility rate increases to support identified investment and operating requirements. There are three approaches they can use to optimize infrastructure investment. Prioritizing capital works A council-approved comprehensive asset management plan, which prioritizes capital repair and replacement requirements, is critical to the ongoing management of an infrastructure budget. Identifying how a municipality should allocate funds towards capital
related activities can be a daunting task. Municipalities are faced with critical decisions related to which capital projects should be carried out, while considering the availability of funding; benefit of the work to the community; consequences of asset failure; and if the project meets strategic goals, objectives and legislated requirements. A capital prioritization matrix to evaluate the need and timing of each project can be a great tool to help municipal decision-makers integrate asset management into long-term financial and strategic planning.
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets Funding Source
Description
Stormwater User Fees
Transfer stormwater management funding from property tax base to a user fee program. This funding model would allow a municipality to dedicate funds to a typically underfunded area.
Parking Enforcement Enterprise
Transform a municipal parking division into a for-profit enterprise. This would see parking become a user-pay system. The cost of service is directed towards those using the system which ultimately removes parking costs away from property taxes.
Hydro Dividends
Some municipalities can use hydro dividend revenue to fund capital related works. As the revenues are not a guaranteed revenue source, money may be better spent on capital rather than operations.
Retired Debt
There may be an opportunity to transition debt repayments when they retire to capital contributions as the “spending room” is already incorporated in the municipal budget.
Development Charges
Although development charges (DCs) fund initial growth-related capital investments, there are opportunities to leverage the use of DC monies when the project coincides with the upgrading or expansion of existing infrastructure. This is particularly relevant with linear infrastructure such as roads.
Table 1. Areas to create new service categories, or support capital related activities. This prioritization matrix can help a municipality tailor its long-term capital plan to specifically address capital works and consider the following: consequences of asset failure; future cashflow implications; effect on service levels; and, any advantages/efficiencies by undertaking a project at a specific time. Once the municipality has scored potential projects, the prioritized capital project list could prove to be a valuable piece of information when making capital investment decisions. The adoption of a capital prioritization model will provide a formal and consistent approach which municipal staff and council can use. By applying the prioritization model, a municipality can easily decipher which projects can be funded under the current budget and which can be deferred for consideration at a later date.
reduce the service level that an asset can deliver. It may also increase the cost of replacement, repair and maintenance over the long term, as the quality of the asset deteriorates. Planned debt can be a good way of spreading the costs of a project over the useful life of an asset. It also promotes intergenerational equity in which ratepayers who benefit from the asset would share the cost. Debt should be taken on in a responsible manner with reference to: the term of the debt relative to the asset’s useful life; a practical repayment strategy; and, the overall community benefits received for undertaking the project. Given the current economic climate, municipalities may capitalize on the favourable borrowing environment as Canada’s key benchmark interest rate is amongst the lowest since the late 1970s.
Planned debt is a viable financing tool Often, the strategic use of long-term debt is overlooked as a viable financing tool to carry out municipal infrastructure projects. Delaying the response to infrastructure needs in order to pursue council-directed “no debt” policies, or efforts to minimize the use of debt, can further exacerbate the existing municipal infrastructure deficit. This can also
Have all funding sources been explored? Shifting services from the property tax base to other user/rate supported areas can create funding room to support capital related activities at a higher level. Municipalities have the opportunity to define and create new service categories to generate additional revenue to support existing services, which may currently be funded through the proper-
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ty tax base. Furthermore, existing revenues and expenditures may be directed to capital related spending on a going forward basis. Table 1 provides a brief snapshot of a few key areas in which a municipality can create a new service category, or utilize their existing revenues and expenses as a means to support capital related activities at a higher level. Recognizing that their funding sources are constrained, municipalities must take a proactive approach to asset management by introducing innovative methods to facilitate the repair and replacement of existing infrastructure within the current environment. Implementing transparent policies and practices, such as the capital prioritization model, will allow unbiased decisions to be made – replacing short-term objectives and solutions with responsible long-term financial and strategic planning objectives. The three approaches outlined can be used by municipalities, together with existing practices, and as part of the annual budget process, to prioritize and maximize investments in municipal infrastructure. Craig Binning and Andrew Mirabella are with Hemson Consulting Ltd. Email: amirabella@hemson.com April 2016 | 31
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
View of the geotube pad construction site from the roof of Perth’s existing water treatment plant.
Small municipalities can no longer afford “big pipe” solutions By Trish Johnson and Alan Perks
S
mall- and medium-sized municipalities are facing increasingly stringent financial and regulatory pressures. As approximately 75% of a municipality’s capital asset inventory is represented by water, wastewater and roads, a growing proportion of their operating revenue must be devoted to building and maintaining water and wastewater infrastructure. The situation regarding provincial grants for building public infrastructure has changed drastically in the last 25 years. In earlier days, regular grants were provided for two-thirds of the capital budget for building new infrastructure. Now, grant programs are usually delivered on a targeted basis, requiring “shovel ready” projects. In many cases, the projects brought forward represent either rushed efforts or projects that have languished on municipal shelves for a decade. A recent survey by the authors of municipal managers across Canada indicated that, without the large provincial grants that were provided decades ago, they would not have the expensive infrastructure they currently operate. Municipal councils have two primary objectives: cost reduction and economic growth. These competing objectives drive public policy and decision-making with regards to water and wastewater
32 | April 2016
servicing. This often results in costly expansion and upgrades of existing facilities, even those subjected to high levels of leakage, wastage and operational inefficiency. Under these conditions, the size, complexity and cost of infrastructure upgrades needs to be seriously questioned and optimization measures must be carried out first. Infrastructure for smaller towns and cities Conventional “big pipe” solutions, considered on a life cycle cost basis, may no longer be affordable, nor appropriate, for many small- and medium-sized towns and cities. Providing water and wastewater services to a typical home should cost no more than, at the most, $40,000 - $50,000 per connection. Many municipalities charge $25,000 per lot, and sometimes less. Decentralized options, involving small bore systems, can be installed for a similar low cost and often a lower carbon footprint. The authors reviewed numerous water and wastewater servicing schemes for First Nations communities and small towns across Canada, and found that, when conventional servicing solutions are proposed for small communities, the costs often become exorbitant, sometimes in excess of $150,000 per house.
Such costs are simply unaffordable and not in the best public interest. Planners and designers of public infrastructure must take this into account and further consider life cycle costs. High cost drivers Certainly one of the high cost drivers has been the public and planning perception that “bigger is better.” Smaller scale decentralized technologies, capable of cost-effective environmental protection, now exist, but the will required to implement them is lacking. Another driver is the business model used for design services. Over the last 25 to 30 years, there has been a shift away from providing consulting engineering services on a retainer basis by senior consultants able to consider low-cost, easy to operate solutions for clients. Today, it is a project oriented business model, better adapted to increasingly larger projects and specialized design teams. The concept of benefit-cost analysis has also been lost. Projects are now usually conceived, developed and presented on a lump sum basis. When true benefits and costs are considered, whether it be cubic metres of water treated, kilometres of road constructed, or number of houses serviced, exorbitant project costs continued overleaf...
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Construction of the geotube winter operations greenhouse.
clearly stand out, whether on a capital, operational or life cycle basis. Another driver in Ontario is the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process itself. This encourages performance indicators and comparison matrices that mask the true benefit-cost of solutions being compared. This is often through lump sum costs and matrices of red, green, and yellow dots, comparing alternatives but masking the true financial cost-benefit ratios. In addition, the municipal process encourages the design team involved in conducting the environmental assessment to proceed, after public consultation, through to the final design and implementation stages. This only facilitates the selection of preconceived and often exorbitant solutions. Innovation pays off Perth, Ontario is an example of a small town that has realized considerable savings by doing things differently. The town has implemented an innovative onsite dewatering and residue treatment system for its water treatment plant, using geotubes. Savings have resulted not only from lower capital and O&M costs, but also because there is no “lost opportunity cost” for development of 80 new homes from flows that would have been directed to the sewage lagoon. The path forward What is the path forward for many 34 | April 2016
small- and medium-sized towns? How can these municipalities stretch their infrastructure budgets? How can more appropriate solutions be conceived and implemented? The first strategy is to optimize existing infrastructure as fully as possible, before embarking on any upgrade or renewal investment. Many municipal water and wastewater systems are subject to large inefficiencies through leakage, infiltration and excessive demand. These should be addressed and optimized first, as they can represent 20%40% of the annual operating budget. By not addressing leakage and infiltration, growth capacity is wasted and lost tax revenues are considerable. The second key strategy is demand management, applied to both existing and new infrastructure. Municipal infrastructure is usually designed and operated to meet short-term peak demands, an inherently inefficient process. Managing and reducing those demands through “peak shaving” and conservation efforts can reduce the overall cost of operations significantly. The third key strategy is the “fresh eyes” approach. This means adopting a threshold of project cost ($/m3, $/km, $/ house) that, when exceeded, subjects the project to independent review by a professional third-party. If such a threshold were adopted, billions of dollars could be saved, without compromising service delivery.
Finally, adopt a carbon neutral criterion for all new infrastructure. Climate change and greenhouse gas restrictions will only serve to reinforce concerns. As most of the energy use in municipal water and wastewater infrastructure is related to the pumping of water, carbon neutral solutions will soon become mandatory. This will only serve to reinforce the need for low cost, easy to operate water and wastewater solutions. Some of these are available in the form of package water and wastewater treatment plants, small bore linear infrastructure, and other decentralized facilities. These are well able to meet the needs of new development, while protecting the environment, but have not yet found widespread municipal acceptance. Planners and designers must now carefully consider the affordability of the solutions they propose to municipalities. The costs of “big pipe” solutions are no longer affordable for small municipalities. Also, every extra dollar that goes towards a more elaborate project than is truly needed, is a dollar that cannot go towards other community programs. For these reasons, we must all focus on stretching municipal infrastructure budgets. Trish Johnson and Alan Perks are with R.V. Anderson Associates Ltd. Email: tjohnson@rvanderson.com, aperks@rvanderson.com
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Brockville benefits from automated equipment and watermain flushing program By Jason Barlow
O
n the St Lawrence River, Brockville, Ontario, “City of the 1000 Islands”, operates a Class III water treatment facility, a Class III trunk distribution facility and a Class II water distribution facility. With a population of 22,000, the Brockville water system has a rated treatment capacity of 36,400 m3/day, with an average flow rate of 10,495 m3/ day in 2014. Conservation initiatives, in conjunction with the downward trend of manufacturing, have resulted in a noticeable reduction in demand on the water system. In 2006, the average flow rate was 14,544 m3/day; in 2010, the average flow rate was 11,296 m3/day. This trend has placed greater emphasis on reducing “non-revenue water” and “water loss,” while maintaining an efficient system and affordable water. Brockville’s distribution facilities consist of some 135 km of watermain, ranging in size from 100 mm to 600 mm of various materials, including PVC, cast iron, ductile iron, steel, HDPE and asbestos cement. The water system also consists of 8,330 service connections ranging from 15 mm to 300 mm, approximately 3,600 valves and 890 hydrants. The City is also the Operating Authority for a Class I distribution facility in the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley, providing service to approximately 350 residents. The system has an average daily flow rate of 172 m3/day, with a total volume of 62,873 m3 in 2014. It consists of approximately 14 km of PVC and HDPE watermain, ranging in size from 150 mm to 250 mm. Elizabethtown-Kitley Township purchases its water from Brockville. From 2011-2014, the average total flow per year was 69,433 m3. The non-revenue water (metered) usage from one flush station located at the end of the water system was 9,568 m3, or 13.8% of the purchased (metered) water. A weekly manual flush in two other areas was also required to maintain water quality; this
36 | April 2016
accounted for 7,000 m3 of water per year. Similarly, within Brockville there were 11 flush stations, strategically placed to improve water quality in certain areas, due to dead ends or poor watermain conditions. The City’s watermain flushing program was first introduced in 2012 to meet Fire Code requirements for hydrant inspections and flow testing. This used 35,050 m3 of water. At that time, turbidity levels were not electronically monitored. Distribution parameters introduced in 2013 provided minimum targets for water quality within the distribution systems. These were: turbidity at or below 3.0 ntu (<= 3.0 ntu); free chlorine residual of 0.50 mg/l or greater (>= 0.50mg/l). This program has resulted in the following water usage and distribution turbidity levels: • In 2013, the total volume used was 34,099 m3 with turbidity averaging 2.51 ntu. • In 2014, the total volume used was 32,392 m3 with turbidity averaging 2.10 ntu. • In 2015, the total volume used was 25,352 m3 with turbidity averaging 1.33 ntu. The flushing program has reduced the
number of dirty water complaints, while increasing water quality within the distribution system. Before the program, the majority of dirty water complaints were attributed to main breaks and other issues within the distribution system. More investigation is now required and the City has established a leak detection program which helps reduce water losses. It also enhances its ability to detect other distribution system issues. Since Brockville is the Operating Authority for both systems, it was recognized that improvements to water quality and non-revenue water usage should be sought. The Elizabethtown-Kitley Township “Owner” agreed with Brockville’s recommendations and decided to install an automated flushing system to provide increased control of the amount of water being utilized to maintain water quality. A new automated station was set up in the Elizabethtown-Kitley distribution system in June 2015 and utilizes only 31.5 m3 per week, or 1,638 m3 per year. This is a savings of approximately 7,930 m3. This automated flushing station has also reduced the flushing requirements in the two remaining locations where water quality is a concern.
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets With the information gathered in the Township’s water system, the City of Brockville decided to take a closer look at its own flush stations. It came to the conclusion that flushing station upgrades should be considered to reduce non-revenue water, while maintaining or increasing water quality. Data for 2014 shows: • A total plant flow of 3,822,726 m3. • Non-revenue water totals for the same year were 1,007,000 m3or 26%. • Water loss (unmetered or unknown areas of loss) from that source of non-revenue water was 542,000 m3 or 14 % of the total plant flow. • The resulting non-revenue water (metered) volume associated with the distribution system was 464,157 m3 or 12%. Flushing stations used for maintaining water quality accounted for 154,662 m3 of non-revenue water in 2014. This also accounted for 187,054 m3 or 4.9% of the total plant flow in 2014. During a further investigation, it was observed that three of these flushing stations were consuming
A HydroGuard automated flush station.
74,204 m3 per year, or 48% of the flushing stations’ yearly metered flow totals. Brockville elected to install automated flushing equipment. These flush stations use only 366 m3 per week for a yearly consumption of 17,433 m3. This constitutes a reduction of 56,771 m3 for the year. It is estimated that the variable cost (electrical and chemical) of Brockville’s water systems is $0.125/m3. The estimated yearly savings through the reduction of non-revenue water would be approximately $7,096.38 per year. This would result in a payback of less than 3.5 years for the automated flush
stations and their installation. Water discharged by the flushing was connected directly to the wastewater system at a treatment cost of $0.215/m3, for a projected saving of $12,205.77 per year. At an estimated cost of $0.56/m3 for the water used in the Elizabethtown-Kitley systems, the saving amounts to $4,440 per year. This enables the Township to cover the cost of their investment in less than three years. The City of Brockville and the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley have benefitted from the introduction of automated flushing equipment and an established watermain flushing program. This not only shows an awareness of the importance of conservation, but also lowers the impact on users for non-revenue water required to maintain and improve water quality. Jason Barlow, Dipl.M.M., is Chief Operator, Water Systems, for the City of Brockville. Email: jbarlow@brockville.com
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April 2016 | 37
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Trenchless technology can allow for more pipeline rehabilitation By Rizwan Younis, Olivia Scagnetto and Mark Knight
T
he integrity and performance of water and wastewater buried pipelines are growing issues across Canada. Some municipal pipelines have been around for more than 100 years and, like every man-made infrastructure, have begun to wear out. As pipelines fail to meet regulatory requirements and performance standards, municipalities need to rehabilitate or replace them. According to the 2016 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, the total combined linear asset (i.e., distribution and transmission pipes) replacement value of potable water, wastewater, and stormwater is approximately $204 billion. Many municipalities and water utilities lack funds to rehabilitate or replace pipelines that are in poor condition. The current renovation/renewal rate is not enough, which means this infrastructure deficit will keep on growing. Over the past two decades, innovative trenchless construction methods have been developed to repair, renew and replace pipelines, without the need for continuous excavations. These technologies not only provide direct cost-savings but also have lower social and environmental costs. Trenchless pipe rehabilitation techniques such as cured-in-place pipe, sprayed-in-place pipe, and slip lining, build new pipe using existing pipe as a form. Utilizing trenchless rehabilitation techniques that reduce the construction footprint can have a huge impact on social, environmental and capital costs. For example, the City of Winnipeg has saved considerably on gravity pipeline renovation, by shifting from “cut and fill” replacement to trenchless lining techniques. A study conducted in 2008 compared the costs of the open-cut method to pipe-bursting, which is an online pipeline replacement technique. It concluded that trenchless pipe bursting is less expensive than the open-cut method by about $4.70 per foot per inch of diameter. According to a 2005 study, restoration of existing surfaces and utilities, which were removed or damaged during trench excavation, equates to approximately 70% of the budget on open-cut projects. By going trenchless, there is the potential to save millions of dollars. When compared to other technologies, savings of $130 million were made by Winnipeg from 1997 to 2012 by using cured-in-place-pipe for 145 km of sewer rehabilitation. The City can save a further $390 million when it rehabilitates another 433 km of its sewer infrastructure. Pipeline rehabilitation and replacement decisions should consider direct, social and environmental costs. According to the 2013 Municipal Infrastructure Survey, approximately 71% of the respondents considered trenchless technologies to be cost-effective and efficient methods for installation and rehabilitation of deep pipelines and pipelines crossing roads, railway tracks, rivers, and other inaccessible and environmentally sensitive areas. “By using trenchless techniques, municipalities can stretch their limited capital budgets and can do more pipeline reha-
38 | April 2016
Installation of linear cured-in-place pipe.
Cured-in-place pipe lining for water pipes.
bilitation with less money,” says Jonathan Pearce, past chair of the Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies. Rizwan Younis, Olivia Scagnetto and Mark Knight are with the Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies, University of Waterloo. For more information, Email: mark.knight@uwaterloo.ca, or visit www.cattevents.ca To view references cited in this article, visit esemag.com Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Micro-tunnelling used for new Bolton trunk sewer By Bob Chisholm, Neville Morrison and Tim Campbell, Chisholm, Fleming and Associates
T
he Albion-Vaughan Sanitary Trunk Sewer is a 2.1 kilometre length of 900 mm diameter sewer, constructed through a combination of micro-tunnelling and open-cut excavation. It was commissioned by the Region of Peel in Ontario to accommodate future development in the Bolton area of the Town of Caledon and allow the Albion-Vaughan Pumping Station to be taken out of service. The sewer, which runs along Albion-Vaughan Road from Mayfield Road to the pumping station, diverts flows from the trunk system in the south part of the Bolton South Hill Subdivision. Chisholm, Fleming and Associates completed preliminary and detailed design, contract administration and resident inspection, post-construction services, and a SUE Level “A” investigation for the $9,500,000 project. Construction was completed in only 14 months and under tight time constraints in order to provide the nec-
A 2.1 kilometre length of 900 mm diameter sewer was constructed through a combination of micro-tunnelling and open-cut excavation.
essary outlet and sewer capacity for land development. This development was already undergoing approval within the area.
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Environmental Science Engineering 3.375” x 4.875” March 2016
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Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Approximately one kilometre of the sanitary sewer was constructed in five separate micro-tunnelling drives, along with eight deep shafts.
base of the sewer, except in some areas where perched water was identified. Several alignment alternatives and construction methods were evaluated to address the challenges of cost, scheduling, traffic, and property and environmental impacts. A combination of micro-tunnelling and open-trench construction was the preferred construction solution. Micro-tun-
nelling was used in deep sewer sections, to mitigate traffic impacts, and where underground and overhead utilities limited the use of construction equipment. High-voltage power lines run along both sides of Albion-Vaughan Road, so, for much of the sewer alignment, micro-tunnelling was the fastest, most cost-effective and safest construction method.
Approximately one kilometre of 900 mm inside-diameter sanitary sewer was constructed in five separate micro-tunnelling drives, along with eight deep shafts up to 12 m in depth. The drives were 100 m to 260 m long and were completed with a Herrenknecht AVN 800 micro-tunnel boring machine (MTBM). Sufficient surface work area had to be designated at the drive/entry shaft locations for set-up and operation of the micro-tunneling equipment. This included the MTBM control centre, spoil management equipment, crane, loader, excavator, etc. Circular concrete sections, three metres in diameter, were used for retrieval/ exit shafts. These were later converted into maintenance holes. Intermediate pre-cast concrete maintenance holes were installed as per the design prior to micro-tunnelling. As work progressed, the MTBM bored directly through these maintenance holes with remarkable precision, achieving the design sewer inverts elevations well within acceptable tolerances. Micro-tunnelling was carried out in winter, with continuous 24-hour opercontinued overleaf...
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April 2016 | 41
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets 50, and Canadian Pacific railway tracks. An extensive settlement monitoring program was, therefore, put in place during the project. Virtually no settlement was observed during the tunneling operations. As well, traffic management strategies and construction staging were employed to minimize disruption of traffic along Albion-Vaughan Road. This is travelled by approximately 11,300 commercial and commuter vehicles each day. A by-pass strategy of temporary pumping, piping and isolation chambers maintained flows in the existing sewer. This kept the pumping station in continuous operation during construction and before the new sewer was connected at both the downstream and upstream ends. Once the new sewer was operational, flows were redirected at upstream sewer chambers, the pumping station was decommissioned, and reusable equipment was salvaged for the Region.
The drives were completed with a Herrenknecht AVN 800 micro-tunnel boring machine.
ation. This prevented lubricating slurry/fluids from freezing and the ground from casing around the pipeline during non-active time. This would have caused
high jacking forces and halted progress of the MTBM. The tunnel sections crossed under several sub-surface utilities, Highway
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Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
St. Thomas protects Sunset Bridge from corrosion
The piles for the Sunset Bridge needed protecting after their paint coating failed.
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n the summer of 2015, the municipality of St. Thomas, a small town outside of London in southern Ontario, looked to address the issue of corrosion on the piles of the Sunset Bridge. These piles were comprised of spirally welded steel. The protective paint coating was failing badly due to cold winters, drastic temperature fluctuations and harsh
conditions along the river. The municipality decided to utilize the Denso SeaShield 2000HD system for long-term protection of the piles from corrosion. The system utilizes Denso petrolatum paste primer and Denso LT petrolatum tape for corrosion prevention. For mechanical protection, HDPE jackets are specially fabricated to job-specific design
Completed installation of SeaShield 2000HD.
requirements and provide a sturdy mechanical barrier, protecting the tape, paste and piles underneath. The jackets span from the top of the pile to below the surface, ensuring full coverage and protection. They can be removed for inspection if necessary. For more information, visit: www.densona.com
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April 2016 | 43
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Extending the life of lagoons helps municipal budgets By Dick Menon
I
n Manitoba, the most common form of wastewater treatment is a facultative lagoon. They are less expensive than other types of treatment systems and require little hands-on operation and maintenance. Manitoba is known for its warm sunny summers and lagoons are able to use natural sunlight and oxygen, to breakdown organic matter in the waste stream. The popularity of lagoons is not only due to lower capital and operating costs, but also to the fact that, in many locations, a continuous effluent discharge is not possible. For a stream or a river to accept continuous discharge, a minimum flow is required. In Manitoba, with a few exceptions, such as the Red, Assiniboine, Souris and Winnipeg Rivers, most streams do not have the minimum winter flows to allow for a continuous discharge from a wastewater treatment facility. This means that treatment systems in such areas need lagoons for winter storage. Many lagoons in Manitoba were built in the 1960s and 1970s, which means that they have reached their design capacity and need to be expanded. Since they are built in modules (cells), it is easy to add more as the community grows. However, the landscape has changed over the last 40 years and many municipalities have to develop and implement nutrient reduction plans for their wastewater treatment systems. For cities, with an increasing tax base and steady growth, system expansion is easier to accomplish than it is for small towns, villages and hamlets. There are at least three issues that small municipalities need to consider, when faced with having to expand their lagoons. Capital finances In Manitoba, the most common mechanism for undertaking capital works is through borrowing, i.e., debentures. Municipalities need approval for their “borrowing by-law” from the
44 | April 2016
A wastewater treatment plant lagoon. Photo by Eric Shea via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Manitoba Municipal Board. This is a quasi-judicial provincial entity that reviews and approves, amongst other things, all borrowing by-laws. It looks at the financial capability of the municipality to incur capital debts. A simple rule-of-thumb is that 7% of municipal assessment, less capital debt,
If a municipality has $2 million of its $4 million debt retiring within two to five years, it can plan to have new debt incurred to match the debt retirement. is a measure of how much additional capital debt a municipality can get into. One with an assessment of $100 million and a capital debt of $4 million has $3 million borrowing capacity available for further works. If the same municipality is now faced with upgrades to their municipal wastewater treatment system, estimated to cost $5 million, what op-
tions do they have? Municipalities can apply for grants from higher levels of government, but demand for grant funding in many cases is 50 times more than the available funding. If they are not successful in receiving grants, then the only option available is from municipal ratepayers. Generally, capital debts/ debentures are repaid over a 20-year period. Therefore, if a municipality has $2 million of its $4 million debt retiring within two to five years, it can plan to have new debt incurred to match the debt retirement. Sewer rates and reserve funds Another way to stretch municipal budgets for capital works is to plan for it through sewer rates. This is becoming a more attractive mechanism, but requires proper planning. In the past, utility rates have included minor capital works, but, over the last 10 years, major works are being included in utility rate studies. Since this is a “user pay” method, it is more attractive than using an assessment based repayment method, which may exclude many properties. continued overleaf...
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets Extending lagoon life spans Municipal lagoons require very little handson maintenance. In many instances, the adage “out of sight, out of mind” fits lagoon operations. This is until issues arise, such as meeting new regulations or loss of capacity. Meeting new regulations can be achieved with the addition of tertiary treatment, such as a wetland. When it comes to capacity issues, sludge accumulation in the primary cell is often ignored. Many lagoons also accept trucked-in waste, so it is not uncommon to anticipate sludge accumulation of 200 m3 per year. Over time, accumulated sludge can reduce the hydraulic capacity of the lagoon. Municipalities often look at adding an additional cell, or removing accumulated sludge as options for regaining lost capacity. However, these options can be expensive. A relatively less expensive option is the use of bacteria to break down accumulated organic sludge. Nordevco Associates Ltd. market a product called BactiDomus®, which reduces organic sludge in lagoons. It uses a porous and non-toxic inorganic carrier material to deliver bacteria into
BactiDomus comes in a granular form and is easy to apply, with two people in a boat, over the surface area of a primary cell. It is supplied in 25 kg bags and does not require the use of any heavy equipment.
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46 | April 2016
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets lagoon sludge. Once there, the embedded bacteria produce enzymes that break down the organic sludge to its basic constituents (water, CO2, nitrogen gas). Case studies have shown that, if applied in early spring, it can reduce accumulated sludge by over 70% in volume. BactiDomus comes in a granular form and is easy to apply, with two people in a boat, over the surface area of a primary cell. It is supplied in 25 kg bags and does not require the use of any heavy equipment. A sludge profile is taken before and after application to estimate the amount of the material required. The accompanying graphs from a case study indicate the effectiveness of using bacteria to reduce accumulated sludge and regain lost lagoon capacity. When it comes to stretching municipal infrastructure budgets, bacterial applications can enhance the efficiency and extend the life of sewage lagoons. This gives municipalities the time to efficiently plan for expansions. Dick Menon, M.Eng., P.Eng., FEC, works with Nordevco Associates Inc. For more information, Email: info@nordevco.net
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April 2016 | 47
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Pilot project improves Sunnyside NL’s water quality By Colin Guthrie
W
ith a landmass comprised largely of resistant bedrock that has been overrun by glaciers, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has numerous small, shallow, irregular ponds and wetlands, that are some of the most challenging sources of drinking water in the world. High debris and dissolved substances, organics and metals, found in Newfoundland’s source water create challenges. Debris contaminates distribution networks, contributing to boil water advisories (BWAs). In fact, over a third of the Province’s communities are on a BWA at any given time. But surface water challenges present another issue. Over 120 communities in Newfoundland exceed Health Canada’s recommended Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality for disinfection by-products (DBPs) in their drinking water. The province has the highest per capita rate in Canada of some cancers, such as bladder, stomach and colorectal, which are directly linked to trihalomethanes. The total rate of cancer per 1,000 people is over 25% higher than the highest country in the world. These rates are expected to increase 40% in the next 15 years.
The Town of Sunnyside, Newfoundland, set out to improve the quality of the potable drinking water provided to its residents, which was characterized by high colour and DBP concentrations that exceeded Health Canada’s Guidelines. The colour of treated drinking water was largely an esthetic issue. But the presence of high quantities of organics, including humic and fulvic acids, meant the water reacted poorly with chlorine
and yielded high concentrations of DBPs. Different attempts were made to find a solution: • 2002-2007. Chlorine gas. Unable to maintain chlorine residuals throughout a long distribution system, and high DBPs. • 2008-2015. Mixed oxidants; Miox. Corrected the residual problem, but high DBPs.
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48 | April 2016
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets Mean concentrations of DBPs, including THMs and HAAs, from before and after installation of the Miox system exceeded the Guidelines. The Miox chlorine generating system was installed in 2008 as a replacement for a chlorine gas injection disinfection system. The Town attempted to combat excessive DBP concentrations by lowering hydraulic retention times in distribution, through continuous flushing of water from one to two fire hydrants. While this should help to mitigate DBP concentrations in distribution, excessive levels remained in the drinking water throughout the monitoring periods.
The Town attempted to combat excessive DBP concentrations by lowering hydraulic retention times in distribution, through continuous flushing of water from one to two fire hydrants. SanEcoTec’s AVIVE™ water treatment system uses a form of stabilized hydrogen peroxide to stop the formation of DBPs caused by chlorine, and to provide improved disinfection throughout the water distribution network. Having completed their due diligence, Sunnyside, with funding assistance from the Province’s Department of Municipal Affairs, and the cooperation of the Department of Environment and Conservation, set out to test AVIVE in a pilot application. The objectives of the pilot were to: ª Achieve water quality within Health Canada Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. • Maintain consistent improved water quality at all times. • Sustain satisfactory disinfection capability at all points in the distribution system. Stabilized hydrogen peroxide was introduced in early September 2015. www.esemag.com
Within two weeks, DPBs were within Health Canada’s Guidelines. Within two months, the disinfectant residuals were at satisfactory levels throughout the entire distribution system. The location of sodium hypochlorite dosing in the Town’s chlorination building was changed to take place as water entered the plant, rather than when it exited. Under the new system, primary disinfection CT values were achieved as water traveled through the building. Then, following CT, stabilized hydrogen peroxide was injected into the water, just before it left the building. Stabilized hydrogen peroxide mitigated formation of DBPs by quenching the free available chlorine primary disinfectant present in the water. Additional quantities of peroxide then remained in the finished drinking water, to function as a secondary disinfectant residual throughout the distribution system. The project demonstrated that stabilized hydrogen peroxide used as secondary disinfectant was effective at lowering chlorine disinfection by-products in treated water to below Health Canada Guidelines. The system was also capable of maintaining a residual disinfectant target concentration of between 1 ppm and 8 ppm throughout distribution. Primary disinfection continued via injection of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), generated using the Miox system. Next steps The Town of Sunnyside has authorized the project to proceed to the optimization stage and to add filtration. The Optimization Plan (currently underway for May 2016 installation) involves adding to the multi-barrier protection with chlorine (primary disinfection), pH control, and flocculant followed by a dual filter system (a dual-media filter of anthracite, one layer of sand, and gravel) to remove organics, inorganics and tannins from the water before injection with the stabilized hydrogen peroxide (secondary disinfection). Colin Guthrie, PhD., is with SanEcoTec Ltd. Email: colin.guthrie@sanecotec.com April 2016 | 49
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Concrete cloth is an emerging technology for culvert remediation By Randona Conrad
A suspended bulk roll of concrete cloth is fed into a culvert using a small backhoe.
M
any municipalities, transportation organizations, private companies and other sectors that manage the maintenance of culverts are beginning to see the benefits of trenchless technologies for repairing damaged culverts. Engineers and maintenance professionals are often quite well acquainted with cast-in-place liners, centrifugally cast concrete, slip-lining and other technologies for repairing culverts. But, few have been introduced to the emerging technology of concrete cloth as a tool for culvert remediation. Trenchless technology is gaining favour not only for reducing project timelines and cost, but also for environmental considerations. Dr. John W. Heavens, a former Technical Secretary with the International Society for Trenchless Technology, states: â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you include social costs such as lost time and accidents, which are frequently twice as high as direct costs, the trenchless method (referring to all types) nearly always has the lowest costs and is the most environmentally responsible choice.â&#x20AC;?
50 | April 2016
In a 2005 study by the National Research Council of Canada, researchers found that social costs can add up to 400% of construction costs. This is particularly relevant when culverts are in high traffic areas or buried deeply. The key to utilizing many trenchless technologies is planning ahead. Study after study has found that completing a culvert inventory and regular condition assessments saves organizations from costly failures. Preventative measures may be overlooked when working with tight budgets. However, it is always less expensive in the long run to address deterioration, rather than let a known condition go on until a failure occurs. Concrete cloth allows for truly excavation-free culvert lining. Some trenchless technologies are not completely excavation-free as an insertion pit is needed for pipe bursting or slip lining methods. With up to 200 m2 on a single pallet and the potential to complete work without any heavy equipment, this solution offers an option that requires an extremely small staging area and very minimal environmental impact. The geosynthetic cementitious composite mat is a flexible cement impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable waterproof layer. It is composed of a hydrophilic layer of canvas, an internal fibre matrix that holds a proprietary blend of high early strength concrete with a limited alkaline reserve, and a PVC backing. The PVC backing on one surface ensures that the material is completely waterproof and chemically resistant. Unlike some concretes, it is not classified as an irritant and has even been approved for use in live water courses. The three-dimensional fibre matrix is a key feature of this material, particularly in culvert applications. It traps the concrete powder to make this material ideal for use in water. It cannot be over hydrated and will initially set after only two hours, curing to 80% strength within 24 hours. Testing, done to indicate the effect of underwater setting, shows that concrete cloth loses only 3% by mass. This solution is designed for culverts greater than one meter in diameter that have eroded along the invert, but do not suffer from a diminished structural capacity. It provides a smooth interior surface for minimal loss of flow capacity and minimizes the potential for debris build up, which lowers maintenance costs. It is ideal in situations where capacity is an integral part of the design. By lining the culvert with a thin (5 mm-13 mm) layer of geosynthetic cementitious composite mat, capacity is not significantly reduced. In September of 2015, concrete cloth was used to line a culvert for the City of Tacoma, Washington. The culvert was rusting but was still structurally sound. Removing the culvert for replacement would have been incredibly costly. Concrete cloth can typically be installed and the projects completed for as little as 2% of the cost of replacement. It is approximately 30%-70% of the cost of other trenchless lining solutions. Environmental Science &â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets For environmentally sensitive areas, or difficult to reach sites, concrete cloth does come in a batch roll format which is man-portable and allows construction without heavy machinery. In this case, a bulk roll was held above the culvert, using a small backhoe with a spreader beam attachment. It was pulled into the culvert to cover some 52 metres. The roll was then cut using a utility knife and a second strip was pulled in along the length of the culvert. The layers of concrete cloth were attached every 200 mm to the side of the culvert using self-tapping screws, with washers for added strength. The free edge of the concrete cloth was sealed to limit future high water infiltration between it and the pipe. Once the concrete cloth had been fixed to the edges along the length of the culvert, workers used a caulking gun to apply two lines of Skia 1-A sealant to a 100 mm overlap at the seam. This sealant and the joint ensure that the concrete cloth is waterproof. Self-tapping screws with washers were applied along the joint, securing the centre of the concrete cloth to the culvert. It was hydrated using a 25 mm fire hose with water from a local water line. One day was used to prepare and stage the project. Installation took a crew of eight workers two eight-hour days. The layers of concrete cloth were attached using selftapping screws, with washers for added strength.
Randona Conrad is with Nuna Innovations Inc. Email: randonac@nunainnovations.com
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April 2016 | 51
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Public-Private Partnerships are an indispensable funding and development tool By Daniel A. Ford
W
ith decades of underinvestment, infrastructure is now a policy imperative of governments at all levels. Substantial commitments have been made by the provinces and, more recently, the federal government toward infrastructure investment. While some of that investment will be directed toward the jurisdictional priorities of those governments, there have been clear indications that municipal priorities will also be a focus for these infrastructure dollars. The federal Liberal Party Infrastructure Plan, which contemplated a two-fold increase in federal infrastructure spending to $125 billion, is an example of that focus. The Plan envisions the establishment of a Canadian Infrastructure Bank to assist municipalities with their infrastructure funding needs. It also contemplates transfers to municipalities of unutilized federal allocations as topups to the Gas Tax Fund. There is also guidance on sector focus, with a notable emphasis on “Green” infrastructure. This will almost certainly include water and wastewater infrastructure, often a municipal priority and responsibility. Even with these funding sources established, how can municipalities use these infra dollars, and their more limited property tax revenues, to achieve the best value for money (VFM) when making infrastructure investments? Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) are an indispensable procurement model which should be in every municipality’s toolbox. While it seems clear that the required “P3 screen” of the prior federal government will most likely be dispensed with, it is also clear that the model has been, and will continue to be, supported by both provincial and federal governments. This is not entirely surprising, as the model has an enviable on-time and onbudget track record, with over 230 projects to date and $94 billion invested. In addition, the experience gained from those projects has helped foster
52 | April 2016
The City of Regina’s wastewater treatment plant under construction. Photo by EPCOR.
best practices and, more importantly, streamline the model, making it more accessible to municipalities. Lastly, the model has demonstrated “savings”, with billions of dollars in VFM achieved over conventional procurement. The case for water and wastewater P3s One of the infrastructure sectors in dire need of investment is water and wastewater treatment. By some estimates, its infrastructure deficit is in excess of $85 billion. A 2012 national review indicated that approximately 15% of municipal drinking water systems were rated “fair” to “very poor” for the condition of pipes, plants, reservoirs and pumping stations. Approximately 30%40% of wastewater systems were rated “fair” to “very poor” for the condition of wastewater plants, pumping stations, storage tanks and pipes. With those daunting numbers, and water and wastewater systems accounting for approximately 30% of Canada’s municipal infrastructure stock, municipalities, with limited sources of funding, have learned to take advantage of the P3 model.
Many would be surprised to learn that there is a long history of using P3s in the development of water and wastewater treatment facilities. To date, there have been at least 16 such “conventional” P3 water/wastewater projects in Canada. Though historically smaller in size, the model has been employed more recently in larger projects. These include the Regina Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project (Regina Project) and the Saint John Safe, Clean Drinking Water Project (Saint John Project). Torys LLP had the opportunity to work on behalf of those municipalities to bring these projects through a successful P3 procurement. The support of the prior federal government, in providing up to 25% and then 33% of capital cost funding through PPP Canada, has also served to advance the proliferation of the model. Most of the water/wastewater P3 models employed to date have been of the design-build-finance (DBF), design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM), and design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) variety. The DBF model is the shortest in duration, being limited to the construction period. The DBOM
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets and DBFOM models are longer in duration, with post construction operational and maintenance elements and terms ranging from 20-30 years. Although each public sponsor will have its own imperatives, which may dictate the form of P3 model employed, and while views will vary, many believe that risk transfer is optimized through use of the DBFOM model. The models can also be utilized discretely within the same procurement to address different elements of the plant. As an example, a public sponsor may elect to employ the DBF approach for transmission, and the DBFOM model for principal facility components. This was done in the Saint John Project. Risk transfer Subject to certain exceptions for events which are beyond a private contractor’s control (which are codified in the project agreement and typically known as “Supervening Events”), they bear key risks, relating to design, financing, equipment procurement, cost overruns, schedule delays, and disclosed infrastructure. This typically consists of known utilities by reference to, or properly inferable from, disclosed data and background information made available by the public sponsor and with relevance to the project. Other risks include permit compliance, commissioning, availability and performance, life cycle rehabilitation and facility hand back. Facility sizing (treatment capacity) and source water availability, as they are both elements outside of the control of the private contractor, are risks which are retained by the public sponsor. In addition, undisclosed infrastructure, determined again by reference to the disclosed data and background information, and which typically consists of unknown or mis-located utilities, is a retained risk of the public sponsor. Change in law is considered a shared risk as, in order for relief to be available to the private contractor, the change in law must be specific to water/wastewater treatment facilities, the design and/ or output specifications for the project or the treated water/effluent standards. Latent defects, geotechnical and environmental risks are shared, as the private contractor typically assumes risks which were observable or which were www.esemag.com
properly inferable from the disclosed data and background information. Lastly, source water quality and influent quality are considered shared risks. Customarily, there is an agreed range or baseline established for these inputs, outside of which the public sponsor bears responsibility and/or the private contractor is granted relief. In the context of events for which relief is granted to the private contractor, the
same can take the form of compensation for additional costs, schedule extension and, during any operations and maintenance phase, reduced payment deductions or excused performance. In addition to the more specific project risk allocations, the private finance component (usually both debt and equity) is a key lynchpin in the risk transfer equation. Typically, payments by the continued overleaf...
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April 2016 | 53
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Overview of risks carried by the public sponsor and the private contractor.
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public sponsor during the construction phase are limited to milestone events or substantial completion. During any operations phase, these are subject to deductions for performance failures, all of which is codified in payment schedules to the project agreement. This serves to create the necessary economic incentive to ensure performance by the private contractor. Delays result in additional debt service costs, cost overruns result in additional equity/reduced equity returns, and performance payment deductions result in reduced equity returns and place debt service at risk. Moreover, with private debt in the structure, there is an additional level of oversight, as lenders and their technical advisors monitor all aspects of construction and operations to ensure repayment of the debt. They have “stepin rights” to cure private contractor defaults as mitigation measures. Innovation and flexibility Water and wastewater treatment facilities, with their inherent complexity, are unlike other forms of civil infrastructure. They are, in essence, large “machines” and, as such, operations and maintenance are integrally linked. Are P3s flexible enough to accommodate such complexity? The short answer is “Yes”. Indeed, one of the key pillars of P3s, innovation, is part of that
54 | April 2016
answer, as is the depth of experience which exists within the sector. This is evidenced by the advantages, particularly new and proprietary technology, which the private sector possesses. In order to derive the benefits and value for money which innovation in a
With private debt in the structure, there is an additional level of oversight, as lenders and their technical advisors monitor all aspects of construction and operations to ensure repayment of the debt. P3 structure can offer, the approach taken by the public sponsor is typically less prescriptive, with a greater emphasis on functionality. This is achieved through a focus on project-specific output specifications to address both construction and operational requirements. This allows the public sponsor to focus on needs and outcomes (i.e., output water quality and operational efficiencies). It also allows the private contractor flexibility to proffer a design which
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
meets those requirements, all within the overarching framework of risk assumption by the private contractor for design and life cycle etc., and the inherent cost efficiencies which arise from a competitive bid structure. The result is innovation. Of course, U.S.F. S.F Fabrication’s Hatch Safety Grate System is available in a variety S.F. ariety of configurations each circumstance will differ and pubto meet virtually ually anySafety uall application. The System system allows for routine maintenance of pumps U.S.F. S.F S.F. Fabrication’s Hatch Grate is available in a variety ariety of configuration lic sponsors may seek to be more preand equipment when closed and may act as an additional barrier er when open. It allows ually uall any application. The systemngs allows for routine maintenance of pump scriptive in some areas and to lessmeet so invirtually without exposing themselves to people to move freely lly around the hatch opening others. P3s can accommodateand bothequipment apwhen closed and may act as an additional barrier er when open. It allows dangerous fall-through. proaches. without exposing people to move freely lly around the hatch opening Allngs Hatch Safety ety Grates feature: themselves to In addition to these advantages, P3s • Tamper-res Tamp r res istant 316 SS hinges dangerous fall-through. are not limited solely to the greenfield and nd hardw har are components of a development. Brown• Po Powder-coated aluminum grates to All Hatch Safety ety Grates feature: resist corrosion res field elements can also be incorporated •• Hold Tamper-res Tamp r istant res 316 SS hinges old open devices to lock the grates into the project profile, subject to risk in theirhardw full upright and nd har areand open position allocation in the areas of latent defects, • Ca Can be ret r rofitted into existing •access Powder-coated Po aluminum grates to geotechnical and environmental matters. openings This may include demolition and deresist corrosion res commissioning of existing treatment fa• Hold old open devices to lock the grates cilities, or the incorporation of existing Our experienced team provides a quick turnaround on quotes, in their full upright and open position facility elements that still have useful drawings and deliveries. Call us today 1.800.668.4533 • Ca Can be ret r rofitted into existing or email us at sales@engineeredpump.com life, such as holding tanks, reservoirs, lagoons and transmission infrastructure. access openings The private contractor must also coordinate with the public sponsor to de1635 Industrial Ave. • Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 6M9 velop plans for integrating greenfield Phone: 604.552.7900 • Fax: 604.552.7901 sales@engineeredpump.com • www.engineeredpump.com development portions with brownfield Our experienced team provides a quick turnaround on quotes, components at an operationaldrawings level, to and deliveries. Call us today 1.800.668.4533 ensure continued treatment and supor email us at sales@engineeredpump.com ply. This includes all of the scheduling, plans and sequencing which flows from that level of complexity. It can extend not only to coordination where the public sponsor operates dur1635 Industrial Ave. • Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 6M9 ing the development phase, but also to Phone: 604.552.7900 • Fax: 604.552.7901 interim assumption of operations by the sales@engineeredpump.com • www.engineeredpump.com private contractor during the development phase. This arguably allows for better integration, interface and scheduling, as the interim operation and development risks are consolidated with the private contractor. These are not hypothetical advantages of the P3 model. These elements are being implemented in the real world. As an example, the Regina Project involved decommissioning of the old plant, assumption by the private contractor of retained holding tanks and interim operation of the existing treatment facility. The Saint John Project saw the private contractor assuming obligations for the existing dam and reservoir structures. They contemplated the employment of slip-lining through the existing transmission infracontinued overleaf...
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April 2016 | 55
Sustainable Ecosystems Stretching Municipal Infrastructure Budgets
Soil retaining system helps urban trees reach Notable Water and Wastewater P3 Projects maturity
structure and operational assumption In addition, one must be mindful of during performance trials of the new those who will be most directly affecttreatment facility, prior to substantial ed by the procurement and development By Eric Keshavarzi of the new treatment facility - the emcompletion and commissioning. ployees. Since the earliest inception of Stakeholders reen infrastructure and sus- P3s, any required transition of existing Water has historically been sensitainability goals area of in- employees, including unionized emtive and politically charged subject matcreasing importance, and ployees, has been a key consideration. ter. The manner and them method by which achieving requires tech- The framework of the model specifit is treated and distributed is subject to ically contemplates early engagement nical knowledge and training in varied special scrutiny, particularly where the fields. Integration of soil and trees into with them to develop agreements or letprivate sector has a meaningful urban areas substantially improves role. sus- ters of understanding to ensure that an Accordingly, if the business case for efficient, orderly and fair transition is tainability and helps alleviate some of our amost project has demonstrated that a P3 implemented. Indeed, it is not unusual pressing ecological challenges. approach achieves the best value for These include air and water quality, rising for such employees to be part of the money, a concurrent and equal considertemperatures, flooding and erosion from user groups which provide input into, ation is the buy-in of stakeholders. and inform the development of the prodaily rainfall events. There are generally two sets of conThe West Don Lands, in Toronto, On- ject-specific output specifications. stituents which consultation tario, is a for community that is people and foinclusion within the scope of any P3 Conclusion cused, family friendly, environmentally procurement are essential. These are the With municipalities facing ever more sustainable and beautifully designed for Installation of Silva Cells inwith Mill Street. taxpaying voter base and, in the case of constrained budgets, and limited living. It has a Stage 1 LEED ND GOLD existing treatment facilities, the employtolerance by the voting public for certification under the pilot program es- development is new. In fact, the WestgreatDon ees of thatby facility. taxation, is simply to tablished the U.S. Green Building er Lands streetsit are the firstgood in a sense Toronto It is sometimes not enough to show consider all available procurement and Council. subdivision to be designed with this systhatOne a P3 procurement model achieves funding toolsunder and, parking in particular, notable sustainable component, tem installed lay-bysthose and savings over a more conventional prowhich achieve superior value for money. utilized in the design of the area’s streets, sidewalks. curement. Municipalities beSilva pro- P3sMill should be considered. have an is a soil retaining systemmust called Street was the firstThey subdivision active in reminding the general public established track record, broad political Cells™. Typical urban trees in the city street in Toronto to be designed to include that quality standardsseven and years. water support more than ever,As arethe accesscore water die after approximately this soiland, retaining system. lead rates will remain under the exclusive ible for use by municipalities. However, Silva Cells help extend their engineering consultant, R.V.Anderson control of thus the promoting public sponsor, as will life spans, the growth of Associates coordinated all plans and specownership of the new treatment facility. Daniel A. Ford a Partnerarchitect. at Torys mature street trees. ifications with theislandscape Accordingly, communications protocols LLP. Email: dford@torys.com Although the City of Toronto had preAbout Silva Cells between the public theofpriWith assistance Mark Bain, viously used Silva sponsor Cells asand part a Silva Cells are from a plastic/fiberglass vate contractor are a standard and importPartner and Graeme Murray, stormwater management pilot program in structure of columns and beams that supant component of any P3 procurement. Associate, Torys LLP. The Queensway, their use as part of site port paving above un-compacted planting
G
Biosolids Energy Centre, Victoria, BC. $83 million in federal funding Linked to the Capital Regional District water treatment program, this facility will process sludge generated at the new McLoughlin wastewater treatment plant. Biosolids Management Facility, Sudbury, ON. $11 million in federal funding This project will construct a centralized wastewater sludge treatment and biosolids end-product storage facility at the existing Sudbury wastewater treatment plant.
Evan Thomas water and wastewater plant, Kananaskis County, AB. $9.95 million in federal funding This project will upgrade treatment plant soil. The structure has 92% void space capacity, ensure compliance, and replace and is a stable surface for the installation aging infrastructure. of vehicle loaded-pavements. When properly installed, they can Biological nutrient removal achieve an AASHTO H-20 load rating. wastewater treatment plant, Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code Lac La Biche County, AB. $3.8 loading can also be achieved through apmillion in federal funding propriate design. This is the required load This DBOM project will include conrating for structures such as underground struction of a new wastewater treatment vaults, covers and grates in areas of trafplant and repairs and upgrades to fic including sidewalks and parking lots. lagoons and aeration systems. The cell structure transfers the force to a base layer below the structure. Source: www.p3canada.ca Soil within the cells remains at low compaction rates, thereby creating ideal
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Water Treatment
Using zeta potential to determine coagulant and filter polymer dosage By Wendell James, Stephen Craik, Trevor Shu, Garry Solonynko and Tony Xie
T
he concept of using zeta potential (ZP) to guide coagulant dosing is not new, but techniques for measuring it are becoming more reliable and accessible to water treatment plant operators. EPCOR Water Services is evaluating laboratory ZP measurements at its Edmonton water treatment plants, as a means of optimizing chemical dosing during two distinct modes of operation. The plants operate in conventional mode, with alum coagulation, settling clarifiers and dual media filters. They depend heavily on clarification during spring and summer when the North Saskatchewan River supply is subject to rapid changes in water quality. Maintaining the optimum alum dose is critical for maximizing turbidity removal through the clarifiers, especially during spring runoff and heavy rainfall events. During fall and winter, the North Saskatchewan River water quality is generally more consistent, with turbidity less than 10 NTU and colour less than 8 TCU. This allows EPCOR to operate the water treatment plants in direct filtration (DF) mode. Lower flow makes the river more environmentally vulnerable during these seasons, but the natu-
58 | April 2016
Zeta potential instrument with automated particle image analyzer.
ral suspended solids load is also lower. Substantially less coagulant is dosed during DF operation, to minimize discharge of coagulant residuals. Filter polymer dosing must be carefully managed to ensure adequate particle removal, especially for parasitic protozoa such as Cryptosporidium oocysts. Even subtle increases in raw water co-
lour can make DF operation difficult to maintain. Setting ZP targets is proposed as an effective strategy for guiding coagulant dosing during conventional operation, and filter polymer dosing during DF operation. Zeta potential measurements The majority of suspended particles
Environmental Science &â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Engineering Magazine
Water Treatment in surface water supplies have negative surface charges, which cause them to repel each other. Coagulants and/or cationic organic polymers are often added to neutralize charges and destabilize particles. Mixing energy is imparted to promote inter-particle collisions and formation of flocs, which can be removed by sedimentation and/or filtration. It would be very difficult to directly measure surface charges on particles or the ionic clusters surrounding them. Indirect measurements can be used to infer charges and prescribe doses of treatment chemicals required to destabilize particles. Electrophoresis, the movement induced when a charged particle is subjected to an electric field between two electrodes, can be used to estimate the ZP on particle surfaces, because particle velocity is proportional to the applied electric field strength. This principle is the basis of measurement for most commercially available ZP meters. Instruments equipped with automated image-analysis software can mea-
sure ZP in samples taken from post-coagulant and pre-filter locations. These measurements can be used to establish ZP targets, which then allow chemical doses to be adjusted quickly and appropriately in response to changing influent water quality. Bench-scale correlations between filter polymer dosing and ZP A series of bench-scale experiments was conducted in 2014 to determine how ZP was affected by coagulant and cationic polymer dosing. Based on repeated analyses of raw water samples, the precision of ZP measurements was determined to be ± 0.4 mV. Adding either alum or cationic polymer caused an increase in ZP, but the dose response was much larger when using charged polymers. Figure 2 shows how ZP increased in response to doses of LT-7981 (an EPI DMA product) with and without a baseline alum dose (Visit: esemag.com/april to see figures referenced in this article). In each case, the response curve has a linear character.
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The experiment conducted with and without alum on November 12, 2014 shows that the presence of alum increased the slope of the response curve. For the experiment on December 8, the sample was taken from the E. L. Smith water treatment plant upstream of the filters and immediately downstream of the hypochlorite injection point. The response curve was nearly parallel to the 3.4 mg/L alum curve obtained in November, but 3-4 mV lower. In general, samples collected downstream of hypochlorite injection had lower ZPs than samples collected upstream. Zeta potential trends during conventional operation To observe ZP trends during conventional operation, weekly samples were collected from the E. L. Smith plant after regular clarifier operation resumed in the spring of 2015. Samples representing raw water, post-alum injection, clarifier effluent and filter influent locations were analyzed. During the period continued overleaf...
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Water Treatment between April 17 and July 22, raw water colour was generally decreasing, and the alum dose was reduced accordingly. The box and whisker plot of Figure 3 shows upper and lower quartiles, median, minimum and maximum ZP values observed for each process location. The ZP of raw water samples was relatively consistent with a mean value of -12.7 mV. As expected, there was a large increase in ZP following alum addition. However, it was insufficient to approach electroneutrality (mean value -8.2 mV). Several factors would have contributed to the large scatter in ZP observed in post-alum and post-clarifier samples. These include pH changes associated with alum addition, growth of particle flocs and the addition of anionic (primary) polymer. Due to sedimentation and sludge removal, post-clarifier ZP measurements would have applied to relatively few and smaller particles. To explore reasons for the wide variability in post-clarifier ZP measurements, the results were divided into two groups to distinguish between two clar-
ifier flow paths that receive alum doses separately. One flow path involved two clarifiers (C1 & C2) and the other a third clarifier (C3). Because the supervisory control system consistently showed similar alum doses applied to both flow paths, no differences in ZP measurements were expected. However, as shown in Figure 4, C3 effluent ZP values were significantly lower than those measured in C1/C2 effluent. Summer C3 effluent turbidity readings had also been consistently higher than for C1/C2. Later troubleshooting discovered a faulty valve had been allowing more alum to flow to C1/C2 than to C3. This explained the difference in ZP readings and confirmed the value of ZP as a monitoring tool. Although filter performance remained acceptable during conventional operation, the mean ZP measured for filter influent particles was -11.7 mV, almost as low as values measured in raw water samples. The highest values reported for filter influent occurred
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60 | April 2016
during a period when the primary (anionic) polymer dose was lowest. ZP values were consistently much lower after the point of hypochlorite injection. These observations show the influence of chemical doses applied upstream of ZP monitoring locations. Fall 2015 transition to direct filtration The original intent had been to start direct filtration operation at the E. L. Smith water treatment plant early in September 2015. As shown in Figure 5, raw water conditions were ideal during the first week when the turbidity and colour were both very low. However, several rainfall events created mild runoff conditions that increased the turbidity and kept the colour above 5 TCU until the second week of October. These conditions were generally unsuitable for DF operation. However, a decision was made to convert part of the E. L. Smith plant to DF operation, starting on September 29, to test alternative strategies that might facilitate DF operation under such conditions. Six filters being supplied by C3 were selected for DF operation because equipment had been installed to adjust the pH of coagulation on this flow path. Also, it had not yet become apparent that less alum than intended was being dosed upstream of C3. Conditions during the first half of October 2015 proved challenging, and the remainder of the E. L. Smith filters were not converted to DF operation until November 2. During October, several alternative treatment strategies were applied, including lowering the pH of coagulation and adjusting the filter polymer dose. The six filters being operated in DF mode were monitored closely for parameters including influent ZP, ripening times and effluent particle counts. Effluent samples from individual filters were collected on three occasions and analyzed for Cryptosporidium oocysts. Reducing the pH of coagulation from 8.0 to 7.5 decreased filter ripening times and increased the colour removed by C3. However, the pH adjustment had no measurable effect on filter influent ZP or reduction in particle counts achieved by the filters. The polymer dose was increased briefly on several occasions from a baseline dose of 0.5 mg/L. ZP
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Water Treatment measured in filter influent samples from two filters (Filters 1 and 5) didn’t always correspond in time to peak doses of polymer, but the general response is evident in Figure 6. When the polymer dose was returned to the baseline dose of 0.5 mg/L on October 13, filter influent ZP decreased to approximately -11 mV, similar to values measured in raw water samples. A general downward trend in raw water colour was interrupted by a small resurgence between October 8 and 11, 2015. The ZP measured in the October 9 filter influent sample was quite low (-11.8 mV). The colour rise was also associated with an increase in filter effluent particle counts that lasted for approximately a week. These increased not only for the smallest (2-5 µm) category, but also for the 5-10 µm and 10-15 µm categories. When filters shed more and larger particles, there is an increased likelihood of shedding Cryptosporidium oocysts. This concept proved true on October 19 and 26 when a few oocysts were detected in filter effluent samples. It should be noted that only about a third of the E. L. Smith production was from filters operating in DF mode at the time, and UV reactors downstream of the filters would have effectively inactivated any oocysts that weren’t physically removed. Results of pilot trials A pilot plant located at the E. L. Smith water treatment plant was used to mimic DF operation. A trial conducted on October 6, 2015 demonstrated the effect of filter polymer dose on ripening time. The experimental conditions and effluent turbidity trends are shown in Figure 7. Train 1 filters (1-1 and 1-2) received a polymer dose of 0.5 mg/L, similar to the dose being applied at the E. L. Smith plant. Train 2 filters (2-1 and 2-2) received a dose of 2.0 mg/L. Filter influent ZP readings were -10.8 mV and -4.8 mV for Train 1 and Train 2 filters, respectively. Effluent turbidity settled much more rapidly for pilot filters receiving the higher polymer dose. Longer ripening times and lower ZP readings associated with Train 1 filters reflected the operation of E. L. Smith filters while they were receiving a polymer dose of 0.5 mg/L.
Pilot trials were also used to evaluate the effect of polymer dose on filter effluent particle counts. Figure 8 shows average log reductions in particle counts by size range, during four trials conducted between October 6 and 15. Clearly, the higher polymer dose (2.0 mg/L) provided a significant increase in ZP and resulted in more effective particle removal in each size range than the lower dose (0.5 mg/L). Summary Achieving a near-neutral charge on particles (as measured by zeta potential) is considered important for effective coagulation and to promote attachment of particles to filter media. Bench-scale experiments showed a linear relationship between coagulant and/or cationic filter polymer doses and ZP. ZP was measured in samples from various pre-filter locations during both conventional and DF plant operation to observe the impact of applying various process chemicals, including alum, hypochlorite and filter polymer. Waste Water products 4.65 by x 4.65.pdf 1 1/26/2016 Turbidity removal clarifiers
during conventional operation and particle removal by filters during DF operation were related to ZP and the associated doses of coagulant and filter polymer, respectively. Efficiency of particle attachment is particularly important during DF operation when filters remove the bulk of the particle load. Pilot trials representing DF operation showed significant benefits of increased filter polymer dose, both in terms of decreasing filter ripening times and increasing log reductions of particles of each size category. The latter is particularly relevant for ensuring effective removal of Cryptosporidium oocysts during direct filtration operation. Wendell James, Stephen Craik, Trevor Shu, Garry Solonynko and Tony Xie are with EPCOR Water Services. For more information, Email: wjames@epcor.com To see the figures referenced in this article, visit: www.esemag.com/zeta-potential 9:25:59 AM
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April 2016 | 61
Soils Management
How will Ontario’s proposed excess soil management policy work? By Chris G. Paré and Andrew Tymec
E
xcess soil is defined as soil that is excavated, typically from a construction site, that will not be used there, and is transported to a receiving site. But what is the proper way to manage these excess soils with regards to regulations, environmental risks and best management practices? The existing framework of regulations and policies in Ontario does not directly address the issue of excess soil. The majority are transported from source sites to disposal sites without oversight or regulation by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC). According to the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, there are an estimated 20 million cubic metres of excess soil excavated annually. Most of this is probably being transported from a source site to a disposal site without any records, documentation or testing. Concerns with excess soils Improper management of excess soil is a province-wide issue. Soils that are impacted with contaminants (natural or manmade) can end up being transported and applied to a sensitive site, farmland, or a residential development. There have been several media stories covering issues with “excess soils.” In one instance, an Ontario farmer accepted “free” soils in the summer of 2011, only to find out later that it contained polyaromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals. In contrast to excess soils at construction sites, soils on brownfield sites are regulated. The qualified person (a professional engineer or geoscientist) manages these projects. Tasks include collection of soil samples for site-specific parameters, arrangement for disposal at a receiving site, and documentation of the volume transported to landfill. A final report will also be prepared, which documents soil management. This “gap” in handling excess soils is why the MOECC is proposing a
62 | April 2016
There are an estimated 20 million cubic metres of excess soil excavated annually in Ontario.
framework of action items to address this issue. The ministry has posted the “Proposed Excess Soil Management Policy Framework” on the Environmen-
agement plan needs to provide, what standards should be used, and what are the responsibilities of the source site? Goals The implementation of the provincial framework is guided by two main goals: protection of human health and the environment; and to enhance opportunities for beneficial reuse of excess soils.
Improper management of excess soil is a provincewide issue. Soils that are impacted with contaminants (natural or manmade) can end up being transported and applied to a sensitive site, farmland, or a residential development. tal Registry, for review and comment. It has provided a guidance document that was published in January 2014 titled “Management of Excess Soil – A Guide for Best Management Practices”. Although the document is being used, there have been some questions. For example, what exactly the soil man-
New regulation (soil management plans) The MOECC plans to develop a new regulation, under the Environmental Protection Act, requiring larger and/ or “riskier source sites” to develop soil management plans prepared by a qualified person. They would need to be readily available to the MOECC or local authorities. The proposed regulation would apply to “larger sites,” which would be defined by a soil-volume threshold, such as large infrastructure or large-scale residential developments. It would also apply to industrial, commercial, or other properties in which there has been a potentially-contaminating activity, or if there is a potential risk of having impacted soil on the site.
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Soils Management The proposed regulation would require the owner to hire a qualified person to prepare and certify a soil management plan. This would need to include, at a minimum: • Characterization of the excess soil (based on testing, type of soil, and estimated volume). • Test parameters for the soil (based on past land use and potential contamination). • Assurance that the receiving site has been contacted and is aware of the soil characteristics and estimated volume being shipped. • The disclosure of the quality of the soil to the receiving site(s) and that it is appropriate for the receiving site. • A tracking plan to document and record that the excess soil arrives at the appropriate receiving site. The proposed regulation may use the definition of a qualified person as per O. Reg. 153/04. In addition, the MOECC could require proof of an excess soil man-
agement plan for issuance of certain building permits at the source site. The qualified person would submit a letter informing a building official that a certified plan has been prepared. This would ensure that, in the early stages of a construction project, management of excess soils is being addressed and considerations are being made to reuse where possible. Soil characterization and contact with receiving sites would be conducted in the early stages of the project. Technical standards Standards would need to be developed for reuse and testing requirements. The MOECC plans to work with stakeholders to develop approaches which consider the following: • Protection of sensitive sites, where excess soils should not be deposited. • Develop local background levels, in lieu of using the Table 1 Standards in O. Reg. 153/04. • Use of generic risk-based standards.
Under some conditions, slightly impacted excess soils may be deposited at a receiving site (based on future, less sensitive land use). • Specific risk-based standards developed for soils that would have a lowrisk use (e.g., infrastructure projects, berms, flood-control structures). Since the MOECC made the best management practice document available, some companies embraced it as a way to reduce their potential environmental liability. They may also use this document to develop their own internal policy on handling excess soils, with a greater focus on reuse of soils on their properties. Other jurisdictions Ontario is not the only jurisdiction without policy/regulations that address excess soils. There are only a few that do, including Quebec, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the state of Massachusetts. Their key approaches are: continued overleaf...
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April 2016 | 63
Soils Management • Development of clear goals and principles to guide governments, local authorities, and industry. • Rules for tracking soils; define roles and responsibilities of those who manage excess soils. • Establish standards that allow for beneficial reuse of soils. • Greater source-site responsibility. The MOECC is proposing a framework of action items to address this is-
sue. It is likely that new regulations will evolve over the next year or two. Source-site responsibility appears to be the most important component of this policy as it is in the development stages. It must take place in order to minimize risks and issues related to excess soils. The generator of the excess soil will need to begin the process of managing this soil from the source site to the receiving site. An awareness of the requirements for
soil management can begin during the procurement process. Development of bid tender documents would provide details regarding the soil-management process, such as development of the soil-management plan, and would ensure that all parties are aware of their responsibilities. There will be new regulations requiring that excess soil management plans be written and certified by qualified persons. Proof of these plans, via letter, will need to be provided to municipalities for building permits. Additional guidance will be developed for qualified persons. MOECC will develop rules and guidance for testing and sampling excess soils in many scenarios and develop new standards. There will be added costs to construction projects to cover items such as soil sampling and testing, consulting fees, and development of soil-management plans. These plans will be used to provide some protection from liability. Other concerns or questions may arise, such as, what is a reasonable approach to soil management without causing project delays? If impacted soils are discovered, who will pay the (potential) additional costs for soil disposal? These assessments of project costs/feasibility will, hopefully, trigger innovative ways of reusing the excess soils. Chris G. Paré, P.Geo., and Andrew Tymec, P.Eng., are with Dragun. Email: cpare@dragun.com, ahahn@dragun.com. This topic will be covered at CANECT 2016, April 25-27. www.canect.net. Dragun is a CANECT exhibitor.
We are on top of the industry. Stay current with news and developments in print and online. Subscribe to ES&E’s eNewsletter at www.esemag.com/subscribe News • Information • Connections 64 | April 2016
www.esemag.com Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Safety
Training and equipment required for working at heights By Scott R. Connor
W
orking at heights training programs for companies, fire departments and individuals have seen many improvements to historical rescue gear, and the welcomed invention of many new pieces of equipment in the past 25 years. Industrial and Construction Regulations require the employer to have a rescue plan when workers are using fall arrest as their form of fall protection. Much of the rescue equipment now available has additional safety built in, allowing it to pass “the whistle test.” Should something happen to the rescuer manning the system while the victim is hanging on a lifeline, or when a whistle is hypothetically blown at any time during testing, the equipment should either lock up, or offer automatic controlled descent. The alternative would have the victim free-falling to the ground if the rescuer becomes distracted or incapacitated. Most regulations pertaining to working at heights will reference the standard which the equipment has met. In Europe, this is CE/EN. In the U.S., it is OSHA/ANSI. For Australia and New Zealand it is AS/NZS, and in Canada it is CSA. The four main purposes for the equipment for people who work at heights are: sport, rope access, emergency services and industrial. Since there is no sport aspect (rock climbing/mountaineering) to industrial and construction work, it is not recommended that any sport equipment be used in these fields. It often does not have the strength to handle the rigours of industrial situations, and, in many cases, does not incorporate whistle test safety. Equipment used in rope access is not very expensive. However, it requires at least 40 hours of initial training, as well as continued training to maintain the skills to be efficient and safe. Not only can the failure rate be quite high, www.esemag.com
but, even after attending training, workers still require supervision by a person with a higher level of rope access training. It is also very physically demanding, so worker injury due to strained and pulled muscles is not uncommon. The gear used in rope access is specific to a certain diameter of rope. Therefore, compatibility becomes an issue should the user attempt to use gear intended for something else, such as emergency services. While rope access follows a method for using equipment which meets an equivalent level of safety for working at heights, most of the gear is not CSA-approved. This may become an issue with a labour inspector or during an accident investigation. Emergency services, such as fire departments, generally require a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) rating on the gear they use. The equip-
ment, for the most part, is not very expensive but requires a fair amount of initial and regular continuing training to maintain skill and efficiency. Most of the rescue gear used by fire departments is not CSA-approved, so, again, this may become an issue with enforcement if you are a business and not a fire department. Industrial regulations in each region state the standard to which the equipment must be tested. In Canada, most provinces require that fall protection equipment meet CSA standards. This makes it easy for businesses, managers and supervisors to enforce since it will either be stamped with the CSA logo or have associated paperwork stating this. Most CSA-approved fall protection equipment and rescue gear is what we refer to as “clip-and-go/ pre-rigged” equipment, and is very user friendly and intuitive. Even though the initial outlay for the cost of equipment is a bit more, it is safer. Also the time commitment in training is much less than rope access or emergency services techniques, due to the ease of use of the equipment. It also requires less ongoing training to maintain skills and techniques. This is beneficial to businesses which may only train their workers in working at heights and rescue every one to three years. Training should be specific to the equipment in use and situations which may be encountered. Using CSA-approved systems ensures the equipment will not be an issue during an inspection or investigation. There is also a much greater chance it will be used correctly during an actual emergency. Scott Connor is the Chief Training Officer for TEAM-1 Academy Inc. For more information, visit www.team1academy.com Team-1 Academy is exhibiting at CANECT 2016. April 2016 | 65
Water Supply
New options to consider for zebra mussel control By Rinita Banerjee
Z
ebra mussels were first discovered in Canada in 1988 and have become a well-established nuisance in the Great Lakes. Their rapid colonization rate and environmental resilience make them difficult to control. Zebra mussels can adhere to hard surfaces such as PVC, plastics and metal surfaces to form multilayer colonies (Griffiths et al, 1991). This results in blockage or reduced flow in pipes and water intake systems, leading to adverse long-term economic impacts. Various design techniques have been employed to control mussel infestation. The most common include a combination of chemical treatment and mechanical removal. However, concerns have been raised about the harmful effects on non-target aquatic species. continued overleaf...
Zebra mussel infestation results in blockage or reduced flow in pipes and water intake systems, leading to adverse long-term economic impacts. Photo courtesy Cottonwood County.
Technology
Advantage
Disadvantage
Usage
Chemical Oxidation
Widely used in the industry, readily available
Difficult to install and monitor, harmful to non-target aquatic species
Raw water intakes of Torontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water treatment plants and most GTA municipal lake based water supplies
Mechanical Removal
Simple and easy to administer, energy efficient
Labour intensive, must be repeated often to prevent buildup
Used extensively as a temporary fix
Thermal Treatment
High energy requirement
Causes damage to the ecosystem, must be repeated at least twice a year
Foul Release Coating
Different options available to suit site specific needs, long lasting
May be expensive, prone to corrosion and abrasion
Parker Dam Colorado- field test site
Low Frequency Magnetism
Highly effective, low maintenance requirements, not harmful to the lake ecosystem
Not readily available, needs electricity, expensive
US Steel Water Intake (Chicago) pilot test
Pulse Acoustics
High efficiency, not harmful to the lake ecosystem
Not readily available, needs electricity, expensive
Georgia-Pacific paper towel and tissue mill off the shore of Lake Champlain, NY- field test site
UV Light
Effective
Recommended for small systems, not efficient if water has high turbidity
Used in drinking water systems. Experimentally proven to kill zebra mussel veligers
Table 1. Different zebra mussel control technologies with their advantages and disadvantages. 66 | April 2016
Environmental Science &â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Engineering Magazine
Water Supply Traditional control methods include: • Chemical. Oxidizing chemicals such as chlorine, bromine, potassium permanganate and ozone are used extensively, with the help of injectors in pipe systems. This requires continuous application. • Thermal. 35ºC for two hours results in ~100% removal efficiency. Needs to be repeated two or three times a year.
• Mechanical. Pipe pigging, scraping, high pressure hose and sand blasting. Non-traditional methods include: 1. Foul release coating. Silicone coated grating and pipes have been found to be ~80% successful in minimizing zebra mussel attachment in both static and dynamic systems. Various coatings were investigated in a study by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Rec-
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68 | April 2016
lamation. Recommended coating materials include silicone FR #5 (Bioclean White) and bronze. Although silicone is highly effective in controlling attachment, the soft coating makes it vulnerable to abrasion. The effectiveness of this method depends on site-specific conditions, such as flow rate, amount of floating debris, etc. 2. Low frequency magnetism. Research by Ener-Tec Inc. has proven the success of extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetism in preventing shell formation in zebra mussels, resulting in effective control of colonization (Ener-Tec Inc., 2015). The linear kinetic cell (LKC) system designed by Ener-Tec introduces a weak electric current into the water. This causes rapid calcium loss in mussels, leading to death by exposure. This system may be used in 0.0127 m to 6 m diameter pipes. It is installed directly into the water line and requires electrical connections. The advantage of the LKC system is that it does not produce any chemicals and does not require continuous monitoring. Another similar control device, Patent US 5476595 A, uses a combination of current and air bubbles to achieve the same result (Baddour et al., 1995). Current is supplied between electrodes that extend radially at equiangular positions around a cylindrical water inlet. Bubbles are formed by an annular air chamber of the water intake below the cylindrical inlet. The bubbles allow free-swimming microscopic zebra mussel larvae (veligers) to remain suspended in the electric field for a longer period of time. This results in higher removal efficiency. This control device works well with vertical bellmouth intake pipes, such as those used by Great Lakes water plants 3. Pulse acoustics. The operation principle behind acoustic technology is that the vibrations cause stress and result in immobilization of veligers (Legg et al. 2015). Solid-borne sound at sonic frequencies has been found to be effective in preventing attachment of juvenile mussels in a pipe section. In the 8 - 10 kHz range, with acceleration of vibration to about 150 m/sec2, nearly 100% control may be achieved. The three types of acoustic measures investigated are: • Cavitation. Formation and collapse
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Water Supply of microbubbles at the rarefaction phase of pressure in a highly intensive ultrasonic wave or in high-velocity turbulent water flow. Frequency range from 10 - 380 kHz killed veliger, juvenile, and adult zebra mussels. • Sound Treatment. Acoustic waves below the cavitation threshold frequency (<500 Hz) was effective against zebra mussel veligers. • Vibrations. Vibration treatments were effective below 200 Hz and between 4 - 100 kHz against zebra mussel juveniles and below 200 Hz and between 10 – 100 kHz against zebra mussel veligers. According to an experimental study by Schaefer, Claudi and Grapperhaus, sparker pressure pulses may be used to achieve acoustic shock waves which can inhibit mussel growth. This technology finds application primarily in intake pipes since the pipe structure helps to propagate shock waves. The electrodes, usually copper-tungsten, erode over time and will need to be replaced periodically (Schaefer et al, 2010). 4. Light technology. The effectiveness of UV light technology has been investigated and is recommended for medium- to small-scale water systems. UV light (wavelengths between 40 and 4,000) is effective in killing juvenile zebra mussels, as well as adult mussels if exposed for a longer period of time (Boelman et al, 1996). Average exposure time is two hours to achieve 85% veliger
Zebra mussels removed from an indstrial wet well, Lake Ontario.
mortality. Large units can deal with flow rates of up to 2.5 m3/sec. Lamps can be installed in pipes perpendicular to the flow or along side walls. Despite its effectiveness, UV light technology can mean high cost and maintenance requirements. Also, in the event of a breakdown, the bulb may release mercury into the water system, which is a health hazard. Additionally, high suspended solids or debris in water will reduce the effectiveness of this technology. Conclusion Zebra mussels are found in many of the lakes and water systems in Canada.
As they are able to attach themselves to most hard surfaces and form multilayer colonies, costly blockage of intake pipes and screens occurs. Various techniques have been employed and research is still being conducted to find environmentally sound alternatives, which can effectively remove zebra mussels, while preserving lake ecosystems. Rinita Banerjee is with The Municipal Infrastructure Group Ltd, Email: rbanerjee@tmig.ca To see references used in this article, visit: esemag.com/zebra-mussels
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April 2016 | 69
Control Systems
Control and communication has advanced in motor control centers By Syed Q. Raza
A
motor control center (MCC) is an enclosed electrical assembly, divided into sections with a common power bus, with motor starters, feeder breakers and panel boards. It is used to control the starting and stopping of different process equipment such as pumps, blowers and ventilation fans. There are various types of starters, depending on the application, including direct-on-line starters, soft starters, variable frequency drives (VFD), etc. These operate the loads based on start/stop commands they receive and send status feedback. This requires two-way communication between the command initiating controller and the MCC. One example would be a simple duplex sump pump system. Based on float switches inside the sump, the controller initiates start/stop commands to the pump(s). The starter in the MCC responds with the status signal such as run/fault. Based on the status signal, the controller can start the standby pump if the duty pump fails to start. The above example requires four command signals from the controller to the starters (two for each pump) and four status signals from the starters back to the controller (two for each pump). A more complicated process would require many commands and status signals between a controller and the MCC. Now consider a MCC with 30+ starters and the quantity of signals required to be communicated between a controller and MCC. This could be overwhelming based on the process requirements and various types of signal to be transmitted between the MCC and the controller. The first generation of MCCs comprised traditional electro-mechanical components for direct-on-line starters, star-delta starters, auto-transformer starters, etc. Control logic was implemented by use of relay-based circuits, either mounted inside a control section of the MCC, or inside a separate control panel enclosure. Control and status
70 | April 2016
A second generation motor control center with solid state devices including VFDs and digital power meters.
communications were done via hardwired components. Dedicated wiring was required for each individual status or command signal to be transmitted.
There is still demand in water and wastewater facilities for hardwiringbased second generation MCCs. Their less sophisticated processes do not require the MCC to send much status feedback. This resulted in large starters with limited status and control options. Control and status input/output (I/O) were generally limited to start, stop, available, run and fault. This type of MCC can still
be found in old facilities, but they are being replaced by modern types. The second generation of MCCs can be differentiated primarily by the use of solid-state devices, including electronic overload relays, variable frequency drives, and soft starters. Built-in or externally mounted programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are used to control logic. Connection between the PLCs and the starters is still by traditional hardwiring. These second generation MCCs provide a higher level of control and monitoring. However, the size of the MCC bucket and controlling PLC is still considerable as it is directly proportional to the number of I/O required for each starter. This is based in turn on operational control requirements. These MCCs are still being used and installed in facilities requiring less sophisticated automation and controls. The third generation of MCC was marked by the introduction of Fieldbus (DeviceNet, Modbus, Profibus, etc.)
Environmental Science &â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Engineering Magazine
Control Systems operational staff is generally familiar with the operation and troubleshooting of hard-wiring based components. They would require additional training to operate and maintain Fieldbus-based MCCs. A reasonable tradeoff in some facilities is to use a hybrid model, i.e., traditional hardwiring for the standard DOL starters, along with Fieldbus communication for sophisticated devices like
VFDs and soft starters. However, communication capable motor control centers are quickly taking over the market owing to less wiring requirements, ease of installation, flexibility in selecting the required signals, and overall reduction in system cost. Syed Q. Raza, P.Eng., is with R.V. Anderson Associates Limited. Email: sraza@rvanderson.com
Inside view of a second generation MCC bucket showing VFD and terminal for hardwiring the control wires.
and later with industrial Ethernet. These provide the possibility of device level communication between the PLC and MCC devices, resulting in advanced monitoring, control and diagnostics. The PLC and the MCC devices are connected via a single communication link (Fieldbus or Ethernet), which is used to transmit all control and status signals via a single cable. This drastically reduces the hardware and wiring requirements for the MCC and the controlling PLC. These MCCs provide a multitude of monitoring points, which can be used for complex process control as well as predictive maintenance. With third generation MCCs, it is also very easy to select and add any desired status signal by simply configuring the software program. In the case of a second generation MCC, it would require additional wiring in the MCC and additional hardware in the PLC panel. Thus, these modern MCCs can save costly change orders during construction and also from potential project delays. However, there is still demand in water and wastewater facilities for hardwiring-based second generation MCCs. Their less sophisticated processes do not require the MCC to send much status feedback. The other reason is that www.esemag.com
April 2016 | 71
Site Remediation
Heavy metals remediation of soil and water is a site-specific challenge By Mike Shiralian
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oil and groundwater contamination by heavy metals can be caused by spills or direct infiltration of sewage discharges from industrial activities, leachate from mine tailings or from industrial waste lagoons, airborne emissions, processed solid wastes/sludge and purification of metals. The abnormal levels of heavy metals such as lead, chromium, arsenic, zinc, cadmium, copper and mercury in soils represents a significant health and environmental hazard. Therefore, their remediation is required. The soil matrix is a major reservoir or transporting media for heavy metals, because both soil and heavy metals have rich and diverse binding characteristics. Unlike organic pollutants, metals do not biodegrade, but bioaccumulate in the environment. Soil matrix may adsorb, exchange, oxidize, reduce, catalyze or precipitate metal ions. This depends on several factors such as: water content, pH, temperature, nature of metal itself, particle size distribution, and clay content. This composition dictates the solubility, mobility and toxicity of heavy metals in soil. Typically, most sites contaminated with heavy metals also contain organic pollutants. The remediation of organic contaminants from soil is well advanced and there are many sustainable in situ and ex situ alternatives available. Whereas, for heavy metals, there are only a few alternatives and most involve extensive soil handling. Overall, they are much more expensive than organic remediation. Under normal climate conditions, heavy metals that exist in soil can also enter the groundwater. Therefore, remediation of these sites almost always involves both solid phase and liquid phase (organic pollutants and water) handling. Although all contaminated sites are unique and a site-specific approach to remediation is often required, heavy metal contamination creates even more complex challenges. Depending on the
72 | April 2016
Soil pollution at the Brukunga Pyrites Mine east of Adelaide in the Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, in 1992. (Photo courtesy CSIRO ScienceImage)
site characteristics (geographical location, types of co-contaminants, climate, depth, soil type, pH levels, water content, particle size, clay, etc), site-specific alternatives must be evaluated carefully. Remediation methods in general use include isolation, immobilization, toxicity reduction, physical separation and extraction. The ideal and sustainable alternative is, of course, permanent removal or recovery to the natural levels so there will never be a risk of return to the ecosystem. The recovery of some heavy metals can also be good for beneficial uses such as medicine, etc. Few of these technologies are currently used on either Canadian sites or U.S. Superfund sites. Unfortunately, the majority of alternatives still involve non-recoverable options, where the heavy metals still remain in the soil matrix. The most common method is offsite landfilling where the contaminated soil is relocated to a secured landfill and monitored. This method is ideal for small sites. Other common non-recoverable methods are:
• In situ capping with subsurface barriers, where heavy metal contaminants are contained in a controlled area, but continuous monitoring and risk assessment is required. • In situ or ex situ solidification/fixation of entire soil matrix with cement like reagents. Long time monitoring is again required. • In situ or ex situ vertification, where the entire contaminated soil volume is melted by high electrical temperatures and metals are immobilized (glass-like matrix). This is ideal for small volumes and radioactive metals. Recoverable remediation alternatives include isolation, physical separation, and extraction from both solid (soil) and liquid (water) matrices. Existing or emerging technologies include: Soil Washing and Soil Flushing. The principals of both technologies are very similar and are based on extraction of heavy metals from the soil matrix by solubilising them into the water phase by the use of reagents such as chelates or pH adjusters, coagulants, flocculants, etc. Soil washing is an ex situ process; soil
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Site Remediation flushing is an in situ process where additional force is used to make the solution penetrate through the ground and into the trenches or collecting wells. Although soil washing is the most commonly used or preferred alternative over the in situ approach, both methods require extensive site preparation, equipment mobilization and soil handling. A huge volume of water also has to be treated. Electrokinetic Treatment. In this method, electrodes are used in situ or ex situ in slurry condition to transfer the metal ions and localize them as a solid mass on the surface of the pre-selected electrodes. The yield from this technology and its universal application still needs improvement. However, promising and useful results have been obtained on site-specific projects where other methods failed. An example is the removal of heavy metals from underground water in areas that are difficult to reach, such as under buildings. Phytoremediation. This is an emerg-
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ing technology which has proved to be more effective in metal recovery, and more economical than those discussed previously. It involves the use of certain plants to bioaccumulate the heavy metals into the biomass of the plants. Although this technology offers an economical solution, its application for in situ use is limited by climatic conditions, shallow depths, and the metal’s bioavailability. The process rate and recovery yield also require significant improvement. Once biaccumulated, the plants have to be harvested and disposed of properly. Conclusion The recovery of heavy metals from solid matrix (soil and ore) is important both for the environment and the economy. However, due to difficulties associated with chemical complexities, existing remediation technologies do not offer selectivity and sustainability. Therefore, for now, a site-specific approach should be taken for each proj-
ect, until universal alternatives with the following criteria are developed: • Minimum number of processing steps. • Preferably in situ as opposed to ex situ process. • Direct extraction from soil’s solid matrix. • Minimum washing or liquid phase handling. • More effective/improved chemical treatment. • Permanent/non-monitoring alternative. • Selective metal recovery in pure/elemental form. • Improved “time and cost-effective” methods, and lesser energy requirements. • Minimum adverse environmental impact (e.g., less use of polluting energy and less production of noise, traffic, soil handling, emissions, etc.) Mike Shiralian, Ph.D., is an independent heavy metals soil remediation consultant based in Toronto. Email: mikex0123@gmail.com
April 2016 | 73
Product & Service Showcase Wastewater Treatment
ADI Systems offers wastewater treatment and waste-to-energy solutions to industrial processors worldwide. Our proven anaerobic and aerobic technologies can help plants: comply with environmental regulations; reduce surcharges and disposal costs; recover green energy from waste; and, reuse treated wastewater. Help minimize pollution and protect the planet by investing in sustainable on-site wastewater treatment. Learn more by visiting us at CANECT booth #1322.
T: 800-561-2831 F: 506-452-7308 E: systems@adi.ca W: www.adisystemsinc.com
ADI Systems
Peristaltic Metering Pump
Designed for injecting aggressive, and/or viscous chemicals common in water treatment, and ideal for low volume water treatment facilities, the ProSeries-M® M-2 peristaltic metering pump utilizes advanced communication protocols to permit SCADA system connectivity, and other remote controllers, for dosing control. M-2 features include: exclusive tube failure detection system, U.S. Patent 7,001,153 and 7,284,964; advanced communications; feed rates from .01-17.2 GPH/.0365.1 LPH, pressures to 125 psig/8.6 bar; 200:1 turndown ratio; NSF Listed Std.61.
T: 714-893-8529 F: 714-894-9492 E: sales@blue-white.com W: www.blue-white.com
Blue-White Industries
Hybrid Ultrasonic Flow Meters
The Sonic-Pro® S3 hybrid ultrasonic flow meter has non-invasive, clamp on transducers with user-selectable Doppler or Transit Time operating modes for measurement of both clean and dirty fluids. The S3 can be factory configured or programmed in-field. Other features include data logging, isolated 4-20 mA output, optional computer connection for real-time flow and configuration, and process control. Pipe sizes ½” to 100”.
T: 714-893-8529 F: 714-894-9492 E: sales@blue-white.com W: www.blue-white.com
Blue-White Industries 74 | April 2016
Filtration Treatment Systems Waterloo Biofilter has provided innovative, low-energy filtration treatment systems for residential and communal sewage flows for over 20 years. Self-contained modules in 15,000-40,000 L/d ISO shipping containers, ready to plug in on-site. High quality Ontario-developed nitrogen and phosphorus removal systems. Ideal for subdivisions, truck stops, campgrounds and resorts.
Waterloo Biofilter T: 519-856-0757 TF: 866-366-4329
E: info@waterloo-biofilter.com W: www.waterloo-biofilter.com
Butterfly valves
Flexible process assembly
Chemline’s Type 57 all-plastic elastomer seated butterfly valve is now NSF-61 certified for potable water services. It offers perfect corrosion resistance at low cost. Standard materials used are: PVC body, PP disc, EPDM seat. Others are available. Sizes range from 1-1/2” to 24”. Use with handlever, gear operators, pneumatic or electric actuators.
T: 905-889-7890, F: 905-889-8553 E: request@chemline.com W: www.chemline.com
W: www.ca.endress.com/cpa871
Endress+Hauser Canada
Chemline Plastics
Chlorine Ton Scale
Auto cleaning system
The Liquiline platform is expanding, with the addition of the CYC25 auto-cleaning system for use with the award-winning CM44x transmitter. This system allows for onthe-fly retraction, cleaning and re-insertion of pH/ORP sensors. Increase your measuring accuracy and drastically reduce manual maintenance; in short, save money! In the downloads, enter CYC25 in the Product Code search box.
W: www.ca.endress.com/en/downloads
Endress+Hauser Canada
The Cleanfit CPA871 retractable assembly is a reliable partner, thanks to its robust modular design and intuitive operation. Either manual or pneumatic operation makes for safe and optimum sensor handling during measurement, cleaning and calibration. Wetted parts are available in stainless steel 1.4404, PEEK, PVDF, conductive PVDF, Hastelloy C-22, titanium and more.
The Chlor-Scale® Ton Container Scale from Force Flow provides an accurate and reliable way to monitor the amount of chlorine used in your disinfection process. Knowing the exact amount fed, allows you to document that target disinfection levels have been consistently met. The steel rectangular tube platform is robotically welded, then epoxy powder coated to ensure maximum strength for safety and durability.
T: 800-893-6723 W: www.forceflow.com
Force Flow
Control flow from outside a pipe
Greyline’s new model DFS 5.1 Doppler Flow Switch measures liquid flow with a non-contacting ultrasonic sensor mounted on the outside of ½ inch diameter or larger pipes. It installs in minutes! No pipe drilling or cutting is required and there is no maintenance. The DFS Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Product & Service Showcase 5.1 is designed for pump protection, valve control and flow/no-flow alarms. It is ideal for controlling wastewater, slurries, caustics, acids and “difficult” liquids.
E: info@greyline.com W: http://bit.ly/1Txr5Iu
Greyline Instruments
H2Flow TILT Bioreactors
TILT provides wastewater treatment for communities and industries. Based on liquid shipping containers, TILT is a very low cost, extremely compact, reliable, robust package. Easily transportable anywhere - ships by rail, truck and cargo ship. Can be placed outdoors. New units ready in stock and we have rental and temporary units available for BOD removal and nitrification. Available in MBBR, SBR and aeration tank versions.
T: 888-575-8642 W: www.h2flowTILT.com
H2Flow Equipment
Chlorine emergency shutoff
The Hexacon III Emergency Chlorine Valve Shutoff System adds a new level of safety to your chlorine feed system. Stop a chlorine leak within seconds of detection by automatically closing the ton container or cylinder valve. Halogen Valve Systems are the only shutoffs that confirm the valve was actually torqued closed to the Chlorine Institute recommended standard.
T: 925-686-6700 W: www.halogenvalve.com
Halogen Valve Systems
Remote Monitoring Station Data Logger
The HOBO RX3000 is Onset’s next-generation remote data logging station that provides instant access to site-specific environmental data anywhere, anytime via the Internet. Onset’s web-based data logging systems enable real-time, remote access to your data via cellular, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet communications. They can be configured with a wide range of external sensors for measuring weather conditions outdoors, and energy, power and environmental conditions indoors.
E: salesb@hoskin.ca, Burlington, ON www.esemag.com
E: salesv@hoskin.ca, Burnaby, BC E: salesm@hoskin.ca, Montreal, QC W: www.hoskin.ca
Hoskin Scientific
Wading Discharge Measurement
FlowTracker2 Wading Discharge Measurement Instrument is a modern approach for tried-and-true ADV technology. It is intuitive, graphical and easy to use, and provides proven SonTek ADV accuracy, and new features requested by water professionals like you!
E: salesb@hoskin.ca, Burlington, ON E: salesv@hoskin.ca, Burnaby, BC E: salesm@hoskin.ca, Montreal, QC W: www.hoskin.ca
Hoskin Scientific
Rotary Drum Sludge Thickeners
JWC Environmental’s IPEC Rotary Drum Sludge Thickener utilizes a progressive series of wedgewire or mesh screening elements to separate free water from flocculated sludge. Sludge is conditioned in a flocculation tank and fed gently through a distribution headbox to the screening surface. Sludge from 0.5%-3% solids can be thickened to 5%-15%, depending on the type of sludge.
T: 800-331-2277 F: 949-833-8858 E: jwce@jwce.com W: www.jwce.com
JWC Environmental
Wipes Ready Cutters
The next generation of Muffin Monster® grinders are equipped with new two-directional Wipes Ready cutters, updated screening drums and enhanced operating technologies to improve debris capture rate, and cut wipes into smaller pieces to avoid re-weaving and pump clogging.
T: 800-331-2277 F: 949-833-8858 E: jwce@jwce.com W: www.jwce.com
JWC Environmental
Oxygen Demand Analyzer
The PeCOD® COD is a new oxygen demand analyzer for natural organic matter monitoring in source and drinking waters. It effectively predicts THM and HAA formation by measuring reactive organics directly, thereby providing greater sensitivity than TOC/ DOC and UV254 systems. The PeCOD® system enables a utility to optimize treatment and remove more disinfection byproducts. Laboratory, portable and online models available.
T: 519-763-4245 E: info@mantech-inc.com W: www.mantech-inc.com
MANTECH
THM Removal System
Stay in Stage 2 DBPR compliance with the GridBee® In-Tank Floating THM Removal System (TRS). It helps you achieve more THM removal with less energy and provides all the benefits of complete floor-to-surface mixing in your storage tanks and clearwells. Any tank size. Any flow rate. The GridBee In-Tank Floating TRS is engineered to meet your THM removal needs and can be integrated with no disruption in service.
T : 866-437-8076 E : info@medoraco.com W : www.medoraco.com/gridbee-sn
Medora Corporation
Air-Powered Mixers
Your system is already a marvel of technology and biology; now you can make it even better with GridBee® AP Series Air-Powered Mixers. Eliminate floating sludge blankets. Decrease odour. Increase nitrate removal. Experience great bottom-to-top mixing and improved solid suspension. From aeration basins to the anoxic zone to everywhere front, back, and between, the GridBee AP Series Mixers can help enhance processing throughout your system.
T : 866-437-8076 E : info@medoraco.com W : www.medoraco.com/gridbee-ap
Medora Corporation
Lifting Hooks
Equipment lifting hooks to suit a wide range of environments and standards are available in a variety of materials, including types 304 and 316 stainless steels. April 2016 | 75
Product & Service Showcase T : 800-268-5336 E : paul@msumississauga.com W : www.msumississauga.com
MSU Mississauga
Adjustable Valve Supports
Adjustable Valve Supports from MSU Mississauga suit virtually any size valve. They meet a variety of standards, including York, Halton and Peel Regions. They come complete with all necessary hardware.
T : 800-268-5336 E : paul@msumississauga.com W : www.msumississauga.com
MSU Mississauga
Remote Pressure Monitoring System
Located anywhere in the water distribution system, the Hydro-Guard™ Remote Pressure Monitoring System reports pressure data at customer-defined intervals via a machine-to-machine cellular-based service or a Mueller® advanced metering infrastructure network. Also, the GIS map interface can be viewed with any Web browser. Alerts are transmitted via SMS and/or email when user-defined settings for low- or high-pressure conditions are reached.
T: 705-719-9965 E: more-info@muellercanada.com W: www.muellercanada.com
Mueller Canada
Progressing Cavity Pump
Disconnect the rotor/stator unit from the coupling rods through an inspection cover and simply lift it out. The remaining rotating unit can be removed and the pump is open from flange to flange. All wear parts are accessible and can be replaced in less than half the time!
T: 866-683-7867 E: ntc@netzsch.com W: www.pumps.netzsch.com
NETZSCH Canada
Screw blowers
Integrating the proven benefits of screw technology, Atlas Copco’s ZS Blower Range will cut your energy costs by an average of 30% compared to rotary lobe blowers. Delivered ready-for-use, and with the highest level of quality from 76 | April 2016
Atlas Copco, the ZS screw blowers provide the utmost in proven reliability, performance and efficiency.
T: 905-864-9311 E: craig@proaquasales.com W: www.proaquasales.com
Pro Aqua
Rotary lobe pumps
Börger makes an extremely efficient, reliable and unbeatably easy to maintain pump. All spare and wear parts are durable and very cost-effective. The unique MIP (Maintenance in Place) system for Börger pumps makes it easy, since all wear parts can be replaced in situ without dismantling any pipe or drive systems.
T: 905-864-9311 E: craig@proaquasales.com W: www.proaquasales.com
Pro Aqua
Corrosion Protection
Dura-Plate® 6100, a 100% solids high build, high physical performance, amine-cured epoxy from Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, is capable of film builds in excess of 125 mils in a single application. Providing corrosion protection of concrete and steel, the epoxy is ideally suited for the lining and rehabilitation of sewer collection and wastewater treatment structures in municipal and industrial markets.
E: shunsberger@marcusthomasllc.com W: www.protective.sherwin-williams.com
Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings
Engineered metal doors
USF Fabrication, Inc. manufacture a complete line of engineered metal doors for underground utility access. They have been fabricating solutions since 1916 with over 160,000 sq ft of manufacturing space. This allows them to offer the best lead times in the industry. Their friendly and knowledgeable staff is committed to providing customers with the right product for their application and shipping it when they need it.
T: 604-552-7900 F: 604-552-7901 E: epsl@telus.net
USF Fabrication
High performance automation
The portable, electrically operated Hydrolift-2 actuator is perfect for purging and sampling 2” diameter monitoring wells, up to 150 to 200 feet deep, and is the ideal choice for the frequent user of Waterra’s inertial pumping system with moderate to extreme pumping requirements (standard, high and low flows).
T: 905-238-5242 F: 905-238-5704 E: sales@waterra.com www.waterra.com
Waterra Pumps
Peristaltic pumps
The Spectra Field-Pro is a state-of-the-art peristaltic pump that features a heavy-duty, all-inclusive design. This means no external cables, chargers or batteries to worry about.
T: 905-238-5242 F: 905-238-5704 E: sales@waterra.com www.waterra.com
Waterra Pumps
Vapour sampling
The Waterra Vapour Sampling EcoPlug™ is a specialized well cap that uses a custom brass valve to allow you to extract a sample of the trapped headspace vapours. Pressure tested to 20 PSI, these well caps prevent the loss of well gasses to the atmosphere.
T: 905-238-5242 F: 905-238-5704 E: sales@waterra.com W: www.waterra.com
Waterra Pumps
Water level indicator
The new Waterra digital WS-2 Water Level Indicator is an improved version of the original WS-1. The WS-2 is available with either imperial or metric tapes and open or closed reel formats.
T: 905-238-5242 F: 905-238-5704 E: sales@waterra.com W: www.waterra.com
Waterra Pumps Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
16 CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE & TRADESHOW NEW
for 2016!
CLEANTECH SHOWCASE
24th Annual Canadian Environmental Conference & Tradeshow April 25-27, 2016 • International Centre, Mississauga, ON, Canada
List of Exhibitors as of March 24, 2016 ACG /Envirocan .........................................................#1238 Accuworx Inc. ............................................................ #1335 Acute Environmental & Safety Services Inc. ..... #1434 ADI Systems ............................................................... #1322 AESAC Inc. ..................................................................#1318 Arcadis Canada Inc. .................................................#1324 Bishop Water Technologies ....................................#1433 BMP Supplies . ...........................................................#1523 Cancoppas ..................................................................#1435 Cleantech Canada ....................................................#1528 DeWind One Pass Trenching LLC .........................#1440 Dragun Corporation ..................................................#1328 Drain-All Ltd. ..............................................................#1218 Dynamic Industrial Services Inc. ..........................#1536 Elemental Controls ...................................................#1332 EMSL Canada, Inc. ...................................................#1212 Environment and Climate Change Canada .........#1329 EOC Environmental Odour Consulting Corporation ...........................................#1334 GENEQ inc. .................................................................#1228 Imbibitive Technologies (Imbiber Beads®) ..........#1529 KG Services ................................................................#1432 LimeGREEN Equipment Inc. ...................................#1337 McLuhan & Davies Communications, Inc. ..........#1236
www.canect.net
MemPore Environmental Technologies, Inc. ......#1522 Nijhuis Water Technology, Inc. ..............................#1417 Northern ANI ..............................................................#1337 Pinchin Ltd. ................................................................#1224 Pollutech EnviroQuatics Limited ..........................#1333 QM Environmental ....................................................#1533 Royal Roads University ............................................#1429 RWDI ............................................................................#1422 Safe Drain Canada ....................................................#1424 SARAFINCHIN Associates Ltd. ...............................#1312 Scicorp International Corp .....................................#1217 SPD Sales ....................................................................#1317 Spill Management Inc. .............................................#1241 TEAM-1 Academy Inc. .............................................#1233 University of Waterloo, Co-operative Education and Career Action .................................#1428 Vector Process Equipment Inc. .............................#1232 Veolia North America ...............................................#1223 Vissers Sales Corp. ..................................................#1532 Walker Environmental Group Inc. .........................#1229 Warren’s Waterless Printing Inc. ...........................#1336 WISE Environmental Solutions Inc. ......................#1437 WSP Canada Inc. .......................................................#1234
April 2016 | 77
Stormwater
Photo credit: City of Vernon.
Sustainable and equitable stormwater funding: a British Columbia case study By Jason Foster
I
n light of aging infrastructure, lack of preventative maintenance, and more instances of failures, municipalities are reviewing their stormwater systems and looking for ways to match desired levels of service to available funding. Stormwater is historically the most underfunded (see Figure 1). Funding for the City of Vernon, British Columbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stormwater management program is generated through property taxes, a dedicated infrastructure levy, and grant funding. Recent work completed identified funding shortfalls and environmental issues with stormwater runoff quality. Vernon had already taken steps to correct insufficient funding for infrastructure renewal. In 2013, a dedicated 1.9% cumulative levy was implemented. Each year until 2022, this levy will add 1.9% of the taxation budget to the capital program budget. It is allocated to
78 | April 2016
infrastructure renewal of the programs funded through general taxation which include: stormwater, roads, municipal facilities, parks, and the airport. The levy is a positive step forward, but does not provide dedicated funding, nor address operations and maintenance budgets. Maintenance of the stormwater system in Vernon is done to remedy a failure or to prevent an imminent failure. Lack of preventative maintenance and renewal can save money in the short term, but will become more costly as the system ages and emergency work becomes more common. This will likely increase incidences of flooding, slope failure, road failure, and potentially lead to beach closures. Costs and service levels The primary goal of a stormwater management program is to manage stormwater and protect life and property. If this is not accomplished, all other goals are virtually
irrelevant. Managing stormwater means implementing and maintaining infrastructure such as pipes, catchbasins, ditches, detention facilities, infiltration facilities, treatment structures, overland flow routes and outlets to receiving waters. Other goals of an effective stormwater management program include: mitigating pollutants; managing destructive peak runoff flow rates; keeping residents informed and satisfied; and providing sustainable funding. A review was done of the existing programs and past engineering reports in Vernon and in other municipalities, to identify levels of service that would provide sustainable renewal rates, a proactive preventative maintenance program, and/or sufficient water quality in order to not negatively impact adjacent creeks and lakes. From this review, three levels of service were developed: status quo; minimum renewal and maintenance; and,
Environmental Science &â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Engineering Magazine
Stormwater Figure 2: Example of impervious areas of a single-family detached home.
sustainable renewal, maintenance and water quality. Funding methodologies Stormwater funding methodologies include: taxation; rates (also known as fees); and other income such as grant funding, or debt financing. Developing the “right” funding methodology for each community requires analyzing details such as impervious area as well as the values of the community toward rate payer equity, environmental impacts and the cost of program administration. Funding methods that fall under the “other income” category are used universally. While these methods are recommended income sources, they cannot fully cover stormwater program costs. The focus of the study was to review sustainable funding methodologies available through taxation and stormwater rates. Taxation provides two funding methods: general taxation and dedicated tax levies. Alternate stormwater funding methodologies have become more common in recent years but general taxation is still the most significant revenue source to support municipal stormwater programs in Canada. Revenue derived from the municipality’s portion of property tax goes into a general fund which covers the operating and capital expenditures of many services. General taxation provides financial flexibility through a well-established system. Downsides include lack of dedicated www.esemag.com
Figure 1: Annual capital reinvestment normalized by system replacement cost for Canadian municipalities. Source: National Water & Wastewater Benchmarking Initiative
funding and typically poor equity. An alternative to general taxation is a dedicated levy. A levy can be administered specifically to raise revenue for stormwater services and is itemized on the property owner’s annual tax bill. The advantage of a levy is a dedicated revenue stream for the stormwater program, but the potential for inequity is not solved. A disadvantage for all tax-based systems is that taxes must be raised to increase stormwater funding. A stormwater rate can be a solution to many of the issues with tax-based funding. A rate allocates charges to individual properties and is administered as a
user fee. In the same way water rates can be based on volume of water consumption, stormwater rates can be based on the volume of stormwater runoff. It is impossible to directly measure the volume of runoff from each property and so an indicator is used. The area of impervious ground cover (e.g., rooftops, driveways, and parking lots) is a common indicator of stormwater flow and pollution discharge potential. Figure 2 illustrates the impervious area for a non-residential property, highlighting the building footprint in the left panel and the driveway and parking areas in the right continued overleaf... April 2016 | 79
Stormwater panel. The sum total of these areas within the lot boundary represents the total impervious area for this property. Stormwater rates range in complexity from flat rates to variable rates based on direct impervious area measurement. The flat rate offers the least user-pay equity, but is easy to implement and administer. A variable rate is more equitable, but is more costly to set up and administer. Stormwater rates are calculated based on billing units. The basic calculation for a stormwater rate is simply the municipal stormwater program expense divided by the number of billing units within the municipality. For example, a single family unit stormwater rate structure uses the impervious area of the average single-family detached home as the billing unit. One stormwater billing unit is applied to all single-family homes. Multi-family dwelling units are smaller than single-family homes so a factor is used to reduce the billing unit for these property types. The billing units for non-residential properties are determined by measuring the impervious area of each property. There are 20 to 30 municipalities across Canada that have either implemented, or are in the process of implementing, a stormwater rate. All municipalities are different and it is important to complete a thorough review in order to develop an equitable user-pay funding solution. Usually taxation does not provide equitable funding. However, Vernon is a special case. Figure 3 shows that in many Canadian communities, impervious area is not tied to tax contributions. In Vernon, the two are closely related. This means that funding storm-
80 | April 2016
Figure 3: Impervious area versus tax contributions in Vernon, BC and other Canadian municipalities.
water through taxation presents a fair and equitable solution for Vernon. Public awareness The general public is unaware of the devastating effect rainwater can have on our infrastructure and there is a lack of knowledge regarding stormwater. It must be communicated to residents that stormwater management is critical and that this is more than a “rain tax”. Conclusion Vernon’s funding for stormwater was not sufficient to meet either the minimum or the sustainable level of service. The community’s desire is to receive a functional drainage system and improve environmental health. As a result of the funding study and previous initiatives,
the City is taking steps to ensure sustainable funding for stormwater management. The correlation of impervious area to land use type concluded that taxation is an equitable solution. While a stormwater rate offers many benefits, in this instance it made more sense to continue with the well-established taxed based funding system. The 1.9% cumulative levy will eventually provide sustainable funding for infrastructure renewal. There is potential to extend the levy and repurpose it to stormwater operations and maintenance funding. Jason Foster, P.Eng., is with AECOM Canada. For more information, email: jason.foster@aecom.com
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Water Treatment
Retrofits at Hamilton Water Treatment Plant save $400,000 per year
T
he pumps, motors and switchgear at Hamilton, Ontario’s Woodward Avenue High Lift Pumping Station were reaching the end of their life and needed to be replaced. Built in 1951, this is the City’s largest pumping station. It pumps more than 340 million litres of Lake Ontario water to over 500,000 people daily. The load required to move the water is more than 10,000 horsepower, with various sized pumps fed from two separate electrical feeds – 2.4 kV to 13.8 kV. The variation in pump sizes resulted in more costly maintenance and higher energy costs. The City replaced the station’s old equipment with state-of-the-art technologies and took advantage of the financial incentives available through the Electricity Retrofit Incentive Program. “We were able to install energy-efficient equipment that would reduce the station’s energy cost,” says Geoff Lupton, Hamilton’s Director of Energy, Fleet, Facilities and Traffic. “Controlling energy costs is critical to operating an efficient and reliable water treatment plant.” The new system reduces the pumping station’s energy costs by 20% annually. This represents $400,000 of the station’s current $2 million annual electrical cost. “This project sets a benchmark for the energy-efficiency opportunities available at the municipal level to react to pricing and peak demand,” says Brian Smith, Chief Conservation Officer for Horizon Utilities. Horizon is the local electric utility that assessed and evaluated the eligibility of the project for financial incentives available from the Electricity Retrofit Incentive Program. Hamilton received over $2 million in incentive funding for installing energy-efficient pumps and variable frequency drives. Under the Save On Energy retrofit program and Save On Energy Process & Systems, significant financial incentives are available to municipalities, businesswww.esemag.com
One of six high lift pumps at the Woodward Water Treatment Plant in Hamilton.
es, industries and other sectors when they install new energy-efficient technologies in their buildings and facilities. Local electric utilities across Ontario deliver these incentive programs. To meet its energy-efficiency and water safety targets, the City’s engineering staff worked with Insyght Systems of Burlington, whose analysis showed that the optimum solution was to replace the various-sized pumps with six identical pumps. Four were connected to variable-frequency drives and the two remaining operate as single-speed pumps. The pumps would be constructed in a single-voltage, split electrical bus that allows half the station to be shut down for maintenance, while the other half continues to operate. Since the new pumps are designed to operate at higher efficiencies across a wider range of flow rates and use variable-frequency drives, the new design will considerably reduce power consumption. The change in operational approach will
allow the high lift pumps to run at a lower capacity during higher-cost, on-peak periods and at a higher capacity during lower-cost, off-peak periods. In addition, the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system now shows plant operators, in real time, how much electricity is being used at each pump. The system displays the cost of running each pump and the entire station. Plant operators can now make decisions related to time-of-day use, based on real-time data, which includes electricity rates and other key information needed to monitor and control energy costs. The Woodward Avenue Water Treatment Plant pumping station project was the winner of “The 2011 Success Story of the Year” for Pumps & Systems magazine. For more information, visit www.horizonutilities.com April 2016 | 81
Water Treatment
Water plant uses powdered activated carbon for pesticide removal By Craig Favill, Transvac Systems Ltd. and David Boger, Flexicon Corporation
W
Top: Bulk bag and lifting frame of the BFF-C-X Bulk Out® split-frame bulk bag discharger are forklifted onto the stationary discharger frame inside the container. Bottom: The flexible screw conveyor from the bulk bag discharger moves carbon powder to the surge hopper. The second flexible screw conveyor then moves the powder to the intake of the ejector.
82 | April 2016
hen a water treatment plant faced a spike in pesticide concentration exceeding the allowable concentration limit for incoming water, it was forced to shut down. In order to provide clean drinking water to users, water had to be diverted from a regional water treatment plant until the problem could be solved. The solution ultimately chosen was a mobile, trailer-mounted carbon dosing system, housed in a six-metre long steel shipping container. It was delivered and activated within one day, without costly and time-consuming site preparation, construction or complex components. The water treatment facility was restored to compliance, as the dosed carbon successfully removed pesticide traces from the main water stream. Supplied by Transvac Systems, the TransPAC mobile powder handling and carbon dosing system includes a bulk bag discharger, two flexible screw conveyors, and a Transvac ejector system for mixing and injecting a slurry of powdered activated carbon (PAC) into the water stream. It only requires connections to an electric power supply, the municipal water stream, and an external water supply. Environmental impact and site preparation are minimized, as well as the need for maintenance and planning permission. The system is safe to operate, and simple to control. From the split-frame bulk bag discharger, PAC is automatically transferred from a half tonne bulk bag, through a flexible screw conveyor, to a surge hopper. From there, a second flexible screw conveyor meters the powder into the ejector. A forklift loads the bag-loading frame and 500 kg bulk bag onto the stationary discharger frame inside the shipping container. Once the bag spout is untied, the powder flows into a 75 mm diameter flexible screw conveyor leading to the surge hopper. A second 60 mm diameter flexible screw conveyor moves the car-
bon powder from the hopper outlet to the intake of the ejector that accurately doses the PAC into the municipal water stream. The conveyors are curved to fit the tight space within the shipping container. From the control panel, the operator sets the speeds of the conveyor drives to automatically dose the proper amount of PAC according to the site water flow. Low and high level sensors in the surge hopper signal the controller to start or stop flow through the first flexible screw conveyor when the hopper contents reach the low or high level. The carbon dosing portion of the TransPAC system includes a header tank for incoming water, a booster pump and the ejector. Velocity of the water flowing through a venturi creates a low pressure zone in the ejector that entrains the carbon powder into the treated water stream at a rate set at the control panel. The unit operates with no moving parts. PAC can pose handling problems Powdered activated carbon adsorbs the pesticide on its surface, and the carbon and adsorbed material are subsequently removed as sludge in the flocculation process. However, the extremely fine powder is prone to dusting. Both the bulk bag discharger and flexible screw conveyors prevent dusting. The bag outlet spout is connected to the feeder by a Spout-Lock® clamp ring. This creates a secure, dust-tight connection between the clean side of the bag spout and clean side of the bag spout interface. Each flexible screw conveyor consists of a stainless steel screw rotating inside a durable polymer tube that contains the fine powder as it is conveyed. The conveyor discharge is likewise dustfree, as powder exits through a transition adapter located forward of the drive at the discharge end, thereby preventing it from contacting bearings or seals. For more information, visit www.flexicon.com, or www.transvac.co.uk
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Guest Comment
Canadians on a Water For People project tour in Bolivia. Left to right: Peter Hanlon, Ed Vye, Bill Butler, Tony Petrucci, Penny Davey.
Reflecting on over 20 years of Water For People Canada By Bill Butler
I
f there was a major earthquake last night anywhere in the world and over 4,000 people died, every major media organization in the world would feature this event as their headline story. Yet, yesterday, today, tomorrow and everyday throughout the world, this number of people, mostly children, will die from waterborne disease. I challenge you to find a media outlet reporting this story.” —Ken Miller, President WFP, AWWA, ACE, June 1994 There are often unexpected events, Water Guideline that would reduce the moments, which happen in one’s life that death rate in Canada by one over a 70compel action. Ken Miller’s words made year period. I realized that providing waa lasting impression on me. I heard them ter and sanitation in developing countries while being involved in discussions with was something that needed addressing Health Canada officials on proposed and that I could help. changes to Canada’s Drinking Water Establishing Water for Guidelines. Epidemiological studies inPeople (WFP) Canada dicated that lowering the acceptable levAt the time, I was serving as Chair el of trihalomethanes would result in one less death from cancer in Canada over a of the Canadian Affairs Committee of 70-year period among people who drank AWWA. The members of the committee were aware of the recently (1991) formed several glasses of water per day. I could not rationalize the 4,000 WFP, a U.S. charity. After considerable deaths per day throughout the world discussion, the members of the Canadian among peole who consume unsafe water Affairs Committee unanimously resolved and the proposed change to the Drinking to establish a Canadian registered charity www.esemag.com
with objectives identical to that of WFP. In June 1994, the first Directors of WFP Canada were I, representing Atlantic Canada; Pierre LaJoie, Quebec; Rod Holme, Ontario; Tom Pearson, Western Canada; and David Swanson, British Columbia. During its early formation, WFP sought out projects in countries where there was great need. This often resulted in projects being delivered ad hoc, with no link to each other. Once a community project was identified, staff sought to find funding partners. One of the most significant changes over the years in how WFP operates has been the shift from the initial project approach to a program approach. With a program approach WFP selects particular regions in specified countries and commits to work with local NGOs to see that everyone in the region is serviced by continued overleaf... April 2016 | 83
Guest Comment adequate and safe water and sanitation. This is the Everyone Forever model. This model of program delivery has been very successful. In countries, such as Bolivia where once WFP had to tread softly and seek government support to allow the projects to proceed, now the national government is a program funder and encourages local governments to participate. The percentage of financing that WFP provides to programs has decreased, while the government percentage has increased. Another indication of the success of WFP’s program delivery strategy is that other international NGOs are seeking to follow our lead and adopt the same delivery strategy. Bolivia country tour – 2008 In 2008, I had the good fortune to travel to Bolivia to visit WFP projects. I was impressed with the major advancements that had been made in hygiene education and practices, and in community capacity development. The importance of hygiene education In its early stages, I had the opportunity of serving on the WFP board of directors, led by its founding president, Ken Miller. One board member, Joy Barrett had considerable experience in developing countries through her service with the U.S. Peace Corps. She took every opportunity at board meetings to stress, in fact to insist, that with each of WFP’s projects/programs there be a sanitation and a hygiene education component. Many of us did not have her experience, but were influenced by her conviction. While visiting Bolivia, I understood why Barrett was so determined to make sure that hygiene education was an integral part of every project/program. One community we visited was Hardeman, in the Municipality of San Pedro. Here, the major focus of WFP’s work was on hygiene education and on providing eco-toilets for each family. The health promotion committee of Hardeman demonstrated through the use of posters how they explain to all community members, regardless of their ability to read, the importance of personal hygiene and how to wash properly to help avoid intestinal 84 | April 2016
Bill checking out Water For People’s composting toilets in Bolivia.
illnesses, especially diarrhea. We were shown each of the eco-toilets and the pride of each family was obvious. In many cases, the new toilet was the best-constructed facility the family owned. Building community capacity We have all heard the term “building community capacity”. Those of us on the 2008 tour of Bolivia had a chance to witness firsthand what this means. We attended a meeting with WFP NGO partners in the Municipality of Tiraque, one of the regional areas in Bolivia where program work is focused. This meeting was a true “eye-opener”. I had expected that we would hear from community representatives seeking WFP’s financial support for their community, but little else. The planning in Tiraque for 2008 and following years for program work was at least equal if not exceeding what I was familiar with in Canada. The presentation in Tiraque provided detailed information on the plan and capital budget to bring water to the community of Chaqui Kjocha (elevation 4,300 metres). The budget included estimates for all labour, materials and equipment for a head works (water catchment) structure; an 8,000 m long 65 mm PVC water transmission line; a concrete storage tank; and pressure break stations along the pipeline route. We were told that the community was pleased to work with WFP because of its program focus and not project focus.
Lessons learned from volunteering The first lesson learned is that WFP gives everyone the chance to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate people. The second lesson is that our gestures of help go far beyond water. Further good becomes possible with the time that is saved by not having to spend most of every day walking miles to and from your water supply. Think of the time that is now available for training the villagers in general health hygiene; for educating them in matters of sex and the HIV virus; for encouraging native crafts and other forms of economic development; and for attending schools. What began as a water supply or sanitation project has expanded the village’s capacity in self-sufficiency. The third lesson I learned is that the people working in the water industry in Canada and the U.S. really care about the less fortunate in developing countries. I can say without exaggeration that the board members serve from a deep conviction and a desire to improve the quality of life of those less fortunate. The fourth lesson I learned is that taking a country or regional program approach to service delivery is much more effective for both cost savings and sustainability than following an ad hoc project approach. The success of the Bolivia program supports this without question. When you support WFP, you begin to improve the lives of those villagers in countless ways, and you open doors for them that have never been opened before. You and WFP provide water and sanitation services, yes, but you are also providing the means for significant advancement in every village you help. This is development work par excellence. WFP can and is helping! You and I can help! Please consider financially supporting and/or volunteering for WFP Canada. Bill Butler retired as a civil engineer after 32 years working for the PEI government and the City of Saint John, NB. He is an Honorary Member of AWWA, has served as President of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association and was the Founding President of WFP Canada. Email: butlers.bill@gmail.com
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ES&E NEWS • $73.3 million for 57 capital and capacity-building projects across British Columbia, including drinking water, wastewater and community energy systems. www.budget.gc.ca
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ACG Technology.................................... 91 ADI Group.............................................. 37 AMS....................................................... 24 Associated Engineering........................ 26 AWI........................................................ 35 AWWA ................................................... 85 Blue-White............................................ 11 Can-Am Instruments............................ 39 Chemline Plastics................................. 18 C&M Environmental.............................. 45 Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute............ 69 Denso ................................................... 56 EcoInsight Instruments........................ 49 Endress + Hauser................................... 7 Engineered Pump................................. 55 Envirocan ............................................ 91 Evoqua............................................ 18, 67 Flottweg Separation Technology......... 15 Force Flow............................................ 55 Greatario .............................................. 48 GridBee.................................................. 23 H2Flow ................................................. 12 H2O Logics............................................ 23 Hoskin Scientific............................. 19, 73 Huber Technology................................. 41 Hydroxyl................................................ 59 Indachem.............................................. 57 Kemira................................................... 21 KG Services........................................... 17 KSB Pumps........................................... 60 Kusters Water....................................... 46 Mantech ............................................... 54 Master Meter ......................................... 3 Medora ................................................. 23 Minotaur Stormwater Services............ 28 MONITARIO............................................ 51 Monteco................................................ 49 MSU Mississauga................................. 25 Mueller.................................................. 40 NETZSCH Canada.................................. 61 Newmarket Precast.............................. 51 Ontario Ground Water Association....... 71 Orival Water Filters............................... 43 Parkson................................................. 42 Parsons................................................. 58 Pro Aqua................................................. 9 ProMinent................................................ 8 RV Anderson......................................... 40 SciCorp.................................................. 64 Sentrimax................................................ 2 Sherwin-Williams................................. 27 Smith & Loveless.................................... 5 SolarBee................................................ 23 SPD Sales.............................................. 42 Spill Management................................. 29 Stantec.................................................. 12 Team-1 Academy.................................. 92 USF Fabrication..................................... 55 Victaulic................................................ 53 Waterra............................... 13, 20, 47, 63 WEFTEC................................................. 68 Xylem.................................................... 33
90 | April 2016
ES&E NEWS municipal level, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced $75 million in new funding to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. An additional $50 million investment in improving climate resilient building and infrastructure codes was also announced. According to the Prime Minister’s office, the two initiatives are aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing the life cycle of public and private infrastructure projects (including water and wastewater utilities), and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Canadian communities. The announcement was welcomed by Engineers Canada CEO, Kim Allen, who called the investments a very good start. “Improving climate resilience within building and infrastructures codes across Canada will enhance their ability to withstand extreme weather events and the effects of a changing climate and increase Canada’s competitiveness in a global economy,” said Allen in a press release. “Engineers are excellent at designing solutions that are resilient, but the challenge is weighing that resiliency against the cost it takes to make it. Engineers are experts at balancing and coming up with a solution,” said Allen to ES&E Magazine. Complicating the balancing act is the diverse and widespread threat that both extreme weather events and general climate changes pose to infrastructure. Even within a city, weather events can dramatically impact different parts of a city. For example, transportation infrastructure near the Bow River in Calgary, or the Don River in Toronto, will be affected very differently from areas upstream. Due to the variation in vulnerability, research and assessments are vital to ensure that infrastructure spending delivers the best return on investment. “To get the most out of the money spent, you have to do the initial assessments,” said Allen. To assist infrastructure owners with this, Engineers Canada developed and deployed the Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee Protocol (PIEVC), with support from Natural
Resources Canada. According to Engineers Canada, PIECV has been applied in more than 45 infrastructure projects across Canada and several internationally, since it was created in 2005.
Teck Metals to pay $3 million penalty Teck Metals Ltd. was recently ordered to pay a $3,000,000 penalty in a British Columbia Provincial Court after pleading guilty to three offences under the Fisheries Act related to releases of effluent into the Columbia River. In addition to the penalty, Teck Metals agreed to undertake on-site improvement projects. The company estimates that these projects, which are intended to prevent future incidents, will cost $50 million to implement. Marko Goluza, Pacific and Yukon regional director for Environment and Climate Change Canada, told the Globe and Mail that he couldn’t recall a company ever having to pay an environmental fine in B.C. of more than one million dollars, making the total fines the largest ever awarded in one environmental case. Environment and Climate Change Canada investigated multiple incidents resulting in the discharge of approximately 125 million litres of effluent from Teck Metals into the Columbia River between November 28, 2013, and February 5, 2015. “Effluent deleterious to fish” is a liquid that is released from the facility that would degrade or alter the quality of water, making it harmful to fish. In a statement, Teck Metals said the incidents discharged water with elevated levels of substances including copper, zinc, ammonia, chlorine and cadmium. Reviews conducted following each incident confirmed there was no human health risk and no indication of longterm impact on fish or the environment. The $3,000,000 penalty will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund for fish habitat and fisheries restoration projects in the Kootenay River or Columbia River watersheds. As a result of this conviction, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
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