Florida Water Resources Journal - July 2022

Page 30

FWRC 2022 – CONNECT AGAIN!

Chris Fasnacht emcees the contest

The Bio-Wizards team displays its first-place trophy

Fecal Matters wins second place.

OPERATIONS CHALLENGE

Polk County Bio-Wizards is 2022 Winner! Polk County Bio-Wizards came in first place in this year’s Operations Challenge, and Fecal Matters, the team from JEA, finished second, a feat it pulled off at the last contest in 2019. The contest is coordinated by Chris Fasnacht, with City of St. Cloud. Four teams came to Tampa to compete. The other teams in the contest were: S City of St. Petersburg Dirty Birds S G RU True Grit The competition, which was held in the exhibit hall, is a skills-based contest consisting of four timed events and one questionnaire event that showcase the knowledge and expertise of wastewater treatment plant operators. The teams display their proficiency in process control, maintenance, safety, collections, and the laboratory. The Bio-Wizards came in first in the process

control, maintenance, and laboratory categories, and Fecal Matters won the collections and safety categories. The process control event uses a computerbased questionnaire where two team members are given certain scenarios to figure out through a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) program, and the other members complete a math and basic knowledge question section. The laboratory section is an ammonia and alkalinity testing situation, in a simulated format, to determine the operation of an aerobic wastewater system, as well as added questions to know what the demand and usage are. The maintenance event simulates the maintenance of a lift station where a pump has gone down and a new pump is set up as a bypass. The teams are to do a simulated inspection of the pump before simulating taking the pump to the

The process control event.

A “coworker” is rescued from a confined space during the safety event.

30 July 2022 • Florida Water Resources Journal

station and hooking it up. The collections event simulates the team having to replace a section of an 8-inch piece of pipe with a new piece of pipe that has a 4-inch hole cut out for a new sewer lateral. While this is going on, one member of the team is setting up a sampler to take samples. The safety event simulates a person passing out in a confined space and the team arriving onsite to retrieve the person. Also added is the maintenance of a check valve in replacing the gaskets to it. The top two teams will now go on to represent Florida at this year’s Operation Challenge at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC), which will be held in New Orleans in October. The contest is looking for sponsors to help finance the travel costs for Florida’s champions to compete at the national level at WEFTEC. If you would like to contribute, please reach out to Brad Hayes at bhayes@woodardcurran.com for sponsorship information. The next Operations Challenge at FWRC will be held May 2023 in Kissimmee. The competition is open to teams of wastewater treatment operators from any utility in Florida. For information on entering a team, contact Chris Fasnacht at cfasnacht@stcloud.org.

The maintenance event.

The collections event.

The laboratory event.


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Articles inside

Display Advertiser Index

4min
pages 86-88

TREEO Center Training

2min
pages 79-80

News Beat

3min
pages 81-82

What is the Operators’ Initiative and Why is it

1min
page 76

FWEA Chapter Corner: South Chapter Meeting: Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department Builds for the Future—Melody

2min
pages 70-71

C Factor—Patrick “Murf” Murphy

8min
pages 68-69

FSAWWA Speaking Out—Emilie Moore

4min
pages 72-74

Three Ion Exchange Technologies, One Tough Decision for Florida Utilities—Tyler Smith, Chris

18min
pages 62-67

Reader Profile— Felicity Appel

3min
page 61

Let’s Talk Safety: Jackhammer Safety

2min
page 60

FSAWWA 2022 Water Distribution System Awards

1min
page 58

Test Yourself—Donna Kaluzniak

3min
pages 54-55

In Memoriam: William Palan Allman

4min
page 49

Stormwater Management Planning: Does it

8min
pages 50-53

Emerging Renewal Technologies for Pressurized Pipelines—Steve Soldati

11min
pages 44-48

Students and Young Professionals Activities

2min
pages 28-29

Competitions

7min
pages 30-33

Operators Showcase

11min
pages 22-25

Women of Water Forum

7min
pages 26-27

Facility Tour

1min
page 19

Workshops and Technical Sessions

1min
page 21

CEU Challenge

4min
pages 8-9

Conference Highlights—Mish Clark

12min
pages 14-18

Exhibition

0
page 20

Addressing Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances Through Source Water Assessments and Advanced Treatment Using Powdered Activated Carbon, Granular Activated Carbon, and Ion Exchange—

12min
pages 10-13

FWEA Focus—Sondra W. Lee

3min
pages 6-7

Fish Passage Program to Receive Federal Funding

3min
pages 4-5
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