Breeze Winter 2023

Breeze Issue 196 • Winter 2023

Scandia Draws on Its Roots

American Water Works Association – MN Section 2355 Fairview Ave North #117, Roseville, MN 55113 Address service requested

with Reconstruction of the Water Tower Barn

Inside: Moorehead Water Treatment History Lead Service Lines MWRA Apprentice Program

The Official Publication of the Minnesota Section of the American Water Works Association

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Minnesota Section American Water Works Association Executive Board of Directors Section Chair Doug Klamerus Rochester Public Utilities, Ph: 507-280-1500 dklamerus@rpu.org

Breeze Issue 196 • Winter 2023

Table of Contents

Section Chair-Elect Kathryn Jones HDR, Inc. kathryn.jones@hdrinc.com

Features

Section Past Chair Rob Isabel CDM Smith Ph: 651-252-3716 isabelrs@cdmsmith.com

Dewatering Added to Long History of Moorhead Water Treatment

11

Scandia Draws on Its Roots with Reconstruction of the Water Tower Barn AC23 Conference Gallery and Awards

18 23

Rinse and Re-Peat: Restoring Minnesota’s Peatlands for Climate & Water

27

EPA Researchers Share Approaches to Identify Lead Service Lines

32

Minnesota Rural Water Association Apprenticeship Program

35

AWWA Director Pat Shea St. Paul Regional Water Services Ph: 651-266-8943 patrick.shea@ci.stpaul.mn.us Section Secretary-Treasurer Jim Hauth City of Vadnais Heights 651-204-6000

Disclaimer The ideas, opinions, concepts, procedures, etc. expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the MNAWWA section, its officers, general membership, or the editor. The mention of trade names for commercial products does not represent or imply the approval or endorsement of AWWA. This magazine is presented solely for informational purposes.

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Message from the Director

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M N AW WA Message from the Chair

What is YOUR Story?

I

’m asked from time to time, “Why did you get involved in AWWA.” It’s a pretty simple story. When I reflect back, I recall what it was like attending my first annual conference as a young consulting engineer walking into the exhibit hall and hardly knowing another person with the exception of the other engineers from the firm I was working for. It wasn’t a great experience, and I didn’t gain much from my first annual conference. I made the decision then that I wanted to get involved and get to know my peers as well as others throughout the industry.

At the time, getting involved in an organization dominated by well-established members of the water industry was a daunting task. As fate would have it, a group of other like-minded individuals committed to forming a young professionals (YP) committee as part of the Minnesota Section. It was an opportunity that shaped my involvement in MN AWWA as well as my career. Most of these initial members of the YP committee have grown into much larger roles within the section as Committee Chairs, Council Chairs, Section Chairs, Directors as well as board members at the Association level.

Immediately after joining the YPs, I began to see many familiar faces at future events. From attending industry tours to enjoying social events, becoming a YP was a great opportunity to build long lasting relationships as well as learn about projects and companies that shape our industry. In addition, I was building a network of industry contacts that I could rely on to assist in solving problems that I encountered in my daily job-related responsibilities.

Joining the YPs also allowed me to explore other council and committee opportunities. After serving as Chair of the Young Professionals, I looked for my next opportunity to become further involved in the industry and AWWA. This opportunity came when previous Water for People fishing event coordinator

Doug Klamerus

was approaching retirement and asked if I would be interested in this leadership opportunity. As a longtime outdoor enthusiast, coordinating this popular charitable event was a great fit for me. It also allowed me to become a member of the MAC and further my networking opportunities within the organization.

My next opportunity was becoming the Scholarship Committee Chair. During my time in this role, I also had an opportunity to switch from private consulting to joining Rochester Public Utilities. Working on the public side of the industry has been a very enjoyable experience offering a lot of growth given it is quite different from working on the private side. This career move, where I currently manage water operations, lead me to becoming involved in the Southeast District Planning Committee to assist in planning water operator schools by selecting topics and speakers that would be of interest to water operators in our district. This allowed me to continue to build my network of industry peers.

After becoming District Trustee and serving a three-year term on the Section Board, I was elected as Chair of the MN AWWA Section, where I proudly serve now. After all of these years in various positions in our organization, I have gained valuable resources, networks, etc. that I utilize to solve problems and strive for process improvement in my day-to-day work. In addition to my fellow co-workers, I’ve been able to get to know so many of our valuable industry partners where a few simple phone calls to members I’ve gotten to know can lead to a solution.

This well-worn and very much valued path has led me to my current position and why I’m writing my first article. A decision early on in my career to get more out of the annual conference drove me to become involved, striving to make a difference for myself and for industry partners resulting in fulfilling roles with our organization, Minnesota AWWA. So now I ask you...What is YOUR story? •

“A group of other like-minded individuals committed to forming a young professionals (YP) committee as part of the Minnesota Section. It was an opportunity that shaped my involvement in MN AWWA as well as my career.”

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Winter 2023 | Breeze

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What started as a quick sketch on a napkin has since become a

Cost-Effective, Labor-Saving Innovation

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M N AW WA Message from the Director

Our Role Has Never Been More Valuable

T

he 107th Annual Conference of the Minnesota Section of AWWA has come and gone, and was an amazing event. Raise a glass and toast the many volunteers and dedicated members of the Section that made the event possible. As is illustrated by the event, our Section continues to get better each year. It is a pleasure to be a member of such a great organization. Our Section Staff did an outstanding job working with Council Chairs, Trustees and the Board in the lead-up and during the event.

The Minnesota Section was honored to have the AWWA International Chair Loren Lobovitch in attendance. Mr. Lobovitch was very engaged in the events and commented that he was impressed with how the Section has many enthusiastic leaders and emerging leaders. Based on his comments and observations, he was confident that our councils and committees are functioning and interacting with each other in a positive manner to improve as an organization. It is the volunteers who make us successful.

Considering it was mid-September, the weather was as nice as one could ask for in Duluth, except for a windy Tuesday that required the fishing tournament be canceled. All other pre-conference activities were very successful. A record number of participants were a true reflection of the value of networking, friendship and philanthropic spirit.

Doug Klamerus has assumed the role of Section Chair, and Katherine Jones was elected to the position of Chair-Elect (congratulations Kabby!) Both have been great contributors to the

Patrick Shea

Section and will be outstanding for our Section in the coming terms.

Rob Isabel moves into the past-chair role after completing a busy and well-organized term as Chair. Cheers to a job well done, Rob! On the Association level, as of November 1, we continue to be strong in our membership numbers with 49,818 members; 961 in Minnesota. The legislative landscape continues to revolve around forever chemicals (PFAS/PFOA), lead service line inventory and replacement activities, and the (improved) Lead & Copper Rule. The EPA has withdrawn the proposal to add cybersecurity components to the sanitary survey process. It is clear that sound water infrastructure concepts require strong coalitions and proactive partnerships. I am fortunate to have recently been appointed a seat on the national Water Utility Council, and welcome your feedback and input on legislative issues or concerns.

On the water resource management side of things, AWWA continues to work with the USDA on conservation program and agricultural enhancements that protect drinking water. On this note, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) will receive $25 million in Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to support soil health initiatives across Minnesota. The Advancing Soil Health in Minnesota Agriculture project will offer financial incentives to producers for implementing soil health best management practices and systems such as no-till, strip-till, rotational grazing and cover crops.

The message of source water protection is working! •

“Due to the incoming leaders of the MN AWWA Board, I am excited to face the challenges of a new year, a new leadership direction, and the success of an organization that is committed to serve.”

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DEWATERING Added to Long History of Moorhead Water Treatment

By Stew Thornley, Minnesota Department of Health

A new chapter in a lengthy history of providing water in the Red River Valley has come to Moorhead, Minnesota, the first city on the Red River of the North to draw surface water for treatment, beating out Fargo, North Dakota, by about 1,300 feet.

Nearly unnoticeable in tame times, the Red River has been a miles-wide lake in times of high water. Although stable for the most part, the Red River can be an unreliable source of drinking water.

Moorhead Public Service (MPS) has expanded over the decades to include multiple surface water and groundwater sources to ensure reliable service to its customers and flexibility in its operations.

Geology Geologic history, physical properties, and land use define water characteristics of this area. The extreme western regions of northern Minnesota are topographically flat with soils that are heavy in clay that drain poorly. The topography and underlying drift are related to the last glacial period, which retreated from the state approximately 10,000 years ago.

Minnesota’s most prominent glacial lake was Lake Agassiz, which was larger than all of today’s Great Lakes combined. Lake Agassiz occupied the northwest portion of Minnesota, providing settling points for silt and clay, which impede the movement of groundwater.

Long before this, salt-water bodies invaded the region and left a sheet of marine sediments, including sandstones, shales, and limestones. A period of erosion followed the withdrawal of the ancient seas, but during the Cretaceous period the area was occupied by another sea that left sediments tilted gently toward the west. Near the Red River, which serves

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The new dewatering plant in Moorhead operates with a plate-and-frame filter press.

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The existing plant is to the south of the new dewatering building.

as the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota, the presence of the Cretaceous beds is still evident by the saltiness of the water derived from them and contributes to high total hardness and dissolved solids in area source waters.

Larry Cole, a former Minnesota Department of Health district engineer, explained why a water supply adjacent to the Red River is so challenging: “There are two factors involved: the shallow soils that are heavy in clay and fertile, making the Red River Valley the breadbasket of the world, but aren’t the sort of thing to develop a water supply in. And the deep soils have the old sea-bed water in them. The upper soils don’t yield water; the lower soils are salty.”

Moorhead Water History

Water from the thickening basin goes to the plates, which are compacted by a hydraulic ram.

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Prior to 1900, Moorhead had once used untreated surface water to supply its citizens with water. At the turn of the last century, cholera and typhoid outbreaks associated with raw surface water prompted the city to switch to aquifers around 1905. Moorhead supplied 100% of its water needs via groundwater for the next 50 years.

In 1950, Moorhead built its first treatment plant, specifically designed to soften groundwater. The facility was centrally located between multiple wellfields that tapped into the Moorhead and Buffalo aquifers, about three miles east of the Red River. In 1959, the utility tripled its capacity with a plant expansion that added surface water back into its water supply portfolio, including a new Red River intake structure, pump station, and transmission pipeline.

Because of taste and odor problems associated with the river, Moorhead historically drew 60 percent of its annual flows from the Red River. Well water produced a blend, diffusing the river water and improving its aesthetic quality. In addition, the cool groundwater helped offset the river water temperatures, which could be 80 degrees in the summer.

In the 1980s, MPS looked at further expansion to accommodate residential growth and increased industrial demand.

Anticipation of more stringent standards for disinfection byproducts prompted a look at getting away from free chlorine, which had been added before and after filtration in previous treatment systems.

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A transition to monochloramines would reduce the disinfection byproducts, but MPS envisioned more. Ozone as a primary disinfectant could not only keep down the trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, it also controlled taste and odor problems, allowing the utility to increase its use of the river and leave the limited groundwater supplies as a secondary or backup source. Thus, when the ‘New Plant’ went on-line in late 1994, Moorhead increased it capacity to 16 million gallons per day and became the first city in Minnesota to use ozone.; it remains the only city to do so, although others are now considering or implementing it. By introducing ozone as its main disinfectant, MPS reduced its use of chlorine by more than 50%, thereby easily meeting the standards for disinfection byproduct standards, and it discontinued free chlorine altogether via the use of chloramines for post-disinfection.

Instead of opting for new ponds that would need to be dredged every third year, MPS decided to construct a dewatering facility to the north of its treatment facility.”

Twenty-first Century Challenges In 2015, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) reclassified lime solids, a residual from the softening process, as industrial solid waste. MPS has 12 existing storage ponds for lime, all of which were approaching their storage capacity.

At the time, MPS was in process of distributing requests for proposals for additional pond construction, but the reclassification prompted them to quickly look at other options.

“It was ‘go time’ from there,” said water plant manager Marc Pritchard, adding that the storage and disposal process would become much more expensive with the additional restrictions of the MPCA ruling.

Instead of opting for new ponds that would need to be dredged every third year, MPS decided to construct a dewatering facility to the north of its treatment facility.

Construction began in early 2020, “just before the world changed,” according to Pritchard, referring to the global pandemic that made all aspects of life trickier. Working through a variety of COVID-related challenges, construction stayed on track and was completed in 2021. “You just have to adapt. And they did,” said John Thom of SEH, Inc. of Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, which designed the dewatering plant.

The new dewatering process uses a plate-and-frame filter press with a hydraulic

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Marc Pritchard explains the dewatering process.

Ryan Knutson oversees one of the press cycles.

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ram to force the plates of the press together.

Lime residuals from the softening basin in the main treatment facility are piped to the new building’s thickening basin on the upper level and then into each of the spaces between the plates in the new filter press.

MPS lead operator Jason Yonke said the 116 plates end up with 8-1/3 cubic yards of dewatered lime per cycle. The plates are separated one at a time with the dewatered lime ‘cake’ dropping through bomb-bay doors into the bed of a truck on the first level.

The truck is full after three press cycles for a total of approximately 25 cubic yards.

At this point, a driver pulls up to the facility with an empty truck, pulls the full truck outside, brings the empty truck in, and drives the full truck away. The swap of trucks takes place twice a day with the dewatered lime solids taken more than 120 miles to central Minnesota and used for land application.

Disposal is the biggest cost, although the operational costs are lower than the longterm requirements of repeated dredging of additional storage ponds.

Although the process is now achievable with just one filter press, the building was constructed with room for another press

with an additional truck bay below.

Spanning three different centuries in supplying drinking water, Moorhead Public Service has stayed flexible, incorporating new technologies to meet demand and respond to changing conditions and regulations.

Did You Know?

The Moorhead Armory was to be the site of a concert in February 1959 that was canceled when the en-route musicians – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper – were killed when their plane crashed after takeoff in Clear Lake, Iowa. •

The Red River, the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota. This section divides Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN.

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mart Water Systems require Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Meter Data Management (MDM). AMI generally refers to a distribution-wide network providing communications from the meters to the MDM. AMI is the data delivery mechanism.

With introduction of public wireless carriers and multi-purpose networks into the AMI field, the utilization of AMI is expanded to all utilities regardless of meter population or geographic size.

A meter data management system is a sophisticated data repository. In addition to large volume data storage, it also serves as a data hub for large scale integration.

MDM systems offer flexibility by utilizing powerful cloud-based systems. Cloudhosted MDMprovides a high level of scalability, security and interface capability.

Over the last decade, budgetary concerns and staffing issues have required utilities to do more with less. Efficiency is essential. Building out collectors & repeaters with a fixed base system can add to

Figure 1: Color Coded One Minute Data Household Consumption

the upfront project cost as well as the long-term maintenance costs associated with single-purpose networks. No need to add “Network Administrator” to a Utility Director’s business cards. Minnesota utilities can benefit enormously by employing strategic B2B partnerships with the nation’s largest cellular networks carriers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T etc.), which allows the utility to take advantage of the vast coverage of wireless providers and their expertise of network maintenance.

“Twenty years ago, before AMI, it used to be about which meter technology to deploy. Now the trend is all about the gain of specific data that can be derived from these meters and directed straight to the office (or phone) in an easy to navigate fashion.

There is Immediate leak detection, daily consumption text alerts, monthly budgeting and overall utility water loss just to name a few types of information that can be derived by algorithmically parsing this data.” states Kyle Moore, Regional Manager for Metron Farnier.

For many years, Minnesota water conservation professionals have needed the tools that high resolution AMI systems can provide. No longer is AMI thought to be an all or nothing scenario.

Current technology offers solutions that are both reliable and completely scalable to fit a municipality’s time frame and budget. Full system deployment may be the trend but it’s not a necessity.

Water service providers can now incorporate cellular read meters in concert with their existing radio drive by meter reading program allowing for “strategic deployment.” Utilities can insert a handful of units for high value commercial accounts or helping their residential customers effectively manage & configure their own water consumption. The wireless network is already in place ready to be utilized.

The capability to examine high resolution data logging combined with machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) allows systems to develop consumption & time-based algorithms which can learn water usage patterns of household fixtures, appliances or irrigation systems for example.

In having this type of data readily available, Minnesota utilities could limit service calls while still providing transparent and accurate information to customers. Future distribution system modeling would also benefit from this type of comprehensive data set.

Water is a highly valued commodity and input costs show no signs of reversing their upward movement. We all should want to take an interest in how we use it.

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SCANDIA DRAWS ON ITS ROOTS

with Reconstruction of the Water Tower Barn Heritage Alliance Looks to Develop Water-Focused Center

By Stew Thornley, Minnesota Department of Health

B

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eginning in the 1850s, Swedish immigrants settled in a region 35 miles northeast of the Twin Cities, displacing Dakota and Ojibwe people already living in the area. With a name reflective of its Scandinavian heritage, New Scandia Township eventually became the City of Scandia, the status change because of concerns of annexation by Forest Lake, its neighbor to the west. According to a historical marker in town, by 1920, nearly a quarter of Minnesota’s foreign-born residents were from Sweden, making it the home of more Swedes than any other state.

As for those who ended up in Scandia, the city’s website states ‘many of these settlers came by way of New York City, making their way to the St. Croix River, and finally Log House Landing, where they [were] greeted [by] a landscape reminiscent of their homelands – land that had been ceded by Dakota tribes in the Treaty of 1837.’

With its eastern boundary extending to the St. Croix River between Taylors Falls and Stillwater, Scandia covers an area of nearly 40 square miles. Most of its 4,000 residents are clustered in a section around Olinda Trail and Minnesota Highway 97.

Rather than a municipal water system, Scandia is served by individual wells and a number of private enterprises, Scandia Water Company and Hilltop Water Company being the primary ones.

Drinking water from these two systems comes from a pair of wells approximately 300 feet deep into the Jordan and Prairie du ChienJordan aquifers. The roots of the city’s private water supplies can be traced to the early years of the Swedish influx.

History Out of the early dairy farmers who helped one another to survive, set up a church, and generate a few businesses, it was the second-generation immigrants who promoted area commerce. The most notable was Frank Lake, who opened the Scandia Farmers Store (later called the Scandia Mercantile) on the northeast corner of Two Church and Boney Lake roads (now Olinda Trail and Oakhill Road, respectively). Lake’s store sold everything from fashion to farm equipment.

The mercantile still exists on this spot. Behind it is a replica of a barn and tankhouse built by Lake on the site. The replica houses pipes and pressure tanks, and it has a well outside it. The original structure was dismantled nearly ten years ago with the logs photographed and cataloged. The Scandia Heritage Alliance hopes to reconstruct the building a couple of blocks to the south and have it as the highlight of a regional arts and heritage center. Alliance board chair Sue Rodsjo says the center will have a water theme with historical displays and educational activities. “It will demonstrate to the public the 19th century ingenuity and engineering that was used.”

The ingenuity refers to the barn and tankhouse Lake built to serve local businesses and the community. Tankhouses were typically built by railroads and municipalities, but Scandia’s was built by a local entrepreneur. “Before local farmers had the means to dig their own wells, they often had cisterns that could be filled with water from the tankhouse,” Rodsjo explained, adding, “It was unique that it was run by a local resident.”

The replica of the barn and tankhouse.

Frank Lake’s mercantile from the 1890s lives on as the Scandia Market & Mercantile.

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The Aermotor Windmill Lake built the barn to stable his delivery horses and added a windmill to pull water into the elevated tankhouse. He used wooden pipes for supplying water to his store and to his neighbors. A horse-drawn wagon delivered water to outlying homes and farms, allowing the burgeoning community to flourish.

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The Aermotor windmill was becoming a familiar sight through the Midwest, and achieved even greater prominence at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Lake purchased the Aermotor all-metal wind-powered pump for his water supply. The well on the site was partially under and adjacent to the barn, and the windmill powered a long rod to bring water to the tower. The heritage alliance still has that rod, which will be used in the rebuilt barn and tankhouse along with the original clapboard siding, barn doors, and the post-and-beam structure.

The windmill was gone by the end of the 1930s, made obsolete by rural electrification, but water still flows from the barn’s well to local customers. In addition, the barn’s distinctive cupula – built to support the

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windmill – remained part of the gable-roofed structure. Different windmills were used through the decades, and one will be included on the rebuilt barn and tankhouse. Rodsjo said they are looking at replicating the windmill from the 1920s, which was during the self-oiling era.

Current Project At the time that the structure was taken down in 2014, the Hilltop Water Company had underground pressure tanks. A Source Water Protection Grant from the Minnesota Department of Health helped the utility to dig up the tanks and fill in the ground. Above-ground tanks were installed on the same site, and housed within a replica of the original bank and tankhouse, constructed at about one-quarter the scale of the original. The well is just outside the replica building.

With the dismantling of the original Water Tower Barn, the Scandia Heritage Alliance received a $10,000 grant from the Minnesota Historical Society to research the history, engineering, and design of the tankhouse, pump, and windmill construction. The tankhouse is believed to be the only one remaining in the state, and the alliance is seeking to have it placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The city recently was awarded $2.2 million from the State Bonding Bill for the Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center, as well as $2.68 million through the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources for an extension of the Gateway Trail through Scandia.

According to the alliance, “The restored barn will showcase 19th century craftsmanship, including hand-hewn logs in a post-and-beam

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An artist’s rendition of the rebuilt structure. structure, and an operational tankhouse. An elevated wooden water tank will occupy the tower, and a windmill will sit atop the barn’s cupola.”

The Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center will include an indoor stage and outdoor amphitheater, a water play area, trails, and a wetland overlook. The center’s water focus will educate visitors with interpretative displays on the importance of its wetlands, lakes, streams, aquifers, and the St. Croix River.

If all that is somehow not enough, Rodsjo said an additional focus on water will be a historic hand pump, which visitors may use to fill their water bottles.

More information and a video on the project are at scandiaheritage.org/water-tower-barn-project. •

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Connect And Collaborate With Your Water Industry Peers

There’s nothing quite like working with others to find solutions to shared challenges. AWWA members are a community of water professionals who are dedicated to the world’s most important resource. In member value surveys, respondents state that connecting and collaborating with others in the industry is the primary reason they are a member.

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2023 Annual Conference Gallery The 107th MN AWWA Annual Conference was held September 19–22, 2023 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

MN AWWA welcomed visiting officer AWWA International Council Chair Loren Labovitch and keynote speaker Adam Tank, as well as industry professionals from across the state and the country. We are extremely proud of the quality and breadth of the programming, speakers and seminars put on by our committees, sponsors, vendors and mentors, as well as our award winners and competition stars. We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2024.

2023 Award Recipients 2023 George Warren Fuller Award – Michelle Stockness 2023 Leonard N. Thompson – Brian LeMon Andrew Sullivan Award for Outstanding Leadership – Matthew Rasmussen Operator Meritorious Service Award – Andrew Ahles, Veolia Benjamin G. Mason Award of Excellence – Adam Salo Jon Eaton Excellence in Volunteering Award – Dennis Rosemark Next Generation Award – Brittney Pentek

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Competitions Best in Glass Award – Minneapolis Water Works Meter Madness Winner – Clint Wilson, City of Bloomington Pipe Tapping Winner – East Side Tappers, Minneapolis Water Treatment and Distribution Services Hydrant Hysteria Winner – Men’s – City of Crystal Hydrant Hysteria Winner – Women’s – Elk River Municipal Utilities

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2023 Annual Conference Gallery

Men’s Pipe Tapping Competition

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Women’s Hydrant Hysteria Competition

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Rinse and Re-Peat Restoring Minnesota’s Peatlands for Climate & Water

Source: The Nature Conservancy via nature.org

S

omewhere in northern Minnesota, a team of scientists is on shaky ground.

Clad in chest-high waders and waterproof boots, and wearing heavy backpacks filled with monitoring equipment, the group hikes into Sax-Zim Bog. A squishy mat of sphagnum mosses and other plant material literally trembles under their feet as they walk. Their mission: measure carbon and methane emissions from the bog in order to learn more about its potential for mitigating climate change.

A hotspot for rare birds, the 300-squaremile bog has long been on birders’ radar. In addition, more than 3,000 species of flora and fauna have been documented here. Like other wetlands, the bog provides important water filtration and flood control benefits, and it’s a natural sink for carbon storage.

Peatlands (a type of ecosystem that includes bogs and fens) have long been misunderstood, but we’re learning more about these weird and wonderful ecosystems – including how they can help in the fight against climate change.

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These ecosystems are carbon storage superheroes. They cover only about 3% of Earth’s surface, yet globally they store an estimated 30% of all land carbon.

Bizarre, Bouncy & Biodiverse Walking into a peat bog is a surreal experience. Soft, squishy and saturated with water, the ground moves with each step, like a waterbed.

“Peatlands are a liminal world,” says Nature Conservancy Freshwater Ecologist Kristen Blann. “They sort of blend the boundaries between freshwater and terrestrial.”

Minnesota’s northern peat bogs are cold, wet and highly acidic—unlike fens, their alkaline counterpart. Fens also receive their water from underground sources, whereas bogs receive theirs from rain and snowmelt.

Composed of layer upon layer of peat soil, or partially decayed plant matter that

has accumulated over time, peatlands can be found around the world, including throughout the Northwoods and into Canada and the Arctic.

These ecosystems are carbon storage superheroes. They cover only about 3% of Earth’s surface, yet globally they store an estimated 30% of all land carbon.

“This means that despite occupying only about a tenth of the same area, the world’s peatlands sequester at least as much carbon as all the world’s forests, if not more,” explains Colin Tucker, research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Peatlands are also home to some bizarre and fascinating species. “Some of the

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species we have found are pretty rare or regionally significant,” says Clinton DexterNienhaus, head naturalist with Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, which partners with TNC on peatland research.

One common family of plants you’ll find in peatlands is sphagnum mosses, which include hundreds of different species.

Lightweight clusters of sphagnum mosses create a floating mat across the surface of a peat bog and can absorb up to 20 times their weight in water. This makes peatlands excellent at water storage.

“Sphagnum mosses accumulate plant material that doesn’t decompose,” says Tucker. “So as that material builds up, it creates a kind of a sponge that enhances water storage.”

Minnesota has more peatlands than any other state in the Lower 48 – roughly six million acres – and the Northwoods are an important carbon storage landscape.

A Legacy of Alteration Despite their myriad benefits, peatlands – both bogs and fens – have historically gotten a bad rap. European settlers misjudged these ecosystems as soggy wastelands, and farmers, developers and governments drained them in order to use the land for agriculture and forestry. Many Native Nations, however, understood and valued peatlands and generally resisted attempts to drain them, both on and off reservations.

The systematic drainage of peatlands in Minnesota was part of a larger statewide effort in the first half of the 20th century to drain and convert wetlands. Most of the smaller peatlands and prairie potholes across southern and western Minnesota were drained, but efforts to convert the vast network of northern peatlands were largely unsuccessful. Many farmlands there were abandoned and reverted to public ownership through tax forfeit.

Today, most northern peatlands are managed as state and county forest lands, wildlife management areas or other public lands. As natural climate solution powerhouses and providers of important environmental services, they are increasingly being recognized for their value.

However, the stored carbon in our peatlands is not guaranteed to stay there.

Peatlands can become carbon sources if they are not protected, restored and properly managed. In fact, degraded

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peatlands account for nearly 5% of humancaused carbon emissions.

Failing to protect Minnesota’s peatlands could have dire consequences. In addition to releasing carbon emissions, peat can fuel catastrophic climate-driven wildfires, as its organic, carbon-rich content enables it to burn at intensely hot temperatures and smolder for weeks or even months at a time. The Greenwood Fire of 2021 that ripped through northern Minnesota burned down through several feet of peat soil in some places.

To keep Minnesota’s peatlands as a climate asset, we must act swiftly. Utilizing strong partnerships, creative project design and dedicated funding, TNC and partners are working to protect these incredible landscapes and studying the best approaches to restoring them.

A Playbook for Peatland Restoration Sax-Zim Bog’s layers of mosses and partially decayed plant matter contain thousands of years’ worth of carbon. Scientists are racing against time to learn how they can restore degraded peatlands before significant warming from climate change puts these ecosystems at further risk.

Around the world, climate change is causing more extreme weather conditions, such as the severe drought that has lowered water tables in Minnesota to unprecedented levels in recent years.

The drought, combined with warming temperatures, threatens to turn peatlands into a net source of carbon emissions and significant fire hazard.

But protection and restoration could maximize these landscapes’ ability to store carbon. The first order of business is to protect intact peatlands from direct conversion to agriculture, development and mining. Next, restoration approaches could involve plugging ditches, re-wetting partially drained peatlands and bringing back completely drained or converted peatlands where possible. These approaches are described in a forthcoming publication called the Peatlands Playbook, developed with technical and financial support from TNC’s Natural Climate Solutions Prototyping Team and the Bezos Earth Fund. The playbook will guide restoration practitioners working on and in Minnesota’s northern peatlands.

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One short-term impact of restoration is the emission of methane, a much more potent and harmful greenhouse gas than carbon. Scientists are monitoring carbon and methane emissions at various sites across northern Minnesota, including in Sax-Zim Bog. Pullquote: Ongoing research will help scientists understand the best approaches for restoring degraded peatlands while managing the natural carbon and methane emissions that they produce.

Even healthy wetlands are a significant source of methane emissions, which can spike as a result of efforts to re-wet peatlands. However, most research suggests that the long-term carbon gains from peatland restoration more than compensate for the short-term emissions.

Ongoing research will help scientists understand the best approaches for restoring degraded peatlands while managing the natural carbon and methane emissions that they produce.

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“Ultimately, we’re trying to understand the relationship between the plant communities, the hydrology and then the gas exchange,” says Chris Lenhart, restoration ecologist with TNC and the University of Minnesota.

Partners for Peat From initial acquisition of Sax-Zim Bog through a land exchange, to creating a unique funding model to sustain restoration efforts, to scientific research and the development of

restoration guidance, the work of preserving Sax-Zim Bog has relied on many hands since the beginning.

TNC’s partners in researching how to restore peatlands include the USDA Forest Service, Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Technological University, Ecosystem Investment Partners and Bezos Earth Fund. •

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EPA Researchers Share Approaches to Identify Lead Service Lines

L

ead is one of the most challenging contaminants affecting our drinking water. Lead can enter drinking water from a variety of plumbing materials installed prior to its ban. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are old lead service lines, lead-containing faucets, other leadcontaining plumbing fixtures and leaded solder joints.

A service line is the pipe that connects the water main to the plumbing in a home or building. When any part of that pipe is made of lead, it is called a lead service line.

Lead service lines were installed primarily during the late 1800s through the 1940s. Knowing the locations of lead service lines is challenging for many communities due to poor recordkeeping and long histories of repairs.

Given the public health risks, there is a need to identify lead service lines on both public and private property so that they can be removed. Water utilities are more likely to have records noting the materials that make up the service line for the portion of the line that is located under public property because it is under the water utilities’ jurisdiction. Material information on the service line portion that is under private property is often lacking. Many communities do not have good records for either portion of their service lines.

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source: epa.gov

EPA researchers have identified several promising approaches that utilities can use for identifying lead service lines in their research paper, ‘Lead service line identification: A review of strategies and approaches,’ published in the journal AWWA Water Science.

The first approach they identified is preliminary records review, which can help narrow down initial lead service line identification and verification efforts. Reviewing municipal and plumbing codes and construction specifications can help determine when lead service lines and lead connections, such as goosenecks, were most recently allowed. Properties that were developed before the identified end date for lead service line installation and phase out may still have lead materials.

Historical community records maintained by water utilities and municipalities can also be compiled and reviewed to help refine the list of potential lead service line locations. In addition, interviews with water distribution staff, building inspectors, and plumbers can also be valuable in uncovering information about lead service lines in a community.

Additionally, on site basic/visual examination is a way to engage residents in identifying private side service line materials. Lead is a dull, soft, non-magnetic material that turns a shiny silver color when

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“EPA researchers have identified several promising approaches that utilities can use for identifying lead service lines in their research paper, ‘Lead service line identification: A review of strategies and approaches,’ published in the journal AWWA Water Science.” scratched. This means a scratch test can be a simple, quick method for identifying the service line material entering a home or building. If the scratched area turns yellow orange, it is likely copper. But if it turns shiny silver, it may be lead or galvanized iron. To distinguish between lead and galvanized iron, the resident could place a magnet on the pipe. If the magnet sticks to the pipe, it’s likely iron and not lead.

Another approach includes specific water analyses which can be used to determine the lead concentration in drinking water contained within the service line, which can indicate the presence of lead. These sampling techniques include sequential, targeted, and flushed sampling. Sequential sampling (also known as profile sampling) is where researchers take multiple water samples from a household faucet, one after another, to determine potential sources of lead in the home. Targeted service line sampling is similar to sequential sampling but in this case, researchers collect the specific water liter contained within the service line if known, for example, liters five through eight might be where they suspect the service line might be. And finally, flushed sampling involves turning on the water and letting it run to remove water that has been standing in the home’s interior pipes before collecting a sample from the water main. In some cases, flushed sampling may capture background water lead levels from a lead service line. Each of these approaches

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require resident participation or access to the property to collect the samples from a tap, usually the kitchen faucet.

Finally, excavation involves digging to visually inspect the service line underground. This is one of the most expensive ways to identify lead service lines. It involves removing soil, sidewalk, or other obstacles. However, this is one of the most accurate ways to identify service line materials.

EPA researchers are currently working with partners to refine existing approaches and identify accurate but lower-cost, alternative approaches to detect lead service lines. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act aims to replace every lead pipe in the country, but the first step is for water utilities and communities to know where those pipes are located in order to replace them. EPA researchers are working with states, Tribes, and local communities to ensure they have the right tools to identify and ultimately replace these pipes.

Disclaimer: The Revised Lead and Copper Rule is currently under review, and the information presented here does not necessarily reflect any requirements going forward. The purpose of this article is to share research, and EPA does not endorse one Lead Service Line identification technique over another. •

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MRWA Apprentice Program

By Joe Jasmer, Apprentice Coordinator/Technical Advisor for MRWA

Y

ou may have heard of a new resource that Minnesota Rural Water Association is offering: a Registered Apprenticeship Program. It’s a great tool to get formal training in the industry.

As the Apprentice Coordinator, I am reaching out to people that have been working in the industry, and may have their Class D license.

If you would like to take some of the self-study burden off of yourself, this could be an excellent tool for you.

Have you just started in the water/wastewater industry, or do you have someone working for your organization that just started their career? If you have your Class D license and would like to have formal training in this industry, then the MRWA Apprenticeship Program may be for you. You may have heard of our two-year registered Apprentice Program. You may even have studied on your own and attended one of our refresher courses to pass your Class D exam. If you or your co-workers are looking to make a career in the industry, this maybe a great opportunity. Keeping with the

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NRWA intent for ‘direct entry’ and training the future workforce, we are reaching out to let people know that their Class D license will reduce their time in the Apprentice Program by six months.

This is part of our approved Registered Apprenticeship Program that is approved through the Minnesota Department of Labor (DOL).

One year of working in the industry will reduce your formal recorded on-the-job (OJT) hours by 500 hours. Passing the exam will reduce the formal related technical instructions by 72 hours. This program would be broken into three six-month periods (1.5 years).

This 1.5-year contract would be submitted to DOL with the above-mentioned credits. The pay scale will be filled out for this timeframe. The apprentice will enter their OJT hours into the NRWA apprentice tracking system (ATS), broken down into the five required program headings. The mentor will review and certify these hours.

The apprentice will need to be pulled out of the work schedule once month to attend 6 hours in-person training. Typically, this training is

Winter 2023 | Breeze

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conducted at their place of work, but may be at their neighboring community. MRWA will submit the quarterly progress reports to NRWA and DOL. Upon successful completion of the Apprentice Program, the apprentice will receive a certificate from DOL. If you or your co-worker would like to join the Apprenticeship Program and your organization will participate, go to NRWA’s website at apprenticeship.nrwa.org and click ‘get started.’

• Use your own email so all the training is tied to you, not your place of work. It will ask you set up an account (Account type is ‘Applicant’).

• Once you created the account, it will ask if you would like to login.

• Click on ‘Login’ and ‘Begin a New Application’ • Go through all the ‘Statement of Understanding,’ select the state, enter ‘Voluntary Information’ • On the final page, fill out the top portion with your name and address. Check ‘yes’ for ‘working’. At the bottom of the page, enter your employer information and Veteran status, then ‘finish.’

• I will get an email notification, and I will contact you and discuss the next steps of the process. I will finish your application by entering you through the ‘direct entry’ process. You will need to upload your state certificate with your licenses number for the reduced program, but we will do this when we upload the contract.

If you have any question please reach out to: Joel Jasmer, at 218-671-3475 or joel.jasmer@mrwa.com. • Bloomington + Mankato + Rochester + St. Louis Park | 507.387.6651

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Advertiser Product & Service Center Breeze is made possible by the companies below who convey their important messages on our pages.

We thank them for their support of The Minnesota Section of the American Water Works Association (MN AWWA) and its publication, and encourage you to contact them when making your purchasing decisions. To make it easier to contact these companies, we have included the page number of their advertisement, their phone number, and, where applicable, their website.

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Mid America Meter, Inc.

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Barr Engineering Company

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Milbank Winwater

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Bergerson Caswell

31

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Moore Engineering, Inc.

30

701-282-4692

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Bolton & Menk, Inc.

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Northwestern Power Equipment Company

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Brown and Caldwell

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Core & Main

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Pittsburg Tank & Tower Maintenance Co., Inc.

26

270-826-9000

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Dakota Supply Group

21

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Rice Lake Construction Group

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E.H. Renner & Sons, Inc.

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SEH

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Electric Pump, Inc.

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Stantec

26

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ESS Brothers & Sons, Inc.

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763-478-2027

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Team Laboratory Chemical Corp.

39

800-522-8326

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General Repair Service

2

800-767-5151

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TKDA

14

651-292-4621

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Hawkins Water Treatment Group

Vessco, Inc.

6/38

952-941-2678

www.vessco.com

20

877-240-0304

www.hawkinsinc.com

W.W. Goetsch Associates, Inc.

36

952-831-4340

info@wwgoetsch.com

HR Green, Inc.

31

800-728-7805

www.hrgreen.com

Water Conservation Services, Inc.

34

612-600-8716

www.watermainleaklocator.com

ISG

15, 36

507-387-6651

www.isginc.com

Widseth

31

218-829-5117

www.widseth.com

Janssen Machine Co.

8

218-493-4470

www.janssenmachine.com

WSB

14

763-541-4800

www.wsbeng.com

M.E. Simpson Co., Inc.

29

800-255-1521

www.mesimpson.com

Ziegler Cat

26

952-885-8218

www.zieglercat.com

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