Water Environment Federation (WEF) Discussion Forums / Academic and Student Issues / Archives / Archived Forum Topics

Point Source Pollution

htomchek — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:29:07 GMT

I'm a 7th grade social studies teacher. My students are working on a project where they find a problem in society, study it, then make a policy suggestion to the appropriate level of government in an attempt to help solve the initial problem.

One of my classes chose water pollution as their problem. They decided that mills and factories are the largest polluters and wanted to focus on that.

Could anybody help us find laws on point-source water pollution? What has happened in the past 20 years? What do you (people who work in this field) think could be improved upon? What kind of changes would you like to see? (these suggestions will just get the kids thinking and working in the right direction.)

Thank you in advance for any suggestions and help you can give us. Please note that I may give students access to this blog so that they can comment back to you personally.

Sincerely,

Heather Tomchek, New Holstein, WI

RE: Point Source Pollution

Victor — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:55:48 GMT

htomchek (2/7/2008)

One of my classes chose water pollution as their problem. They decided that mills and factories are the largest polluters and wanted to focus on that.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions and help you can give us. Please note that I may give students access to this blog so that they can comment back to you personally.

Sincerely,

Heather Tomchek, New Holstein, WI

Ms Tomchek:

First and foremost, I would like to thank you personally for being a teacher, for taking the time and effort to instruct our little ones, and to direct them in such a great fashion. Now that I have these formalities out of the way, here is my perspective on your questions. You may want to redirect your focus on such a broad issue and attempt to narrow it down from a global issue to something that your students may not only recognize but be able to comprehend, apply, and how these issues affect their own neighborhoods. Since you are situated in Wisconsin, land of cheese, dairy farms, the Great Lakes, and cold winters you may want to exert these great minds to attempt to figure out how to deal with dairy farm pollution. This pollution encompasses not only air pollution (methane, ammonia), but water (groundwater contamination from NO2,NO3--blue baby syndrome), wastewater (runoff from farmland (herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers), and lastly, what do you do with cow manure? I know, there are various governmental entities that address these issues such as EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), State government (DHS--Department of Health Services), and perhaps city government such as pretreatment programs. EPA recently issue an edict for CAFO's (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) which addresses some of the pollution issues associated with such operations:

http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/anafoidx.html

You may also want to view issues with groundwater contamination from CAFO's:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DGUS,DGUS:2006-14,DGUS:en&q=groundwater+contamination+CAFO

You may also want to narrow your queries to a water/wastewater entity devoted to Wisconsin such as Central States Water Environment Association members:

http://www.cswea.org/

More than likely, you will be receiving quite a bit on input on your posting.

RE: Point Source Pollution

Dvant — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:10:11 GMT

There are many places to start. Many States control their own Water Quality program and operate with a NPDES permit (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System).

Your City may have a Industrial Pretreatment Program. This monitors what is dumped into sewers that could cause problems with sewer plants, or pass through of a pollutant.

Point sources should be easy, they will have permits that will be in the public domain.

Mark

RE: Wastewater Characterization of small Rural Church

AWS08 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:20:54 GMT

Terry,

Thank you. I did see some very comparable numbers to those. Again, thank you for your time and input.

Wastewater Characterization of small Rural Church

AWS08 — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:14:51 GMT

Hi to all. New to group. Can anyone direct me to where you can find some numbers on BOD5,TSS, FOGS of a small rural church. If only a bathroom/wash basin is availblbe, would this not be similar in strength to Residential strength effluent?

Breakpoint chlorination

WasteWater TREATOR — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:21:09 GMT

I need to calculate the correct dosage for reducing ammonia from approximately 100ppm to 20ppm through breakpoint chlorination. can anyone help me with this calculation? I cant seem to find it...and i need the dosage per gallon of wastewater...

RE: Wastewater Characterization of small Rural Church

TerryF — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:54:52 GMT

AWS,

The fact that you have no kitchen or laundry connected impacts on the numbers somewhat. Crites and Tchobanoglous quote the following numbers in such a situation. Numbers are in lbs/per person per day and are the typical although ranges are also given.

BOD5 0.18

TSS 0.2

TKN as N 0.029

total P as P 0.007

O and G 0.0661

You will also have to consider the issue of frequency of use . Is it a Sunday only load or is it used extensively through the week as well.

Regards

TerryF

Job for PhD?

yinan4job — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:09:29 GMT

I will be graduating this summer as a PhD. My research is about fecal coliform regrowth in dewatered biosolids.
I prefer to find an industrial job other than academy. I have been searching online for a while and noticed that most jobs require BS and MS at the most.
Only a few positions want PhD, experienced PhD not fresh ones.
Any suggestions on what kind of job I may get? Thanks

RE: Job for PhD?

Sabir — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:21:51 GMT

I do not want to disappoint you but in my experience, PhDs become disappointed soon in an industrial (production) or commercial setup and are more successful in research, R&D or academics because they are not trained (during PhD) for profit/loss, or for commercial thinking as required by production units or service industries. But it may be a different case if person has background in such areas and got PhD to support future growth. I personally know many people who started their carrier in industrial set up but their PhDs did not help them, except in the long run in few cases. If you have enthusiasm and aptitude for some carriers may be you have to get experience in certain areas other than PhD.

But if I were you, and have to restart my career (I am very satisfied and successful in present), I will select a career that provides me authority in the long run, money, ensured continuous professional growth and I have a heart (aptitude) for it. With degree in Microbiology or biological sciences I will try to start with some reputable medicine companies (R&D), research organizations (health or food) or in public health department (But not as an university professor). Hunt for a carrier job and not for just a job. Good luck!

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Siccished — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:54:25 GMT

Update:

So I wen't to the career fair, but was dissapointed to find out that all the reps present were from ENGINEERING firms!! . Regardless I rubbed some shoulders and talked to some people, but I left early and the speaker from the CWEA event was nice enough to email me the presentation info.

I have interviewed at three cities for Plant Operator positions and I was interested in one position and actually went through three interviews with them and am waiting to hear back from them. I have applied for a biologist & inspector positions for the city I currently live in. It seems more and more cities are recruiting for plant operators which is GREAT. I realized that plants larger plants require staff be present 24/7 and this is pretty nice because I can go back to school if I work a very early or late shift. Next semester im gonna enroll in some environmental computer modeling courses and engineering courses... If I end up liking the engineering stuff then Im gonna get a degree and run with that, but working at the city with an engineering department is a big plus!

Currently working at one of the "head honcho" biotech companies, but im gonna start applying for jobs like project assistants for enviro consulting firms and industrial hygensit type jobs. The money is good where i'm at now for my level of experience (not much) but theres just no passion in what im doing. I remember when I looked forward to the work that was waiting for me at previous jobs; i miss that!

Beware: I'm still on the hunt and journey has not even begun

Job suggestions for a recent grad

Siccished — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:08:11 GMT

I just graduated with a B.S. in Biology and I didn't have opportunity to take much environmental classes outside of Biology & Microbiology because the school didnt offer much, so I did my own work with wastewater with the help of my advisor. Needless to say I'm interested in working in the environmental field of water quality.

I have been looking for jobs like crazy & I have noticed that in the public sector, the easiest avenue for landing a gig is through applying as an OIT or Grade 1 Operator. SO, I have just taken the CWEA grade 1 exam (too easy), applied to a few places out in and out of my area (would relocate) and hopefully soon I may have an interview. I've also applied to two waste discharge compliance jobs, but they both require 1 year related experience so I don't think I'm looking too good there, even though I know somebody with the same position that can give me a good reference.. I've also applied to an internship through my city even though I needed to re-register for school as a requirement for being eligible (GIS class ;-) ).

Are there any other positions within the city/state/fed that hire for environmental related jobs (water) which require little to no experience with an education? Working as a wastewater operator sounds like fun because plants require that you control a bio-machine to get an acceptable effluent, but it is to my understanding that Grade I operators are mainly on the operations/grunt work side of things which is also okay, but working on a changing project sounds more satisfying (grade III).

My short term goal is just to get as much experience in the water field as possible, start exploring the events from organizations like WEF+CWEA and use the city employment benefits for tuition reimbursement so I can keep going to school & possibly pursuing a Masters degree or just taking a handful of ENV classes.. Can anybody give some kind of father-to-son or mentor type of suggestions for a 23 year old MAN like myself?

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

AQSRecruiter — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:10:23 GMT

I am a recruiter located close to Milwaukee, WI. I am looking for QC/QA people for a very large project at AQS, Inc. If you or any one you know are interested in hearing more about the position please feel free to e-mail me. I would be happy to tell you all about my company and the position.

You can also view the position information at the following link: http://www.aqssys.com/careers/positions.asp?positionid=13

Leighann Lentz

Recruiting Specialist

leighann.lentz@aqssys.com

www.aqsadvantage.com

RE: Pink fecal coliforms?

D Shulmister — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:09:42 GMT

I thought maybe they were Communist.

Pink fecal coliforms?

Pearl McLean — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:39:13 GMT

Pink fecal coliforms? What does this mean? Using Method 9222 D, I sometimes get pink coliforms when I expect only blue. Does this mean that my sample is TNTC or does it just mean there are other than fecal coliforms?

RE: Pink fecal coliforms?

Jerry — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:30:02 GMT

Any good biologest like me and Victor knows that pink FC's are girls and blue FC's are boys. Are you STUPIT?

Happy Holloween

RE: Pink fecal coliforms?

Sabir — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:29:31 GMT

Pearl, I have just posted on technical solution forum, that may apply in your case as well.

RE: Pink fecal coliforms?

Old lag — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:27:30 GMT

Pearl I have posted something similar in the Laboratory Management forum below. There may be more responses down there- it tends to have more activity than this board. Go 'Home' and you'll find it under 'Technical Solutions Forums."'

RE: Pink fecal coliforms?

rwhitworth52 — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:21:29 GMT

Pearl,

It may be the rosolic acid that gives the colonies the red color (although it id suppose to inhibit confluent growth), they should not be counted as fecal coliform colonies.

I need ideas

mary — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:48:00 GMT

Leonid Leopold, Leon, Leone, Leo Bocaya, Buycao Barrio, Ayaco, Bocaanya

The suns rays draw light in the the land as for the mind draws light to the soul. Food for thought is very yummy.

Leonid Leopold, Leon, Leone, Leo Bocaya, Buycao Barrio, Ayaco, Bocaanya

RE: I need ideas

Dedalus — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:17:00 GMT

I dunno...I really need to hear more about bootlegged software, discount Viagra, and short arm enlargement pills!

RE: I need ideas

D Shulmister — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:23:36 GMT

MARY

hERE'S AN IDEA FOR YOU: GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

mary — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:49:20 GMT

Leonid Leopold, Leon, Leone, Leo Bocaya, Buycao Barrio, Ayaco, Bocaanya

- Apply at a job at Johnson & Johnson. They're know for hiring recent grads.

Leonid Leopold, Leon, Leone, Leo Bocaya, Buycao Barrio, Ayaco, Bocaanya

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

mary — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:46:09 GMT

Leonid Leopold, Leon, Leone, Leo Bocaya, Buycao Barrio, Ayaco, Bocaanya Sayss:

I suggest the autumn sun brings out the best in people. only time will tell

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

MR_HOLMES — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:28:35 GMT

Time on the job can be overrated. When a job posting reads one are two years experience apply for it anyway. One year of experience means almost nothing. They usually put that stuff on the posting because they would like to have someone overly qualified apply. In reality most of the people applying for and getting an OIT or entry lab position are just like you. Usually lab tech I positions are filled by people direct6ly out of college with no experience, and OIT are filled by people from other departments within the agency or with people from completely different backgrounds.

I have a degree in biochemistry. I worked as a sales rep for a national distributor of scientific lab products. I became a pretreatment tech for a city because I had good customer service skills and a chemistry education. Then I became a lab tech for two years. Later I went to work for another city as a utility worker. Then I became an operator at a treatment plant and after ten years I became the OIC.

The best job for me was pretreatment and industrial inspection. It fit nicely with my skills and interests. Sometimes I wish that I could go back to industrial pretreatment.

If you want to be a decision maker you should go to work for a small jurisdiction. Complex facilities will have less opportunity for you to contribute to the bottom line.

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Siccished — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:17:41 GMT

Believe me, I'd love to carry the torch when its time to hand it off!
I looked into the Biologist position when it opened up on the first day and I noticed the required experience included 2 years of lab environment work which I don't have . I was disappointed a month or so back because there was supposed to be an internship offered (city of san jose) WITH these Biologists', but the recruitment got shut down for some reason (inquired many times).

I had an operator interview today and will have another next week. This weekend is the SWRCB operator exam that I'm signed up to take... I already have a CWEA operator 1 certificate. The wheels or progress are turning.. Slowly, but surely, folks!

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Victor — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:44:17 GMT

Siccished:

You may want to scamper on over to CWEA's web page and apply for the biologist position just opened up in "where else..." San Jose! Use the following link to view job openings in California:

http://www.cwea.org/e-bulletin/jobs.html

Good Luck. Pretty good money. Maybe you can take over my job in a couple of years. Need a break from this industry.

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Siccished — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:48:31 GMT

Bill Gaines (9/28/2007)

I agree with all of the fine suggestions from my colleagues but would like to add.....just get inANYWHERE! Would your present talents be better suited to being a lab tech rather than an entry operator? Probably so.But wherever you get in will provide a more diverse background for wherever you go to -- and consequently make you in more demand. Be an operator then mosey into the lab after your shift or be an inspector and spend some time in the headworks. Knock on doors and apply for positions. Be persistent.

Well said! My dad has always told me the same thing & I definitely agree.
There will be a ton of demand in the future for business of conserving natural resources so I'd like to start early in the public sector and go back to school to learn new things (gis, enviro modeling, field assessments, hydrology, maybe engineering).

Soon my children.. Soon

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Siccished — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:38:57 GMT

andrea (9/26/2007)

Sorry, everyone - it's been a little while. Yes, I do work for a bay area city - San Jose actually. And.... I think I have found somethingworthwhile to look into. The Santa Clara Valley chapter of CWEA is having their monthly training meeting and the topic is "Job Market Assessment:..."There's more but I think the most important part is that it is preceded by a (drum roll please)Student CareerFair from 2pm - 5pm.It is on October 18th down here in San Jose (RSVP by the 12th!) andyoumight be able to swing a student rate. I don't know if you can post attachments, but I have a Pdf flyer with the info. If you want it, email me through the listserv and I can send you an attachment. It might take some smoozingskills (which I tend to be uncomfortable doing, but, man, is it helpful! I am going to WEFTEC so hopefully that will help), but I would think it is a good opportunity. You mentioned San Diego - I assume you've seen all the Student/ Young Professional activities at WEFTEC?

I'm wayyyyy ahead of you Andrea! I got the flyer last week and I will be there. I was very suprised that they were holding a student career fair! I actually live in san jose too... I missed the lab tech job application deadline that they recently had an announcement for.

I actually just got a job (biotech) but I have two interviews for an operator III & OIT position. The search will not end

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Bill Gaines — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:30:43 GMT

Like Victor, I too stumbled into the field some 30 years ago -- haven't left since and lovin' every minute of it! The advantage you have over us is that you are directed, motivated, and have a vision. Our advantage (which you seek now) is that we fell into a job.

I agree with all of the fine suggestions from my colleagues but would like to add.....just get in ANYWHERE! Would your present talents be better suited to being a lab tech rather than an entry operator? Probably so. But wherever you get in will provide a more diverse background for wherever you go to -- and consequently make you in more demand. Be an operator then mosey into the lab after your shift or be an inspector and spend some time in the headworks. Knock on doors and apply for positions. Be persistent. And though it may go without saying, I'm going to say it: As with any application or interview, heavily research everything that you possibly can about the potential employer beforehand!

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

andrea — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:57:58 GMT

Sorry, everyone - it's been a little while. Yes, I do work for a bay area city - San Jose actually. And.... I think I have found something worthwhile to look into. The Santa Clara Valley chapter of CWEA is having their monthly training meeting and the topic is "Job Market Assessment:..." There's more but I think the most important part is that it is preceded by a (drum roll please) Student Career Fair from 2pm - 5pm. It is on October 18th down here in San Jose (RSVP by the 12th!) and you might be able to swing a student rate. I don't know if you can post attachments, but I have a Pdf flyer with the info. If you want it, email me through the listserv and I can send you an attachment. It might take some smoozing skills (which I tend to be uncomfortable doing, but, man, is it helpful! I am going to WEFTEC so hopefully that will help), but I would think it is a good opportunity. You mentioned San Diego - I assume you've seen all the Student/ Young Professional activities at WEFTEC?

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

GaryS — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:24:13 GMT

Siccished, you've described me about 30 years ago. I also went the lab analyst route at a wastewater plant. Along with wastewater, you might also look at water treatment plants also. There's plenty of overlap so that you would get good experience if you still ultimately wanted to go to wastewater. Also, you might find something with industrial plants. Many of them have pretreatment systems. Downside of that is, they may have very small facilities, or very specialized one step treatment such as metals precipitation as opposed to a full scale treatment plant. Still, it would be good experience.

Good luck with the job hunt. You've got an interesting time to be getting into the industry. Water availability is only going to get tighter and tighter, and the treatment industry will have to grow hand in hand with the increased demand.

Chemical reactions

paul231 — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:07:26 GMT

Can anyone tell me if there are a combination of organically safe chemicals/natural ingredients which when mixed will create heat?

RE: Chemical reactions

kcusnem — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:36:11 GMT

I don't know about how organically safe it is but....

Calcium Chloride or Potassium Chloride and water will generate heat (stuff they sometimes use to melt snow) and any strong acids with water generate heat. (Always 'add acids to bases, to save your faces' I'm sure there are tons more options....

RE: Grit System Design

TerryF — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:16:25 GMT

I will have a go as well. The typical performance numbers are 95% removal of 100 mesh particles at peak flow. Typical settling velocities for 50 mesh particles is 9.6 ft/min and 2.5 ft/min for 100 mesh.

I don't quite know what you are looking for , but i hope this helps.

Regards

TerryF

Grit System Design

Waterman — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:49:34 GMT

Hello,

I have been asked to review and evaluate the operation of a grit facility that employs three square detritus tanks to treat a municipal wastewater. The only information I have been able to find regarding the initial design parameters are that the facility was intended to use two of the tanks to handle the plant’s daily average flow of 70 MGD, with the third as a stand-by, or in-use to handle, a design peak flow of 105 MGD. The tanks are 35 ft. square, with a SWD of 4.5 ft, and an overflow rate of 28,600 gpd/ft² at average flow.

I have attempted to evaluate the design protocol for such detritus tanks and I have used the 1992 edition of MOP 8 as a reference. My problem is that no manner what methodology I use to determine particle settling velocity I do not obtain the same results as presented by Table 9.9 in MOP 8. I was hoping someone could shed some light as to the calculation procedures used to develop the data for Table 9.9, or possibly, a reference from which Table 9.9 was obtained.

Thanks.

RE: Grit System Design

Jeff Naumann — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 13:43:06 GMT

Since no one else has bit on this one, I'll take a stab.

My MOP 8 is older (1975), and I don't have the table that you reference. But, I do have a table 9-I, titled: Theoretical Maximum Overflow Rates for Grit Chambers. The data include "settling velocity of quartz particles" and "theoretical maximum permissible overflow rates for substantially complete removal," for various "grit sizes."

In what way are you to evaluate the operation of the grit removal system?

The purpose of a grit removal system is to remove as much of the "non-putrescable (sp?)" material, while allowing the biologically-treatable stuff to be carried over for removal in the primaries. If an entirely "real world" evaluation is desired, I would guess performing tests on the "grit" already being removed might be needed. Perhaps more knowledgeable folks that deal with grit removal on a regular basis might chime in here.

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Dvant — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:03:38 GMT

That whole car thing and the part on fabrication is exactly the kind of stuff I look for in an interview. Get a CDL and you would be an entry level dream. At least for the small places I've hired for.

Mark

pure potassium

reg massey — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:47:08 GMT

does anyone know the peak wavelengths of absorption of pure potassium at room temperature ?

absorbtion spectra of potassium

reg massey — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:59:50 GMT

what are the absortion spectra of potasium when it is not in a high enery state

at a temp of around 30C

RE: Job suggestions for a recent grad

Siccished — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:48:48 GMT

Actually the only job in the wastewater field that I have interviewed for was a lab chemist and a compliance inspector (informal interview). I really do understand what you mean when you say I can mess up the interview by coming off as a "college boy" and really, I don't think I have that problem at all, but its definitely a good suggestion. One of the things I have thought brining up are my hobbies which can really make an impression that I'm a big hands on person that can work an industrial setting. I'm really involved in the whole car scene which often has me fabricating parts using tons of tools such as mills, welders, cutting torches and a bunch of other hand tools that you would find in somebodies automotive shop. I love that stuff and plan to adding more tools to the hobby.

Oh yeah, one time I had a job where i was taking care of lab animals and I would literally pressure wash i'd say about 10-15+ gallons of actual feces/urine from different kinds of animals down into a drain. I had to shower immediately after that task because there would be so much aerosolized poo in the air that I would just reek! I bet all the microbes at the wastewater plant were just loving all that juice? Must be nice to get a peek in bod

I'm just making discussion BTW. Definitely not complaining..Every dog has their day