The PDF files are here:
www.labsofcwea.com/databases/presentations/?category=25
Mistakes can be made when reporting biosolids reuse or disposal. These mistakes can range from incorrect entries to misunderstanding the reporting requirements. This seminar will present an overview of the current regulatory compliance aspects for biosolids tracking, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements.
Tracking requirements will describe the responsibilities associated with several biosolids management practices, such as land application, composting, and disposal. Monitoring requirements for various biosolids management practices will be discussed, including sampling and analytical methods, frequency, and holding times.$10 members, $15 non-members, $5 students
When:
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012
11am – 2pm
Where:
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
Conference Rooms E & F
1955 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA
Lunch: deli sandwichs, chips, cookies and sodas
RSVP: alecm@jwce.com by 1/27 please
See flyer for more information
CWEA One-Day Specialty Workshop
Biosolids: Energizing Your Gas Production.
FOG and Food Waste Co-Digestion Workshop
Get the latest information you need to know about
co-digesting FOG and food waste from suppliers to
operators. This workshop will provide information
about the state of the regulations, availability and
competition for FOG and food waste, operational
experiences, and considerations that can be
incorporated into new designs.
Who Should Attend:
Operators, practitioners, and managers practicing in
the wastewater, and resource recovery industries
throughout California.
Approved for CWEA Contact Hours:
- Environmental Compliance Inspector (ECI)
- Laboratory Analyst (LAB)
- Operator (OP)
- Biosolids Land Application Management (BLAM)
Earn up to 8.9 CWEA Contact Hours
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
City of LA Hyperion WTP
12000 Vista Del Mar
Playa del Rey, CA 90293
See flyer for more information
FOG clogs sewers and costs sewer customers additional money. Every day, large amounts are illegally washed into sewers mainly from food preparation establishments (usually through kitchen sinks and floor drains) that do not have adequate grease control measures in place. FOG attaches to the inner lining of the private plumbing system on your property, as well as the public sewer system in city streets.
CWEA One Day Specialty Workshop
Biosolids: Energing Your Gas Production. FOG and Food Waste Co-Digestion Workshop
When: January 18, 2012 – Southern California
City of Los Angeles Hyperion WTP
12000 Vista Del Mar
Los Angeles, CA
View flyer for more information!
For additional information/questions contact Serena Miller at 510-382-7800 x 115 or visit: www.cwea.org/conferences
Brent Haddad studies water in a place where water is often in short supply: California.
Haddad is a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. About 14 years ago, he became very interested in the issue of water reuse.
At the time, a number of California’s local water agencies were proposing a different approach to the state’s perennial water problems. They wanted to build plants that would clean local wastewater — aka sewage water — and after that cleaning, make it available as drinking water. But, says Haddad, these proposals were consistently shot down by an unwilling public.
“The public wasn’t really examining the science involved,” Haddad says. “They were just saying no.” This infuriated the water engineers, who thought the public’s response was fundamentally irrational, Haddad says.
“That’s what I would hear at these water agency meetings,” Haddad says, “these very frustrated water engineers saying, ‘My public is irrational! They are irrational! They simply won’t listen!’ ”
By Tom Fang, PE and Alec Mackie
Where can LA County get more green energy for the future? One source is an extensive power generation project at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant (JWPCP) in Carson. When completed, the state-of-the-art facility will turn wastewater sent into Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts’ (LACSD) sewer system into as much as 36 megawatts (MW) of clean, green power every day.
When JWPCP flips the switch later this year, the Power Generation Facility, known as the Total Energy Facility, will produce enough electricity to run the entire plant and, at times, sell surplus to the power grid. Turning sewage biogas into electricity is the goal of the Steam Cycle Modifications Project, according to LACSD Engineer Tom Fang who spoke during a March 17th dinner meeting of the Los Angeles Basin Section (LABS) of CWEA.
JWPCP’s Total Energy Facility dates back to the 1980s and is an important source of power for the facility. Steam can be produced at the facility to heat the anaerobic digesters, and methane from the digesters, in turn, is used to fuel the power plant.
What’s unique about the Total Energy Facility is the combined cycle power plant. First, up to three 9.9 MW gas turbines burn digester gas much like a jet engine to directly generate electricity (the Brayton power cycle). The exhaust heat is then tapped to make steam that powers an 8.7 MW steam turbine generator (the Rankine cycle). Known as cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP), the upgraded facility will have 36 MW capacity and is expected to generate 23 MW on average. That’s enough power for the entire JWPCP and then some.
Tom explained project planning dates back to late 1990s when LACSD expanded JWPCP to full secondary treatment. As part of the expansion, digesters were added requiring more heat and generating more digester gas.
In 2008 the upgrade took on greater urgency when the former steam turbine generator suffered a catastrophic failure. The reduced capacity meant more purchased power, raising the facility’s electric bill by $2-million per year.
Tom took the audience step by step through the project’s phased construction and major elements. The equipment being replaced in the project includes a steam turbine generator (STG), heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), cooling towers, condenser, steam-to-steam generator, HVAC Chillers, High Pressure Gas Treatment System, and the Plant Control System. The three combustion turbines were previously upsized in 2001 and thus not part of recent upgrades. Startup is planned in late 2011.
Tom pointed out the project has taken years to become reality, but the payoff for the agency and its customers will be huge. Benefits include energy savings, reliable power and steam for the plant, less dependence on the grid, and avoiding utility emissions – thus fulfilling LACSD’s commitment to cost-effective, environmentally friendly operations.
In January, the project team was honored by LABS with the Engineering Achievement Award for 2010. Tom’s presentation is available on the LABS website at www.labsofcwea.com.
Here is the presentation (PDF):
2011 - Power Generation Facility Steam Cycle Modifications - Tom Fang (139)
Story tk…
Conference recap provided by Wendy Wert, LABS Vice President, LACSD with contributions from the CWEA Biosolids Committee and conference speakers
On January 18, the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) Biosolids Committee hosted a specialty conference, Biosolids: Putting Regulators and Researchers in Touch with YOU… the Practitioner, at the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts Joint Administration Office in Whittier. Another session was held on January 19, 2011 at the Shannon Community Center in Dublin. This one-day biosolids specialty conference, which trained 125 water environment professionals, consisted of a series of technical presentations separated by interactive discussions among leading experts and attendees. The morning session consisted of opening remarks presented by the conference Chairs (Dave Bachtel and Todd Jordan), followed by six technical presentations. The innovative networking lunch also served as a venue for a discussion of CWEA’s Biosolids Land Application Management Certification. The afternoon session consisted of five technical presentations, and closing remarks were delivered by the conference Chairs.
A total of nine speakers gave presentations at both venues that covered a wide range of relevant topics, including the following:
* State issues update from the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA),
* National scientific research review from the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF),
* Innovative look at Biosolids and Greenhouse Gas Accounting,
* Discussion of biosolids constituents,
* Analysis of specific trace organics, an update on dioxin and radiation biosolids research results,
* Overview of microorganisms in biosolids,
* Update on chemical research results from biosolids land application, and
* Discussion of case studies of urban gardening projects that use biosolids products
Review the presentations and findings from the nationally known Biosolids experts.<http://cwea.org/et_biosolids.shtml>
You’d think that standing in a dank tunnel filled with raw sewage would muck up your holiday spirit. But these London sewermen seem to be having a jolly old time as they remind the city’s inhabitants not to flush turkey fat or baby wipes down the toilet. Singing “only what comes out of you should go into our pipes” to the tune of “Good King Wenceslas,” they make responsible waste disposable seem downright fun.
Thames Water will donate 1p to WaterAid for every hit the film gets on YouTube (up to a maximum of 200,000 views, ending on 31 January 2011) to support the charity’s life-saving work to improve access to safe water and sanitation to the world’s poorest people.
Find out more about the Singing Sewermen and their work at:
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/binit
Eight cities from across the country will receive the National League of Cities’ (NLC) 2010 Awards for Municipal Excellence for creating outstanding programs which improve the quality of life in America’s communities. These awards recognize city programs that demonstrate community determination and individual commitment at the local level.
Partnering with GeoEnvironment Technologies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Los Angeles created the Terminal Island Renewable Energy project (TIRE). TIRE is the nation’s first project aimed at producing green energy from a renewable biosolids –organic materials remaining after treatment of domestic sewage at a wastewater treatment facility. Not only is the project innovative in the way it utilizes wastewater treatment byproducts as a renewable resource, but it also improves air quality, protects water quality and reduces greenhouse gases.
The CWEA Biosolids Committee has put together an all-star lineup of biosolids experts to provide up to date information about biosolids regulations and research. Speakers are comprised of nationally recognized biosolids experts from the EPA, USDA, and Academia.
One workshop will be held for each the Northern and Southern regions. The workshops will provide a wider outlook and understanding about what is known, what is needed, and where research and regulations are going in the biosolids industry.
- Gain knowledge about implications of recent research, what detection vs. non detection of constituents in biosolids means.
- Find out how you can contribute to ongoing studies that can help develop and employ strategies to deal with biosolids issues.
- Walk away with more knowledge and how to comply with research and regulations!
See flyer for more information
How Does Sewage Treatment Work?
Sewage treatment turns out to be a somewhat less nasty business than you probably thought
By Scott Huler
The guy running the snake down our sewer looks matter-of-fact. Our sewage has been backing up. Right next to the pipe connecting our house to the sewer line running down our street stands a 70-year-old willow oak, and I worry the tree’s roots have found their way, during the droughty past year, into our line. He shrugs: Maybe it’s tree roots, maybe it’s a collapsed pipe, maybe it’s a yo-yo. The snake went in only a dozen feet or so and found a clog, and now the little claw at the end is spinning. Once he pulls it out we’ll know better what’s going on. I leave him to his business, though I cast an annoyed glance at the oak. Sewer pipes fit together simply, with a bell joint, and tiny root hairs find their way to the nutrient-rich flow, then grow larger, eventually growing large enough to shatter the vitreous clay pipe that forms so many service lines or dislodge a joint if the pipes are cast iron. Nobody knows what our pipes, 70 years old, are made of, but I fear we’re about to find out.
July 27, 2010
By Daniel Strain and Mark Shwartz
Within the sludge of wastewater treatment plants is an invisible world teeming with microbes. Here, diverse species of bacteria convert solid and liquid wastes into gases, some of which contribute to global warming.
Now two Stanford University engineers are developing a new sewage treatment process that would actually increase the production of two greenhouse gases – nitrous oxide (aka, “laughing gas”) and methane – and use the gases to power the treatment plant.
By Wendy Wert
On May 20, 2010, the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) Los Angeles Basin Section (LABS) presented a regional composting update at the Monterey Hill Steakhouse in Monterey Park. The featured speaker was Jeff Ziegenbein, Deputy Manager of Operations for Inland Empire Regional Composting Facility (IERCF). The IERCA was created in 2002 by a joint powers agreement between the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) and the County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (CSDLAC). The agencies have evaluated composting as an economically and environmentally sound method of beneficially reusing biosolids from publically owned treatment works (POTWs).
By Alec Mackie, LABS Corporate Director
The City’s Bureau of Engineering has completed design work on a critically needed second sewer force main to manage peak flows from the Venice Pumping Plant to the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City is ready to start building the $60 million, 2 mile force main but a new court case has stopped the project.
For PDF copies of the presentations click here>
The southern meeting took place in the conference center at the LACSD's Joint Adminstration Offices in Whittier.
By Wendy Wert
CWEA Training Coordination Committee Chair
LACSD
and Jon Hay
CWEA Biosolids Committee Chair
Black & Veatch
On January 26, 2010, the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) Biosolids Committee hosted a specialty conference “Understanding Future Regulatory Trends and Impacts on Biosolids Management in California” at the Los Angeles Sanitation Districts Joint Administration Office in Whittier. This one-day biosolids specialty conference, which trained 76 people, consisted of a series of technical presentations separated by interactive discussions between leading experts and attendees. The morning session consisted of opening remarks and a review of the Part 503 regulations presented by the conference Chair, followed by six technical presentations. The innovative networking lunch also served as a venue for an update on Assembly Bill 32 and Green House Gas emissions standards (GHGs) presented by Patrick Griffith. The afternoon session, consisted of five technical presentations, and closing remarks delivered by the conference co-chair.
A total of 12 speakers gave presentations that covered a wide range of relevant topics, including current trends in biosolids regulations, application and limitations of the general order, an overview of the biosolids composting rule, county ordinances and local issues, national regulatory trends, impacts of air quality regulations, methods of managing biosolids that generate renewable power, and several case studies that demonstrated emerging technologies and illustrated successful regional solutions. The speakers also presented on these same topics at SFPUC in San Francisco on January 27. This event trained 160 CWEA members and non-members.
2010 CWEA Biosolids Conference – Understanding Future Regulatory Trends & Impacts on Biosolids Management
January 26, 2010
LACSD Conference Center, Whittier
January 27, 2010
San Francisco
(PDFs) “The posted presentations are for the personal use of CWEA Biosolids Conference attendees. These presentations may not be reproduced without the authors written consent.”
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Opening Remarks - Part 503 – Jon Hay, Black & Veatch / Dave Bechtel, Lee & Ro, Southern Conference Hosts
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Agenda - (North Conference)
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State General Order for Biosolids - Jarrod Ramsey-Lewis, SWRCB
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Biosolids Composting Rules – Ken Decio, Cal-Recycle (presented by Greg)
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Local Regulatory Issues and Ordinances – Matt Bao, LACSD
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Air Pollution Control Regulations – Layne Baroldi, Synagro
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National Regulatory Trends & Issues - Greg Kester, CASA
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Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Strategies – Patrick Griffith, LACSD
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Rialto Slurry Carb® Facility - Ray Kearney, Enertech
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IEUA Composting Facility – Jeff Ziengenbien, IEUA
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Ventura Regional Biosolids - Mark Lawler, VRSD
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City of Los Angeles TIRE Project - Omar Moghaddam, City of LA
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Biosolids to Energy – a Coalition Approach – Caroline Quinn, Delta Diablo SD (North conference)
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California’s First Design-Build Biosolids Thermal Dryer - Ruben Robles, Sacramento Regional County SD (North conference)
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SFPUC San Francisco Greasecycle - Todd Jordon, Carollo (North conference)
City of Los Angeles Terminal Island Renewable Energy demonstration project near the Port of LA (credit: City of LA).
The City’s innovative biosolids-to-energy project at the Terminal Island Water Reclamation Plant has received stimulus funding from the Department of Energy to continue work on the biosolids injection and energy recovery project. Funds will be used to expand the facility as well as drill the third well on the site. Biosolids are injected into deep underground former oil deposits where geothermal energy and pressure heats the biosolids and converts them to biogas.
The biogas generated by the heated biosolids is recovered and used to run a turbine which can power up to 3,000 Los Angeles homes according to the City. Deep well injection also sequesters the carbon and reduces the number of daily truck trips needed to haul biosolids from the City’s coastal wastewater treatment plants to distant farm lands where they are safely used as fertilizer. the T.I.R.E. is the first project of its kind in the nation.
We are honored to have the Terminal Island Renewable Energy project selected for this research grant. TIRE is already at the forefront of technology, and we look forward to seeing how the results of this additional research can help us achieve our mission of protecting public health and the environment,” said Enrique C. Zaldivar, Director, Bureau of Sanitation
Read the City of LA press release here.
LABS hosted a dinner presentation by City of LA Project Manager Omar Moghaddam, that story is here.
Environmental news website Clean Skies recently took a video tour of EnerTech’s biosolids processing facility in the Inland Empire city of Rialto. Their patented SlurryCarb system is turning 270,000 wet tons of biosolids into “e-fuel” to power local cement kilns and other local power users.
Riverside Mayor Ronald Loveridge had the best quote, “We’ve been taking our biosolids to Arizona, rather than Arizona they come here – with less trips, less cost and what is produced hereis used as fuel – I’m not sure how you can get any better deal than this.”
