Roll, Richard

Rick Roll received his B.S.C.E. from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and his M.S.C.E. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His career has included 8 years as a consulting engineer and 32 years working for the Niagara Falls Water Board and its predecessor agency, the City of Niagara Falls, N.Y. Rick is a licensed professional engineer in New York and is certified in water supply and wastewater by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He has over 115 publications and presentations to his credit, including the "From the Trenches" series in WE&T.

Titles from this speaker

Developing and Implementing a WRRF Computerized Operation and Maintenance Manual

Abstract

The Niagara Falls Water Board (NFWB) water resource recovery facility (WRRF) is unique, being the largest municipal physical-chemical activated carbon treatment plant in the country. As was common at the time it went online in 1977, the WRRF was provided with a series of paper operation and maintenance manuals, which were useful but inconvenient to revise, and thus, not frequently updated. Forty years later the NFWB entered into an Order on Consent with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a variety of facility improvement evaluations and actions. One of those items required updating of the plant operation and maintenance procedures. Instead of reworking the 30 and 40-year old paper volumes, the utility decided to develop an all-electronic version to both satisfy regulatory requirements and provide the staff with a truly useful resource. The NFWB moved forward with a web-based computerized operation and maintenance manual (COMM), providing access to the manual for staff working from any utility computer or mobile device. This paper documents the development of the COMM, including contents and organization, enhanced features, and interaction with the WRRF’s Computerized Maintenance Management System. The COMM also links to 3D images and 3D scans that allow anyone to travel virtually to a specific area of the plant without leaving their workstation. The integration of all of these resources into the COMM provides a valuable benefit to the existing WRRF personnel and a training resource for incoming personnel.

SpeakerRoll, Richard

Presentation time

14:30:00

14:50:00

Session time

13:30:00

15:10:00

SessionTowards the Digital Sewershed: What's In Yours?

Session number224

TopicAsset Management, Facility Operations and Maintenance, Intelligent Water, Utility Management and Leadership

Author(s)

R.R. RollJ. KocicP. McGarveyA. Janzen

Author(s)R.R. Roll1; J. Kocic1; P. McGarvey1; A. Janzen2;

Author affiliation(s)GHD Consulting Services Inc.1; Niagara Falls Water Board, NY2

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Oct 2020

DOI10.2175/193864718825157824

Volume / Issue

Content sourceWEFTEC

Word count11

Inspecting a Submerged Effluent Outfall System, Inside and Out

Abstract

This paper describes the planning, preparations, equipment and procedures that were necessary to successfully inspect a submerged treatment facility effluent diffuser system. The system is owned by Niagara County Sewer District No. 1 and located in the Upper Niagara River in New York State. An external inspection of the diffuser system was performed by launching a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from a vessel anchored upriver from the diffusers. Three attempts were made using a progression of equipment and procedures. The successful inspection had the ROV equipped with a forward looking tilting camera, a stationary downward looking camera, imaging sonar, and GPS locator equipment. The key to success was marking diffuser locations by GPS as each one was inspected, then extrapolating the expected position of the next. A shore-based internal inspection of the effluent header pipe was performed with a different ROV model. This unit was equipped with a forward looking camera, twin laser distance measuring equipment, imaging sonar, and profiling sonar. The diffuser header was visually inspected and invert sediment was quantified at regular stations using the profiling sonar. The inspection found the system to be in good physical condition with only minor damage to the outlet elbows and internal sedimentation at the far end of the system, equaling half a pipe at the far outlet. The lessons learned and GPS inventory of outlet locations are expected to make the next inspection quicker and easier.

SpeakerRoll, Richard

Presentation time

13:20:00

13:40:00

Session time

13:00:00

14:00:00

SessionManaging Equipment and Facilities

Session number613

TopicAsset Management, Utility Management and Leadership

Author(s)

R.R. RollR.R. RollT. Blodgett

Author(s)R.R. Roll1; R.R. Roll1; T. Blodgett2;

Author affiliation(s)GHD, NY1; Niagara County Sewer Dist ; 1, NY2

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Oct 2020

DOI10.2175/193864718825157562

Volume / Issue

Content sourceWEFTEC

Word count10

Navigating Staffing Issues through the Decades in Niagara Falls

Abstract

There are many challenges with keeping water and wastewater infrastructure functioning and serving the public. The physical challenges are readily understandable but another challenge no less formidable involves the human element -- keeping our facilities staffed with adequate numbers of trained individuals who can function as an effective team. During the past 50 years Niagara Falls has endured a staffing evolution accompanying its evolution in governance and infrastructure. Faced with a mix of common and unique staffing issues, some measures have worked well while others have had only limited success. The current Niagara Falls Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) was built under the federal Construction Grants Program of the 1970s and 1980s. Generous staffing from the start, hirings required by a federal Consent Decree, and the phasing out of operating aid from the state began the financial squeeze on the city. By the mid-1990s pressures grew as federal pretreatment regulations forced local industrial customers to sharply reduce their discharges. While rejecting an independent engineering assessment and holding off privatization overtures, the city administration permitted the plant staff to pursue a self-guided effort to improve and streamline the department. The effort achieved some modest success, but substantial changes to staffing levels and the associated costs were not among them. Entering the new millennium, financial attention shifted to the city's water utility. Declining consumption and rising debt service was creating its own funding crisis. A new mayor formed a Utilities Task Force to evaluate options and make recommendations. The three options considered were the status quo (with a 75% rate increase), privatization, and transferring water and wastewater assets to a newly formed authority, allowing refinancing of debt that the city could not undertake. The authority option was ultimately recommended and accepted, resulting in the Niagara Falls Water Board (NFWB). In 2004 the first Executive Director initiated a competitive assessment (CA), which determined that a 27% gap existed between the NFWB and the best-run utilities of similar size. Several strategies were identified for narrowing the gap. The CA also elevated the sense of urgency of the approaching silver tsunami. The CA consultant was retained to assist with a Best Practices Program (BPP), intended to close the gap in an expedited manner. While some changes did occur, many were not long lasting. Revenue shortfalls in 2006 threatened to reopen the budget mid-year to further increase user charges. Averting this required a workforce reduction, impacting most divisions in the utility. This had a predictable impact on the effectiveness and enthusiasm for the BPP. During this same period the CBAs were renegotiated, creating two tiers of employees. Newly hired employees would receive lower starting pay, fewer holidays, and a lower level of medical coverage. The cost-saving impacts of these changes upon attracting new employees would become evident later. The retirement of the long-standing WRRF Chief Operator in 2004 presented its own problems such as disinterest among subordinates and a culture clash with hiring from the outside. The problem has been addressed by returning retirees, part-time licensed operators, and process control assistance by a consultant. Other retirees are also assisting in the areas of plant maintenance, sewer maintenance, engineering, water treatment operations, and the distribution/collection systems. These positions are termed 'temporary part-time appointment.' More formal means have been used to capture and preserve collective staff knowledge while they're still available. One is a PowerPoint orientation specifically structured for new employees. An electronic O&M manual was developed to simplify and expand staff access to many varies resources, including construction plans, procedures, 3D imaging, and manufacturer literature. Team building efforts have taken several forms. Myers-Briggs personality assessments and leadership training facilitators are examples. 50 years have provided a string of lessons in maintaining a viable and effective workforce. Many have revealed their clarity only in hindsight. Following is a distillation of the more important ones: oYour workforce is like a living creature: growing, learning, backsliding, and changing in ways not obvious. oAn employer has rights, just as the employees do. The vehicle to memorialize these rights is the CBA, which is intended to serve all. oAttrition and consolidation have their limits. As Albert Einstein observed, 'Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.' oBe proactive in capturing and documenting the valuable knowledge the staff has amassed, individually and collectively. Encourage mentoring and shadowing. oIf your collective institutional knowledge has already waned, don't neglect the huge resource your recent retirees represent. o'Consultant' is not a dirty word. They are plentiful, with varied experience and talents to help you when you don't have the in-house abilities to help yourself. oBeware the temptation to diminish the compensation package for new hires. oSenior staff should frequently remind themselves that the day will come when the utility continues operating with none of the current employees remaining.

Staffing challenges have been encountered over the past several decades of water and wastewater utility management in Niagara Falls, New York. They include financial pressures, staff retention, institutional knowledge degradation, union agreement constraints, and regulatory requirements. Countermeasures have included pursuing a best practices program, governance restructuring, less attended operations and attrition, agreement renegotiation, and temporary assistance from retirees and consultants.

SpeakerRoll, Richard

Presentation time

08.30.00

09:00:00

Session time

08:30:00

10:00:00

SessionBuilding the Workforce of Tomorrow

Session number513

Session locationRoom 238

TopicBusiness Organization and Technology Transformation, Intermediate Level, Utility Management and Leadership, Workforce Issues

Author(s)

Roll, Richard, Costello, Sean

Author(s)R.R. Roll1, S.W. Costello1

Author affiliation(s)1Niagara Falls Water Board, NY

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Oct 2024

DOI10.2175/193864718825159479

Volume / Issue

Content sourceWEFTEC

Word count10

Perpetual Pumping Station Rehabilitation

Abstract

This paper describes the evolution of equipment and systems at a wastewater pumping station in a combined sewer collection system. Three major rehabilitation projects and several standalone projects have been performed since original construction in the mid1970s. Challenges have included a contractor bankruptcy, vandalism, equipment obsolescence, access constraints, and suboptimal hydraulics. Many lessons learned during the past few decades of work are presented.

This paper describes the evolution of equipment and systems at a wastewater pumping station in a combined sewer collection system. Three major rehabilitation projects and several standalone projects have been performed since original construction in the mid-1970s. Challenges have included a contractor bankruptcy, vandalism, equipment obsolescence, access constraints, and suboptimal hydraulics. Many lessons learned during the past few decades of work are presented.

SpeakerRoll, Richard

Presentation time

14:00:00

14:30:00

Session time

13:30:00

15:00:00

SessionPump Stations: Lessons Learned

Session locationRoom S404a - Level 4

TopicCollection Systems, Intermediate Level

Author(s)

Roll, Richard