Conference Papers

This presentation is a case study on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to detect issues and operational problems in sewer systems more quickly and reliably by identifying anomalies in sewer flow data, including: -Sudden shifts indicative of issues such as sensor failure or blockages in the system -More gradual changes in the data over longer periods of time, which point to issues like sensor drift or other less immediately obvious operational or environmental problems -Differences between calibrated hydraulic models and sensor data The authors will discuss the application of our AI based approach for detecting anomalies in a large water/wastewater agency located in the midwestern united states. We have found that our AI based approach is highly effective at detecting subtle anomalies such as sensor drift, as well as sudden shifts in the flow data. In some instances, it has detected issues weeks before they would have otherwise been detected during manual review or inspection. Not only is the solution effective, but we also chose an approach that is relatively easy to understand and explain, which makes it more actionable and less challenging to maintain. Through our presentation, the authors intend to highlight the critical role that engineering subject matter expertise played in the formulation of our successful approach, and demonstrate the success that can be achieved through the nexus of data science and engineering.

Access to a safe and reliable water supply is an essential part of ensuring public health and building community resiliency. With continued stress on traditional water sources, and rising exploration of alternative water supplies, water reuse is becoming a larger area of focus in communities. Water reuse, or water recycling, is a proven, science-based process that intentionally captures wastewater, stormwater, saltwater, or graywater and treats it for a designated beneficial freshwater purpose such as drinking, industrial processes, surface or ground water replenishment, and watershed restoration. As the water industry explores recycling water for the purpose of drinking (i.e., potable reuse), communication and public education has been identified as a critical factor in enabling project success. Concerted efforts are being made by utilities and organizations to reach the general public and consumers to communicate the safety of water reuse. Building relationships and a shared knowledge of water reuse processes, risks, and safety between the public health and medical communities and the water sector is key. This session will feature Bart Weiss, a leader in potable reuse in Florida and the nation, to discuss communication and public education around water reuse, particularly as it relates to engaging with medical and public health professionals. The Water Research Foundation Project 13-02 clearly identified the importance of communication plan that includes medical and public health professionals. It is known that community members seek advice on the health of water reuse from their medical professionals and that the public is interested in communication around the safety, quality, and treatment process for direct potable reuse. Building off this knowledge, this presentation will draw from numerous case studies and research around public education, highlighting the importance of engaging public health, health care, and water sector professionals throughout the public outreach process. More broadly, this work will summarize various activities through the WateReuse Association's Public Health and Medical Community Initiative. The University of Texas, Houston School of Public Health and El Paso Water represent one such partnership between public health and water sector professionals. This partnership enabled a greater understanding of how community members respond to various forms of public education. Such findings include the increase in support as residents learn more about potable water reuse (figure 1). Additional partnerships include the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida's collaboration on Florida's Potable Reuse plan and education efforts throughout the state. This partnership builds off the knowledge that the public wants to hear from medical professionals, and in turn enables those medical professionals with key water safety information. Dr. Donna Petersen, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of South Florida is working with WateReuse members to incorporate presentations on water reuse systems into her curriculum to properly educate Florida residents in anticipation of potable reuse in the state. Expanding these efforts nationwide will be another key to the success of the Public Health and Medical Community Initiative. Partnerships with health professionals are not the only means for the water sector to effectively engage in public education, media outreach such as that with Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN visiting El Paso Water to discuss water reuse (figure 2) and recycled water brewing such the New Water Brew Competition can also support a robust communication strategy (figure 3). Allowing the public to hear from established, trusted media sources better enables understanding of the health risks associated with potable reuse without being lost in technical jargon. In a different way, hearing from brewers on the quality recycled water focuses the conversation on the treatment processes and water quality rather than water history. Such projects, coupled with partnerships with health professionals, enable a successful public outreach strategy. This session is aimed at broadcasting key communication techniques and partnerships to better inform participants in their own outreach. Largely, the goal is to open broader conversations of the nexus between public health and water treatment.

In modern water management, integrating system performance needs with stakeholder input is essential for effective capital planning. Parker Water & Sanitation District (PWSD) is completing a long-term water supply planning process. This presentation outlines the technical aspects of PWSD's approach, which integrated stakeholder input, water supply models, and a decision-support tool for capital planning. The process began with stakeholder workshops to establish objectives, assess system performance gaps, and define alternatives. Multi-criteria decision analysis was employed, allowing input from multiple stakeholders on evaluation criteria and capital plan alternatives that supported increasing water supply or decreasing demands through water efficiency measures. A non-proprietary tool, developed using the Microsoft Power Platform, enabled stakeholders to view how each capital plan variation met system performance metrics, organizational objectives, and budget constraints. Through a consensus-building process, commonalities across the alternative plans were identified, leading to a capital improvement plan that met system performance needs, diverse goals, and budget constraints. Unlike traditional methods that debate a single plan's merits, this approach allowed each stakeholder's perspective to be considered, resulting in improved buy-in, and a plan that is robust and defensible. The decision-support tool clearly demonstrated how each plan addressed needs and goals through embedded visualizations about system performance metrics. This data-driven approach has broad applicability and can serve as a model for other utilities undertaking similar capital planning efforts. PWSD's process represents a significant advancement in capital planning, emphasizing the importance of stakeholder involvement, technological integration, and a methodical approach. It provides a practical roadmap for other utilities, highlighting the role of digital technologies in modern capital planning for water management.

As Buffalo Sewer prepares for its second decade of implementation of the approved Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plan (LTCP), results of a recalibrated hydraulic model, updated Financial Capability Assessment, a cost-benefit analysis of early projects, a deeper understanding of the existing system's design, and increasing recognition of issues of environmental justice and implications of systemic racism and climate change have all driven a re-evaluation of how to achieve the goals of the LTCP while also building a more equitable, inclusive, and resilient city. Buffalo Sewer's approved 2014 LTCP made use of innovative strategies with a focus on Green Infrastructure and Real Time Controlled Smart Sewers. As we move forward into the next phase of the LTCP, we are learning how to implement Green Infrastructure in a more sustainable and maintainable way that also addresses long-standing disinvestment in the existing increasingly aged collection system. We are also finding new and innovative ways to implement Real Time Controlled Smart Sewer technology to take advantage of opportunities created by the historical design of our collection system and the disinvestment in redlined neighborhoods while also creating visible community benefits and simplifying maintenance. This presentation will review the development of the approved LTCP and its components. It will also review the projects completed under that plan and implementation issues experienced to date. It will also discuss how the recalibrated model has impacted the viability of the 2014 LTCP and its components. Additionally, the historical, economic, and climatic conditions of Buffalo and the resultant opportunities, risks, and restrictions that they create will be discussed. Finally, the updated LTCP will be presented. Currently, the updated Financial Capability Analysis is under review with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with final approval expected in late 2021. The Model Recalibration is also under ongoing review by the regulators with approval expected in mid-Fall 2021. Six traditional Smart Sewer Projects have been completed, three additional traditional projects are in bidding or construction phases, and a final project which implements Smart Sewer technology at an existing pumping station is poised to go into operation by October 2021. Three additional traditional Smart Sewer projects have been identified for design during the 2022 Calendar Year, in addition, two next generation Smart Sewer projects have been identified for design during this same period, and several of the projects currently in design and implementation represent a global implementation strategy rather than a more traditional CSO or even waterbody specific strategy. Similarly, on the Green Infrastructure front, RainCheck 1.0 has been completed and it has become increasingly clear that while the demolition of vacant and abandoned homes has created vast swaths of new green space throughout large tracts of Buffalo at limited cost to Buffalo Sewer, the opportunity for further demolitions is limited and at the same time, bioretention cells within the public right of way are costly to construct and maintain and other green infrastructure techniques are more sustainable and create opportunities for other co-benefits without negatively impacting long-term residents in disinvested neighborhoods.

In 2020, Public Health Departments struggled to control SARS-CoV-2 spread in communities. As infected individuals did not see any symptom for few days, they unknowingly continued spreading the virus within their community. Lots of lives were lost, and the entire healthcare system was stressed. Initially, clinical testing was the only means to detect the virus presence. However, this testing is after-the-fact and, hence, too late. As a result, control measures such as social distancing and mask mandates were implemented. Besides having a negative impact on the economy, such measures were not 100% enforceable. Tracking and preventing the outbreak was challenging. Contact tracing is one way to see where the virus was and is going, but once again it's still after-the-fact of spreading the virus. In this chaotic environment, wastewater surveillance provided a new way to track and predict the virus's spread. When an individual is infected with SARS-CoV-2, he/she sheds the virus through their stool which ends up in wastewater. When such wastewater is analyzed, it provides information on the presence of the virus, as early as seven days prior to detection through clinical testing. Similar studies were done in the past for viral outbreaks such as Polio. It is now established that Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a valuable population level approach for monitoring viral presence. Analysis on samples collected at a Wastewater treatment plant influent provides catchment-wide virus presence to establish trends. Whereas analysis on samples collected in wastewater collection system, close to source, finds virus prevalence in local area such as neighborhood, dorms, hospitals, and nursing home. Finding city-wide trends can help implement programs such as mask mandates and social distancing before it is too late. By finding virus presence in a local area, quick small-scale clinical testing can be performed to narrow down infection to individual or building levels before it is widespread. For an accurate analysis, it is critical that collected wastewater samples are source representative. Otherwise, garbage in, garbage out. This presentation will explain type samplers and sampling methods to be used based on purpose and location. The presentation will cover the following topics: - Purpose of wastewater analysis – - Detecting prevalence, Tracking, and/or Trend analysis - Target area – City, zip code, neighborhood, building (e.g. Dorm, Nursing home, Hospital) - How to select sampling location based on the above purpose – Treatment plant, collection system network, building outlet? - Types of sampling methods - Grab sampling vs composite sampling. Pros and cons - What types of samplers should be used based on location and purpose – - Permanent or portable - With or without refrigeration - What are the best sampling methods based on location, purpose, and type of sampler? - What bottle configuration should be used based on purpose – Single bottle or multi-bottles - How to transport and preserve samples. How to store samples – short term vs long term.

The City of Austin has regularly tracked odor complaints within its major interceptor systems and has sought ways to reduce complaints. In order to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of head space air extraction for odor control within four of its large diameter interceptors, the City initiated a comprehensive fan test in early 2021. Large-scale tests of the impact of air extraction were performed in areas served by the City's Walnut Creek Interceptor (WCI), Little Walnut Creek Interceptor (LWCI), and Williamson Creek Interceptors (WICI) and the Crosstown Tunnel / (CTI), and Onion Creek Interceptor (OCI) systems. All are large diameter pipeline systems (diameters up to 96-inch) with headspace restrictions at downstream ends. Fan testing and monitoring was performed on five different combinations of extraction points and associated monitoring locations. For each extraction point, The City of Austin and its consultants selected a combination of upstream and downstream monitoring manholes to provide an indication of the zone of influence of the air extraction. The testing area included 34 separate monitoring locations along approximately 50 miles of interceptor. The purpose of the fan test monitoring was to provide data on headspace pressurization and hydrogen sulfide concentrations, and the variability of each over time, both under existing conditions and with air extracted from the sewer headspace. Perkins Engineering Consultants, Inc. (now Mead & Hunt) served as the prime contractor for the testing events, placing and maintaining equipment within the manholes for monitoring hydrogen sulfide and differential pressure, monitoring results during testing, and transmitting results to the project team on a daily basis. V&A Consulting Engineers, Inc. providing equipment, ducting, and personnel for fan operation during the tests. Differential pressure and hydrogen sulfide loggers were installed two days prior to starting the fan test at each location to establish baseline sewer pressure and hydrogen sulfide conditions. The loggers continued to monitor differential pressure and hydrogen sulfide during the two-day fan test, with most loggers transmitting data continuously during the test. Loggers were left in place at least six hours after each test was completed to ensure the system had reverted to normal conditions. During the two-day fan test, the fans were run over a range of airflows to provide a more accurate picture of the zone of influence potentially available within each interceptor. Two fan test locations were tested on the WCI: one at Balcones Park, and the other at Loyola Lane, located upstream of Balcones Park. The Loyola Lane test showed a zone of influence of at least 0.05 in-w.c. 16,000 ft upstream and 8,500 ft downstream of the extraction point. The Balcones Park test had a zone of influence 24,000 ft upstream. The LWCI test showed a zone of influence of 15,000 ft upstream. Testing on the CTI siphon Produced a zone of influence 75,000 ft upstream in certain areas. Testing on the WICI showed a zone of influence of 20,000 ft downstream on the OCI and only 10,000 ft upstream. This paper presentation the test methodology and results, and presents lessons learned and considerations that should be incorporated when choosing fan test extraction and monitoring points for testing. Extreme weather conditions were presented during part of the testing by Winter Storm Uri. The experience of running the test and having instruments in place through the extreme weather event will also be discussed.

The City of Vancouver, British Columbia, is working to develop an integrated or 'one water' approach to delivering water-related infrastructure (i.e., potable, sanitary, and stormwater) to the Cambie Corridor, a rapidly developing transit corridor south of downtown. The current water-related infrastructure is beyond capacity; and a recent land-use plan for the 1,000-hectare corridor revealed that the population living and working there is expected to more than double in the coming decades. These land-use pressures along with climate change and ecosystem health concerns necessitate a fresh, holistic look at all forms of water infrastructure serving the corridor. To create a plan for the corridor, the City used a collaborative engagement process to develop a water-servicing vision and a multi-benefit assessment approach for evaluating one-water opportunities (i.e., programs, policies, and projects). Opportunities include various types of distributed green and blue-green stormwater infrastructure, regional green stormwater management facilities, water conservation and efficiency strategies, site and district scale non-potable water reuse (e.g., rainwater, greywater, and foundation drainage), and policies and programs to mandate, incentivize, and/or encourage private investments and partnerships. The assessment approach, which will be the focus of this presentation, was used to identify, value, screen, and ultimately optimize the suite of opportunities needed to meet the City's objectives. The assessment approach included several analytical tools working in tandem, including (1) a custom-built Water Balance Model paired with a calibrated hydrologic and hydraulic model to evaluate opportunity performance, (2) a GIS tool to help site opportunities, (3) a Decision Support Tool to value ecological and community co-benefits and measures of reliability and feasibility, (4) a scenario planning analysis to account for risks and future uncertainty, and (5) an optimization tool that uses advanced statistical algorithms to identify the ideal combination of opportunities that meets water-servicing targets, minimizes costs, and maximizes co-benefits. This assessment approach allowed the City to balance the trade-offs inherent in a multi-objective analysis in a defensible, transparent, and easy-to-understand way. The effort culminated in development of a high-level long-term water servicing strategy for the corridor and a more detailed short-term capital plan for investments in the next 4 to 8 years.

Our presentation will summarize the development and implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) tools Citizens Energy Group has developed to provide predictive operational decision support for combined sewer overflow (CSO) facilities. Citizens developed these tools by efficiently leveraging its prior investments in collection system modeling and metering. Our AI/ML tools consist of artificial neural networks fit to long-term datasets to predict inflows to CSO facilities using the 72-hour NOAA radar rainfall forecast. Both the rainfall and CSO facility inflow are embedded in a Power BI dashboard for efficient communication to Citizens staff. We developed this dashboard without incurring any additional software cost and believe any wastewater utility operating wet weather facilities can implement a similar AI/ML tool to ours. Citizens Energy Group is the combined water, wastewater, natural gas, steam, and chilled water utility in Indianapolis. Citizens is presently implementing a 20-year CSO consent decree with required completion in 2025. Consent decree compliance is primarily achieved through the DigIndy Tunnel system, a 28-mile long, 18-foot diameter tunnel network. Citizens is also implementing a pair of storage facilities in the Upper White River and Upper Pogues Run watersheds. Citizens, like all utilities implementing a consent decree, has made significant investments in modeling and metering its collection system, and has multiple years of meter data and model results on the shelf from recent regulatory and design support activity. While Citizens has confidence in its InfoWorks ICM model of the collection system, computational limitations prevent the model from being applied in real time or for immediate prediction of future rainfall events. In order to transform the collection system model from a design tool into a predictive operational tool, Citizens developed neural networks for the DigIndy Tunnel system and the Upper Pogues Run storage tank. These neural networks effectively serve as an extension of Citizens' collection system model to simulate inflow to the tunnel or tank in a matter of seconds. Since both facilities will begin operation at the beginning of 2022, Citizens utilized several years of collection system model input and output data to develop the neural networks. Figure 1 presents the architecture diagram for the AI/ML tools. Within Power BI, embedded Python scripts using the MetPy library (Unidata, 2021) connect to the NOAA server and obtain the 72-hour National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) radar forecast for rainfall and temperature. The forecasted rainfall data is compiled for the CSO facility service area and temperature is utilized to estimate evapotranspiration (Hargreaves and Samani, 1982) for use in the neural networks. Citizens developed standard feed forward neural networks to predict inflow volume to the tunnel and storage tank similar to the collection system model. Figure 2 presents a scatterplot comparing each modeled inflow event to the tunnel system for precipitation years 2016 through 2019 to the neural network prediction. The inputs to the neural network are rainfall, peak intensity, antecedent dry days, the previous day's rainfall, and evapotranspiration. The total inflow volume from the neural network was within one percent of the InfoWorks collection system model simulation, with a R2 of 93%. Citizens evaluated input parameter sensitivity of the neural network and determined that for the storage tunnel, rainfall is the nearly an order of magnitude more important than any of the other input parameters. However, for the Upper Pogues Run storage tank that serves a much smaller watershed area, peak intensity is nearly as important as rainfall. Citizens initiated a desktop test deployment in early 2021 and progressed to an automated test deployment that has been completed at the time of the abstract. In the automated deployment, the rainfall forecast and subsequent inflow volume forecast is generated hourly, with results posted on Citizens' internal SharePoint. The rainfall forecast and forecasted inflow volume are presented though an online Power BI dashboard. We will present our method of deployment of this tool as well as other options for automated deployment that wastewater utilities may consider. Table 1 presents an example forecast from the neural network for July 15 – July 17, 2021. The forecasted inflow volume is based on the NDFD on July 14, 2021. In other words, should the tunnel system have been operational on July 16th, operational staff would have had an estimate of the magnitude of inflow more than a day before the event occurred. Over the course of the deployment, the BI dashboards were expanded to also collect NWS river stage forecasts and actual rainfall data through the application programming interface (API) provided by ADS as part of the PRISM interface to Citizens' rain gauge and flow meter network. Using the API key, Citizens developed a process to compare the forecasted rainfall from NOAA to the actual rainfall from the gauge network. From March 2021 through July 2021, the total forecasted rainfall was 23.5 inches, compared to 22.3 inches of actual gauge rainfall. An encouraging finding is that seventy-six percent (76%) of the rain events were forecasted within two-tenths of an inch of the actual gauge rainfall. We believe our presentation will benefit any wastewater utility that is operating or soon to be operating a wet-weather storage, treatment, or pumping facility to address combined sewer or sanitary sewer peak flows. We will provide a roadmap for any utility to implement a similar AI/ML solution for predictive operational decision support that can be implemented without any commercial software cost.

Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) implemented a watershed-wide Disadvantaged Community Involvement (DCI) Program between 2007 and 2021 to determine the strengths and needs of disadvantaged, economically distressed areas, and underrepresented communities in the watershed (https://sawpa.org/owow/dci-program/). This program, conducted under SAWPA's One Water One Watershed Program (https://sawpa.org/owow/), included a wide array of engagement and education activities intended to uncover and share the needs and capacities within the water agencies and communities. It was built upon the strong foundation of knowledge and outreach developed throughout earlier integrated regional water management planning efforts and encompassed three key program elements. Program Element 1 of the DCI program entailed surveying the strengths and needs of disadvantaged, economically distressed areas, and underserved communities in the watershed. This included a series of workshops conducted by SAWPA to engage with representatives from these communities to expand the reach of OWOW. Through these workshops representatives of these communities were provided the opportunity to contribute, through conversation and deliberation, to the planning, and research. A key component of this DCI program element entailed the development of a novel ethnographic approach to investigate and document the strengths and needs of disadvantaged, economically distressed areas, and underserved communities in the Santa Ana River Watershed. This ethnographic approach, unlike a traditional strength and needs assessment approach, was based upon consultation with the greater community throughout the process and recognized community members as local environmental experts. Through this approach SAWPA's program partners used network sampling methods to engage five social groups: elected officials, water agencies, mutual water companies, Native American communities, and other diverse local communities. These efforts combined in a total of 53 listening sessions, totaling 82 hours of conversation with members of the community speaking about their watershed experiences. The data collected during these listening sessions were then analyzed to identify key discussion themes and documented in the 'Santa Ana River Watershed Community Water Experiences and Ethnographic Strengths and Needs Assessment Report' (https://sawpa.org/owow/dci-program/strengths-and-needs/). Program Element 2 encompassed a broad number of engagement and education activities to share the information gathered through the strengths and needs assessment with local the water agencies and communities highlighted by the following: -Homelessness and water convening events to reveal synergies and develop new partnerships between those seeking to manage homelessness in the watershed and those engaged with water management. -Tribal consultation with California Native American Tribes within the Santa Ana River Watershed, as well as those with historical and/or cultural ties to the Watershed. -Trust the Tap campaign to assist in the development and implement a multilingual community outreach campaign to share the value and safety of tap water with communities in the watershed. -Translation services for in‐person meetings and written material translation services on activities related to community engagement for water management. -Engagement best practices publication looking at engagement of DACs about water management, with case studies from around the state. - Community water education to provide community members opportunities to learn about the water management process and engage with local water managers in the watershed. - Water agency training for water agencies staff in the watershed and statewide summit to share the information. - Local elected leader training to share the findings of the DCI program, basic information on water management topics, and best practices for helping the communities to interact with water planning activities. Program Element 3 focused on project development building upon what was learned through the strengths and needs assessment to identify projects and programs that address the needs of disadvantaged, economically distressed areas, and underserved communities in the watershed. SAWPA, working in coordination with a Technical Assistance Committee composed of the DCI non-profit partners, were tasked to develop evaluation criteria for projects and programs to receive technical assistance funding, conduct a rating, ranking and scoring of the potential projects, plans and programs and allocate $2.9 M in available technical assistance funding to develop these projects and programs. The highest priority of this program element was to formulate solutions that addressed the critical needs of these communities that do not have safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water. Overall, the findings and conclusions of the SAWPA DCI program were based upon information gathered from the three program elements. Report findings were presented to individual social groups including elected officials, local communities, Native communities, water-agencies, and mutual water companies. Findings revealed the social, cultural, and water-related strengths and needs of these communities in the watershed. From these findings, the program partners were also able to identify several strong thematic connections and disconnections among and between the various social groups. These focused on four key themes: water management, water rates and cost, communication, and water quality and demonstrated how water systems are collectively understood-and misunderstood-by various social groups in the watershed and helped to explain why one participant group's strength may be another's need. Several core conclusions and recommendations reflect the key barriers and challenges to strengthening agency engagement with overburdened and underrepresented groups. Language Barriers One of the consistent needs that surfaced throughout the program implementation process was the need for water agencies to commit to bridging language barriers between their staff and the communities they serve. With such a diverse watershed population, it is necessary that water-related decision-makers work with local constituents to identify translation projects and offer translators for relevant public meetings. As part of the program, SAWPA offered on-call translation services to public agencies and nonprofits. This included providing translation consultants for live translation of public meetings and for translation of water-related documents. Communication One of the factors that limits agency, decision-maker, and community member connections is simply a lack of funding or staff time devoted to communications. This is a broad acknowledgement that resource providers can do a better job of ensuring that critical water information is accessible to various publics, especially those most vulnerable to water-related challenges. Community members say that they often do not know how to find answers to their water-related questions or that they are not sure how to interpret the information they do find. It is recommended that water decision-makers devote staff time to maintaining long-term relationships with community-based organizations that have relationships with underrepresented and overburdened communities to better understand localized communication preferences. Tap Water Quality The most critical disconnection surfaced in this report are the prevalent community concerns about tap water quality. Water agencies need to address these concerns differently than they have historically. Community concerns are not just linked to reasons previously assumed by water providers, such as immigrant-status or lack of education. The report indicated that more work is necessary to overcome the physical and social disconnections that may impair water quality between the facility and the faucet, especially in economically distressed areas. It is recommended that water agencies work directly with community-based organizations to hear and respond to the localized concerns that people have about tap water. Connecting Strengths and Needs to Technical Assistance Projects The ethnographic model of collecting strengths and needs is unfamiliar to most public planning agencies, both as an approach and as a dataset. The insights that can be gleaned from this approach are highly valuable but are also complex and difficult to interpret and implement. It is the responsibility of agencies to gather civic input (community experiences) and translate those themes into strategies to meet the needs that emerge. It is recommended that DCI program groups design strong and inclusive working group structures that can connect the strengths and needs surfaced by communities to actionable projects and programs.

Near the end of 2021, New Castle County's Public Works initiated an extensive project for gravity sewer system O&M planning, implementation and support. As a complement to physical infrastructure improvements, an interactive asset management dashboard was developed. By visualizing and forecasting past and present data, leaders are enabled to make critical decisions and improve operational efficiency. This presentation will detail the process of developing a comprehensive asset management dashboard and its impacts on utility maintenance and operations. A unified dashboard was developed in Microsoft Power BI to support the creation and implementation of data management, analysis, and visualization solutions for the Sewer O&M Program. The dashboard connects directly with New Castle County's existing Cityworks maintenance management and permitting software. This integration eliminates the cumbersome need to compile figures and tables manually, streamlining data analysis and ensuring that decision-makers have access to the most current and relevant information. A specific goal of New Castle County was to provide detailed information on the efficacy of the new SL Rat pipe cleaning program. A pipe is first tested and assigned a condition score based on blockages. For the most severely affected pipes, a cleaning team is sent out. A secondary inspection then occurs where a condition score is once again determined. Prior to this project, there was little information available to track the effectiveness of this process. The dashboard now provides analysis of cleaning performance by individual workers, correlation between pipe dimensions and condition score, details on specific pipes that could not be accessed by crews, and other visual aids to better plan and monitor the SL Rat cleaning program. The dashboard also provides other data visualizations and insights. One area is the real-time tracking of performance against American Water Works Association (AWWA) metrics, providing an invaluable reference point for gauging operational success. Furthermore, it offers a window into work order progress and unveils critical patterns among sewer assets and regions. The versatility of this dashboard equips decision-makers with a comprehensive understanding of the program's performance metrics. The dashboard is in its final stages of development and will be in frequent use by New Castle County at the time of the conference. The presentation will include lessons learned in implementation and use that can be transferred to other utilities.

Abstract Summary It is well understood that conventional treatment approaches do not effectively remove PFAS from liquids or solids streams at wastewater treatment plants. Future regulatory enforcement of PFAS has varied state-to-state providing uncertainty for utilities as they plan for future process upgrades. To assist utilities and biosolids producers, several biosolids products were tested including dried biosolids, pyrolyzed dried biosolids and composts, all produced with non-industrially impacted biosolids to assess the concentration of PFAS compounds in the finished products and the ability of these processes to reduce and or remove PFAS compounds. The full paper will summarize findings from this study. Introduction Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a large family of organic compounds, including more than 4,500 synthetic fluorinated organic chemicals used in commercial, consumer and industrial products since the 1940s. Conventional treatment methods do not efficiently remove PFAS which are resilient to degradation and tend to sequester to the treated solids produced and the resultant biosolids. In its most recent (2021) review of pollutants in biosolids, the US EPA identified eight PFAS in biosolids, and is undergoing a problem formulation process which will serve as the basis for determining whether regulation of PFOA and PFOS in biosolids is appropriate. If EPA determines that a regulation is appropriate (currently expected in 2024), biosolids producers will be required to meet certain standards. This potential outcome of EPA's review underscores the importance of understanding technical solutions available to treat PFAS in biosolids if required based on EPA's review process. Technical Content To assist utilities and biosolids producers to understand options available to them to mitigate potential PFAS contamination in biosolids, several biosolids products were tested including dried biosolids, pyrolyzed dried biosolids and composts, all produced with non-industrially impacted biosolids to assess the concentration of PFAS compounds in the finished products and the ability of these processes to reduce and or remove PFAS compounds. Samples of input and output solids, bulking agents and finished products were analyzed for 24 PFAS compounds utilizing Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The facilities tested include: three dried biosolids facilities, two pyrolyzed dried products including output solids, gas and oil, and six compost products. Figure 1 provides an overview of PFAS (PFOA, PFOS, and total PFAS) concentrations by sludge type and the impact of composting operations. This figure demonstrates the progression (and conversion) of the PFAS concentration from the various raw sludge types. In some cases, the type of bulking agent used (fresh yard waste, wood chips, or the amount of recycled bulking agent used) can impact the concentrations of various PFAS compounds in the final compost products. Depending on the sludge type, the composting process has shown to increase or decrease measured PFAS. The variability in the results suggest the presence of precursors in the raw sludge. Additional detail regarding these impacts will be provided in the full paper. Figure 2 summarizes reduction of PFAS compounds through thermal drying using a rotary kiln dryer, where a range of 25-75% reduction was observed (45% average reduction) through drying. Figures 3 and 4 summarize the impact of pyrolysis on PFAS degradation in undigested digested and digested sludges, respectively. In both cases, a significant reduction in PFAS compounds was observed through pyrolysis, with near non-detect PFAS concentrations in the biochar and between 85% and over 99% reduction of measurable PFAS was achieved on a mass basis of all outputs including biochar, biooil and pyrogas. This will be one of the first published results on the entire outputs from the pyrolysis of wastewater sludges. Paper and Presentation This paper and presentation will provide information regarding the measured concentrations of PFAS in wastewater solids, dried biosolids, pyrolyzed biosolids (including the resultant pygas) and biosolids based compost products. PFAS precursor analyte presence and concentrations in the input solids as well as the wastewater treatment process used to generate these products will also be presented. This information will be useful for those considering methods to reduce or eliminate PFAS in their own wastewater solids or other input wastewater solids at existing or planned biosolids management operations to ensure the lowest feasible PFAS concentrations in end products can be achieved. This presentation will help utility planners, operators, engineers, and administrators understand the nature of the PFAS issue in biosolids, how these compounds are introduced into biosolids, the rapidly changing regulatory landscape, and what technologies are being used to reduce or eliminate these compounds from wastewater biosolids products.

Facility Overview: South Platte Renew holds the distinction of being the third-largest Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) in the state of Colorado. Serving as a vital lifeline, it caters to the needs of over 300,000 residents and consistently processes an average of 20 million gallons per day (MGD) of wastewater. SPR's asset registry is a testament to its complexity and scale, comprising nearly 6,000 assets across multiple disciplines, encompassing mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and controls, structural, and fleet components. The diversity within this asset portfolio is further underscored by the wide-ranging age of these components, stemming from the original plant construction in the 1970s, complemented by significant upgrades undertaken during the 1990s and the early 2000s. This intricate blend of assets has introduced a formidable challenge for SPR, as it endeavors to strike a balance between the renewal needs of variable aging infrastructure with other process and regulatory capital improvement needs. Asset Management Background: While SPR has been performing certain asset management activities since its original construction, SPR's formal programmatic asset management journey started in 2008 with the acquisition of an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system. Since then, SPR has advanced its asset management program by launching a series of initiatives designed to enhance overall asset lifecycle health. These initiatives encompass recurring asset-focused programs, such as equipment rebuilds, tank cleaning, HVAC maintenance, valve exercises, and concrete repair and rehabilitation projects. In addition, SPR has integrated asset management principles into its capital projects through standard development and data utilization. This ongoing commitment to enhancing asset management practices reflects SPR's dedication to continually evolve and improve its approach to ensure the sustained health and efficiency of its vital infrastructure. The Challenge: SPR has diligently worked across various departments to develop data management and maintenance strategies to support the ongoing advancement of its asset management program. However, one thing that became evident to SPR was the lack of a cohesive and organization-wide strategy amid the ongoing tactical endeavors. The lack of understanding and inconsistencies in asset management practices among SPR staff posed a notable challenge. It was not well understood among SPR staff what asset management meant and what the overall goals and objectives of the program were. It was also evident that there were inconsistencies in how asset management practices were being performed. The Solution: To address the challenges faced, SPR embarked on the development of a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) which had a dual purpose. Firstly, it formalized asset management strategies and policies. Secondly, it actively engaged key stakeholders and nurtured an asset management culture within the organization. The SAMP encompassed critical components such as: Identifying and recruiting key asset management stakeholders across operations, maintenance, engineering, data analysis, and senior leadership staff Developing a clear vision, goals, objectives, and policies around SPR's asset management program Establishing programmatic governance, roles, and responsibilities Defining levels of service and key performance indicators Implementing risk-based renewal planning methodologies in consideration of an asset's condition, criticality, and redundancy Optimizing maintenance strategies Benefits Realized: SPR has already realized several benefits from the development and implementation of the SAMP. There is overall a greater sense of understanding of asset management among staff, there is excitement and the realization of value from asset management activities, and there is consistency and clarification on many procedures and activities. Through the implementation of a SAMP, SPR will also gain an increased resiliency in financial planning through transparent and accurate reporting, as well as operations and maintenance practices, allowing SPR to better maintain high water quality and maximize value to customers. Lessons Learned: SPR's asset management journey offered valuable lessons, including the importance of starting with simplicity and gradually building complexity, eliminating silos, and the foundational importance of thoughtful and strategic data management. The SAMP emerged as a concise, repeatable document that can guide any utility in creating an asset management framework. Key Value Points for UMC Attendees: This presentation by SPR staff and its external consultant will provide attendees with insights into SPR's asset management journey, including: Step-by-step guidance for creating a SAMP and its associated benefits Strategies to avoid single points of failure by sharing institutional knowledge The significance of fostering an asset management culture across an organization Transitioning from fragmented and inconsistent initiatives to a formalized organizational strategy The advantages of self-performing SAMP development in collaboration with external consultants The importance of building upon past successes and discarding outdated approaches to meet current and future programmatic needs. SPR's asset management story serves as a valuable case study, offering practical guidance and inspiration for utilities seeking to enhance their asset management practices.