Conference Papers

Don't Forget Manhole Rehabilitation: Significant I&I Reduction Accomplished Through Asset Management Program Methods WEF Collection Systems Presentation Abstract September 2021 Johnson County Wastewater (JCW) owns and operates a collection system consisting of approximately 2,300 miles of gravity pipe, 40 miles of forcemains, and 60,000 manholes. As the JCW collection system and workforce continue to age, investments in maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and knowledge transfer to sustain desired service levels and risk tolerances will continue to grow. Increasing investment needs, coupled with limited resources, has driven JCW to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery while continuing to execute day-to-day work functions. To meet this challenge, JCW and HDR staff collaborated in the development and execution of JCW's Collection System Asset Management Program (CAMP) Implementation Plan which establishes a clear, practical, and strategic path forward. JCW has executed its asset management program through this approach which identifies, prioritizes, coordinates, and schedules continuous improvement initiatives at a manageable pace that strives to balance staff availability and continuous improvement objectives. JCW's CAMP is a comprehensive, mature asset management program that encompasses all collection system assets. The efforts completed through this program have enabled JCW to forecast maintenance, condition assessment, and renewal investment needs with a high level of confidence, justify appropriate investment levels, focus limited resources, increase operational efficiency, and facilitate knowledge transfer. The asset management principles this program is built upon, and the lessons learned during the execution of this program are applicable to utilities of all sizes. One of the major program initiatives is the Manhole Inspection and Renewal Program. This presentation will present the challenges, accomplishments, and lessons learned throughout the development and implementation of the CAMP, specifically through the lens of our manhole program. The presentation will provide a review of the manhole program development (Years 1 and 2, 2016 -2017), and provide details on the accomplishments of the program goals completed in Years 3 - 6 (2018 - 2021). The program thus far has included six phases of Tier 2 inspections (over 10,000 manholes), and three phases of rehabilitation centered on both infiltration and structural findings. Pre-rehabilitation and post-rehabilitation flow monitoring has shown the program to be successful in reducing I/I, further emphasizing the importance of not forgetting about your sanitary manhole structures. The key Manhole Program accomplishments to date include: - Assessment of historical manhole inspection and rehabilitation efforts, and development of opportunities for continued improvement. - Development of JCW specific data collection standards and best practices, which focus on collecting the right data and limiting superfluous data collection. - Development and implementation of a Tier 2 inspection process utilizing 360 videos capturing defects throughout the full sanitary structure. - Development of a rehabilitation decision model and algorithm for manholes tailored to the manholes assets present within JCW's system. This model consists of multiple decision models dependent on material, structure location characteristics, cover and frame type, and drainage area conditions tributary to the manhole. - Independent QC of the rehab decision model using over 3,000 inspection findings to refine the decision model. - Testing of JCW's standard manhole cover types to determine inflow rates for each cover type and corresponding I/I reduction strategies for cover inflow. - Targeting floodplain areas and manholes susceptible of high inflow sources within various locations in the County. - Linking decision model data and 360 videos to GIS systems across departments, supporting improved decision making by allowing easy review of rehabilitation and inspection project locations. - Integrating program results and projections with JCW's basin planning and capacity enhancement program. - Automation of these tools to help execute the program. - Scaling inspection program up to 2,500 Tier 2 inspections per year, leading to complete Tier 2 inspections of over 10,000 manholes. - Completed rehabilitation of nearly 1500 manholes. - Evolution of standard specification of rehabilitation materials consistent with industry best practices. - Initial post-rehabilitation flow monitoring efforts indicating I&I reduction levels average over 20% in program focus areas. - Continuation of historical practice of capturing Tier 1 inspection data every time a manhole is opened by JCW staff members. Attachment A: Roadmap of JCW Collection System Asset Management Program Attachment B: Example Photo Using 360 Degree Manhole Camera Attachment C: Manhole Cover Inflow Testing Attachment D: Identification of Potential Manhole Inflow Sources in Floodplain Attachment E: Manhole Rehab Logic Example (Brick Manholes)

INTRODUCTION Sustainability is increasingly more important for the operation of wastewater treatment plants. To meet sustainability goals and better energy recovery, the current business as usual approach to anerobic digester operation is not ideal. Improving digester operation is crucial for effective energy recovery. Having a reactive approach to digester foaming prevents optimal digester performance and causes other problems like digester failure, poor biogas recovery, uncontrolled release of contaminated waste to the environment and odour. Figure 1 shows some of these impacts. The best way to mitigate digester foaming is through robust design, but if this is not possible there are several operating conditions that can be improved to control foaming. Sydney Water Corporation (SWC) recognised the importance of preventing anaerobic digester foaming. Digester foaming at SWC plants has been caused by multiple different issues and foam management can therefore be largely reactive. There are operational methods and digester design features in place at some plants that aim to reduce the occurrence of the impacts of foam events, however this is not widespread or consistent. Investigation into 5 plants was undertaken to determine the likely causes of digester foaming and gas entrainment and the most effective ways to manage this and where possible through design changes as upgrades occur. For plants where design changes are not possible in the near future, key operating conditions were reviewed, early warning signs for digester foaming events determined and management practices recommended to mitigate digester foaming. METHODOLOGY Digester foaming was investigated at 5 SWC Water Resource Recovery Plants (WRRP), including Cronulla, Malabar, Warriewood, West Hornsby and Hornsby Heights. Digester operation data was analysed to determine the likely causes of digester foaming issues and recommendations on proactive and reactive measures for foam management including how to prevent or mitigate foaming at these plants and across broader SWC plants were established and operator training provided. Digester operation parameters and recommended monitoring were also outlined. Best practice digester design to minimise foaming and maximise energy production was investigated, drawing on international experience. These design components were presented to SWC designers, along with recommended implementation methodologies. RESULTS The main issues causing digester foaming at the SWC plants investigated were seasonal foaming related to activated sludge processes, lack of effective redundancy or contingency measures associated with the digester process, and illegal industrial discharges to the incoming sewer. There are other fundamental operating issues that cause digester foaming, such as running with one digester offline for extended periods (for example, at 2 plants digesters were offline due to issues with digester lids, which resulted in excessive volatile solids load in remaining digester/s particularly when food waste was accepted), turning off mixing, high volatile solids loading rates in digesters, poor temperature control, unstable feed to the digesters, and large step changes in temperature and feed. Figure 2 shows the volatile solids (VS) loading rate and specific volatile solids loading rate (SVSLR) in the primary digester at one of the plants where primary and secondary digesters are currently operated in series. At this plant, there is inadequate solids retention time (SRT) in the digesters, as well as a high VS loading to the primary digester. The average VS load to the primary digester was 3.74 kgVS/m3.d and a peak loading rate of 4.5 kgVS/m3.d, where the recommended range is 1.6-3.2 kgVS/m3.d . Therefore, the anaerobic digesters are operated beyond the typical recommended VS loading rates. The high VS loading rate is also exacerbated by the unloading/loading sequence of flow, which results in intermittent VS loading, rather than constant loading across the day. The high VS load impacts the stability of the sludge and increases risk of foaming in the digesters. The SVSLR is a variation of VS loading rate that considers the VS in the digester as a function of active biomass. However, SVSLT may not account for the feedstock other than the wastewater sludge such as high strength organic matter. The maximum recommended SVSLR for mesophilic digestion without any pre-treatment is 0.16 kg VS/kg VS in digester day. As shown in Figure 1, along with the VS loading rate, the SVSLR for the primary digester is consistently above the recommended limit, making it vulnerable to the digester foaming and failure with fluctuation in digester loading rate. Best practice digester design to avoid foaming issues and maximise energy recovery include the use of standpipes for surface overflow (see Figure 2) and emergency withdrawal via p-traps (see Figure 3), minimisation of the top water surface area, installation of fixed covers and external gas storage, the use of pumped mixing to reduce short-circuiting and having adequate redundancy to ensure that there is no single point of failure. Digesters should have a conical shape to facilitate grit removal and more efficient mixing. Wasting foam from the surface in secondary activated sludge processes will also minimise the amount of trapped foam, improving conditions in the downstream digesters. Rolling out design changes in a systematic way as digesters are taken offline for planned maintenance is an effective way to facilitate continuous removal of foaming issues from upgraded digesters. In addition to benefits of maximising energy generation, achieving maximum hydraulic capacity within existing digesters by having external gas holders and running digesters full may allow capital upgrades of digesters to be delayed for a number of years if not decades, further improving sustainability of WRRPs. Where design changes cannot be implemented, there are operational improvements that can be made to manage digester foaming and increase energy production. Generally, if there are filamentous bacteria in the activated sludge bioreactor at a plant, there is a high likelihood of foaming in the digester. These foaming incidents are manageable through adjusting the operating parameters in the activated sludge plant. Digesters should be brought online slowly with small step increases in feed and temperature over time. A common misconception is that digester mixing should be turned off to control a foam event, however mixing should be turned down. Digesters should be operated with a top water level high into the lid, with sprays used to suppress foam and move foam to wasting points. Digested sludge should be withdrawn from the top and bottom of the digester, and consideration given to alkalinity correction when the pH in the digester starts to drop. Running the digesters without any safety factor and running some process equipment at loading rates higher than designed for will increase the risk of process upsets that could also contribute to foaming. Allowing a safety factor in terms of solids retention time and volatile solids loading provides plants with the ability to cope with under upset conditions and avoids the need to detune the digesters and the plant to minimise the risk of foaming. CONCLUSION By successfully managing digester foaming and operating digesters in a manner than maximises power generation, WRRPs can achieve more effective energy recovery and meeting energy sustainability and neutrality goals. Some fundamental issues that generally arose to cause digester foaming were: -Running with one digester offline for long periods resulting in much higher loadings and shorter SRT than originally designed -High VS loading rates in the digesters -Reduced effective SRT due to mixing being turned off and accumulation of grit and screening -Mixing generally not designed for current solids loading due to intensification -Poor temperature control for the digesters -Unstable feed to the digesters -Large step changes in temperature or feed due to heater failure or storm conditions Foaming subsequently resulted in lower biogas production, high costs for digester reinstatement, and poor run times on biogas engines due to poor biogas quality. Robust digester design which minimises digester foaming and gas entrainment is the most preferable management mechanism, and changes to digester components can be implemented over time as maintenance is undertaken. Where design changes are not possible, operational improvements can be made to greatly reduce digester foaming. This paper outlines some best practice measures that can save millions of dollars by avoiding catastrophic foaming events and will help maximise biogas production and energy generation.

INTRODUCTION The Saddle Creek Retention Treatment Basin (RTB) is a significant project as part of the City of Omaha's water quality program 'Clean Solutions for Omaha' to address compliance with their Long Term Control Plan to address combined sewer overflows. Prior to the construction of the facility, over 65 times per year, untreated combined sewage overflowed into the Little Papillion Creek (LPC) from the City's CSO 205 outfall structure. With the new facility in place, combined sewage will be diverted to the RTB to receive grit and screenings removal, disinfection, solids settling, and dechlorination before being discharged back to LPC. The Saddle Creek RTB project began planning and design activities in April of 2011. Construction commenced in Spring 2019 and is anticipated to start operations in the summer of 2023. This facility will provide storage and equivalent to primary treatment of combined sewage flows up to the permitted design flow rate of 160 million gallons per day (MGD) with the ability to screen, remove grit, and disinfect flows up to 320 MGD. Lower volume flows will be captured within the basin and will be pumped into the Little Papillion Creek Interceptor (LPCI) and conveyed to the Papillion Creek Water Resource Reclamation Facility (PCWRRF) for full secondary treatment. Larger volume flows will receive grit and screenings removal, disinfection, solids settling, and dechlorination before being discharged to the LPC. The facility will result in a significant reduction in the volume of untreated CSO, total suspended solids (TSS), and E coli bacteria entering the LPC. This presentation will describe how the Saddle Creek RTB will effectively and reliably capture and treat untreated combined sewage in compliance with regulatory requirements. FACILITY OVERVIEW The Saddle Creek RTB facility consists of a 3.3 million gallon (MG) underground concrete storage basin, with grit removal, mechanical screening, chemical disinfection, gravity effluent discharge, a dewatering pump station, as well as Headworks, Operations, and Chemical Buildings. The facility also includes a diversion structure, sewers, odor control, stormwater BMPs, driveways, and other appurtenances. Refer to Figure 1 for a Process Flow Diagram illustrating the various features of the RTB facility below ground. The facility operates during wet weather events. Prior to the completion of the Saddle Creek RTB project, an existing dry weather diversion weir directed dry weather and a portion of wet weather flow, up to 40 million gallons per day (MGD), was sent to the existing Dupont Grit Facility and ultimately to the LPCI. Prior to this project, any excess flow was discharged untreated to the CSO 205 Channel and eventually the LPC. The existing dry weather diversion pipes will be abandoned as part of this project and replaced with a new 60-inch sewer which will pass through a grit pit within the new facility's Headworks Building. The diversion weir will send flows using real time control and smart sewer technology to provide gate control of up to approximately 60 MGD to the LPCI before overflowing into the RTB influent sewer. This new diversion chamber will divert wet weather flow up to the peak treatment design flow of 160 MGD to the RTB. This diversion chamber configuration ensures that flow rates up to the design flow can pass through the RTB and does not increase the risk of upstream flooding during larger events. Captured volume in the tank will be pumped into the LPCI and conveyed to the Papillion Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility (PCWRRF) for full secondary treatment. Flows more than the facility capacity will be routed around the RTB and discharged into the LPC. Dry weather flow and some wet weather flows up to approximately 60 MGD will pass into a new grit pit, the diversion flow grit pit, constructed in the proposed Headworks Building. For flows passing through the RTB, large grit and other heavy materials will drop out via gravity into a second, larger grit pit, the RTB grit pit, prior to entering the screen channels. Downstream of the RTB grit pit, mechanically cleaned screens will provide for the removal of objectionable solids with the intent of protecting downstream equipment and controlling floatables. The facility includes three (3) continuous duty multi-rake screens with a clear opening size of ¾-inch. Disinfection must result in an effluent that meets E. coli and total residual chlorine (TRC) permit limits. Liquid sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulfite will be used for disinfection and dechlorination. Above ground improvements include a building to house controls, grit and screening equipment, and chemicals. Refer to Figure 2 for a rendering of the finished facility. PROJECT COMPLETION STATUS In December 2018, the City received bids within the budget for the project and in February 2019, a contract valued at approximately $90 million was approved to build the Saddle Creek Retention Treatment Basin facility. Construction began in April 2019. Wade Trim performed design engineering on the project and is currently providing construction management services. The project is scheduled for Substantial Completion in Spring 2023. Refer to Figures 3 and 4 for construction progress photos. CONCLUSIONS The project's innovative use of a 'gravity in, gravity out' design for the RTB facility allowed for a reduction in pumping of significant flows. The use of real time controls and smart sewer technology will allow this facility to operate efficiently and effectively over a wide range of conditions, which have been evaluated through extensive hydraulic modeling and development of process control strategies. The use of instrumentation for flow and level measurement used in process control must incorporate redundancy and be flexible to allow for changes in available technology and must be compatible with other technologies being used at the facility and within the collection and treatment system.

An Odor Attribution Study was undertaken for an Air Quality Management Agency that included gathering extensive data from specific sources and ambient locations to better understand odor impacts within the local communities. The study was 'one-of-a-kind' in that it combined multiple innovative techniques for identifying fingerprint odorants attributed to specific odor generating facilities. Odor has historically been an issue in this area for decades. Over the years, various odor mitigation approaches have been undertaken with varying degrees of success. While the number of odor complaints from residents has decreased in recent years from a peak of 3,500 in 2015, the high number of complaints (1,500) reported in 2018 indicates a persistent and ongoing odor issue. The odors in the area originate primarily from three closely located facilities including: -Facility A: An Anaerobic Organic Material Digestion Facility -Facility B: A Solid Waste Resource Recovery Park (a recycling facility, a composting facility, and a landfill) -Facility C: A Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) Other natural sources were also considered (e.g.; bay, estuary). The goals of the project were to determine the contribution and variability of odor causing compounds from these facilities and develop a strategy for measuring how often and at what concentration these potential odor causing compounds may be passing into the local community. The study approach went beyond using the traditional, common practice of using odor threshold or odor intensity as the measure of odor nuisance. Instead, Weber-Fechner (persistency) curves were used as part of the Odor Profile Method (OPM) developed by Dr. Mel Suffet of the University of California-Los Angeles. The usefulness of the OPM lies in the fact that the human nose is, for the most important odorants, many degrees more sensitive than the standard chemical compound identification analytical methodologies. Examples of the OPM results are shown in Figure 1 and illustrate the odor intensity reduction with dilution (persistency curves) as well as the character of the dominate type of odors at each dilution (e.g.; musty, rancid, sweet). This illustrates how odor intensity and odor character changes as it travels from the different odor sources into the community, demonstrating the 'peeling the onion' phenomenon. The OPM approach was combined with comprehensive chemical compound identification analyses, lab olfactometric analyses, field olfactometry sampling, as well as a proton-transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) to provide targeted measurements of specific VOCs to identify chemical fingerprints associated with the different sources. Comprehensive chemical compound analyses resulted in the following key findings in terms of fingerprint odorant types attributed to each facility: -Facility A - Anaerobic Organic Material Digestion Facility: Sweet, Rancid, Musty -Facility B - Solid Waste Resource Recovery Park: Rancid, Sweet, Sulfur -Facility C - WRRF: Sulfur, Decaying Vegetables The field surveys using field olfactometers were undertaken on a regular basis over a period of 18 months. Figure 2 shows a BLOB map of the likely odor impacts in the community and the contributions to the odor intensity from each facility based on the odor character descriptions during the in-field odor olfactometric assessments. The PTR-TOF-MS provided real-time (1/sec) 'chemical fingerprints' of over 550 tracked compounds and showed that the plumes from each facility were unique for the key odor sources at the facilities and that the contribution of each facility could be quantified. Plumes and/or odors in the communities were also collected. The plume data (concentration and ratio between individual species) were then fed into Sartorius Multivariate Analysis (MVA) software to determine correlations between facility plumes and community plumes. The data correlations were determined using Principle Component Analysis (PCA) which identified where plumes within the communities originated, including the facility releasing them. It also confirmed the results that were obtained using the in-field olfactometric analyses, the OPM analyses, and the lab chemical analyses as well as the lab olfactometric analyses that the odor signature is unique for each facility. The findings provided a solid basis for developing a method to employ ongoing monitoring along each facility's fence line, or at other locations in the community. The preferred monitoring system would include multiple sensors, weather station, data processing and visualization platform, and auto bag sampler (at community locations). The autosampler would fill a bag sample for remote analysis by proton-transfer reaction (PTR). This successful study provided an improved understanding of the relative contribution of odor causing compounds from the three adjacent facilities by assigning specific fingerprint odorants to each and provided insight as to how the unique odorants impact the local community. These findings are considered essential to better: 1.Inform future actions to reduce odors (best practices, enforcement, rules) 2.Establish methods to measure progress on facilities' future odor reduction actions 3.Educate the community in terms of what's causing the odors, how complex they are, and teach them how to characterize odorants to better inform ongoing improvement efforts.

Transforming a utility's culture to embrace innovation requires redefining behavioral norms and recruiting stakeholders into the innovation environment. Often, utilities struggle with establishing innovation cultures due to ineffective change behavior techniques as well as complex and inflexible supply chain relationships. Peer scanning, informative interviews, and design thinking are all effective tools that can assist utilities with breaking down these barriers. Our team used these tactical approaches to serve as the catalyst for understating how to leverage innovation for the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB). BWWB sought out ways to use innovation for financial impact. It began by conducting a survey to determine ways that peer utilities have reduced operating expenses, reduced/delayed capital expenditures, generated revenue, experience economic development, or 'delivered value' to the customer. 17 utilities were surveyed to understand how they utilize innovation to improve their financial bottom line. Through exploring ways to reduce operating expenses, generate revenue, and optimize capital expenditures, utilities are using innovation to overcome financial hurdles. Insights emerged, detailing that utilities have felt real financial benefits from implementing innovative ideas, technologies, and business processes. 100% of the utilities experienced reduced operating expenses. While 47% experienced reduced capital expenses, only 29% of the utilities experienced increased revenue. Most utilities reported benefits were long lasting and were not one-time. 12 of the surveyed utilities participated in informational interviews to gather further details on their approaches. From conducting interviews, BWWB gained insight on items for possible implementation. Over 20 suggestions were mentioned; it included ideas such as regionalizing services to leveraging assets to partnering with vendors to develop technology. Overall, the initiatives mentioned were aligned with alternative revenue, economic development, cost savings, and management of customer expectations. To determine the feasibility of implementing some of the innovation approaches discovered, BWWB vetted the unique ideas. Since BWWB had already implemented several strategies similar to peer utility initiatives, those opportunities were not considered further. BWWB ultimately selected to vet 4 opportunities through the design thinking process. Tim Brown, the president of the design house IDEO, defines design thinking is defined as 'a human centered and collaborative approach to problem solving, using a design mindset to solve complex problems.' By bringing together diverse stakeholders and perspectives to engage on strategic opportunities, design thinking places the human at the front and center of a problem. Our process followed 3 themes: -Learn: Examine opportunities through the lens of all stakeholders involved and consider the jobs done by key players. -Inspire: Explore innovation approaches that have been successful in other utilities. -Create: Generate ideas that addressed opportunities identified in the Learn session and then developed an actionable roadmap to bring the ideas to fruition. Our team will present BWWB's case study approach to building its innovation culture as well as detail lessons learned along the way. BWWB recognizes that a culture of innovation is born when everyone can play. By using tactical approaches, BWWB focused on fostering new behavioral norms and engage key stakeholders in the organization as building blocks for developing its culture of innovation.

There is a need for a framework to mainstream citizen engagement, increase Transparency and boost Communication channels in case of repeated episodes of impact in neighboring communities. When there is a conflict, most crisis communication experts agree that Engagement, Transparency, and Communication (E&T&C) are key to maintaining or regaining the neighbors' trust. The Volkswagen emissions scandal is a recent case demonstrating the negative outcome of not having an Engagement, Transparency, and Communication Policy. To promote a change in the traditional industrial opaque thinking paradigm, we have created the first E&T&C Certification. This Certification is designed to assess the performance of Water Resource Recovery Facilities concerning their relationship with communities nearby, making it the first Certification of its kind. A project's performance is verified through 'third-party' audits by an independent auditor, depending on the degree of depth of analysis. This third-party Certification guarantees independence and impartiality in the process. The ultimate goal is to score the degree of a Water Resource Recovery Facility's Transparency, Communication, and Participation.

Absorption of ultraviolet (UV)-visible (Vis) light by the liquid phase of wastewater sludge during biological digestion was studied. Sludge samples were obtained from batch anaerobic and aerobic digestion experiments conducted at mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures, as well as influent and effluent of a full-scale anaerobic digester. In tandem with acquiring the UV-Vis spectra, the concentration of soluble parameters was measured. Integrated areas under the spectra in the UV and Vis regions were calculated as AUV and AVis, respectively. For the batch experiments, the computed areas increased with digestion time. In addition, a power-law function was able to describe the correlation between soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) concentration and AUV for anaerobic digestion at 35 °C and 45 °C, and aerobic digestion at 55 °C. Coefficients of determination (R2) for the mentioned cases were between 0.812 and 0.933. Furthermore, power-law functions also described a correlation between SCOD and soluble ortho-phosphate concentrations during batch anaerobic digestion at 35 °C (R2= 0.921) and 45 °C (R2= 0.812). Moreover, analysis of the data obtained from the aerobic digestion experiment suggests that the mass of UV-absorbing matter linearly decreased over time during aerobic digestion at 45 °C (R2= 0.925) and 55 °C (R2= 0.996). The outcomes of the current study indicate that the integrated area under the UV spectrum of sludge filtrates reflects the progression of biological digestion of wastewater sludge under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions, which can be used for process monitoring and optimization.

There is an increasing emphasis on the impact of volatile gaseous emissions from area sources such as anaerobic treatment ponds, biosolids treatment processes, feedlot pads, compost windrows, and municipal wastewater sites, due to the concerns related to malodors, greenhouse gases, micropollutants, or bioaerosols. The estimation of emission rates are critical to support the assessment of environmental and social impacts such as nuisance and human health as well as climate change. Emission sampling is an essential stage in determining emission rates, where sampling methods seek to simulate the real emission scenarios. In a previous review (Liu et al. 2022), the benefits and disadvantages of a series of sampling methods (flux chamber, wind tunnel, static chamber, headspace methods) were compiled. The review showed there was lack of the understanding of the role of sampling methods, creating difficulties for industries or users in the analysis and interpretation of the emission data. Flux chambers are a commonly used method, due to the presence of standards, ease of operation and perception as a method that simulates real-world emissions. During method development, flux chambers were extensively tested to assess the impact of operational factors such as flushing rate and placement depth, however, experimental implications of different designs of flux chambers were limited. Based on the finding by Hudson and Ayoko (2008), 19 called flux chamber cylindrical devices were found out of 76 dynamic devices, while only 5 of 19 shared the same design in terms of dimension and operating system (Gholson et al. 1991, Sarwar et al. 2005). Such differences in design, limits the comparison of data and the establishment of an emission model for evaluating emission from area sources such as biosolids storage and application sites. In this research, four different flux chambers were used to measure the volatile emission rate from porous media using typical operating conditions (Table1). The comparison of flux chambers took into account inlet gas distribution system, chamber materials and variations in hood dimensions. The sweep gas flow rate in the chamber was varied from 1 L/min to 5 L/min. The results were interpreted using the relationship between gas velocity, turbulence intensity and the physical design of the device. Chamber II was set up based on the U.S. EPA flux chamber design (Kienbusch 1986) and tested as a benchmark. The emission rate measured using chamber III, which was duplicated from chamber II, showed 20%-60% variations, indicating the necessity of calibrations for each flux chamber before use. Compared to chamber II, variations of sweep air flow rate in chamber IV showed less effect on changes in the emission rate. However, the overall emission rate from chamber IV was higher, e.g. 103% higher at 1L/min flow rate. This difference was attributed to altered sweep gas jet direction which affects the circulation of sweep gas over the area surface and generated turbulence. To verify the hypothesis that sweep gas direction can affect the emission rate, axially vertical jets of sweep gas were used in chamber IV resulting in a higher emission rate compared to chamber II, while the increased number of jets further increased the measured emission rate (chamber I). The study findings emphasised the importance using a standardised flux chamber configuration, while linking the inlet gas distribution setups to recirculation motion in the chamber as well as the effects on emission rates from porous media. This is in agreement with prior studies conducted using CFD on liquid surfaces (Andreao et al. 2019). The outcome of this study will contribute to the more consistent use of flux chamber within which consistent, reproducible conditions could be established.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) is a special-purpose district responsible for treating wastewater and providing stormwater management for residents and businesses in its 882-square-mile service area, which encompasses Chicago and 128 suburban communities throughout Cook County. The MWRD works diligently to protect Lake Michigan, the source of their drinking water, and to ensure the health and safety of residents and area waterways. In 2020, the MWRD embarked upon a strategic planning process to establish the vision and goals that would guide its work over the next five years. The MWRD engaged Arup and Civic Consulting Alliance to conduct the strategic planning process in collaboration with its Board of Commissioners and Executive Team. We brought expertise on structuring comprehensive stakeholder engagement for water utilities along with experience working with institutions to embed an equity-focus across their work — two strategic priorities for the MWRD in this round of planning. This new Plan built on the accomplishments of their 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. The goals were to: - Articulate the mission, vision, and strategic goals for the MWRD for the next five years - Identify a set of strategic initiatives to achieve those goals - Provide a framework for measuring progress and reviewing/updating the Plan on an annual basis The planning process began in September 2020 and was completed February 2021. The Strategic Plan was formally effective on June 3, 2021. We undertook a comprehensive, staged approach that consisted of four consecutive phases: - Phase 1: Led an intensive and iterative engagement effort to assess the MWRD's current state and identify its desired future state. That engagement effort included MWRD leadership and more than 500 MWRD staff, as well as approximately 50 stakeholder organizations that participated in a stakeholder workshop — including the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and a range of environmental and community-based organizations — and members of the general public who participated in public-facing surveys. - Phase 2: Conducted a workshop with the MWRD's strategic planning Steering Committee, which identified five strategic goals: resource management; stormwater management; workforce excellence; community engagement; and enterprise resilience. The strategic goals were formulated based on information and opinions collected during Phase 1. - Phase 3: Facilitated working groups for each strategic goal and developed a Strategic Roadmap for the MWRD to implement, including 150+ sequenced initiatives and metrics to measure progress. - Phase 4: Finalized the Five-Year Strategic Plan, which includes 5 overarching strategic goals, 32 strategies (that support the goals), and initiatives and a framework for the MWRD to update the plan annually. We presented on global best practices and industry trends to help guide the visioning process, and facilitated external stakeholder workshops to bring perspectives from environmental organizations, local communities, and regional planning groups into the planning process for the first time in the MWRD's history. Our Strategic Planning team leveraged industry frameworks from organizations such as the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF); and augmented with other trending research such as City Water Resilience Approach (by Rockefeller Foundation, Stockholm International Water Institute, Arup) and Circular Economy principles (Ellen MacArthur Foundation) to create a context-specific Strategic Plan for the MWRD. This resulted in a Strategic Plan that is innovative, responsive to key trends such as the growing threat of climate change, and the racial and social inequity in Cook County. As a result of this process, the MWRD is equipped with a Strategic Plan guided by the principles of engagement, collaboration, innovation, equity, and resilience. The MWRD's vision for its future state has been updated, and given the racial and social inequity in the communities served by the MWRD, its core values have been expanded to include equity and diversity. Moreover, these values are reflected in the specific strategic initiatives outlined in the new Plan. For example, one key focus is to identify and eliminate barriers to participation for disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs) — low-to-moderate income areas that may be more susceptible to flooding, and that often have less capacity to partner with the MWRD to implement stormwater solutions and alleviate local flooding. The benefits and significance of the Strategic Plan will be far-reaching for the MWRD to give a positive social impact to the communities it serves. These include: - Integration of an equity lens into the District's vision and strategies, to reduce the disproportionate impact of flooding and other water management challenges on low-to-moderate income areas in Cook County - District is equipped with a robust, collaborative, and community-informed strategic planning process that will guide it to a path to a more sustainable future The presentation will provide the following: - An overview of the overall strategic planning process - Steps to make the process more inclusive, and how staff at all levels were engaged, and how external organizations and the public were engaged - Identify the industry related frameworks that were used to develop the Strategic Plan - A review of key themes and initiatives identified in the Strategic Plan - Key outcomes that will forge stronger and more equitable connections with the communities the District serves - Lessons learned from conducting this process remotely and in virtual environments

Investing in future water and wastewater infrastructure is one of the major decisions a City has to make. In May 2019, the Texas State Legislature passed House Bill 347 which severely limited cities' annexation authority by requiring landowner or voter approval for most annexations. With the limited ability to annex, cities must consider if they are willing to invest in infrastructure that is not within the City limits with the possibility that the area will never be annexed into the City. The City of Sugar Land, TX is in a position where it is approaching buildout with remaining growth opportunities consisting of limited redevelopment within the City limits and new development in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). When the City began updating their water and wastewater master plans in 2019, the major focus was to address their concerns about the extension of utilities into the ETJ and the impact on City growth in the future. Sugar Land completed the master plan update process in 2021 and has insights to share with other cities. Since the completion of the master plan, Senate Bill 2038 allowed residents of an area to petition or have an election, depending to the population, to leave the ETJ. This presentation will provide implications of this new legislation on the planning process. Background The City of Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas with approximately 120,000 people and is located about 20 miles southwest of downtown Houston. In the past, growth primarily occurred though the creation and annexation of Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs). Currently, most the remaining ETJ areas are not large enough to be likely candidates for MUD development. As a result, the City is exploring alternative solutions to infrastructure development in the ETJ. Finding a solution to this unique set of circumstances required an innovative, collaborative approach utilizing the expertise of the City's planner and engineers. Through this innovative planning process, the project team was able to address the immediate concerns regarding the extension of utilities to individual properties in the ETJ, update City codes, ordinances, and policies to align with the council direction, and establish recommendations to address capital investments in water and wastewater infrastructure. The master plans update study had the following three objectives that were interrelated and dependent upon one another: 1.Conduct an assessment of Sugar Land's existing codes, ordinances, and policies; benchmark the existing policies against other cities; and provide recommendations for a policy to address the extension of utilities in the ETJ; 2.Develop water and wastewater master plan recommendations to plan for infrastructure growth in the City and ETJ; and 3.Combine these two separate tasks into a singular tool that could serve the planning and public works departments and outline a plan for implementation. Unique aspects of this study are listed below. The presentation will expand on each of these items and give the conference attendee insight on how Sugar Land approached their future capital project and policy questions. Non-traditional Master Plans In a traditional master plan, collaboration with City staff occurs during a small handful of workshops. In this study, planners and engineers from Sugar Land and Freese and Nichols met to collaborate, brainstorm, and work through the innovative policy and infrastructure planning process continually for about 2 years over a series on biweekly phone calls. These calls facilitated discussions that forced both planners and engineers to think outside the box and consider how the policies and master plans can, and should, work together to effectively plan for future water and wastewater infrastructure given the annexation challenges faced by the City. Involving City Leadership in the Planning Process Due to the significant financial investment required to provide regional water and wastewater service, the City needed to decide whether they wanted to be the regional provider of water and wastewater to the ETJ. During the process, presentations were made to City management to educate them as to how growth had historically occurred in Sugar Land, why the previous utility policies were no longer applicable, and what appropriate options to consider. Once the City management staff were looped in, City Council was asked to make the policy decision mid-way through the project such that the master plan and policy recommendations could be aligned with the City's direction. Action Oriented Work Plan Instead of a traditional Capital Improvements Plan (CIP), this master plan culminated in an action-oriented work plan. The work plan included recommended policy updates and future modeling/rehab/financial studies to develop specific water and wastewater infrastructure recommendations for the ETJ. Each work plan task included an easy-to-reference summary with associated information such as how the recommendation aligned with City goals, leading and partnering departments, scope of future studies, desired outcomes, staff action items, and recommended timeframe for implementation. A Document for All The study was delivered in a new and innovative reporting format unlike any prior master plans this team had worked on. Along with a traditional report, executive summaries were developed in a magazine-style format utilizing InDesign software. These executive summaries captured the highlights and recommendations of the study in an easy to understand, graphic heavy format, which caters to both technical and non-technical readers. While these executive summaries are designed to be go-to documents for the City staff, council members as well as public citizens can also easily access and understand the master plans, increasing transparency with the public. Takeaways Sugar Land approached the question they were facing with a non-traditional master plan that incorporated policy recommendations regarding the extension of water and wastewater service into the ETJ in response to changing legislative action. Utility managers, planners, engineers, public works staff, and consulting engineers of all experience levels will walk away from this presentation with unique perspective about a question most cities and utilities are currently facing or will be facing in future.

Water utilities are at the forefront of providing clean, reliable drinking water to communities. To bolster the region's water supply, Portland Water Bureau (PWB) is making a significant investment in the construction of a state-of-the-art Filtration Facility. This endeavor harmonizes with PWB's broader Strategic Plan and Smart Utility Plan, serving as a technological roadmap for optimizing PWB operations. A pivotal component of the Smart Utility Plan is the implementation of an Enterprise SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, unifying control and oversight across PWB's water distribution and filtration facilities. This abstract delves into the strategic planning and meticulous execution of this crucial SCADA system integration. Key Planning and Execution Phases: 1. Strategic Planning: The foundation of PWB's SCADA journey lies in understanding the existing SCADA system conditions and evolving standards. This phase also entails identifying user requirements for the SCADA system, envisioning a conceptual SCADA system that harmonizes these requirements, and conducting a rigorous technology evaluation and selection process. Lessons learned from interviews with peer utilities shape the technology choices. 2. Public Procurement: A vital milestone is the initiation of a public procurement process. PWB explores avenues for securing long-term SCADA software and system integration services, positioning a sole source supplier for future construction endeavors. This strategic move streamlines procurement and reinforces the stability of the SCADA infrastructure. 3. Roadmap Updates: The pinnacle of PWB's planning phase culminates in the creation of a comprehensive roadmap report. This document encapsulates design and implementation strategies, meticulous risk assessment, consideration of installation alternatives, planning-level cost estimates, and the formulation of a project schedule for seamless SCADA system implementation. The roadmap report is continuously updated as PWB progresses its Smart Utility Plan. Introduction: PWB's SCADA systems have been the backbone of real-time data monitoring, remote control, and data archival, spanning both water distribution and treatment facilities. With the impending addition of the Filtration Facility in 2027, the opportunity to unify PWB's SCADA systems presents itself. A critical aspect of this transformation is the evaluation of the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) platform and associated technologies to meet the evolving needs of the Smart Utility program. Objectives: The primary objective of our SCADA System Roadmap is to navigate the modernization of PWB's automation systems, ensuring alignment with the Smart Utility program's requirements. Furthermore, this roadmap aims to provide a unified platform for managing both distribution and filtration seamlessly. It identifies gaps between PWB's current-state and desired future-state automation systems, offering invaluable planning-level cost estimates and a well-structured implementation schedule. The roadmap serves as a repository for essential planning elements, including technical memorandums, drawings, conditions surveys, concept designs, and technology selections. This cohesive package establishes the foundation for standards development and project design. In summary, PWB's pursuit of a unified SCADA system represents a seminal step in safeguarding a sustainable supply of clean drinking water for the community. The strategic planning and execution detailed in this abstract underscore the significance of meticulous preparation in the integration of complex technologies and systems.

Abstract Description Loudoun Water's Project Support Office (PSO) has undertaken an innovative, yet practical, approach to establishing guidance documentation for the initiation, execution, and closing of projects across its many groups and needs. The resulting Project Delivery Guidance documentation avoids the common pitfalls of standardization efforts to provide accessible, actionable guidance to project managers across the organization. Abstract Located in the westernmost suburbs of Washington, D.C., Loudoun Water provides public water, reclaimed, and wastewater services to one of the fastest-growing areas of the country. As a result of recent growth, over half of Loudoun Water's infrastructure was installed in the last twenty years. The rapid growth will not stop- over the next thirty years, the area's population is expected to increase by another 125,000. Loudoun Water's capital planning assessments show that over one billion dollars in capital infrastructure is needed to serve future customers. Loudoun Water's responsibility to implement capital projects at such a hurried pace coupled with the need to update the two decades old project delivery system led to a strategic initiative of establishing a Project Support Office (PSO). The PSO works with various departments/divisions, supports to implement the capital and O&M projects, and carries out portfolio and program management level activities. The PSO led many tasks during its initiation to establish and ensure that optimal and required project management practices were followed across the organization to implement capital projects. The PSO assists project managers and project teams with their efforts to improve project definition, schedule, cost, and quality performance for their projects by defining minimum expectations and providing guidance and oversight. A primary goal of the PSO is to provide support documentation to aid project managers across the various divisions and departments to successfully initiate, execute, and close projects. As part of this goal, the PSO embarked on the development of a series of guidance documents aimed at providing project managers with a common understanding of the key deliverable components at typical design milestones, including preliminary engineering, 60% design completion, 90% design completion, and bid-ready design submittal. The Project Delivery Guidance documentation details the expected components (mandatory and optional) and completion level of specifications, design drawings, permitting, and coordination items at each design milestone. This presentation will describe Loudoun Water's approach to developing and implementing their new Project Delivery Guidance. A key focus of this process was soliciting input and generating buy-in and acceptance of the various stakeholder groups across the organization through collaborative workshops and guideline review cycles. The presentation will detail how Loudoun Water solicited feedback and insight into the processes and approaches of similar utilities and navigated the common pain points and pitfalls often associated with efforts to standardize an approach to critical processes across such a large organization. This work resulted in guidance documents that were broad enough to meet the varying needs of projects across Loudoun Water will be specific enough to provide actionable information to assist in the execution of projects.