Results

The California Association of Sewerage Agencies Regulatory Workgroup prepared a guidance document in 2022-23 for wastewater agencies who produce biosolids and contract out land application services. The document is aimed at producers of Class B biosolids and it aims to help agencies oversee their contractors in a manner compliant with 40 C.F.R. § 503, i.e. EPA 503 regulations. The purpose of the document is not to address all the elements of an Environmental Management System, nor is it to substitute the best practice guidance from the National Biosolids Partnership. Rather, this document provides a simple distillation of duties retained by a generator of biosolids when the land application of the biosolids is handled by an outside contractor. EPA 503 regulations promote a spirit of cradle-to-grave involvement in biosolids handling on the part of the generator, yet the regulations leave room for interpretation. This is especially complicated for tasks that have been contractually transferred to the biosolids handler and are beyond the operational control of the generator, yet the generator remains responsible in principle. Further complicating interpretation is that EPA 503 does not clearly list generator duties for land application beyond sampling and analysis, leaving the reader to find duties throughout the full legal code. The document describes how the utilities should provide oversight via desktop review and in the field, before, during, and after land application. Aspects of the contractor's operation that can be reviewed via desktop include field permits, trucking routes, crops to be grown, and timing of application. Also, outreach to landowners and local regulators can be conducted in office. It is important to note that EPA 503 promotes communication between the generator and the landowner to ensure that the landowner is aware of the land application practice occurring on their fields. The document describes how a utility can conduct effective site visits to verify that land application practices are consistent with federal, state, and local (county) regulations. Site visits are also encouraged after application to verify the crop being grown at the site. Perhaps most importantly, the guidance describes agronomic loading rates. It provides definitions, calculations, and guidance related to biosolids analysis, soil analysis, field loading, and crop uptake. The guidance addresses how climate and soil type will affect assumptions. The guidance helps agency staff demystify and interpret field reports from a land applier. Finally, while the guidance document describes the limitations of contracts in abdicating a generator's duties, it nevertheless includes example contractual language to help agencies develop strong agreements. In general, the guidance is meant to help both new and experienced agencies monitor their biosolids land application practices. This talk will step through the guidance document and discuss input and nuances for the various recommendations. This talk will be useful to agency staff persons and biosolids contractors alike, as well as consultants and regulators. While the guidance was developed in California, it is applicable to all states.

In 2014 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (WSFC) Utilities faced a defining moment for their organization. The utility was experiencing historically low levels of service and facing potential regulatory action from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) relating to high rates of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). These events negatively impact public health, cause property damage, and harm local environments. Primarily caused by pipe blockages, the most efficient path to reducing WSFC Utilities SSOs was identified as more effective asset maintenance programs. By improving WSFC Utilities' approach to clearing and removing grease, roots, and debris from the collection system -- the primary cause of blockages leading to SSOs -- the utility had the opportunity to improve collection system performance and avoid regulatory action. As a part of this mission, WSFC Utilities established the Collection System Improvement Program (CSIP), a multi-year effort to relaunch the organization's Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) program. HDR collaborated with WSFC Utilities to establish its vision and develop a strategic plan to achieve it. Program components included target initiatives to optimize utility operations -- including cleaning -- as well as condition assessment, capacity assessment, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement (3R) design and delivery, and staff augmentation to assist in implementation efforts. A key initiative established early in the program was to develop a methodology to optimize cleaning operations within the utility's 1,800-mile collection system and an associated tool to implement this methodology within the organization. The result of this effort is FreeFlowH20 (FFH20). FFH2O is a web-based application that simplifies systemwide collection system maintenance through the optimization of cleaning operations. Leveraging utility data such as GIS-based asset information, work order histories, maintenance observations, and condition assessment findings, FFH2O creates and manages a pipe cleaning schedule to promote right-time cleaning. By actively managing cleaning schedule within the collection system, FFH20 allows WSFC Utilities to focus cleaning resources on highest risk pipes and limit unnecessary maintenance on lower risk pipes. This results in cleaning activities taking place in pipes that have grease, roots, and debris that need to be removed and avoids unnecessary cleaning on pipes that are already clean. FFH2O implements this approach through a web-based interface that allows users to:

1.Visualize the pipe cleaning schedule
2.Select non-contiguous geographic groupings of pipe for maintenance
3.Manage individual pipe status
4.Directly interact with suggested schedule modifications
5.Review Asset History
6.Create manual recommendations in response to real-time field events
7.Manage active work

FFH2O has allowed WSFCU to transition from a reactive O&M approach to a proactive one. Since the implementation of the pipe cleaning schedule, WSFCU's SSO count has dropped from 124 in FY15 to 55 in FY22 -- a 55% reduction in 7 years. This has resulted in a more predictable operating environment that enables the utility to better plan for resource needs and maintenance operations within its system. In addition, SSO reductions resulted in the USEPA dropping the regulatory case against the utility and avoiding a consent order. By cleaning smarter, not harder, utilities have the opportunity to implement more effective maintenance strategies within their collection system. This enables organizations to positively impact collection system performance in the face of a range of challenges. Regulatory threats, staffing challenges, and budgetary constraints in collection system operations can all be mitigated by becoming more effective in day-to-day cleaning. FFH20 is one way to achieve this goal.

While achieving water resiliency and sustainability in the semi-arid climate of Southern California is of great importance, a large portion of stormwater runoff that picks up pollutants along the way is directed and discharged into the Pacific Ocean. Capturing and treating such runoff not only can help address water quality objectives in a watershed, it also is a huge untapped potential for providing local water supply and diversifying the water supply portfolio in a region that imports over 50% of its water supply. The imported water is mainly sourced from the State Water Project, Los Angeles Aqueduct, and Colorado River (Figure 1). All these sources have been affected by recent droughts and increasing water demands. Yet, more water supply interruptions are anticipated in the future, accentuating the need for increasing the resiliency and sustainability of local water supply. On the other hand, the existing stormwater infrastructure in Southern California has been built approximately 100 years ago with the main objective of addressing concerns about flooding impacts by channelizing main rivers, creeks, and other waterways to convey stormwater runoff to the Ocean faster. However, today's water supply deficit in the presence of infrequent and intense precipitation patterns is dictating a dual mission for water resources managers/decision-makers to create flood protection, while supporting local water supply. In 2018, Los Angeles County residents voted for passage of Measure W, which is a multi-benefit measure that provides cities and watershed areas within the County with funds to capture, treat, and recycle stormwater. Funding is provided through a parcel tax of 2.5 cents per square foot of impermeable land area, which provides approximately $280 million per year for multi-benefit stormwater capture projects. These projects are planned to enhance water supply, water quality, and community investment benefits through nature-based solutions such as installation of bioswales, native vegetation, constructed wetlands, etc. Additionally, projects funded by Measure W usually support addressing a major river's Total Maximum Daily Load objectives, while providing local water supply. These projects also require development and implementation of a Community Outreach and Engagement Program for the public, community, and key stakeholders to maintain awareness of project development and to gather their input in key design elements from the beginning of the pre-design phase to the end of the construction. This presentation will highlight two projects with objectives aligned with or funded by Measure W. Westwood Neighborhood Greenway Project: This project provides for urban runoff treatment, green space, access to public transit, and educational and recreational needs. The design treats dry- and wet-weather stormwater flows from drainage areas surrounding the project site. Dry-weather flow is diverted from the stormdrain to capture runoff from 2,400 acres of drainage area. The runoff flow is then captured and lifted to the simulated stream for treatment by flowing through plant communities, soil medium, and exposure to sunlight. The flow is diverted through an existing culvert and transported via a lift station and finally back to the stormdrain system. The main challenge during the project design phase achieving consensus among several stakeholders. The project team conducted frequent workshops to involve neighborhood and tribal communities, stakeholders, and the public to help them understand the benefits of the project's implementation and the beautification of the site that over time led to a consensus. Wilmington Q Street Local Area Urban Flow Management Project: This Measure W-funded project will use BMPs to capture the 85th percentile, 24-hour storm event runoff and treat it using flowthrough infiltration systems to improve water quality, remove pollutants affecting local water bodies, and modernize stormwater infrastructure. To capture and infiltrate approximately 17.2 acre-feet (AF) of runoff per year, various new nature-based stormwater infrastructure improvement BMPs will be installed. These include installation of drywells to capture stormwater flow, catch basins with diversion structures, permeable concrete sidewalks, and infiltration planters (Figure 2). These BMPs could remove pollutants of concern while providing a beneficial water supply to the local groundwater basin. The Project also incorporates drought-tolerant landscaping into stormwater treatment processes and reduces heat island effect. One of the main challenges we have anticipated through our initial investigations to be encountered during the design phase is that the soil infiltration rate assumed in the project's feasibility study might not be confirmed through further geotechnical analysis. This could highly influence the total load of pollutants removed, volume of captured stormwater, and consequently groundwater recharge volume that augments local water supply. In this case, we will modify the number, size, and/or depth of the drywells to ensure adequate stormwater is captured. Through this presentation, we will provide further details about these projects and share challenges and opportunities our investigators faced, solutions we found, and lessons learned.

An overview of recommended technical design considerations, installation good practices and inspection strategies to help promote successful trenchless structural manhole rehabilitation in wastewater collection systems is presented. This presentation will discuss the various fully structural trenchless rehabilitation systems that are available, what makes these methodologies structural, and when it is recommended to use these different product types. Differences between semi-structural, interactive lining methods such as bonded resin‐based polymer coating/ lining systems including epoxies, polyurethanes, poly-ureas, as well as cementitious materials and geopolymers will be explained and compared with fully structural, independent manhole rehabilitation technologies in a neutral, non-commercial manner. Common problems that can be avoided through proper planning, design, product specification, installation and appropriate quality control procedures will be covered. The importance of performing QA/QC inspections throughout the rehabilitation process and what to look for when performing manhole condition assessment evaluations, with emphasis on implementation of proper surface preparation techniques will be discussed. Design methodologies, product selection, specification development, applicable inspection strategies, and technical standards will be referenced. Structural manhole rehabilitation case studies in Colorado and New Mexico will be introduced and discussed throughout the presentation, with focus on lessons learned for each project.

In today's dynamic job market, organizations face challenges in retaining top talent and maintaining a strong workforce. Stay interviews offer a valuable tool for addressing these challenges by engaging and understanding the needs of existing employees. Stay interviews are an emerging mechanism adopted by organizations to improve employee retention. Unlike exit interviews that focus on gathering feedback from departing employees, stay interviews aim to engage and retain existing employees by addressing their concerns, needs, and professional development. This presentation provides an overview of stay interviews as a proactive retention strategy, outlining their purpose, benefits, and best practices. SPR will share their methodology for executing a stay interview project, providing insights into their data collection and analysis processes. They will also showcase their PowerBI dashboard, demonstrating how it visualizes differences between employee populations, including DEI subsets. This in-depth analysis enables leadership to address specific concerns within different groups, make necessary enhancements, and generate ideas for future offerings. Gallup research reports that only about 25% of organizations are currently conducting stay interviews, which can reduce organizational turnover by up to 20%. Overall, stay interviews serve as a valuable tool for enhancing employee engagement, satisfaction, and long-term commitment, contributing to overall organizational success.

Improving soil health is based on the premise that soils have the ability to optimally function within natural or managed (agro)ecosystems to sustain plant productivity and to create an environment conducive to system resiliency. Global evidence suggests that biosolids land application can positively alter some function(s) within the context of soil health, yet to date no one has effectively tackled this concept within the context of biosolids land application. We utilized a 22-year biosolids dryland wheat-fallow research location jointly operated between South Platte Renew (Englewood, Colorado) and the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) to answer the question 'Can biosolids really improve soil quality/soil health aspects?' Soil samples (20 cm depth — plow layer) were obtained from plots (four replicates, randomized complete block design) receiving either biosolids (0, 2.2, 4.5, 6.7, 9.0, 11.2 Mg/ha) or N fertilizer (0, 22, 45, 67, 90, 112 kg/ha) every other year over 22 years. We utilized the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) to identify changes in soil texture, organic C content, clay percentage, wet aggregate stability, microbial biomass C, potentially mineralizable N, pH, EC, extractable P and K, bulk density, and beta-glucosidase activity. Within SMAF, data are scored as unitless values, from 0 to 1, based on pre-determined functions associated with either 1) more is better, 2) less is better, or 3) somewhere in the middle is better. The above indicators were then pooled into categories associated with changes in soil physical, chemical, nutrient, biological, or overall soil health indices. Results showed that soil organic C, potentially mineralizable N, and extractable P were greater in biosolids treated plots as compared to N fertilizer plots. Increasing biosolids application rate increased soil organic C, and other trends existed favoring biosolids over N fertilizer applications. However, when indicators were pooled into respectively soil health indices, increasing biosolids application positively influenced soil chemical, biological, and overall soil health. Biosolids applications improved biological soil health as compared to N fertilizer applications, suggesting that the combination of increasing soil organic matter, microbial biomass C, potentially mineralizable N, and the ability of microorganisms to degrade readily available cellulosic material, was enhanced with biosolids land application. Within this dryland wheat-fallow agroecosystem, biosolids can indeed be utilized to improve soil health, potentially leading to improved resiliency and sustainability.

Introduction At many water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), when potential environmental impacts are viewed in their totality, thermally processing the sewage sludge remains an environmentally friendly and economically feasible option. Many of these plants have existing, older, multiple hearth furnaces (MHF). Often viewed as having greater emissions than the fluid bed reactors (FBR) which in recent years have gained a greater presence, that is only partially true. Both excess air and afterburner fuel demand can be significantly reduced by conversion of the MHF to a pyrolyzer/gasifier. The paper and presentation will explain how this is possible. History Operation of a MHF in pyrolysis or gasification mode is not a new concept. MHF systems have been used in carbon regeneration and activated carbon manufacturing for decades. Historical applications using MHF systems to process WRRF residuals in these process modes is, however, very rare. On the other hand, FBRs have been more frequently operated in a gasification mode to process WRRF residuals. The first full-scale FBRs operating in a gasification mode were installed at the Hyperion WRRF in Los Angeles. The design capacity of each of the three (3) FBRs was 132.5 dry tons/day of a heat dried biosolids, called sludge derived fuel (SDF). Through heat recovery, superheated steam was produced, then converted to electricity in a condensing steam turbine. The SDF was gasified in the FBR with sub-stoichiometric air addition to produce a syngas. The hot syngas was then combusted in a multi-stage combustion afterburner. The gasification/staged-combustion approach provided significant reduction in nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions compared to conventional incineration. Operation began in 1986 and continued for about 10 years at part load. Problems with the upstream drying process limited throughput to about 100 dry tons/day of SDF. Unfortunately, the continuing problems with the sludge dryers, and a significant decrease in the cost of land disposal, made continued operation no longer economically viable. While Hyperion was a FBR, adaptation of these concepts to a MHF is also feasible. Aside from a MHF being able to produce a synthesis gas with lower particulate than a FBR, a MHF offers another advantage. A safe and stable combustion mode in a MHF can be achieved at a significantly lower exhaust temperature than a FBR, which is because of the reactions that occur in the freeboard that typically create a 200°F(+) increase in exit temperature. The counter-current flow of syngas and sludge feed make an excellent thermodynamic reactor. When operated in a true pyrolysis mode, a biochar would be produced. While production of an agricultural biochar can sometimes generate political currency, it must be balanced against the loss of BTU's that may have to be made up with auxiliary fuel. The use of biochar in a local market will depend on the soil, agricultural needs, and pyrolysis conditions used for producing the biochar. Using the pyrolysis gas from a pyrolysis process is possible but the removal of the tars, oils, and other condensables produced during pyrolysis before sending the pyrolysis gas to a commercial burner have heretofore defied a simple, straightforward, and reliable solution. Any project contemplating on recycling pyrolysis gas directly back to a burner will venture into somewhat uncharted territory. In the early 1980's, the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) installed a dual-mode MHF system at its WRRF in Pittsburgh, PA. This system was designed to process 76.5 dry tons/day of raw sludge, and incorporated both starved-air combustion and conventional excess air combustion modes. When operating in the starved air mode, the furnace was divided into four zones: drying, starved air/gasification, carbon burnout and ash cooling. Burners were fired in the carbon burnout zone, but were rarely needed to any significant degree in the drying zone, as combustion air was introduced to the drying hearths to release a portion of the syngas heat to support the drying process. The carbon burnout zone was operated with excess air to keep temperatures within acceptable limits and yield an ash with less than 2% carbon. The ALCOSAN system sacrificed the production of biochar to provide the heat needed for the gasification process and the drying of the incoming feed. Syngas was combusted in the external afterburner and a waste heat recovery boiler was provided downstream of the afterburner to produce steam for plant and process heating. In the design concept of this paper, bioenergy recovery from the syngas produced in a MHF pyrolysis/gasification system would incorporate an external 'syngas oxidization chamber' equipped with a flame safety pilot burner. This refractory lined vessel is very similar to a separate vessel conventional afterburner commonly installed on MHFs (Figure 1). From the oxidizer, a portion of the heat would be used to heat the Multiple Hearth pyrolysis / gasification reactor and/or to pre-dry the incoming feed. Potential slag formation in the syngas oxidization chamber remains a challenge. This challenge has been meet using indirect heated, rotary kiln pyrolysis reactors. The challenge of slag control and combustion chamber design will be discussed in the paper /presentation. Heat and Material Balances The Heat and Material Balance remains at the heart of any thermodynamic process and the Laws of Thermodynamics: You Can't Beat the Game You Can't Even Break Even This principal remains inviolate and it is essential that any complex design of this nature begin with a thorough heat and material balance at each stage of the process. This enables the engineer to evaluate the interdependencies between each stage; to identify potential problem areas or design challenges; and to fully understand the overall system performance. When a thermal dryer is used ahead of the gasification/pyrolysis, the treatment of the water vapor, thermal or other, must be included in any analysis within the overall Thermodynamic System Boundary. Thermodynamics does not allow a 'free lunch' and the energy requirements for thermal drying are significant. In this basic concept, energy recovery is provided downstream of the external afterburner chamber in the form of hot thermal oil that can be used in an indirect thermal dryer system. This paper will discuss the process in greater detail and through a series of pictorial Heat and Material Balances for both pyrolysis and gasification systems. This will give the reader a better understanding of the process and hopefully prevent repeats of the failures of many previous gasification and pyrolysis ventures. Often these failed to recognize the true thermodynamic balance and the myriad of yet unsolved problems of removing the tars and oils from the pyrolysis gas. Figure 2 illustrates the output from a detailed heat and material balance around a MHF gasifier. Figure 3 shows the distribution of the syngas components from this system. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the output from detailed heat and material balances around the external afterburner chamber and a subsequent thermal oil heat recovery unit, respectively. Figure 6 provides a summary of the heat and material balances around the entire thermodynamic system boundary. Additional diagrams will be included in the final paper for other optional design concepts. Conclusions The advantages of MHF gasification are readily apparent. The WRRF sludge can just be scalped (thermally dewatered) to 40% and the syngas will have a flame temperature of 1,844°F. Similarly, a 35% solids feed will yield a syngas with a flame temperature of 1,637°F in the secondary combustion chamber. If these flue gases are taken through a thermal oil heater and exhausted at 400°F, the thermal oil will have sufficient heat to dry a raw feed solids of 20% to the feed solids required for the system. Further modeling and evaluation will be included in the final paper to assess the feasibility of MHF pyrolysis. An existing MHF represents a major capital investment and developing means to exploit existing infrastructure and improve performance can have a significant positive impact on both asset management and operational economics at any plant. Converting an existing MHF into a pyrolyzer/gasifier with the addition of a secondary combustion chamber (afterburner) and thermal drying/dewatering system may prove to be a viable option that is worthy of evaluation. With interest growing in the use of gasification and pyrolysis as alternatives to conventional incineration, the options presented in this paper could be attractive in appropriate circumstances and the design approaches described in this paper can be invaluable in assessing the viability of implementing the conversion of an existing MHF to a new pyrolyzer/gasifier system.

A Profile of Wastewater Odors Assessor training and evaluation of odors from facility to the community. Wastewater treatment source odors move downwind into the community with changing intensity and odor character. Odor profiling with intensity measurements is a sensory evaluation tool used to quantify this phenomenon. Odor Profiling requires assessors to assign intensity to odor characters observed at multiple concentration dilution levels through an olfactometer, simulating the changing odor character and intensity of the source odor transported (carried by wind) to the community. Weber-Fechner-Stevens (WFS) studies explained how wastewater odor types smell differently and also change differently as they travel from the source into the community. The Weber-Fechner-Stevens studies and the resulting graphs illustrate odor intensity decreasing at different rates (slope) for each odor type. Trained odor assessors (odor judges) report odor intensity in accordance with ASTM E544-18, Standard Practice for Referencing Suprathreshold Odor Intensity, and other accepted industry standard practices, e.g. sugar water scales. Training assessors is the essential part of odor profiling studies. St.Croix Sensory odor evaluation laboratory uses a 'metric' 10-point odor intensity referencing scale, listed with words to describe the ascending concentration levels. 0 Level No Odor 1 Level Threshold 2 Level Very Slight 3 Level Slight 4 Level Slightly Moderate 5 Level Moderate 6 Level Slightly Strong 7 Level Moderately Strong 8 Level Strong 9 Level Very Strong 10 Level Extremely Strong Assessors (odor judges) can be trained using an ASTM E544-18 10-point Butanol Scale, incorporating the training technique of 'Feedback Calibration Method' (FCM). FCM provides immediate feedback to the test individual during the training. Odor Profiling embraces 'odor wheels', general and specific to odor site studies. With confident assessor intensity performance and a known uncertainty budget applied, predicting the effects of wastewater treatment source odors will become routine for practitioners, engineers, operators, and decision makers. Two cases are present to illustrate the different outcomes of odor profiling: (1) terpene odor profiles for the hemp industry and (2) sanitary wastewater collection system odor profiles.

1. INTRODUCTION Considering continuous generation of wastewater sludge in vast amounts and beneficial constituents, many countries have been using sludge on land. Nevertheless, land application of insufficiently treated sludge raises concerns due to transferring pathogens and trace pollutants, including toxic organics and microplastics (MPs) into the environment. MPs constitute a large portion of pollutants in sludge because of inseparable and versatile use of plastics in our daily life. Due to their small sizes (<5 mm), MPs can easily transport across environmental compartments and reach WWTPs in great amounts. WWTPs with modern technologies can remove MPs from wastewater with >90% efficiency but concentrate them in sludge. Anaerobic digestion of sludge is a widely used management option that stabilizes the sludge and reduces the amount to be disposed of. Various pretreatment methods have been developed to improve the efficiency of digestion such as thermal hydrolysis process (THP), chemical, and mechanical techniques. Recent studies have revealed that MPs can affect the efficiency of anaerobic digestion process.1 Furthermore, corresponding deteriorative effects of stabilization on MPs have been superficially addressed.2 Despite their stiff nature, exposure to abiotic factors such as heat, light, water, chemicals, and mechanical impacts may initiate structural changes and induce biodeterioration. For example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), can hydrolyze to a certain degree in the presence of alkaline solutions due to saponification process in ester linkages. In addition, they can hydrolyze in wet conditions at high temperatures as in the case of THP.3 For the first time in literature, this study investigates whether alkaline pretreatment, THP and combined alkaline and thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (ATHP) processes applied for sludge disintegration and biogas enhancement can concurrently deteriorate PET MPs and lead them biodegrade during anaerobic digestion. Moreover, the study investigates the effects of different concentrations of MPs on digestion efficiency. 2.MATERIALS AND METHODS WAS and anaerobically digested sludge (ADS) were taken from a conventional WWTP serving a population of 4 million with a capacity of 765,000 m3/day. The model PET MPs were obtained by cutting water bottles into square shapes using scissors. Then, the particles were passed through a series of sieves to obtain MPs in sizes of 250-500 µm. WAS solubilization efficiency of three different disintegration techniques (i.e., alkaline, THP, and ATHP) were tested in varying conditions by monitoring soluble COD (sCOD) of WAS, which was spiked with 3 mg PET/g TS. Alkaline pretreatment was carried out for 5 days by dosing WAS with 0.5 M alkali using KOH and NaOH at 0.10 and 0.40 M, respectively. THP was performed at 127 °C and 1.7 bar for 30, 60 and 120 min using an autoclave. In ATHP, WAS samples (three sets) which had been alkaline pretreated (0.5 M) for 2, 4 and 5 days were autoclaved at 127 °C for 120 min. PET MPs collected from pretreated WAS were analyzed using SEM and FTIR to observe the changes they experienced during pretreatment. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) reactors of pretreated and unpretreated sludges spiked with 0, 1, 3, 6 mg PET MPs/g TS were set up in triplicates at a food-to-microorganism ratio of 1, and a total solids content of 2%. Reactors were coded as R0, R1, R3 and R6, with the letter P added for disintegrated reactors. All reactors were operated for 60 days under mesophilic conditions. Reactors were monitored for gas production throughout their operation. At reactor termination, digester performance and plastic characteristics were analyzed. 3.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As shown in Table 1, disintegration degree (DDCOD) reached up to 81% by alkaline pretreatment in 5 days. Considering the most evident increase (71%), two days alkali pretreatment was selected. As the duration of separate THP was prolonged, solubilization increased only slightly and reached to a DDCOD of 19% at a maximum, comparable to literature.4 Although there was no notable difference beyond 30 min, 120 min was selected as the main purpose was exposing MPs to stress conditions before anaerobic digestion. Figure 1 shows that solubilization achieved in two days of alkaline pretreatment was improved with the addition of THP. However, the contribution of THP became relatively small beyond two days of alkaline application. Two days of alkaline application and a subsequent 120 min THP was selected for ATHP, which altogether resulted in DDCOD of 79%. MPs extracted from pretreated sludges were analyzed for changes in physical and chemical structure by evaluating their FTIR spectra and SEM micro-photographs comparatively with control samples. PET exposed to different pretreatment processes experienced varying levels of changes in different regions of the polymer structure, which differentiates the impacts of thermal and chemical stress factors. Both alkaline pretreatment and THP caused an overall decrease in the absorption intensity of PET. Crystallinity of the polymer increased the most with THP and followed by ATHP. Alkali treatment did not cause a significant change. Therefore, heat application might be the mechanism of increasing the crystallinity of ATHP pretreated PET. This is possibly due to the formation of new crystalline zones in polymer's structure from the breakdown of branches in backbone and bending on themselves. Partial melting and the recrystallization of the amorphous region of the polymer can be the reason of increase in crystallinity. It is evident from Figure 3(a) that MPs exposed to alkaline environment experience a strong surface peeling in comparison to untreated samples. Furthermore, THP seems to cause the corners of the square-shaped MPs to expand outward compared to those of untreated MPs. When two techniques were combined, the notable peeling effect caused by alkaline pretreatment diminished to a great extent, possibly due to the heat applied afterwards. The expanded MPs lost the previous changes occurred on their surfaces and reformed, but the cross-sectional layers appeared. As shown in Figure 2, ATHP pretreated reactors produced statistically higher amounts (22.0%) of methane than unpretreated ones regardless of the MPs dose. This can be attributed to that pretreatment process overwhelmed the impact of MPs on digesters. In contrast, the dose of MPs significantly affected the methane yield of unpretreated reactors. Among unpretreated reactor sets, R3 yielded the highest methane production (p<0.05), which was followed by R6, R1 and R0, in decreasing order. Both crystallinity and carbonyl index of MPs showed smaller changes by anaerobic digestion compared to more dramatic effect of sole ATHP. Figure 3(b) shows that there was an observable predominant impact of digestion, giving the MPs a squashed surface appearance and decreased surface thickness at some points. These images supported the current claim that MPs pretreated prior to anaerobic digestion becomes more prone to microbial attack. Acknowledgement: This study was funded by TUBITAK through the project grant 121Y156.

PROBLEM: Water sector utilities need transformative leadership, at all levels, right away! This assertion may seem overly dramatic, but the signs are everywhere to the perceptive observer. WaterNow Alliance states on its website: 'Between aging infrastructure and the growing effects of climate change, our communities are in dire need of a water revolution.' (1) From the Water Utility Climate Alliance website: 'While water managers continually strive to maintain [a] supply-and-demand balance through long-term water resource planning and demand management, new challenges exist due to the impacts of climate change, putting the world's water resources at risk.' (2) In August 2021, AWWA's Transformative Issue Symposium series ' kick[ed] off with an overview and exploration of the environmental, social, and governance risk assessment methodology, before launching into a conversation addressing water affordability and access. The financial impacts of the global pandemic have highlighted challenges to water affordability and inequities in access to safe water . The evolution of a long-term solution to this challenge requires collaboration, communication, and community engagement.' (3) The water sector also urgently needs more diverse leadership, as a 2018 Brookings Institution report points out: 'As the U.S. economy continues to grow, many communities are struggling to translate this growth into more equitable and inclusive employment opportunities. Simultaneously, many of the nation's water infrastructure assets are in urgent need of repair, maintenance, and restoration. Yet the workers capable of carrying out these efforts are in short supply due to an aging workforce eligible for retirement and the lack of a pipeline for new talent. Women make up only a fraction of employment in some of the largest water occupations and there is a particularly low share of black and Asian workers employed in the water sector.' (4) A changing climate, demands for environmental justice, the necessity of equity and inclusion for all people, an aging and changing workforce, security threats, rising costs necessitating rate increases-the list of challenges is long. For the water sector, adaptation to change is critically important and urgently needed. Change requires local leadership−'transformative leadership'−to meet new demands. ANSWER: The Transformative Water Leadership Academy (TWLA) was designed for this purpose. Its mission: Develop and nurture diverse, emerging leaders to guide water utilities in support of just, resilient, and sustainable communities.' This 10-month leadership training program launches in Fall, 2022. Holistic Program: Diversity, Inclusion and Social Equity Concepts TWLA views diversity in the water sector workforce as valuable and intentionally recruits for a diversity of race and ethnicity, gender, age, geography and culture reflective of an increasingly diverse America and beyond. TWLA embeds the values of diversity, inclusion, and social equity throughout the curriculum. Finally, alliance with influential international, national, and regional organizations serve as a resource for the program to bring better understanding of biases and inequities. TWLA prepares graduates for leadership within the water sector and equips them to build sustainable communities and address the substantial change within utilities. The curriculum and 'hosted' group discussions guide participants to consider and balance social, environmental, equity, managerial, technical and financial matters, distinguishing this program from others. TWLA also recruits a diverse participant pool across geographic, racial, occupational, and economic groups to build a cohort of water leaders able to meet their communities' challenges. TWLA pursues five primary strategies: 1)Diversity: Increase the leadership skills and actions of emerging water leaders at any level of their organizations, with an emphasis on underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and nontraditional education and experience. 2) Commitment: Through long-term interactions with these emerging leaders, cultivate a commitment to the practices of communication and collaboration supporting resilient organizations for a healthy environment and a wholesome, just community. 3)Action: Support participants in finding and defining their leadership objective and help them put it to use so that they can become community leaders with purpose. 4)Structure: Strengthen communities through direct involvement of academy participants. The participants will be in a better position following the program to advocate for improved programming and policy within their communities. This will have direct implications for communities and better enable them to contribute to the betterment of public health. 5)Network: Build connections for participants and the program through the Community Cooperative Alliance whose organizations and networks have unique abilities to interact with affected communities, react quickly to community needs and issues and engage with affected groups. Innovative Method: Experiential Learning The program incorporates experiential learning methods, connecting class work and theories to real experience so participants better grasp concepts, use their creativity, and fully engage in learning. A consensus of researchers on learning theory finds the most effective adult learning occurs on the job, and through rapid application of new knowledge or skills. (5) TWLA emphasizes the application of leadership skills and personal agency using acquired knowledge and skills on-the-job and in the community. Additionally, participants will be required to complete a 'Capstone' project chosen to address a specific problem in their utility, community, or a larger region. A project could address issues of affordability, stakeholder communication, resilience to climate change, source water protection, or other challenges utilities face. Participants share information about their projects, the results, and the lessons learned at a conference or community event. AWWA and WaterNow Alliance−A Creative Partnership The American Water Works Association (AWWA) and WaterNow Alliance (WNA), two nonprofit organizations with national and international reach form the partnership at the center of the Transformative Water Leadership Academy. These partners also enlist other organizations to extend program outreach for diversity, and for sharing results to a wider audience. WNA is a network of, and forum for local water leaders supporting environmentally sustainable, affordable, equitable and climate resilient water strategies. As partners in TWLA, these organizations complement each other's strengths and core audience. Whereas AWWA reaches about every occupation within the water utility, WNA focuses on the employee leaders of water sector organizations, as well as elected and appointed council, commission, and board members. The combination creates a target audience for the TWLA program that includes emerging leaders employed by water utilities across the nation and beyond, and also the emerging leaders in policy and decision-making bodies. A Significant Difference, Positive Outcomes Results will be shown through several means. The orientation of the Academy to develop individual agency and active leadership skills means participants will have communication assignments during the course. Upon completion, graduates will also be challenged to exercise their communication leadership in at least one of two ways: (a) make an oral presentation on how to lead within one's utility and occupational position; and (b) write an account of how the Transformative Water Leadership Academy experience affected their understanding of the impact individual and utility leadership can make for positive change. The full positive outcomes of the Academy will be revealed over time, as successive cohorts move into new and higher positions of leadership in the water sector. Outcomes for Participants will include: - Recognition for their accomplishment within their utility/place of employment. - Assignment of new responsibility and/or a new opportunity to demonstrate leadership. - Advancement by way of promotion to a higher position. Outcomes for Utilities will include: - Opportunity to empower Academy participants to exercise leadership in areas to improve their utility in some meaningful way. - Innovative approaches from Academy participants to solving problems in the community. Outcomes for Communities will include: - Increases in the resilience and sustainability of their utility systems. -Improvements in the relationship between residents and the utility organization serving them. - Better management and protection of water and environmental resources.

Upgrade of the 500 ML/d Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant created opportunities for Metro Vancouver to incorporate resource recovery into this 21st century facility and achieve its carbon neutrality goal. When upgraded, this facility will turn wastewater into usable products, including renewable natural gas, nutrient-rich biosolids, reclaimed water, and thermal energy in the near term, and possibly phosphorus, biocrude, and other resources in the future. The upgraded plant is projected to be carbon negative (net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) when operational and expected to be a net energy producer with the connections to off-site district energy systems. The forward-thinking design concept developed for this plant upgrade focused not only on short-term mandates but started with 2100 vision to build a regenerative facility that embraces circular economy and provides benefits to communities for seven generations and beyond. Wastewater has traditionally been viewed as a waste that must be processed and managed. In recent years, the transition from a 'take-make-dispose' model to a circular economy has emphasized the need to recover valuable resources that are inherent in wastewater. Increasingly, technological advancements allow the recovery of resources to be cost-effective and the operation of treatment processes to be more efficient, which enable water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) to produce a broader range of products and become regenerative. Metro Vancouver is one such utility that is positioning its WRRF for the circular economy. The Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (IIWWTP) in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada was originally built in the 1960s to provide primary treatment in the Vancouver Sewerage Area. The plant as shown in Figure 1 needs to be upgraded to provide secondary treatment in accordance with federal wastewater regulations. Metro Vancouver is undertaking a multi-billion program to upgrade this primary treatment plant, with resource recovery as one of the key project goals. At a regional level, Metro Vancouver is also committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Building a 1.1 million population equivalent or 500 ML/d green-field facility at an existing site provides an unprecedented opportunity to create an inspirational 21st century WRRF. The project definition phase of the IIWWTP program was delivered using an integrated design process, through which a diverse multi-specialties team with nearly 100 members from various entities was assembled to brainstorm ideas and develop concepts in a series of workshops and collaborative meetings. While the short-term mandate of the IIWWTP upgrade is to meet regulatory requirements, the vision of the team was to build a resilient and adaptive WRRF that will nurture the natural environment and provide cascades of benefits to the local inhabitants and global community for seven generations and beyond. With this perspective, the project team imagined the future in 2100 and worked backward to identify what needs to be in place by 2035 and 2050 to fulfil the ultimate goals of the program. Following a three-year long process of exploring, evaluating, and refining options, including gathering feedback from stakeholders, local communities and First Nations, a conceptual design, along with a sustainability strategy, was developed for the IIWWTP. Key resource recovery components selected for incorporation into the IIWWTP in the near term include the following: 1) Purifying biogas produced from anaerobic digestion process to biomethane for injection into local natural gas grid as a green energy source; 2) Receiving of non-domestic trucked liquid waste containing fats, oils, and grease to increase biogas generation; 3) Beneficial use of nutrient/energy-rich biosolids for land application or further drying off-site for use as a fuel at cement kilns or as fertilizer; 4) Producing reclaimed water from tertiary treatment process for on-site non-potable water applications and surrounding habitat restoration as part of the Iona Island ecological improvement program; 5) Incorporating process and building heat recovery using tertiary effluent heat pumps 6) Installing pipelines to convey treated effluent off-site for heat recovery by district energy systems in the neighboring communities in Vancouver and Richmond; 7) Washing and compacting screenings from headworks for use at a local waste-to-energy facility; 8) Washing and dewatering grit from headworks for flood protection land build-up; 9) Installation of photovoltaic arrays at building rooftop at a demonstrate scale. Recognizing that technologies will continue to evolve in the upcoming decades and market drivers may change in the growing low-carbon economy, an adaptive approach was used to develop the plant design for adopting additional resource recovery opportunities in the future. For example, Metro Vancouver is piloting a new hydrothermal liquefaction process at another facility and this process will convert sludge to oil and gas. In the future, this novel process may be able to replace anaerobic digestion as a sludge stabilization process at one or more of Metro Vancouver's plants. Because of these considerations, it was recommended to retain the existing four mesophilic anaerobic digesters at IIWWTP for up to the first 20 years of the new plant and add two new digesters to provide capacity for both Primary and future WAS. Figure 2 shows the vision for IIWWTP in year 2035. In the future, the existing digesters would be replaced with a future process. For planning, the sizing of the future process is based on thermophilic digestion but new technologies such as the hydrothermal liquification process may be developed for incorporation in the future. Space was also reserved on the site for potential implementation of phosphorus recovery. Provisions were made to allow photovoltaic arrays to be installed over process tankage to convert solar energy to electricity that in turn feeds into electrolyzers to produce renewable hydrogen and oxygen. The site layout also includes innovation, training and optimization spaces to allow side-by-side testing of new technologies in parallel with the full-scale treatment system. The upgraded IIWWTP will turn wastewater into usable products, including approximately 322,000 GJ/year of renewable natural gas, 17,000 dry tonnes/year of nutrient-rich biosolids, 40 ML/d of reclaimed water, and up to 130 GWh/year of thermal energy for the initial upgrade in 2035. The plant is also projected to be carbon negative (net greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 5,800 tonnes CO2/year) and close to energy neutral when operational, with the ultimate goal of becoming a net energy producer with future enhancements, including off-site district energy. The forward-thinking design concept developed for the IIWWTP upgrade, as approved by the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District in 2022, set the foundation and path forward for Metro Vancouver to build a regenerative facility that embraces the global transition to a circular economy and carbon neutrality.

Purpose This presentation will share how Jefferson County accomplished the following tangible results: A) shifted from being nearly 100% reactive to 70% proactive with its sewer cleaning program (see graphic 1), and B) reduced dry weather SSOs by 44% with no increase in O&M budget (see graphic 2.) How did we do it? There are three legs to our strategy stool: first, we structured the dry weather program effectively, second, we use data to allocate resources based on risk, and finally, we balance crew productivity and quality expectations. The County's O&M structure includes three key elements. The structure in and of itself does not reduce SSOs, success is driven by how the structure is implemented, but the key elements of the structure must be in place to be successful. The three elements include:

1. Reactive -- the goal is to quickly and effectively respond to service requests (e.g. customer calls) and to also collect the right data to support root-cause-analysis to minimize the chance of re-occurrence.
2. Preventive -- the goal is to identify pipes with O&M risk and clean them at the right frequency, which is not too little, and not too much (e.g. the goldilocks frequency.) If implemented correctly, this will prevent SSOs on pipes with known risk without 'cleaning clean pipe.'
3. Proactive -- the goal is to assess the rest of the system that has no known O&M risk (i.e. finding needles in the haystack.)

The County uses an acoustic inspection technology, which is a low cost, high production rate method. The second leg of the stool involves using data to allocate resources based on risk. This starts with collecting the right data from our three primary sources of O&M condition assessment: sewer cleaning, CCTV, and SL-Rat. All three sources use 'code-based' (instead of narrative) data collected on each pipe asset. Data that is collected in this structure allows it to be both collected and used efficiently and effectively. We then mined all the historical data sources in order to determine which pipes need to be set on a recurring, standard cleaning frequency. Jefferson County then implemented a decision support system (DSS) to apply consistent, objective business rules via an algorithm in order to make recommendations to optimize sewer cleaning as new data points are collected. The DSS generates recommendations that a planner/scheduler then reviews. If the planner/schedule accepts the recommendation, the DSS automatically updates the Cityworks database. The types of recommendations include: increase/decrease the frequency, add/remove a pipe to the schedule, and accelerate/push out the next scheduled cleaning date. The third leg of the stool focuses on achieving the right level of production from crews, while not sacrificing quality. The quality part of the equation started with developing best practice SOPs and providing extensive training. The next phase of the quality program will focus on quantitative measurement and feedback. The productivity part of the equation is helped by the strategy itself: as the preventive and proactive portions of the program produce SSO reductions, it allows shifting from reactive to planned work. Planned work is much more efficient than reactive work, therefore crews can do more preventive and proactive work -- which, further reduces reactive work. It's a perpetual improvement cycle. Other mechanisms to increase crew production include effectively using GIS to make spatially efficient work packages and setting and tracking appropriate production goals.

Benefits of Presentation
Many utilities across the nation have goals to significantly decrease the number of Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) in their collection systems. Often, 50-90% of SSOs are caused by maintenance-related issues such as grease, roots, non-'flushable' wipes, and debris. Optimizing the maintenance program can be the most cost-effective method to drive rapid SSO reduction. These reductions are pennies on the dollar as compared to CIP intensive work like rehabilitation and capacity upgrades. This presentation includes a unique application of a Decision Support System (DSS) that only Jefferson County and one other County have implemented. The other County has achieved over a 50% reduction in dry weather SSOs with no increase in budget. The presentation also includes best practices around a relatively new acoustic monitoring technology. This presentation will touch on a highly structured pilot of the acoustic technology resulting in a statistically significant result for the best trigger score and its highest value usage in the program. Finally, this presentation will put a different spin on old concept -- sewer cleaning programs are as old as sewer systems themselves, but this approach takes advantage of modern techniques and technology that are structured and coordinated to maximize tangible benefit.

Status of Completion
Nearly all the work described above has been completed, which has led to the 44% reduction in dry-weather SSOs. Completed items include:
1. Best practice SOPs have been developed and training has been conducted
2. Configuration updates to Cityworks have been made and high-quality data is being collected
3. The DSS has been implemented to optimize cleaning
4. A planner/scheduler function was implemented

Like other high performing utilities, Jefferson County seeks to continually evolve, and has several 'next steps' its moving forward on. These include:
1. Revamped SSO review meeting to perform root cause analysis and corrective measures to prevent re-occurrence of SSOs.
2. FOG program assessment to apply similar asset management principles to the commercial program (food service establishments) and public outreach.
3. Sewer cleaning QAQC - quantitative measuring and feedback loop

Conclusions
The primary conclusion is that Jefferson County's approach works, and its very cost effective. The great thing is that anyone can do it if they bring the right best practices, the right tools, and implement them correctly. An asset management-centric O&M program needs to be planned and designed comprehensively -- there are a LOT of moving parts. Applying asset management principles to O&M happens in our industry, but it's not nearly as common as applications on the structural and capacity portions of programs. But its 'pennies on the dollar' to achieve tangible benefits on the O&M side vs the more capital centric portions of a program.