Continuing education in the water industry is not only important, it's required. Trade shows are often the primary way water utility staff can get access to the educational opportunities they need. While these events are important and valuable, they can also be cost- and time-prohibitive to smaller utilities.
The City of Keene, NH, recognized an opportunity to fill that void. In early May, Keene's water treatment facility, in conjunction with an equipment manufacturer and a local rep agency, hosted a two-day technology users group workshop for about 70 water utility personnel from all around New England.
"By doing this, we could send all of our staff to training for 10 CEUs, right here in Keene," said Aaron Costa, operations manager for Keene's water and wastewater treatment facilities.
The first day comprised classroom training, which focused primarily on the packaged water treatment system being used at the Keene facility. Because the attendees were all users of this same technology, instructors were able to discuss very detailed aspects of the equipment, from pretreatment considerations through final disinfection -- and optimization of everything in between.
I had an opportunity to join the workshop for the second day of instruction -- a hands-on tour of Keene's 6 MGD water treatment plant. Costa and his team take great pride in their facility, and after my visit, it was easy to see why.
Nestled in the southwest corner of the Granite State, Keene is a picturesque New England community of about 25,000 residents. And it also enjoys a natural topography that affords the water treatment plant a very nice benefit: gravity. Its two reservoirs sit at a higher elevation than the plant, so raw water flows in at 95 psi. A pressure-reducing valve brings it down to about 5 psi for treatment.
"The raw water is quite clear coming in," said Todd Tardiff, Keene's water utility operator, "with turbidity at about 0.4 to 0.6 NTU and 2 to 3 mg/L TOC." In 1993, the plant underwent a major upgrade, which included construction of a new building and the packaged water treatment system. Last year, a second upgrade saw installation of a new powdered activated carbon system to improve taste and odor. That, combined with the use of polyaluminum chloride (PACL), helps with organics, achieving about 50-60 percent TOC removal.
Costa and his staff are vigilant about maintaining the quality of the plant's drinking water, conducting weekly sampling whether they need to or not. "There are 25 compliance samples we have to do," said Costa, "and we might get them all done in two weeks." But plant staff aren't content to let things ride until the next required sampling. "We don't feel comfortable doing testing and then just being done," said Costa. "We want to make sure everything is copacetic out there." Regular sampling also enables his team to test sites that aren't necessarily compliance sites. "It gives us a bigger picture of what's going on in the distribution system."
One of my favorite parts of the tour was the turbines. In 2011, Keene installed two turbine generators parallel to the PRV to recover energy previously lost to heat dissipation. Funded in part by a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the turbines recover energy and send it back to the grid -- enough to power the facility and then some. "Last month, we had a –$9 electric bill," said Tardiff.
For me, visiting the Keene plant gave me a chance to see firsthand the great work being done by a water utility in my home state. For the other participants, the two-day workshop provided not only an important, practical learning experience but also something inherently more valuable: an intimate opportunity to network with fellow operators from around the region.
Angela Godwin
Chief Editor, WaterWorld
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