Title: Which topics should be covered in a WT training manual for entry level professionals?
Published on by Peter Petersen, Water chemist II (water quality) at Milwaukee Water Works (Retired 2021) in Technology
Dear WTP community fellow members,
I am currently in the process of putting together a training manual for Water treatment entry level professionals.
Existing manuals cover a lot of information that can be overwhelming and may not pertain to specific plant layout, or are too technical that can be frustrating and confusing for entry level professionals.
My focus is to cover the basics of plant treatment operation, in a user-friendly way. This manual can also be used as a guide for studying for a certification exam or as a reference material. I would like to know from you all which topics I should be addressing in this manual.
Some of the topics I want to cover are:
- Operation of the water treatment
- The instrumentation and controls
- Chemistry that make the process work
- The regulations that utilities are required to follow
- Factors affecting the water quality
- Lab testing procedures
Please see below the expanded outline. If there is anything missing, questionable, or unclear, please let me know and I will explain the item in detail or add to my manual.
Your feedback will help me to create a training manual for Waste water treatment entry level professionals.
Thanks for your input!
Peter
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Water Treatment Plant Operation
1. Introduction
2. Source of contaminants
a. Source water picking up contaminants
3. Goal of treating water
4. Basic treatment process
5. Intakes crib and structure, and wet wells
a. Submerged intake structures
b. Exposed intake structures
c. Wet intake structure
d. Dry intake structures
e. River intake structures
f. Reservoir intake structures
g. Lake intake structures
h. Canal intake structures
i. Other intake structures
6. Screening incoming water
a. Introduction
b. Screen type
c. Maintenance of screening equipment
7. Pre-sedimentation and other pretreatment processes
a. Types of pre-sedimentation processes
b. Operations and maintenance of pre-sedimentation system
c. Low lift pump well (centrifugal pump)
8. Types of heads
a. Components of the low lift pump and their function
b. Operation of the low lift pump
c. Starting a low lift pump
d. Stopping a low lift pump
e. Common pump problems and their cases
f. Pump maintenance and safety
9. Valves
a. Introduction
b. Types of valves
c. Surge chamber
10. Motor and motor control
a. Motors
b. Motor Control
11. Power Generation and Distribution
a. AC Power Generation
b. Importance, types, and operational concern with standby power
12. Online instrumentation
a. Introduction
13. Turbidity
a. Introduction
b. Definition
14. Instrumentation/sensor(s) and theory of operation
a. Sensors
i. Temperature
ii. Particle counters
iii. Turbidity
iv. PH
v. Conductivity
b. Field calibration
c. Typical Valves
d. Comparison of turbidity meters and particle counters
e. Field calibration
15. Primary Disinfection- pre –Chlorination or Ozone
a. Pre-chlorination or Ozone
b. Forms of Chlorine and Methods of Delivery
c. Chlorine (pre-Chlorination)
d. Chlorine Gas and Delivering equipment
e. Safety
i. Proper safety procedures
ii. Chlorine Safety precaution
iii. Emergency assistance for Chlorine leaks
f. Calcium hypochlorite and delivering equipment
g. Sodium hypochlorite and delivering equipment
16. Ozone
a. Principle behind the ozone generator
b. Properties of ozone
c. Ozone safety precaution
d. Sources of ozone leaks
e. Detecting leaks
f. Small/minor leaks
g. Major leaks
h. Presence of ozone in ambient air
i. Ozone contactor(s) and diffusers
j. Solubility of ozone in water
k. Reactions between dissolved ozone and remaining constituents
l. Dissolved ozone measurement
m. Contact time calculation
n. Removal of residual ozone off-gas
17. Source water possibly contain trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetics (HAA5s) acids
a. Methods of determining the presence of DBP
b. Activated carbon to remove TTHMs
c. Regulations regarding TTHMs and HAA5s
18. Coagulation
a. Principles of coagulation
b. Factors of coagulation
c. Types of equipment that are used in the coagulation process
d. Coagulation basin with rapid mix pump/flash mixer
e. Types of coagulants and coagulant aids used
f. Methods of delivering coagulants
g. Volumetric pump
h. Solution/metering pump
i. Factors affecting the coagulation
j. Enhanced coagulation
k. Methods of measuring the effectiveness of coagulation addition
19. Reduction in turbidity (Jar testing)
20. Streaming current monitor
21. Reduction in pH
22. Flocculation
a. Principles of flocculation
b. Factors affecting flocculation
23. Settling (Sedimentation)
a. Introduction
b. Types of basins
c. Basin zones
d. Parts of a sedimentation basin
e. Operation of the sedimentation basin
f. Detention time
g. Calculation for detention time
h. Calculation for surface overflow rate (OR)
i. Monitoring the process
j. Operating problems
k. Maintenance of the sedimentation basin
l. Sludge removal
m. Sludge disposal
n. Summary
24. Filtration
a. Introduction
b. Filtration process
c. Types of filtration
d. Gravity
e. Pressure
f. Conventional treatment (open gravity filtration)
g. Direct filtration
h. Biologically active filters
i. Types of gravity filters
j. Shmutzdecke
k. Equipment associated with gravity filters
i. Filter tanks
ii. Filter media
iii. Media size
iv. Underdrain system
v. Sand detectors
vi. Wash-water troughs
l. Filter bed agitation
m. Filter control equipment
n. Operation of gravity filters
o. Filter operation methods
p. Filter bed ripening
q. Filter bed media in operation
r. Calculate the filtration rate
s. Monitoring filter operation
t. Filter bed maintenance
u. Bed depth
v. Bed expansion
w. Filter core and solids retention
x. Factors for replacing filter media
y. Filter operating problems
z. Backwashing
i. Introduction
ii. Principle behind backwashing
iii. Steps in backwashing a filter bed
iv. Calculate the backwash flow rate and the percent of total water production used for backwashing
v. Factors that determine backwash frequency
vi. Results of ineffective backwashing
aa. Pressure filtration
25. Controls and gauges found on a typical console
26. Clear well
a. Introduction
b. Baffles
c. Isolation and draining clearwell for inspection or repairs
d. Disinfection of clearwell
e. Disinfecting tanks and pipes
27. Post-chlorination & ammonia Disinfection
a. Introduction
b. Disease-causing (pathogenic) organisms
c. Post-chlorination
d. Disinfection method
e. Principle of UV in inactivating pathogens
f. Limitation of UV disinfection
g. Chemical treatment
h. Chlorine chemistry
i. Chlorine chemicals and their relative chlorine content
ii. Various forms of chlorine used for water disinfection
iii. Minimum chlorination residual
iv. Factors that affect the success of chlorination
v. Define T10 and how it is determined
vi. Define CT value and list the variables needed to determine a required CT value
vii. Explain how to calculate chlorine feed rate
viii. Control tests
ix. Chlorine residual test
x. Online chlorine analyzers to monitor chlorine
i. The frequency of testing disinfectant residual in a water distribution system
i. Addition of ammonia to chlorinated water
ii. Introduction
iii. Water softening
iv. Testing for ammonia
28. Regulations
a. The total inactivation/removal for Giardia Lamia cysts and viruses required by the EPA Surface Water Treatment Rule
b. Maximum residual disinfectant level (MRDL) and list the MRDL for chlorine, chloramines and ozone
c. Removal credit given for a well-operated conventional plant and resultant disinfection levels required
d. Bacteriological test
i. Introduction
ii. Bacteriological monitoring requirements for surface water suppliers
iii. Maximum contaminant level (MCL) for bacteria in surface water
iv. Preparation of a bacteriological sampling bottle for testing for chlorination
v. Perform a bacteria analysis
vi. An ‘unsafe” bacteriological sample
vii. When public notification is required
e. Fluoride
i. Introduction
ii. Supporting evidence of the fluoride benefits
iii. Fluoridation is practiced
iv. Acceptable range, and optimum levels for fluoridation
v. Common fluoride compounds in surface water treatment
vi. Operation of the fluoridation process
vii. Fluoridation operating problems
29. Chemical feeders
a. Introduction
b. Dry feeders
c. Solution feeders
d. Other feeders systems
e. Auxiliary equipment
f. Calculating fluoride feed rate
i. Control tests
ii. Online fluoride analyzer to monitor fluoride
iii. Frequency of testing fluoride in a water distribution system
g. Corrosion and scaling control of iron and lead
i. Introduction
ii. Corrosion control chemistry of iron
iii. Scale formation of iron
iv. Factors affecting scale formation of iron
v. How did lead get into the water supply?
1. Prior to the distribution system and the customers plumbing
2. At the distribution system and the customers plumbing
3. How does lead leach or mobilize into the water supply? (corrosion chemistry of lead)
4. Health concerns of lead in the water supply
5. Factors affecting corrosion of iron and lead
vi. Corrosion and scaling control chemicals
1. Corrosion control chemicals and chemical feed equipment
2. Corrosion and scaling control methods
3. Choice of proper corrosion control treatment methods or chemicals
30. Operational control
a. Common operating problems
b. Calculating orthophosphate feed rate
c. Testing methods used to establish corrosive and deposition potential of finished water
d. Online phosphate analyzer to monitor orthophosphate
e. Frequency of testing phosphate in the a water distribution system
f. Calculation for calcium carbonate saturation
g. Monitoring requirement (Lead and copper rule)
31. Safety
a. Introduction
b. Definition
c. Sources of potential hazardous areas or situations that exist at a surface water facility
d. Sources of potential hazardous areas or situations that exist in the water laboratory
e. Cause of accidents
f. Corrective actions or proper safety procedures/equipment
g. Protective measures used to store and handle water treatment chemicals
h. List of the corrective actions when working with chemicals
i. Safety policy
i. Definition
ii. What is included in the safety policy?
iii. Who writes the safety policy and implements them?
iv. Responsible parties
v. Example of a safety policy
vi. Safety equipment
1. Introduction
2. Fire extinguishers
3. Personal protective equipment
4. Self-contained breathing apparatus
5. Confined space
a. Introduction
b. Fall safety equipment
c. Confined space hoist system/tripod
d. Fall safety harness
6. Monitoring equipment
a. Summary
b. Lockout-tagout devices
i. Introduction
ii. Definition of lockout
iii. Definition of tagout
iv. Definition of energy-isolating device
v. Definition of hazardous energy
vi. Is lockout and hazardous energy control the same thing?
vii. Examples of lockout-tagout equipment
viii. OSHA standard for lockout/tagout
ix. Examples of lockout procedures
x. Chemical receiving
1. Receiving laboratory chemicals
2. Receiving bulk chemicals from tankers
3. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or Safety Data Sheet (SDS
32. SDS Heading (includes a description of all 16 sections)
a. Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemical(GHS)
b. Introduction
c. Definition
d. Purpose
e. Label requirements
f. Label Elements
g. Pictogram and DOT
33. Chemical storage
a. Introduction
b. Random storage
c. Alphabetical storage
d. Storage Method
e. Introduction
f. Flinn storage method
g. Storage of chemicals
h. Consideration for storing chemicals
i. Labeling
j. Storage Criteria
k. Refrigeration storage
l. Visual inspection
m. Miscellaneous
n. Disposal
34. Five Most Common (Deadly and EPA-Fineable) Errors in Waste Handling
a. Disposal concepts
b. Satellite containers
c. Checklist for proper requirements of waste containers
Media
Taxonomy
- Treatment
- Treatment Methods
- Biological Treatment
- Liquid Waste Treatment
- Sludge Treatment
- Biological Treatment
- Algae Treatment
- Chlorine Dioxide Treatment
- water treatment
- Vocational Training