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Inkspot
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Greetings
from the President... by Teresa Herrera As I sit here on a beautiful Friday morning, with doors and windows open, I ponder the messages I want to convey. What I've been thinking about lately is how thankful I am to have friends and family that care for me and I them. And, as I think about this, the list of people who I can count as friends and family continues to grow. I can honestly say that many of the people I've worked alongside with in the San Francisco Bay Section have become friends. There is a general respect, trust, and camaraderie that grows over time and that is irreplaceable. This is something I treasure; this is something we all need to treasure. Goodbye Edith One of those people who has worked hard for the Bay Section, and who's presence I value greatly, is Edith Hadler. Edith has taken a reassignment in Seattle and will no longer be our Secretary/Treasurer. I really appreciated Edith's unflagging commitment to her duties as Secretary/Treasurer. She is very caring and keeps us aware of the importance of giving. AND, she was the only other woman on the Board, which I GREATLY appreciated and will greatly miss! Edith has graciously found someone to replace her on the Board. So, a big HELLO and WELCOME to Kevin Calderwood. We'll do our best to make Kevin feel welcome and to help him in any way we can. Other News Randy Fiorucci, our longtime Membership Chair, was in a mountain biking accident a few weeks ago. It would be nice for each of us to take a moment and send Randy good thoughts, positive energy and prayers for a quick recovery. A big congratulations to John Williams and Paul Louis on receipt of their 5S shovels! It is very well deserved. Anyone who is active on Bay Section Committees, please mark July 19th on your calendars. This is the day that you get a free lunch! This is our annual Committee Appreciation Lunch and is in honor of you for your dedication to this organization. More information will be forthcoming soon about this event. We are looking for a volunteer to format, copy, and mail the Inkspot! Edith's company, Brown and Caldwell, is doing this on a temporary basis, but we need someone (or some company or agency) to step forward to take on this task permanently. Please let me know if you're interested in helping. I can be reached at 925-945-6850 or therrera@whitleyburchett.com. I hope you're all planning on attending this month's dinner meeting on June 7. Refer to the flyer in this newsletter for detailed information. That's it for this month...Until next time, take care and be safe. Famed
'Slimebuster' Helps Wastewater Treatment Facility Solve
Unprecedented Plant Upset For the first time in its nearly 20 year history, the South Bayside System Authority wastewater treatment facility based in Redwood City needed to call out the equivalent of a "Ghostbuster" to help identify the cause and remedy of a plant upset that could have jeopardized treatment of wastewater. But in this instance, it was prominent "Slimebuster" David Jenkins, a world-renowned wastewater treatment expert and professor at UC Berkeley. SBSA provides wastewater treatment for Redwood City, Belmont, San Carlos and cities in southern San Mateo County through the West Bay Sanitary District. SBSA Operations Manager Bob Donaldson picks up the story: Starting a few weeks ago, the SBSA manager noticed some unusual lab results. His inquiry resulted in an investigation that revealed sluggishness in the overall wastewater treatment system, sparking a round-robin troubleshooting session among SBSA staff. Like a line out of the movie Casablanca, the staff examined "the usual suspects," in this case, industrial users who in the past may have had discharge violations or pretty close. The microbiologist at SBSA also toiled some long hours, trying to identify an unusual growth that was found in one of the processes. A forensics lab in the east bay confirmed the material was not man-made. It became quickly evident that this was something the SBSA staff had not seen since the plant opened in 1982. While unable to pinpoint the source of the upset, the staff did isolate it to the plant's Fixed Film Reactors, which are the first stage of biological treatment. Wastewater is pumped to the top of the Fixed Film Reactors where bacteria on the reactors consume much of the organic matter in the wastewater. This stage is necessary before the second stage of biological treatment can occur. SBSA operators discovered an additional slime growth on the fixed film reactors that they had never seen before. The staff ultimately sent the substance to Dr. Jenkins, an English-born and educated wastewater expert who has performed research for government, municipalities and industry for 40 years. Dr. Jenkins eventually determined that the slime consisted of a colony of bacteria that he had seen only twice before in 30 years, the last time was 10 years ago in Wisconsin. He also identified a fungus that mixed with the colony of bacteria. Together, these two growths were the culprits for upsetting the operation of the Fixed Film Reactors. Though neither Dr. Jenkins nor staff has been able to identify the source of the growths, a solution was forthcoming. The corrective action was something the SBSA staff had never before had to do, a technique called "walking the filter." The Fixed Film Reactors are comprised of a stack of PVC plastic media. As the distributor arm moves it sprinkles water over the media. In order to flush away the one-two punch of the "bad bacteria colony" and fungus, operators rigged a scheme that held the rotating arm until the hydraulic flushing action washed away the bad buys downstream, essentially digesting them in the down stream process. With that accomplished, the plant upset was history, but not before recording a lot of "firsts" at the two-stage biological treatment facility.
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Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers At the California Water Environmental Association State Conference in Pasadena, two members from San Francisco Bay Section received their Shovels. They were Paul Louis and John Williams. Paul is an employee with Contra Costa Central Sanitary District in Martinez. He has been there for over 20 years in collections. Paul is also chair of SFBS Collection System. John is in the maintenance department at Oro Loma Sanitary District in San Lorenzo. He has been there over 20 years. John is the SFBS Technical Certification Chair. CONGRATULATIONS |
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