THE

Louisiana Water Environment Association

Member of the Louisiana Water Environment Association Water Environment Federation APRIL 2018 Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE 2 President's Message 10 Operator Ingenuity 4 Conference Wrap Up 12 WEF Notes 5 Operations Demonstration 13 Officers and Committees 7 WEF: Intelligent Water Systems 14 Membership News president’s MESSAGE BY CHERREE CARLSON Welcome All to SPRING!

I would like to take this moment to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a Wonderful Spring!

I had the wonderful opportunity to partake in the 2018 81st Annual Louisiana Conference this past week. It was great getting to be around all the people that help make this organi- zation what it is. The dedication of the people who volunteer their time and expertise is phenomenal. If you were unable to attend, it will be held next year at the River Center Convention Hall in Alexandria.

President LWEA 2017-2018 Cherree Carlson

Looking to get more involved? Join one of our committees: Collection Systems • Constitution and ByLaws • Database Management Hospitality • Program • Public Education Safety • Scholarship Membership • Student/Young-Professionals Training & Certification • Website Contact [email protected] for more information.

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 2 thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 3 conference WRAP UP BY CHERREE CARLSON

LWEA and the Louisiana Conference on Water Supply, Sewerage and Industrial Wastes concluded the 81st Louisiana Conference that was held March 19–23, 2018, in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the Hilton Hotel and Convention Center.

We would like to thank everyone who was able to attend and show their support.

The efforts that were applied made this event a huge success. We would like to extend a special thanks to the Board Members, Committee Chairs, ex- hibitors, speakers, sponsors, volunteers and especially the Water Operators who attended and contributed to the success of the conference.

We had a great opening session with participation by the Honorable Mayor of Shreveport, Ms. Ollie Tyler. Also the Water Environmental Federation’s Mayor of Shreveport Ollie Tyler Trustee Mr. Mark Poling spoke and was gracious enough to assist with some last minute speaking presentations for LWEA. A great Big THANK YOU!

We are looking forward to the upcoming WEFTEC 2018 coming to New Orleans at the end of September 2018. Look for Mr. Mark Poling's latest project “Beer made from Wastewater”. They will be having free taste tests located in the Beer garden area of the Exhibits.

If you were unable to attend this year’s Conference and would like the chance to participate next year, it will be held in Alexandria, Louisiana.

WEF Trustee Mark Poling

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 4 water operations DEMONSTRATION BY CHERREE CARLSON

This year the NOLA Water Dogz gave an awesome demonstration over several days at the Louisiana Conference. The dedication of the team to the Water Operator Challenge is very apparent in their contributions over and above their everyday duties as Water Operators in educating everyone on the importance of being safe and knowing their duties as well as showing their excellence in providing the public with the best water quality available.

We would like to take this opportunity to extend a great big Thank You to each and every one of you! GO DOGZ!!

NOLA Water Dogz Captain-Standing Jerome Marshall Ron Ferdinand Russell Washington Jaryan Youngblood

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INTELLIGENT WATER SYSTEMS RESOURCES ABOUND FOR UNDERSTANDING INTELLIGENT WATER SYSTEMS By Corey Williams and Lisa McFadden

Intelligent water systems (IWS) are built to link together sensors, control systems, informa- tion management, and communications systems. They emphasize the water sector’s op- portunity to take advantage of advanced technologies and dramatically shift management decision making.

While there are varying ideas of what an IWS may be, there’s not one singular definition. Some see the concept as a small piece to help to analyze and process data both historical and real-time data; others see this integration as an opportunity to overhaul their entire decision making or performance management approach.

How far each utility or facility chooses to take the IWS concept will vary, but many water sector organizations have produced resources to help guide these choices.

KEY MECHANISMS The Water Science & Engineering Center within the Water Environment Federation issued a technical report that identifies the key mechanisms needed for utilities to start and run a successful intelligent water systems program. Titled, Intelligent Water Systems: The Path to a Smart Utility, the report explores the following 10 topics.

• Data prioritization — First and foremost, utilities must decide what data is needed and how the data collected will fit into the ultimate strategy and goal of the utility. Data should not be collected for the sake of collection; collecting data takes time, staff, and money. The right data, at the right time, needs to be captured. This critical data must be accurate, com- plete, and aligned with business and operational management requirements.

• Data governance — Prior to data capture, system managers need to formulate a data gov- ernance approach. This includes identifying data stewardship, storage and access rights, and archiving and deletion protocols. For example, by deciding these responsibilities ahead of time, data processing issues can be ironed out. Developing a data management and gover- nance plan also can help reveal gaps in the system.

• Data capture — This aspect is probably the most notable component of the process. With all the new and emerging technologies, utilities have vast options for how to capture data and how much to capture. With many new technologies promoting real-time data capture, it is important to note the difference between real-time data and data frequency. While real- time data deals with how quickly the user receives measured data, data frequency refers to how often the data is gathered.

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• Data validation — With speed and an abundance • Performance reporting and visualization — IWS is not of tools choices, data validation becomes an important always just for predictive and decision-making tools, it also component. While collecting data is easy, the goal is to be can show how efficiently a water sector agency is operating. confident in the data being receiving. Coupling tools for performance data and visualization — such as interactive mapping or GIS, dashboards, or chart • Data processing, storage, and access — Organize your pop-ups — can provide useful insight into areas of need data! Historically, data organization is sometimes forgotten. and improvement. Once performance gaps are identi- With newer platforms and easier accessibility, the stor- fied via these visualization methods, water sector agencies age, query, and transfer of data is now more manageable can use optimization tools to improve operations, reduce than ever. Data organization includes the formulation and energy usage, lower costs, or develop adaptive master plan- upkeep of database table structures that fit the needs for ning and CIP. IWS provides the data and information that analytics (as distinct from the database table structures for utilities need to take a step back and look at where im- transaction processing). provements may be needed.

• Data integration — By prioritizing and organizing data, IWS DRIVERS users can integrate easier this data into existing systems Similar to the concepts identified by WEF, the National and processes easier throughout the utility and networks. Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA; Washing- Remembering the prioritization and overall purpose of the ton, D.C.) identified several IWS drivers. NACWA pub- data can help ensure they are being applied in a useful way. lished these findings in the white paper, Envisioning The Digital Utility Of The Future. The paper lists eight drivers • Data analytics — With Big Data come big opportuni- for utilities, which include ties. By incorporating data analytics, utilities can transform • reduce operational costs, what’s been collected into information. Utilities can choose • manage and mitigate risks, many types of data analytics tools to use. The ultimate per- • enhance the customer experience, formance goal or outcome helps choose the right platform • improve financial execution, or tools to perform the analytics. • optimize asset performance and uncover hidden value, • leverage existing communications and computing platforms, • Business intelligence and decision support — With the • maximize the engagement and efficiency of employees, and information provided, utility personnel can make opera- • integrate water quality, policy, and performance. tional and business decisions. By incorporating the infor- mation provided from the data analytics into modeling, WANTED RESULTS AND SIMPLE FRAMEWORK optimization, and even predictive analysis tools, utilities can look at many different scenarios and find the best solu- At the 2018 AWWA/WEF Utility Management Confer- tion. By utilizing IWS, water sector agencies can get a big ence (UMC), participants in the workshop, Demystifying picture view, with the goal of making an informed deci- the “SMART” Utility, shared their opinions on where IWS sion. Theses decision support tools are not just for big capi- can help most. Fully two-thirds of the attendees believed tal improvement projects (CIP), but also can be applied to cost reduction and asset optimization to be the most im- real-time situations and scenarios, through dashboards and portant result of IWS implementation. Figure 1 shows the cloud-based operations. full results of their voting.

• Knowledge sharing — Once useful information has been attained, it can be integrated throughout the utility’s system and utilized in cloud based systems, allow- ing the information to be centralized and used across all utility functional groups. By sharing information throughout a utility, data silos fall away. This enables all stake- holders to incorporate the same informa- tion into their decision-making processes. Further, data sharing can encourage its use for beneficial purposes that might not have been intended originally. Figure 1. Most desired benefits of intelligent water systems

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The Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN) is a non-profit Based on these five levels, the same UMC workshop par- organization that seeks to be the leading global hub for the ticipants who identified cost savings and asset optimization smart water sector. This group, a WEF partner, seeks to as primary drivers, claimed that the largest resource gap accelerate the awareness and adoption of data-driven tech- existed at the Data Fusion and Analysis and Collection and nologies in water and wastewater networks worldwide. To Communications levels. The implications are that, in gen- help communicate the critical components of IWS, SWAN eral, water and wastewater utilities appear to have SCADA has developed a five-level framework to clearly define the (level 4) for data management and display and instrumen- components. tation and sensors (level 2) in place. However, the need to communicate the data from the sensors to management • The Physical level comes first. This includes components platforms and the lack of ability to perform analysis for such as its pipes, pumps, valves, reservoirs, and tanks. As enhanced decision-making are the areas of greatest needs to physical water infrastructure only, without data collection take full advantage of IWS. Figure 2 shows the workshop's or analysis, this layer is often not considered “smart.” participants' full opinions on the needs for IWS implemen- tation. • The Sensing and Control level includes the initial components enabling IWS. These include sensors, meters, pressure-reducing valves (PRV), and automatic meter read- CHANGING WORKFORCE AND SKILLS ing (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). With the implementation of IWS, utilities will start to see a rise in the need for some new skillsets, including data • The Collection and Communication level includes technol- science and data engineering. While current utility person- ogies that enable storage and transmission of data. Examples nel may hone some of these skills, these are things that include fixed cable network, radio, cellular, and Wi-Fi. the utility engineer of the future will need to possess. It is important to make students aware of resources that exist • Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) outside the “typical” water engineering realm, and that is system, cybersecurity, and customer information systems evident in the large mix of water personnel we are starting (CIS) and geographic information system (GIS) are prime to see today. examples of the Data Management and Display level. Corey Williams is CEO of Optimatics (Overland Park, Kan.) • Data Fusion and Analysis is the ultimate IWS level. and chair of the Interoperability Task Force for WEF’s Intel- These technologies perform data analytics and modelling to ligent Water Technology Committee, and Lisa McFadden is help operators by assessing effects of changes, responding director of Integrated Technical Programs and associate director to them in real-time, optimizing operations, and planning of the Water Science & Engineering Center at the Water Envi- for enhanced decision-making. ronment Federation (Alexandria, Va.).

Figure 2. Largest resource needs for intelligent water system implementation

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 9 OPERATOR INGENUITY WEFTEC OPERATOR INGENUITY CONTEST OPENS FOR 2018

WEFTEC® 2018 will host the seventh annual Operator In- lateral, and cleanout cap to show customers how smoke genuity Contest. Not all innovations come from a research inspections work, and a device to safely and easily lift the lab. Sometimes, you need to tackle a persistent problem clarifier skimmer in the winter to prevent the skimmer using just what’s at hand and a big shot of ingenuity. The from freezing to the grease box. competition is open to all clever ideas related to • treatment processes, For some more inspiration check out all of the 2017 win- • maintenance practices, ners below. • safety measures, • collection systems, VACUUM VIRTUOSO AWARD • laboratory practices, Andy Loudermilk from the Bigfork (Mont.) Water and • stormwater, Sewer District received this award for his invention of the • administration, “scum sucker.” Loudermilk repurposed an old rotary- • human resources, or lobed positive displacement blower into to vacuum to • anything else associated with the water sector. remove scum from the top of the facility’s membrane bioreactor tanks and deposit it into the facility’s solids The bottom line: Even if you’re not sure that your innova- holding pit. tion qualifies, submit it.

DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM PAST WINNERS ALTERNATE ACID ACTIVIST AWARD This contest has discovered about 40 award-winning fixes Zenon Kochan and Matt Seib from the Nine Springs in its first 6 years. Entries are judged on safety, resource- Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Madison (Wis.) fulness, and how transferable the ideas are. The criteria Metropolitan Sewerage District received their award for are kept simple to encourage all kinds of entries. Past assembling a low-cost, safe, and efficient acid pumping winners have included painting buildings different colors system. Instead of carrying 25-kg (55-lb) bags of pow- to make deliveries easier, building a replica manhole, dered acid to the top of a 10-m-tall (30-ft-tall) reactor,

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 10 OPERATOR INGENUITY

Photo: Ops Ingen 2017 all winners.jpg Credit: Oscar & Associates/ Courtesy of Water Environment Federation

At WEFTEC 2017, the winners of the sixth annual WEFTEC Ingenuity Contest received their certificates and gave presentations on their “duct-tape fixes.” Left to right are Andy Loudermilk, Matt Seib, Zenon Kochan, Mark Cataldo, Sidney Homer, Water Environment Federation Trustee Joan Hawley, Tomas Martinez, David Dedian (representing the Thinkers Who Tinker), Tony Hale, Jason Patty, and Pat Fountain.

operators now use a portable pump that Kochan built to HELPFUL HITCH HAND AWARD deliver a liquid acid directly into the process tankage. Travis A. Fisher from the Ojai (Calif.) Valley Sanitary District won for creating a ball-hitch-mounted arm to hold CHEMICAL CAPTURE CHIEF AWARD spools of cable. The “bumper hitch reel” fits over the ball Mark Cataldo from Suez (Paramus, N.J.) and the Killingly hitch on a truck and helps manage the cables associated Water Pollution Control Plant (Danielson, Conn.) earned with a pipe patch kit and a push camera. his award for installing a trough to catch any spills dur- ing sodium hypochlorite deliveries. Catalado attached a THE FIRST RESPONDERS’ FIRST RESPONDER AWARD simple trough to the wall beneath the inlet pipe to replace a Sidney Homer and Tomas Martinez from the 69th Street bucket propped up with a board. Wastewater Treatment Facility (Houston, Texas) each re- ceived an honorary Operator Ingenuity award for ensuring THINKERS WHO TINKER AWARD services that enabled emergency response work following Kevin Barry, Jeff Leonard, and Jim Wilson from Woodard Hurricane Harvey. & Curran (Portland, Maine) and the Pinehills Wastewater Treatment Facility (Plymouth, Mass.) won for applying NEW ENTRY CRITERIA FOR 2018 the motto “work safer, not stronger” to find safer, more efficient approaches to routine tasks. Their changes include The submission process is a little different this year. In using davits and hoists throughout the facility to lift heavy addition to up to five photos and about one page of text equipment. describing the problem you faced and the fix you found, we’re asking you three questions: ROOT ASSASSIN AWARD • How transferable is it to other facilities or locations? • How does this fix take safety into account? Tony Hale from the Cottonwood Improvement District • Where did the materials and any money used for the fix (Sandy, Utah) won for devising an in-pipe spot applicator come from? for chemical herbicides. He built a floating rig that holds a camera and a swiveling nozzle to help deliver foaming root removal chemicals precisely where they are needed. The entire submission process also will move to a more This leads to halving the amount of chemical needed for user-friendly platform. Visit www.weftec.org/ingenuity to the job. get started.

TIDY TESTER AWARD WIN, PRESENT, AND PUBLISH Jason Patty, Ron McClure, Pat Fountain, Glen Holz, Selected inventors will be invited to give 10-minute presen- and Brad Gillis from the El Dorado (Kan.) Wetlands and tations at WEFTEC 2018 in New Orleans. Submitters do Water Reclamation Facility received this award for build- not have to write a full WEFTEC paper. What you provide ing a simple and effective return activated sludge (RAS) in your submission is all that is needed in writing for the sampling station. The operators plumbed the RAS line to contest. Even if you can’t come to WEFTEC, submit your a bucket, which has a hole in the bottom that is plumbed ideas. Award winners and select other entries will be con- to the sump pit. Closing the drain valve on the bucket and verted into articles for the Operator Ingenuity section of opening the RAS flow line fills the bucket. Opening the Water Environment & Technology magazine. bucket drain valve send the RAS into the sump. Questions? Email us at [email protected].

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 11 WEF NEWS YOU CAN USE! WWW.WEF.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION

Justin Haydel, P.E. Kenny Ferachi, P.E. 10542 S. Glenstone Place | Baton Rouge, LA 70810 tel (225) 448 3972 | fax (225) 454 6065 Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) www.manchacgroup.com Do you know a high school student interested in STEM and water? The 2018 US Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) competition is now open and accepting entries. The SJWP is the world’s most prestigious water competition at the high school level. The prize taps into the unlimited potential of today’s high school students as they seek to address current and future water challenges.

The competition is open to students in grades 9-12 who have con- ducted water-science research projects. Enter at www.sjwp.org for a chance to win $10,000 and an all-expenses paid trip to Stockholm, Sweden!

Deadline is April 15, 2018. Questions, Contact: WEF Staff, Stevi Hunt-Cottrell.

SJWP is Sponsored by the Water Environment Federation with support from Xylem Inc.

SAVE-THE-DATES

Water Week 2018 [email protected] April 15 - 21, 2018 Registration will open in early 2018. During this week, the Fly-In will also be held April 17 - 18. This annual event held in Washing- Fred Johnson ton D.C. helps inspire local, state, and national leaders and dem- Robert Herrington onstrates the considerable value the water sector brings to envi- (225) 383-4999 ronmental protection, economic development, and job creation. 225-383-4998 www.jeco.us Questions, Contact: WEF Legislative Director, Steve Dye [email protected]

1200 South Acadian Thruway WEFTEC 2018 Baton Rouge, LA 70806 91st Annual Technical Exhibition & Conference September 29 - October 3 • 8:30 am - 5:00 pm daily New Orleans Morial Convention Center

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 12 LWEA 2017 – 2018 OFFICERS PRESIDENT • CHERREE CARLSON 225-241-8773 • [email protected] PRESIDENT-ELECT • DIANA DAY 956-202-2911 • [email protected] VICE-PRESIDENT • TJ TRUXILLO 985-859-9681 • [email protected] SECRETARY • MAGHEE SHAW [email protected] TREASURER • ALEX SHEFFIELD 225-755-1000 • [email protected] PAST PRESIDENT • JESSICA KEASLER 225-344-6052 • [email protected] WEF DELEGATE • AIMEÉ KILLEEN 225.766.7400 • [email protected] PWO REP. • STEVE HOSS 225-400-2115 • [email protected] COMMITTEE CHAIRS AWARDS CHAIR Adrienne Kelly - [email protected]

COLLECTION SYSTEMS CHAIR Josh Graham - [email protected]

HOSPITALITY CHAIR Beth Hitt - [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR TO ADVERTISE Linda McConnell - [email protected] Contact: ALEX SHEFFIELD PUBLIC EDUCATION CHAIR [email protected]. Aimeé Killeen - [email protected] 225-755-1000 SAFETY CHAIR Adrienne Kelly - [email protected] Representations by advertisers of products, ser- vices or professional qualifications in this pub- SCHOLARSHIP CHAIR lication are the sole responsibility of the adver- Henry Graham - [email protected] tisers. The LWEA assumes no responsibility or warranty of such representations. The LWEA assumes no responsibility for statements and opinions expressed by contributors to this publi- OPEN POSITIONS cation. Views expressed in editorials and articles Program • Government • Young Professionals are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily Community Outreach/Education • WEFTEC Advisory Chair represent the position of LWEA.

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 13 MEMBER NEWS BY LINDA MCCONNELL • MEMBERSHIP CHAIR

New Members Please welcome the following new members, who recently joined WEF and LWEA:

Come swim with the best water quality Cedric Grant, Grant Management Group LLC, Donaldsonville, LA professionals in the business. Ronda L Lee, Total Environmental Solutions LLC, Baton Rouge, LA Amer Tufail, Greenpoint Engineering, New Orleans, LA 17170 Perkins Rd | Baton Rouge, LA 70810 225-755-1000 Contact: [email protected] Membership Benefits to You 1. Sharpen your skills – Stay on top of advances, trends, and proven solutions through WEF publications, Technical Practice Updates, and ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Access Water Knowledge.

Providing 2. Continue lifelong learning – Earn CEUs and PDHs through WEF’s Sustainable educational program, including WEFTEC®, Specialty Conferences, Water and hot topic seminars, workshops, and webcasts. Wastewater Engineering 3. Build productive relationships – Within WEF and the Member Services in Associations (MAs; e.g., LWEA), our members work together to help Louisiana each other develop and grow professionally.

4. Become a leader – Gain leadership skills that can be applied to your career by volunteering your service to a WEF and/or MA committee.

BUCHART HORN, INC. Building 6 5. Achieve your career goals – Tap into the leading career network for Suite A, 18163 East Petroleum Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70809-6104 the water community, WEF’s Job Bank, where dozens of new jobs are (225) 755 2120 I www.bh-ba.com posted each month.

The CrockTN_DblVertl Ad BH2015.indd 1 12/15/2014 2:50:04 PM Non-members, Expired Members For WEF/LWEA membership information, visit wef.org/JoinWEF or contact Linda McConnell at [email protected] or 225/292-9007. I can forward you a PDF of the current application form or can look up your expired member number for use in commu- nications with WEF.

Environmental Practice Group Working on or wrapping up a unique project? Robert L. Coco Erinn Neyrey Try something new that worked? Anne J. Crochet Timothy J. Poché Paul O. Dicharry Robin Price Toups Thomas D. Gildersleeve Gerald L. Walter, Jr. Showcase your project in The Crock! Michelle Marney White Contact [email protected] to submit Chase Tower, Downtown Baton Rouge your article for the next issue. 225.387.3221 www.taylorporter.com

thelwea.com • APRIL 2018 14