A CULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STUDY OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT MAINTENANCE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY IN PERU By Rebecca C. Midkiff A REPORT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In Environmental Engineering MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2016 © 2016 Rebecca C. Midkiff This report has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Environmental Engineering. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Report Advisor: Dr. Alex Mayer Committee Member: Dr. Jennifer Becker Committee Member: Dr. Kari Henquinet Department Chair: Dr. David Hand Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 5 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 6 1: Introduction .....................................................................................................................7 1.1: Challenges of Wastewater Management in Small, Rural Towns .......................7 1.2: Project Background and Overview ................................................................... 9 1.3: Study Objectives ..............................................................................................10 1.4: Description of Study Area ............................................................................... 11 1.4.1: Leymebamba, Amazonas, Peru ......................................................... 11 1.4.2: Administration of Water and Wastewater Services in Peru ............. 14 1.4.3: Wastewater Treatment in Peru and the Amazonas Region ............. 15 1.4.4: Wastewater Regulations in Peru ...................................................... 15 1.5: Wastewater treatment Systems in Leymebamba, Peru ................................... 16 1.5.1: Small-Scale Wastewater Treatment Technologies ............................ 16 1.5.2: Wastewater Treatment Systems by Unit Process ............................. 18 1.5.3: Maintenance Recommendations ..................................................... 24 2: Methodology ................................................................................................................. 25 2.1: Methods of Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis .................................... 25 2.2: Methods of Wastewater Sampling and Testing ............................................. 26 2.3: Methods of BioWin Modeling ........................................................................ 27 2.3.1: BioWin Modeling Software ............................................................. 27 2.3.2: Properly Maintained Base Model .................................................... 27 2.3.3: Sensitivity Analysis ......................................................................... 32 2.3.4: Alternative Maintenance Scenarios ................................................ 34 3: Qualitative Results and Discussion .............................................................................. 36 3.1: Observation of Maintenance Practices ........................................................... 36 3.2: Motivations and Challenges ............................................................................ 41 3.2.1: Motivations ....................................................................................... 41 3.2.2: Challenges ....................................................................................... 44 3.3: Discussion ...................................................................................................... 53 4: Quantitative Results and Discussion ............................................................................ 55 4.1: Wastewater Measurements ............................................................................ 55 3 4.2: BioWin Modeling Results .............................................................................. 58 4.2.1: Properly Maintained BioWin Base Model ....................................... 58 4.2.2: Sensitivity Analysis ......................................................................... 58 4.5: Alternative Maintenance Scenario BioWin Models ........................... 60 5: Conclusions and Recommendations............................................................................. 63 6: References ..................................................................................................................... 65 7: Appendices .................................................................................................................... 70 Appendix A: IRB Approval .................................................................................... 70 Appendix B: Interview Questions in English ......................................................... 71 Appendix C: Informed Consent Form in English ................................................. 74 Appendix D: BioWin Values ................................................................................. 78 4 Acknowledgements Many thanks to the people who have supported me through the realization of this project. First, I would like to thank Dr. Alex Mayer, my advisor, for his guidance and encouragement during these past 3 years. I would also like to thank Dr. Jennifer Becker for her assistance with BioWin and Dr. Kari Henquinet for her assistance with the qualitative aspects of the study. Thanks also to Dr. David Watkins and Dr. Brian Barkdoll, the Civil and Environmental PCMI advisors, for your input and support at school and in the Peace Corps. I would next like to express my gratitude to my incredible host family in Peru, who not only kept me alive and well during my two years in Leymebamba, but also were my greatest counterparts and advocates. My host dad helped me carry the cooler of wastewater samples from the plant to the town bus station, and he would say, “Popsicles for sale, Sewage flavored!” Migdonio and Elena, I could not have done it without you. Thanks to all the amazing Peruvians involved: the municipality of Leymebamba, the Palmira water committee, the National Water Authority, the NGO Ucumari, Juanito for teaching me about Imhoff tanks, and many more that were indirectly part of this project. Thank you all for your participation and assistance. I would also like to recognize all the Michigan Tech PCMIs, non-PCMIs, and Peru PCVs who were with me on this unique journey. Special shout-out to Brad Weiss, who suffered through BioWin next to me in the Dow computer lab. Many thanks, of course, to my real family for encouraging me and visiting me in Peru/Houghton. I expect you all to read this whole thing. Finally, I would like to acknowledge mi querido Leymebamba and all of the wonderful people there. Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with me. 5 Abstract Management of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been found to be especially challenging in small, rural communities of the developing world. This study examined maintenance of two small WWTPs in Leymebamba and Palmira, Peru through interviews with local authorities, observation of maintenance practices, wastewater measurements, and prediction of effects from maintenance with modeling using a wastewater process simulation software, BioWin. Challenges and motivations related to maintenance were investigated with semi-structured interviews, and maintenance practices were recorded during observations. It was found that outside supervision was a key motivating factor, and the existence of an operator who is supported by the administration was important as well. The maintenance practices in Leymebamba and Palmira were graded with a quantitative scale and were given 35% and 22% of the possible points, respectively. Measurements of influent and effluent biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) were taken at the plants, and the removals were estimated using the measurements. A BioWin model was developed based on the Leymebamba WWTP, and its performance was compared to that of the actual plant. The BioWin model performed over one standard deviation below the mean with respect to the plant’s average BOD removal, and it performed within one standard deviation of the mean with respect to the plant’s average TSS removal. The effects of maintenance were simulated in BioWin, and it was found that the performance was not significantly impacted by the alternate maintenance scenarios. However, maintenance is still recommended to prevent undesirable environmental problems and keep the WWTPs in working condition. The BioWin software was found to have limitations when modeling Imhoff tank systems with low maintenance, and future work is needed to further explore maintenance scenarios described in this study. 6 1: Introduction As the global population increases, the effects of poor wastewater management become more severe. Lack of proper treatment of wastewater leads to spread of water-borne diseases, pollution of water bodies, and harm of aquatic life. In low- or middle-income countries, 842,000 deaths in 2012 were estimated to have been caused by inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene practices (Pruss-Ustun, Bartram et al. 2014). Eutrophication of water bodies, including dead zones along coastlines and harmful algal blooms, is partially caused by the excessive nutrients from discharged wastewater (UNEP 2001). This problem is exacerbated in the developing world, where the population is rapidly growing and in many areas,