Associated Engineering is excited to continue our long-time support of the BC Water & Waste Association and we’re proud to announce our large slate of subject matter experts who are featured in this year’s educaton program at the BCWWA’s annual conference taking place on April 29 and 30 in Whistler, BC! Each of our presenters, representing our water and strategic advisory services practices, will share their insights on various topics that are connected to the conference theme of “The Ripple Effect: When Action Becomes Change”.

Monday, April 29

11:15am – 11:45am
Stop Throwing Away Your Hydraulic Energy!
Presenter: Jonathan Musser
Room: Garibaldi B

Join us to learn more about Pump–as–Turbine Generating Systems. Surplus energy is regularly dissipated at pressure reducing stations within gravity fed distribution systems. At the same time, efforts to reduce fossil fuel usage are increasing the demand for electrical energy. There is potential for pressure reducing stations to generate electricity. This presentation will review operational experiences from The Sooke River Road Treatment Facility, a Capital Regional District facility which has been successfully generating power since 2010. The Sooke River Road Treatment Facility includes an 11–kW pump–as–turbine generating system, which operates in parallel with pressure reducing valves to recover hydraulic energy as electricity. Join us to learn about the challenges and opportunities of implementing this technology, review maintenance needs for the system and understand the cost– benefit analysis for utilizing a pump–as–turbine generating system

1:45pm – 2:15pm
Strategic Electrical Maintenance and Upgrade Planning of Operating Water Plants
Presenter: Derek Desaulniers
Room: Garibaldi A

How often do we see strategic planning to replace/ renew equipment in an operating plant? As individuals, we may be inclined to look at the large equipment such as pumps and filters, but what about some of the smaller, more sensitive components that are pricey, but often overlooked. With the evolving landscape in the electrical industry introducing us to greater challenges obtaining materials, this introduces new implications to planning for electrical upgrades, including such items as PLC upgrades, capital spares and SCADA systems.

Tuesday, April 30

10:30am – 11:00am
Increasing Anaerobic Digestion Capacity: Different Strategies and Their Implications
Presenter: Cameron Macdonell
Room: Empress B

This presentation explores innovative approaches to enhance anaerobic digestion (AD) capacity and performance for wastewater sludge treatment, emphasizing the integration of diverse technologies. Techniques including sludge thickening, chemical hydrolysis, thermal hydrolysis, and improvements to primary clarification are investigated for their synergistic effects on optimizing AD performance. The study evaluated the implications of these strategies on biogas production and biosolids volume reduction, emphasizing the role of increased biogas yields in sustainable wastewater management. In addition, the integration of advanced technologies aims to elevate volatile solids reduction efficiency, reduce biosolids volume production, and improve final product quality (Class A), contributing to more eco–friendly and economically viable solids treatment solutions. This presentation will provide valuable insights into the multifaceted strategies available for increasing AD capacity without necessarily building additional tanks, paving the way for more effective and sustainable wastewater treatment practices.

11:00am – 11:30am
AM Planning at the Sechelt Water Resource Centre
Presenter: Jaimie Sokalski
Room: Empress A

The District of Sechelt is building their asset management capacity, and recently developed their first ever Asset Management Plan (AMP) for their Water Resource Centre, a Level 4 wastewater treatment facility with tertiary treatment capacity. This initial AMP for the district is intended to act as a template and example for future AMPs across the service area and organization. In this presentation, the District and Associated Engineering will share their journey in making the most of a small budget to develop a first time AMP. Using an asset driven approach, we will share our findings around asset condition, functionality, risk and how these indicators will be used to inform future decisions. The presentation will discuss priorities in beginning your AM journey and how taking initial steps can still have immediate impact while setting you up for a more mature AM program across your facility or organization in the future.

1:30pm – 2:00pm
AWWA’s 2030 Strategic Plan – A Worldwide Path Forward
Presenter: Keith Kohut
Room: Empress A

When the Strategic Plan was last updated in 2020, AWWA members could not have foreseen the world–changing events that were about to occur, or the rapidly increasing interest in topics such as cybersecurity, “forever chemicals”, and diversity and inclusion. During the same period, the AWWA has also initiated a proactive campaign to identify, plan for, and shape the issues and the state of the water industry in the long term via their Water2050 program. AWWA is in the final stages of updating their strategic plan, intended to guide the organization from 2025 to 2030. This has provided an opportunity to reflect on the changes that have happened and are expected within our industry, as well as the changes that we want to make happen. Members of AWWA’s Strategic Planning committee will provide a walkthrough of AWWA’s 2030 strategic plan and its relevance for the water industry in BC.

1:30pm – 2:00pm
Upgrades of Existing Wastewater Collection Facilities – A Case Study
Presenter: Alex Jancker
Room: Empress B

The City of Maple Ridge is rapidly growing, and so are the demands on the City’s wastewater conveyance systems. While new infrastructure is desirable, upgrades to existing facilities are often the approach of choice due to various constraints and financial viability. The City’s largest wastewater pump station was constructed in the 1970’s and all mechanical equipment had reached the end of its service life. The construction and connection to a new, larger forcemain will mitigate the pump station’s hydraulic capacity limitations while larger equipment needs to be installed to convey higher flows. Major upgrades applied included the significant remodelling of the pump intake, complete replacement and remodelling of all piping components, the replacement of all HVAC and odour control components, general repairs, and improvements, as well as remodelling of the site drainage and access. Further, the upgrades significantly reduced the maintenance burden of the facility to City operation’s staff.

2:00pm – 2:30pm
Playing the EDI Long Game: Recruiting and Retaining Women Professionals
Quinn Crosina
Room: Empress A

For 10 years, Associated Engineering has made a commitment to improving the retention of women engineers, technologists, and scientists across the company. Historically, retention of women professionals was as much as 6 percentage points lower than men in the same roles. This presentation will discuss the findings from ‘stay interviews’ completed with longer term staff and the subsequent initiatives established. These include flexible working arrangements and mentoring programs, which have helped improve retention, leading to increased representation of women in technical leadership and managerial roles across the company. We are now looking to better understand and address the challenges women professionals face in a hybrid work environment. Improving retention is particularly relevant today, in a job market in which recruiting talent and maintaining a stable workforce are challenging. By engaging more women in the water industry, we can better represent and meet the needs of the communities we serve.

3:15pm – 3:45pm
Some Like it Hot! Actions to Address Algae Issues
Presenter: Dörte Köster
Frontenac C

Algae are essential to our waters but can create challenges, such as toxins, taste and odour, changes to pH, and aesthetics. Reports of algae issues in lakes, drinking water reservoirs, storm ponds and wastewater lagoons, along with available treatment options, have recently increased. But an understanding of the cause and the different types of algae that are present is key to identifying the most effective solutions. This presentation will provide an overview of the common types of algae, their biology and related issues for water and wastewater treatment. We will then discuss conditions that promote algae, such as climate, water quality and mixing patterns. Then, most importantly, we show how essential the understanding of algae is to assess risk and inform the right mitigation actions. Using case studies, we will demonstrate techniques to investigate algae issues and select the most appropriate solution for your type of algae.

4:15pm – 4:45pm
Optimizing Aerobic Digester Design and Operation for Biosolids Stabilization
Presenter: Jason Leong
Room: Empress C

Small wastewater treatment plants receiving less than 10 megaliters per day (MLD) of wastewater generate enough solids to require onsite sludge stabilization. Aerobic digestion is a suitable and cost–effective technology candidate for these smaller facilities as the process is simple and safe to operate and achieves stabilization objectives. Mixing, oxygen transfer, thickening, temperature, and pH are the most significant drivers for the proper functioning of an aerobic digestion process. Key design steps for new digesters include tank sizing based on forecasted treatment requirements and site climatic conditions, determining series versus parallel digester configuration, selection of appropriate aeration equipment (blowers and air diffusers), selection of sludge thickening equipment, and mixing effectiveness. These factors are also important in the operation of digesters and are key for Operators to understand.

The post BCWWA 2024 Conference Presenters first appeared on Associated Engineering.

Associated Engineering is proud to be a supporting sponsor of this year’s Canadian Network of Asset Managers 2023 National Conference taking place next week in Fredericton, NB! The three day program will focus on the theme of Crafting Resilient Communities. Once again, we are pleased to share that several of our staff will be leading and presenting in workshops and technical breakout sessions, and we invite attendees to hear from our asset management experts.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Workshop A: Building a Maintenance Management Plan
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Marysville B
Presenter: Mike Binns

Maintenance Management Plans are an important component of effective asset management, as they contain a means of getting organized so that necessary maintenance activities are scheduled and performed at the right time and in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Maintenance Management Plans play an important role in extending asset life. To build a robust plan, it is important to have the following components in the plan: An established goal for maintenance; Priorities established for critical and non-critical infrastructure; Maintenance schedules and what is required; Training for staff; Proper reporting and tracking; and Understanding when replacement of assets become a reality. In this workshop, we will explore the concepts of a maintenance management strategy, prioritization of critical assets, developing a schedule and reporting system. We will step through a maintenance management evaluation tool and discuss opportunities for improving evaluation area scores. The workshop, will be interactive and will begin to develop a maintenance management strategy considering criticality, failure modes, and standard operating procedures. The workshop will be hands on so be prepared to bring a pen and paper and to work together in teams.


Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Workshop D: AM Software: Planning, Procurement, Implementation, & Lessons Learned
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Marysville B
Presenters: Owen James and Jaimie Sokalski

Asset Management Software, including computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) are software that centralize asset data and information management to support decision making and maintenance management. AM software enables more efficient planning, documentation, and tracking of asset and maintenance processes including service requests, inspections, and work orders. Associated Engineering has supported many municipalities in software selection, implementation, change management, and process review. In this hands-on workshop, we will take participants through the following stages of the AM software planning and implementation process: 1. System-Data Landscape: mapping out the relationships between existing software, data, and systems to understand the current data landscape at an organization 2. Functional Needs & Gap Assessment: identifying the wants and needs of key staff to determine what you are looking for, and where gaps or inefficiencies may exist within the current data landscape 3. Software Review & Procurement: highlighting considerations to make when selecting a software for your organization 4. Implementation & Change Management: identifying key lessons learned through AM software implementation, as well as considerations for staff training and capacity building 5. Business Process Development: introducing business process development to clearly lay out the flow of tasks through process maps, roles, and responsibilities for key software functionalities and processes Throughout the activities and discussion, lessons learned through our own experience will be shared and participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences. At the end of the workshop, participants will leave with a better understanding of AM software, the steps to take when considering an AM software in their municipality, and considerations for improvement of software use in their municipality.


Asset and Maintenance Assessments – National Asset Review – Parks Canada Agency
4:20 PM – 4:45 PM | Marysville A
Presenter: Owen James

Parks Canada Agency is one of the largest federal custodians of real property and infrastructure supporting 46 national parks, one national urban park, 4 marine conservation areas and 171 national historic sites including 9 historic canals. Periodically the Agency undertakes a portfolio level review of its assets known as the National Asset Review to support Federal Government budget submission. The review undertaken in 2022 included an assessment of condition, maintenance, code, accessibility, climate adaptation needs and greening opportunities for a sample of assets to understand the cost implications and needs of the Agency overall. This presentation describes the process followed and the analysis undertaken by the project team in collaboration with the Agency including the innovative approaches to understanding meaningful maintenance needs, the modelling of climate adaptation needs and greening opportunities.

The post Associated Engineering at Canadian Network of Asset Managers 2023 National Conference first appeared on Associated Engineering.

Associated Engineering is pleased to announce the following individuals will be presenting in various streams of the technical program next week in Toronto at 52nd WEAO Technical Symposium. We invite all delegates to hear from our speakers on April 17 and 18th!

April 17, 2023

4:15 PM – 4:45 PM | Maple West
Modelling the Impacts of Grey Water Reuse Implementation on Wastewater Treatment Plants | Ryan Thoren  

Grey water treatment systems collect, store and treat grey water to specified standards for reuse. Depending on the level of treatment, this enables the use of treated grey water for applications such as above-ground irrigation, laundry, and toilet flushing. In addition to reduced demands on drinking water distribution and wastewater collection systems, implementation of grey water reuse has the potential to impact WWTP operations. To assess the potential impacts on WWTPs, a model was developed to predict changes to WWTP influent flows, concentrations, and mass loadings as a result of grey water reuse implementation. Two scenarios were modeled to investigate different rates of grey water reuse uptake in newly constructed homes for a medium-sized municipality (population of 500,000 people). Results were determined up to the year 2051 using population and housing development projections. The impacts of reduced flows on sewage collection systems were also assessed at a high level.

4:15 PM – 4:45 PM | Willow East

Rooftop Solar Systems at Wastewater Collection and Treatment Facilities | Don Bai

Rooftop Solar Systems at Wastewater Collection and Treatment Facilities | Don Bai
Drivers and Key Considerations to designing and constructing rooftop solar systems at Wastewater treatment and collection system facilities. Followed up with a case study examination of a success deployment.

4:45 PM – 5:15 PM | Willow Centre
Feasibility of Advanced Digestion Options to Reduce Biosolids Volume | José Bicudo

This paper discusses the feasibility of biosolids management options based on variations and enhancement of anaerobic digestion, which might help address capacity concerns at a regional composting facility. Different options were analyzed for biosolids volume reduction, energy generation and use, life-cycle cost, including sensitivity to select input parameters. A structured decision-making process, using a simplified triple bottom line (TBL) approach, is also included to provide a comparative evaluation of the options and inform the City on a number of important corporate considerations.

April 18, 2023

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM | Maple West
Wiped Out? – Screens for Small Wastewater Treatment Plants | Amir Esmaeili    

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) servicing small communities with rated average daily flows of less than 500 m3/d do not typically have screening units (fine screens). In the past, this was done as a cost-saving measure for these small communities and was deemed to not significantly impact the downstream treatment processes. Operational and maintenance problems associated with nuisance inorganic solids, such as flushable wipes, have become more prevalent in many sewage pumping stations and WWTPs. These problems include plugging of pumps and piping, material settling in quiescent areas of tanks and reduced quality of the biosolids. Implementing screen units in small WWTPs would mitigate the operational issues associated with flushable wipes clogging pumps and process piping. The objectives of this paper are to describe design criteria and considerations for implementing screen units in small WWTPs; present suitable screening technologies for small WWTPs; and discuss challenges with implementing screen units in existing facilities.

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm | Willow West
Investigating Plant-wide and Process-Specific Odour Emissions | Nico Carunungan 

In response to odour complaints made by residents living near the Kitchener and Hespeler Wastewater Treatment Plants in 2021 and 2022 respectively, we studied regional weather data, reviewed plant operating conditions, and measured odour emissions at both facilities to determine any causal relationships between treatment activities and the complaints received. It was determined that neither plant was generating odours that could have caused the nearby residential complaints over the durations of the study periods. A key point of interest to note is that we investigated the Kitchener WWTP on a plant-wide scale, while we put specific emphasis on the aerobic digestion process at the Hespeler WWTP as it had been recently upgraded to treat thickened waste activated sludge. Through both studies, we demonstrate that baseline profiling of odour emissions is essential to determining any causal relationships between wastewater treatment processes and sources of odours at treatment facilities.

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM  | Willow West
Managing Odours from Biosolids Storage and Processing – A Case Study from the Galt WWTP | Michael Blain

Biosolids processing facilities, particularly those including dewatered cake storage and truck loading bays, can produce a complex mixture of odours beyond the typical compounds such as H2S that are often the focus of odour treatment at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). At the Galt WWTP, there are two parallel carbon adsorption systems for building and process air treatment for the Biosolids Facility. This paper describes multiple rounds of odour sampling over the course of 8 years, and the presence of compounds including organic sulpur, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds that contribute to the odour mixture and require treatment. The paper also reviews technology options to treat this mixture including activated carbon, biofilter, and chemical scrubber, as well as constructability and life cycle cost considerations for this retrofit application.

The post Associated presents at Water Environment Association of Ontario Annual Conference first appeared on Associated Engineering.

Associated Engineering is pleased to participate next week in the Alberta Water & Wastewater Operators Association’s 47th Annual Operators Seminar taking place in Banff, AB. Members of our staff are presenting on a variety of important water and wastewater topics and projects in a pre-seminar workshop, as well as the technical session. We look forward to seeing everyone in person once again and welcome attendees to join our presenters’ sessions! 

The post Associated Engineering at annual AWWOA Operators Seminar (March 14-18, 2022) first appeared on Associated Engineering.