Full Description

Forty-five small system rapid sand filter surface water treatment plants (WTP) were reviewed from March to November 2001. Each of these WTPs within the State of Washington were assessed during a two-day comprehensive filter plant performance evaluation (FPPE). These evaluations were based on a format adapted from the EPA Comprehensive Performance Evaluation (CPE) program and provided assistance to operators in optimizing their WTPs. Several performance limiting factors were found to be common to many of the WTPs. These factors were present in: design, operation, administration, and maintenance. The following performance limiting factors common to several of the plants are as follows: under design limitations, potential cross-connections were observed and backwash sequence and rates were inadequate resulting in poorly cleaned filters;under operational limitations, plants routinely lacked defined performance optimization goals, jar testing was limited, operational manuals were not available, and on occasion some of the operational staff were incapable of making process control changes;under administration limitations, administrators were found, in some cases, to be indifferent about the activities of the WTP, operators were not always available or had too many other tasks to adequately operate the plant, and funds were not available to obtain necessary equipment or additional staff; and, undermaintenance limitations, preventive maintenance was not regularly performed and rarely tracked, predictive maintenance was not performed, and in many cases, adequate tools or workspace was not available. By identifying limitations common to the 45 small system WTPs utilizing rapid sand filters in the State of Washington, other systems may quickly and efficiently determine if they have similar limitations. This study demonstrates to administrators, operators, and engineers the benefits of performance self-evaluations in optimizing their plants. Includes table, figures.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 06/16/2002 Number of Pages: 13File Size: 1 file , 360 KB