Nearly 150 people attended the National Association of Wastewater Transporters NAWT’s 5th Annual Waste Treatment Symposium hosted by Dave Hapchuk at Hapchuk Inc. in Washington, Pa. The amount of work Dave and his crew put into preparing the facility and equipment was exceeded only by their hospitality. Some 30 vendors displayed their equipment.
Wayne Vandenberge of Advance Pump and Equipment Inc. and Bob Mlinek of Morton Buildings Inc. sponsored breakfast both days. On Wednesday, Ed Fitzgerald of Jack Doheny Supplies and some of Hapchuk’s crew flipped burgers for lunch. Fournier Industries Inc. sponsored lunch on Thursday. Beverages for both days were provided by David Flagg’s Septic Services Inc. in Union, Mo.
Wednesday evening, Dave Hapchuk sponsored hors d'œuvres, an open bar, a great dinner and a band. He invited the community to join us, bringing attendance to more than 400. Besides door prizes supplied by some vendors, a 50-50 raffle added $1,800 to the William Hapchuk Scholarship Fund. NAWT gave Dave a plaque of appreciation for hosting the symposium. The association is grateful and thankful for these sponsors.
MULTIPLE GOALS
The symposium’s mission is to provide technical knowledge to those contemplating developing a disposal site. This is accomplished by more than a day of classroom sessions.
On Wednesday, symposium chairman Tom Frank welcomed the attendees and thanked the Hapchuk crew and vendors for their support. In simultaneous presentations, Ed Fitzgerald explained the need for safety in treatment plants, and Lonnie Nicholls of the local Washington Financial Bank gave tips for contractors presenting their projects to bankers. Developing a treatment facility usually requires a substantial capital investment. The group then split into sessions designed for those who needed to learn the basics and those with more experience.
The first track began with Tom Frank of Tim Frank Septic Tank Cleaning Co. in Huntsburg, Ohio, stressing the importance of taking inventory of your resources. As everyone’s inventory is different, Tom had no cookie-cutter answer as to what attendees’ treatment facilities should look like.
Therese Wheaton of Crystal Environmental Services Inc. moderated the treatment process segment. Doug McCord of Enquip and a representative for Lakeside Equipment Corp. talked about removing debris and grit at the head of the treatment process. Estimates indicate that 50,000 gallons of septage produce one cubic yard of screenings and one cubic yard of grit. If not removed, operators will be plagued with blockages throughout the plant and lose valuable tank capacity.
Wheaton’s presentation focused on equalization — blending loads together to achieve a uniform mix. The reason is twofold: First, trucks unload at 200 gpm or faster, but dewatering presses run much slower (Hapchuk’s press was processing 95 gpm). Second, each load is different, but when blended, the mix generally doesn’t change much, making the dewatering process easier to manage. Wheaton’s rule of thumb is that the capacity of the equalization tank should match the plant’s anticipated daily volume.
Jim Millard of Aqua Ben Corp. presented the chemistry behind the dewatering mix. Larry Montgomery of Boerger Pumps LLC detailed pumps used throughout the treatment process. Martin Crawford of Bay Products Inc. talked about odor control equipment. Odor is an issue operators must address.
THE OTHER SESSIONS
Kit Rosefield of Accredited Septic Monitoring led off the other track of sessions talking about the benefits of adding septage and grease trap waste to the digester to increase methane gas production and reduce sludge. Many municipalities and dairy farms already use this technology.
Most treatment facilities discharge their filtrate to a municipal sewer and pay surcharges for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). Bob Advent of Advanced Industrial Aeration presented a case history on installing aeration equipment to reduce these levels. The money operators save in smaller surcharges will pay for the equipment in months.
An afternoon discussion on dewatering options started with Jim Capell of FKC Co. explaining screw press operation. Peter Gagne of Fournier Industries described rotary presses, which Hapchuk uses at his facility. Kelly Brown of BDP Industries explained filter belt presses. Wheaton concluded by explaining dewatering containers.
In the afternoon, Martin Crawford of Bay Products talked about the advantages and disadvantages of using biofilters to control odors. Biofilters have a large footprint, but they are easy to build and maintain. Attendees left with design parameters they could put on their biofilters.
Attendees then heard Jim Lanier of Stanley Environmental Solutions in Stanley, N.C., explain how he dewaters and composts grease trap waste. Afterward, presentations focused on Hapchuk’s Liquid Assets Disposal facility in Wheeling, W.V. Chuck Neuhardt, the city’s pretreatment specialist, described Wheeling’s industrial discharge permitting process. Andy Kicinski, co-owner of Liquid Assets Disposal, talked about meeting regulatory requirements and the related operational challenges. Hapchuk concluded the program explaining the facility background.
FIELD TRIP
On Thursday, attendees were bused to Hapchuk’s facility. They saw trucks discharge through a Lakeside automated fine screen followed by a grit chamber. The waste was pumped to one of four equalization tanks, then to a four-channel Fournier rotary press. The filtrate passed through a dewatering container that removed suspended solids and reduced BOD levels before flowing to a discharge equalization tank metered to the city sewer.
Aqua Ben Corp.’s Millard gave polymer demonstrations and explained the role chemistry plays in the dewatering process. A 1-meter belt filter press from BDP Industries dewatered aerobically digested sludge at about 140 gpm, then the material was diverted into a PolyWick dewatering container.
Wayne Schutz, assistant manager at Derry Township, Pa., Municipal Authority, led the final classroom session. He explained how their acceptance of grease trap waste evolved into an energy-producing bonanza. Before participants returned home, NAWT supplied an attendance list for networking purposes. Those unable to attend the symposium will find the PowerPoint presentations and photographs at www.nawt.org. Click the Treatment Symposium tab.
In 2011, NAWT plans to unveil its traveling Treatment Workshop, a one-day session by two instructors on the basics of waste treatment. To host a workshop or have one in your area, call the NAWT office at 800/236-6298.
