Today is Thanksgiving and we had crab legs and shrimp with melted butter. Those of you that have been to my classes know I was truly Thankful for today (I love me some crab legs)!!
Last week I attended the Indiana Water Environment Associations’ (IWEA) Annual Conference at the Westin in Indianapolis. This year they set a new attendance record with just over 1,085 attendees. If you were there you know how awesome it was. If you were unable to attend you can’t imagine the impact of all that knowledge being in one place at one time. There were technical and general sessions ranging from the basics such as A Day At the Treatment Plant to Stormwater sessions with Safety, Lab, Pretreatment, Collection System in-between. If you wanted to see equipment representatives – that was the place to put a face with a voice or discover what is new to the market (see Barb’s notes). If you wanted to “feel out” a new engineer or consulting firm – again, that was the place to be. If you were looking to find new contacts in the same field – yep, you guessed it – that was the place to be. You could even pick up “Stuff We Always Get” (SWAG) – hats, pens, paper pads, t-shirts, candy, flashlights, small tool kits to name a few.
For me it always seems like a homecoming. I usually end up “working” the registration desk (well for me it’s more like playing). I have to say (will sound egotistical) to see so many past students still in the industry and doing so well makes me feel like a proud mama. This year it was almost overwhelming to see all the people who remembered me from Certification Sessions or other training sessions. During my two (2) half hour talks this year there was standing room only with 3 to 4 people deep at the back. After my sessions I was told by so many how much they enjoyed them. I must tell you it made me stand a little taller and walk a little prouder to hear that not only did people enjoy how I gave the presentations, but they also took something away with them. For that I am Truly Thankful.
I hope by getting the word out there about Wastewater 101 I will have more chances to teach in-house at plants throughout Indiana. I was also given the opportunity to hold classes near West Lafayette, so keep checking back to Wastewater 101 for more information about courses and “Like” us on Facebook for Operator Certification, Collection System Certification quizzes and updates, Safety Tips and Wastewater Math.
* Barb’s notes:
A new piece of equipment that really caught my eye was the YSI SensorNet Continuous Process Monitoring and Control sensor and stackable monitors. The sensors are interchangeable for TSS, Turbidity, D.O. and Ammonia, are stationary in the tanks, and they are relatively inexpensive so for smaller plants they are attainable. As I stood looking at this product and listening to the sales representative it became apparent that a mixture of these D.O. probes/monitors, variable speed drives on the blower(s) and the StarBurst pulse bubble mixer(s) used to mix the contents of the aeration basin and aerobic digester, could dramatically reduce the power consumption costs for plants of all sizes. If you wanted to really cut utility costs, you might consider wasting directly to a Geotextile Container instead of to a digester.
*For more information on the YSI SensorNet contact B.L. Anderson at www.blanderson.com or Rick Kocerha at (317)652-1094 or rick@blanderson.com
*For more information regarding the StarBurst pulse bubble mixer use Wastewater 101 contact form.
* For more information regarding the Geotextile Container contact Blue River Technologies at (765) 766-6190 or mconwell@nltc.net