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Forward
Thinking
Atlantic County Utilities Authority
Wastewater
Computer System Modification
The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA)
updated their wastewater computer system to create
electronic logbooks, log sheets and calendars with
database functionality. The wastewater computer system
modification provides the ability for enhanced
communications, organized record keeping and automated
reporting.
In a climate where rotating shift workers
must communicate with other staff, the desire to better
communicate and capture history led to this project. The
goal was to capture events and conditions observed by the
operations staff in an easily accessed medium. In
addition, there was a desire to keep the operations staff
informed as to the maintenance being performed. The
ultimate goal was to have the most complete information
readily available for record keeping, reporting and the
proper operation and maintenance of equipment.
The major obstacle encountered during this
project was employee “buy-in”. Whether it was the move
from paper logbooks and log sheets or the extraction of
useful data from an existing Computerized Maintenance
Management System (CMMS), the benefits of transitioning to
a new system would have to be experienced by the users
before much enthusiasm could be created. Hands-on
demonstrations were required to develop this enthusiasm.
In addition, the interest level of the end users was kept
high by keeping them involved in the developmental stages.
For example, the structure and appearance of the on-line
applications catered to the needs and desires of the user.
In the case of the CMMS information, the
staff had already been struggling to use an inadequate
CMMS program. The features lacking in this program were
brought to life through the integration of Microsoft
Office applications including the Outlook calendar and
Excel spreadsheet programs.
Through a teamwork effort, the goals of the
project have been achieved. The staff can stay in touch
with day-to-day operations and maintenance from any
location via an Internet connection. Some recordkeeping
and reporting requirements have been satisfied, thus,
eliminating other existing means. The entire staff has a
better idea of what is occurring by frequently reviewing
the logbooks and maintenance planning information.
Specific information is easily retrieved from databases.
The benefit to new employees is extra special, as they can
use the logbooks as a means to better understand all of
the authority’s daily business.
The authority’s IT Unit developed an
intranet using Microsoft SharePoint Server Technology to
better connect and inform all employees and centralize
resources into a central location. This SharePoint Sever
Technology is included in standard Microsoft Operating
Software. The operating budget for the project consisted
of IT staff programming for the expansion of the
wastewater site. This consisted of approximately 16 hours
per week for approximately 26 weeks. Wastewater operating
staff meetings (1-2 hours) with IT were conducted weekly
for approximately 6 months to develop, review and modify
input sheets and reports.
Bergen County Utilities Authority
Sustainable Energy Management
Plan
The BCUA has been proactive in implementing
sustainable environmental management practices while
reducing operating costs and instituting basic pollution
prevention (P2) planning. Such practices include:
Cogeneration
In 2006, the BCUA developed a Cogeneration
Facility, the use of digester gas as a fuel source for
process energy and building heating purposes, and the
beneficial reuse of treated wastewater for cooling make-up
water at a large power plant. Due to be operational in
2008, the cogeneration facility is expected to generate
21,870,000 kilowatts per year of electricity, with
additional process heat recovered expected to exceed
87,760 MMBtu per year. The electricity generated will
amount to 85 percent of power required at the BCUA Little
Ferry facility, and the heat recovered will amount to 47
percent of heat required for the plant process needs. The
use of the waste heat from the plant is expected to reduce
the burning of fossil fuel oil for the plant boilers,
resulting in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by an
estimate of 284 metric tons per year.
The wastewater treatment plant digester
process produced an estimated 260,000 millions of BTU (MMBtu)
of biogas in 2006. Of this total production, 60,728 MMBtu
was used in the WWTP process by the turbine air blowers
for an estimated cost avoidance of $684,923 for 2006. The
estimated biogas usage for the future cogeneration plant
is 92,725 MMBtu.
Energy Procurement
The BCUA also employs competitive energy
procurement practices under the direction and
recommendations of its consultant PMK Group, Inc. (PMK).
Using RFB Sealed Bid processes, PMK has obtained
competitive pricing from NJBPU registered Third Party
Suppliers for the electric and natural gas supply. In so
doing, the BCUA has eliminated the $.005 per kilowatt
retail adder for electricity, and has entered into fixed
price contracts for budget certainty and to limit market
exposure.
Green Roof Technologies
At the direction of the BCUA, PMK is in the
design stage of a new Green Roof for the existing
Operations Building located at the waste water treatment
plant. Green Roof technology, widely used in Europe for
many years, is a relatively new concept of sustainable
building design in the United States, which reduces roof
runoff and increases the energy efficiency of the
building. A study of the performance of the roof will be
conducted to determine if it is a potentially replicable
means of reducing runoff from impervious roof surfaces
within the BCUA’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) service
area to improve receiving steam water quality after wet
weather.
Shared Resources
The BCUA also has an agreement with the
neighboring PSE&G power plant by allowing
PSE&G to use the BCUA’s plant effluent as
non-contact cooling water. This allows PSE&G who utilizes
millions of gallons of water daily not to utilize
Hackensack River water.
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Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
Lower
Passaic Canoe & Kayak Trail
The Lower Passaic Canoe &
Kayak Trail (Trail) is a 32-mile urban water trail on the
Lower Passaic River extending from the
confluence of the Pompton & Passaic Rivers to
Riverbank Park in Newark. PVSC
has been working with the Lower Passaic & Saddle River
Alliance (Alliance) and the National Park
Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance
Program (RTCA) to identify and eliminate sources of
pollution, improve public access and reconnect communities
to the river and to change negative public perceptions of
this valuable resource.
Located in the midst of
the most densely populated and intensely developed regions
on the planet, the Passaic
River once teetered on the brink
of annihilation by the rapid urbanization and
industrialization of its watershed. Dangerous levels of
pollutants were turning the waterway into a biological
wasteland. The implementation of the Clean Water Act
slowly halted the most egregious discharges and conditions
slowly began to rebound. Unfortunately, the story of the
Lower Passaic’s industrial past is still evident in the
sediments of a seventeen mile stretch of river bottom,
leaving a toxic legacy that has earned it a spot among the
nation’s worst Superfund sites.
Tales of the river’s
dangerously polluted conditions have become deeply rooted
in the lore of the region. A critical step in addressing
the river’s water quality is to begin changing people’s
deeply seated negative beliefs. PVSC was instrumental in
the development of a group called the WMA 4 Public
Advisory Committee (PAC) in 2001, later called the Lower
Passaic & Saddle River Alliance, a group of volunteers
that included
over 30 municipalities, community groups, businesses,
government agencies and local citizens dedicated to
reclaiming and restoring the Lower Passaic Watershed.
The
Alliance looked for creative ways to engage people with
the river and began looking into long-term, permanent
solutions to provide public access to the River. The
Alliance received a technical assistance grant from RTCA
for developing a water trail Action Plan. The Action Plan
described in detail the existing conditions and
recommendations for incorporating the approximately
twenty-four (24) water trail access points.
The
Action Plan is a concrete expression of the Alliance’s
vision for the River and the response to it has been
overwhelmingly positive. It has opened the doors to
municipal, county, state and federal officials and without
exception, has been met with their support. We have
continually adapted and modified parts of the plan to
incorporate the local input and suggestions we have
received.
Since announcing the
completion of the Action Plan, both PVSC and the Alliance
have received grant money from NJDEP’s Recreational Trails
Program to create the first official access point for the
Trail in Fair Lawn, in Bergen County. The Alliance also
submitted grant proposals to create new access at the
Nereid Boat Club in Rutherford and Lijoi Riverfront
Park in West Paterson. PVSC
continues to work with such municipalities as Paterson,
Kearny, and Newark to develop
new access in each of these communities.
Upon completion of the Trail,
PVSC
also plans to develop a map and guide to be distributed to
paddlers that will contain all of the pertinent
information, including maps with the location of all
twenty-four access points and distances between them,
along with bathrooms, parking, and other amenities. There
are plans to introduce an educational component, which
would include stations along the River where students can
stop and engage in a lesson specific to that section of
the River. All of this will ensure a safe, enjoyable, and
educational experience for all paddlers.
The
2007 budget for the Trail included $60,000 for the PVSC
full-time employee, a $80,261,000 grant from the National
Park Service, $3,500 in private donations for the Paddle
Relay and all other work was completed by volunteers from
the Alliance.
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