5544
905R77110
mzr
f
7T\
v ^! v
-------
-------
905R77110
mer
wefccme
b
mer
Cincinnati
In this brochure we want to acquaint
you with the Municipal Environmen-
tal Research Laboratory (MERL).
Our laboratory is organized into
three main functions:
• Water Supply Research
• Wastewater Research
• Solid and Hazardous Waste
Research
As the function titles suggest, our
research and development efforts
relate to municipal water use and the
leftovers from today's technically
oriented society.
ibilty
MERL, as a part of the Office of
Research and Development, United
The new EPA facility near the
University of Cincinnati is the
home of MERL
States Environmental Protection
Agency, contributes towards setting
standards; and develops technology
and environmental management pro-
grams for:
• drinking water use
• wastewater treatment
• solid and hazardous waste
management
-------
db
Knew
Today's Americans make up only
about 7 percent of the world's pop-
ulation, yet use about a third of
world energy production and con-
sume nearly half of the earth's raw
materials.
Water, perhaps the most important of
raw materials, often passes through
inadequate treatment plants result-
ing in inadequate water quality for
many downstream users. Much other
raw material is wasted and ends up
on the land in piles or fills whirh
degrade the human habitat and
threaten the future by pollutmq land
environment rivers and ink-nr-
as*.
If-
ocderr
ho\/e
ft '
Wo succeeder: . r. :T,TK :. • c,--. •„- •--
manufacturing and merchandising
SVStem0, thr rnr^t -ff---^-'- ---•
norrncailv ripsa-an;^ .n t»r. ,* —
that ',ve coi:'"i r -- - -•-'
-------
OJ99.
Lint:! rei ently we had forgotten some
ttiing very important — we delayed
to take into account the final, and
perhaps most important step in this
process Wedid not, until thisgener-
ation. apply modern management or
technology to the wise use of re-
sources (including water), or to the
ultimate disposition of our waste
We neglected, as some ecologists
observe to ' close the cycle in the
intricate chain of production and
consumption As a result of this lag
valuable and irreplaceable resources
have been consigned to the sludge
pond or trash heap, contributing
alarmingly to environmental prob-
lems For example in 1970. of the
370 billion gallons of water with-
drawn by American cities. 282 billion
gallons were returned to river sys-
tems as wastewater, but only 28 per-
cent of this water was reused for
agricultural or industrial purposes
The urgent need for research pro-
grams to offset historical indiffer-
ence was recognized and assigned
to EPA for implementation In 1975
a laboratory was founded out of the
Cincinnati-based National Environ-
mental Research Center The task of
the new laboratory was to attack spe-
cific urban environmental problems
The research role broadly encom-
passes
• Controlling the quality and
characteristics of drinking
water supplies
• Managing the treatment and
processing of wastewater
• Recycling useful raw materials
with emphasis on energy con-
servation and recovery
• Managing residuals for which
there is no further use
MERL is contributing to the develop-
ment of a synthesis of knowledge
from engineering, biological, phys-
ical and social disciplines which can
be utilized for the betterment of
municipal areas by providing solu-
tions through research and develop-
ment and consultation m the areas of
water supply, wastewater, and solid
waste management.
-------
Laboratory Director
Deputy Director
Senior Science Advisor
Francis T. Mayo
Louis W. Lefke
Francis M. Middleton
John J. Convery
v\oslQA/cf1er research
Director
water supply research
Director Gordon G. Robeck
sdd and hazardcus \AOste research dygm
Director Robert L. Stenburg
-------
the
wcitef
resea
(wsrd.
Research to improve the quality of
drinking water and the establish-
ment of a good technical basis for
quality analyses is performed by this
MERL Division. Specific areas of re-
search include:
• Provision of scientific criteria for
drinking water standards.
• Development of beneficial and
economically feasible methods
for water supply treatment; and
management of distribution
systems.
• Identification, quantification and
control of pollutants in ground-
water; and the development of
Top: Bacterial water quality is assessed
throughout the drinking water distribution
system
Bottom: Water is transported from various
public drinking water systems for use in
pilot plant evaluation of techniques for
organic and inorganic contaminant
removal
-------
methods to prevent pollutants
from entering groundwater
• Use of analytic methods and
technologies for measurement
of drinking water contaminants.
For example, WSRD operates a
water supply pilot plant located in
the Environmental Research Center
laboratory building. Special concern
is given treatment methods to en-
sure that no harmful by-products oc-
cur where a particular treatment is
employed. Where chiorme disinfec-
tion is performed, chloroform has
been detected in municipal water
supplies A recent survey of 80 city
water supplies revealed that trace
amounts of chloroform were present
in all systems that supplied chlorin-
ated water Since chloroform is a
suspected carcinogen (a cause of
Bacteria! plate counts are
an important method of
evaluating water quality
cancer), research to eliminate this
and other unwanted by-products
by developing alternate disinfect-
ant techniques is being pursued at
WSRD
Another major effort of WSRD is in-
suring that the vvater is of acceptable
quality after it leaves treatment fa-
cilities. Distribution and transmis-
sion facilities that are in need of re-
pair or modernization are particularly
vuinprahip tn tho offa^to r\t corrosive
surface water, which can carry con-
taminants such as asbestos and lead.
Tnese contaminants may also be in-
\
\
-------
troduced to water systems through
leaks or breaks in the underground
system piping
A third major area of research in
WSRD is the control of waterborne
disease from virus and bacteria
Ultimately, many water utilities will
benefit from such research Of the
funds available to the Water Supply
Research Division, 78 percent are
given as research grants-m-aid and
contracts to municipal, educational.
and private research organizations
specializing in water supply tech-
nology development
t
Top left: Sampling an
activated carbon column
used for removal of organic
contaminants from
drinking water
Top right: Collecting a
sample during a disinfection
test to determine the
effectiveness of the process
Bottom left: Rivers, lakes
and streams are sampled to
assess water quality
Bottom right- Preparing a
radioactive broth to permit
rapid counting of fecal
coliform bacteria
-------
the
tese
The Wastewater Research Division
conducts studiesand develops tech-
nologies aimed at the reduction of
municipal wastewater pollution. To
accomplish this, major areas of ex-
pertise include:
• Treatment Process Development
• Systems and Engineering
Evaluation
• Technology Development
Support
An example is the Treatment Pro-
cess Development Branch which
conducts studies related to the bio-
logical and physical-chemical treat-
ment methods, upgrading technol-
ogy, disinfection, and disposition of
municipal wastewater contaminants,
such as sludge and brines.
Considerable effort within VVRD is
directed to research on the disposal
of sludge from wastewater treat-
A pilot plant where
various aspects of the
biological treatment
process are evaluated
-------
ment plants. Fifty percent of sewage
treatment expenses are directly re-
lated to the disposal of sludges. Cost
recovery techniques which utilize
sludge residuals for land reclama-
tion through fertilization or as a
source of fuel through pyrolysis are
currently being evaluated.
In addition to immediate economic
gams, a challenge existsthroughout
Top: Fertilization of an
itfjjHa rrnpfoy thp
injection of sludge
•nto the soi!
BottOm SC'e&ning >f
~rtmpn*i! prior
io marketing
wastewater research to provide data
for effective planning at various
levels. Surveys reveal that many
planners lack adequate up-to-date
information on pollution sources,
control alternatives, and reuse tech-
nology which is critical to treatment
of potable and non-potable water
supplies.
Research at WRD and affiliated lab-
oratories provide planners with ac-
cess to continually updated "Area-
-------
wide Assessment Procedures Man-
uals", which reflect the most current
research being done in environmen-
tal management.
Still another example of wastewater
research effort is the "Small Flows
Program" which seeks out improve-
ments for control of pollution in non-
sewered communities. Many of these
communities, which are inhabited
by approximately 60 million people,
depend on individual septic tanks or
infiltration fields. WRD provides in-
formation on treatment alternatives
to these people, whether they live in
single homes, institutions or small
communities.
WRD emphasizes environmentally
safe systems which protect the ecol-
ogy. In keeping with this, the aim of
Computers are used to
control storm sewer
flows
the Storm and Combined Sewer
Section" is to provide the most cost
effective methods to eliminate or
significantly reduce pollution caused
by rainfall. This program develops
structural and non-structurai ap-
proaches to the problem including
modeling techniques to produce
guidelines for operations ranging
from sewer flushing to street sweep-
ing.
Another product of WRD iecnnoiogy
is the "Executive Digital Computer
Program" for preliminary design of
wastewater treatment systems Using
the program, groups of conventional
and advanced wastewater treatment
processes, arranged in any logical
configuration, may be simulated to
determine the most inexpensive
combination of processes to meet a
given water quality goal.
-------
Many of these programs are con-
ducted through grants and contracts
to private research facilities, univer-
sities, non-profit research institu-
tions and private industry which
provide additional information re-
lating to treatment systems through
controlled study and application,
Top right: An electron microscope is used to
identify even the smallest organisms of
importance in the environment
Bottom left: Nitrogen is removed from municipal
wastewateratthis full scale plant
Bottom right- Fuel gas is produced from refuse
at this plant by using pure oxygen as a reactant
ftf ' • ' *
,,. .„»,..>«••*<•••<•*»•*>'*• -
-------
the
tese
The Solid and Hazardous Waste Re-
search Division of MERL develops
environmentally acceptable guide-
lines for solid and hazardous waste
management techniques. Through
research and development, technol-
ogies are produced for processing
waste from generation through dis-
posal. Prime consideration in devel-
oping these guidelines is the con-
servation and recovery of resources,
including energy.
In addition to this, SHWRD is en-
gaged in economic and technical re-
search aimed at developing new and
improved means of managing the
storage, collection transonrt and
Bottom: A house built entirely of
reclaimed waste materials
Bottom left: Cross section of a building
module developed from solid wastes,
used in the structure
-------
disposal of solid waste, while cre-
ating experimental projects to en-
courage recycling and resource re-
covery.
Considerable effort is also directed
to gathering of data for the develop-
ment of policies and standards. This
work is a combined effort of the
MERL staff and other researchers
funded by contracts and grants to
municipalities, universities, and pri-
vate firms.
A IT
A major emphasis of solid waste
technology at MERL is the provision
of better and more intensive rela-
tionships with independent organi-
zations and state governments to
achieve practical national objectives
in waste management. In order to
accomplish this, the SHWRD assists
many organizations in the assess-
ment of specific approaches to waste
management as well as furnishing
the most recent information of states-
of-the-art. Typical of these efforts are
cost analyses and provision of sup-
porting data for evaluation of all ma-
jor byconversion waste-to-energy
processes.
Bottom left: Compacting solid waste
refuse in a test lysimeter
'oc rsant Test cells for evaluation of
eacfiate ^nd gas generation rate= '"
lanuiliia
Bottom right: A generator for microwave
u'-aaiKt decomposition of organic
solid wastes
iV (
-------
summon
To imorove protect and maintain
the communities that we live in, the
Municipal Environmental Research
Laboratory in Cincinnati conducts
intensive research within the areas
of drinking water supply municipal
wastewater management and solid
and hazardous waste management
Systems developmerr '._-- —.ta-p
ination, prevention aria control ot
these community facilit.es at, ^. -
valuable resouT0 r
-------
-------
ONI-LNIHd XNIHNiT'lAOO S H
-------
-------
US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Office of Research and Development
Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
U.S.MAIL
------- |