v>EPA
United States Office of Municipal
Environmental Protection Pollution Control
Agency Planning and Analysis Division
November 1986
Protecting Our Investment
Cost-Effective Operation and
Maintenance
Cost
Savings
Six Cities Save
Over One Million Dollars
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WHY YOU SHOULD
CARE ABOUT
EFFECTIVE
WASTEWATER
MANAGEMENT
Everyone has a stake in well managed
sewage treatment and disposal,
whether you are involved in it every day
or consider it only when it is time to
open the water and sewer bill. It is truly
a universal concern: one vital to our
health and quality of life. Yet, many
plants across the country are not per-
forming up to standards. Unfortunately,
many are being operated, managed,
and maintained in ways that are costly,
inefficient, and short-sighted.
This situation is a concern for local
citizens, who paid a great deal for con-
struction and continue to pay utility
service charges. Public officials also
view inadequate performance with
alarm, not knowing how to improve
conditions without raising user
charges. Poor performance is a sign of
a good investment gone bad. The
nation at large loses, too, because
improved water quality in our rivers,
lakes, and bays was the original intent
behind Federal funding of sewage
treatment plants. EPA is devoting much
more effort to assisting communities
with operation and maintenance
issues.
Any public official concerned with was-
tewater treatment knows that treatment
performance is being scrutinized more
and more closely by an ever watchful
public. Like many others, your office
may be struggling with issues like high
costs, under skilled staff, borderline
effluent compliance, public dissatisfac-
tion, sluggish information flow, and
temperamental high technology treat-
ment systems. Across America, people
like you have struggled with those
same problems, and won. Some of their
approaches may work for you.
Top Performing Plants Offer
Tips On Management,
Operation, and Maintenance
Concerned about the major public
investment in treatment facilities, EPA
decided to discover which positive
approaches make wastewater man-
agement work. From a number of the
best run plants in the nation, EPA
selected the most representative for
intensive study. These plants reflect the
vast diversity of American wastewater
treatment facilities in geographic loca-
tion, size, flow, treatment level, and
technology. Researchers looked for
effective management approaches and
operation and maintenance techniques
that saved time and resources.They
questioned plant managers about how
these ideas worked, how much money
they saved, and how they affected the
treatment process.
Some of the ideas tried by plant super-
intendents and operators may work at
your plant, and help you work toward a
more efficient, better performing plant.
You can:
• Improve plant performance and
compliance,
• Safeguard the design life and good
condition of your facility, and
• Hold the line on user charges that
are affordable.
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THE THREE
KEYS TO SUCCESS
The good ideas suggested by your
peers fell almost exclusively into three
categories — the keys to successful
waste water treatment facility
performance:
• Good Management
• Thrifty, Skillful Operations
• Effective Maintenance.
These three keys provide the frame-
work for what follows. Each key is des-
cribed, and some related techniques
are presented. The section then goes
on to relate several real life examples
revealing how these cost-effective
techniques were used by top perform-
ing plants. Of course, this short pam-
phlet can be neither detailed nor com-
prehensive. If you want more informa-
tion or seek guidance on putting some
of these techniques in place, further
information is given in the back of the
brochure.
Before we explore these three key
issues in depth, however, it is important
that a brief once-over be given of the
basic management ingredients that
must be in place if any plant is to oper-
ate well.
The Basics Must
Be In Place First
It's a fact. Unless your plant has the
elements of good management, staf-
fing, and budgeting, you won't be able
to take advantage of these techniques
for improving efficiency and perfor-
mance. No team can win without a
good coach, and no treatment plant
can perform without a superintendent
who is committed to top notch perfor-
mance from his plant and staff. It is of
critical importance that the manager
know the basics of the treatment pro-
cess, understand the elements of man
agement, and be willing to experiment
with new ideas and learn from those
trials that succeed. It is also vital that
the superintendent communicates
freely with city management, including
its financial decision makers.
It is equally true, however, that a top
coach will never win the big ones with-
out the best players. Your people are
your most important resource. It is crit-
ically important that you recruit aggres-
sively and pay well. Make sure you get
the best and that you keep them. A
well paid staff can more than cover
higher labor costs by improved produc-
tivity and plant performance. Hold the
staff to high standards, make them
proud of their performance, show them
that treatment plant operation is a
highly technical profession and a voca-
tion with a future. You will be rewarded
by dedication to work and a staff that
strives for the same high level of per-
formance that you seek.
At the same time, insist on realistic
financing for the plant. Most plants
have experienced problems because
budgeting focused on the short-term
bottom line. Recognize that your main-
tenance budget is as important as
operations. Deferred maintenance for
the sake of temporary savings will cost
more in the long run. For long-term
maintenance and replacement of major
capital items, you should establish a
sinking fund. Insist on this type of
budgeting, and in five years your plant
will be shining with well functioning
equipment, the rate payers will be
satisfied, and applicable Federal and
state permit requirements will be met.
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PAYS OFF
$1,000,000
$985.000
300.000 -
200.000 -
100,000 -
75,000 -
50.000 -
25.000 -
143,000
81,000
What management techniques did the
surveyed plants use most and declare
most cost-effective? Staffing and sche-
duling innovations, purchasing effi-
ciencies, and employee incentive and
safety programs headed up the list.
Others are shown in the box to the
right. Actual examples of how man-
agement approaches have increased
the cost-effectiveness of wastewater
treatment plant operation and mainte-
nance are discussed in the next
section.
Staffing and scheduling changes —
including the use of compressed work
weeks, overlapping shifts, and alarm
systems with automatic phone dialers
— can achieve significant labor sav-
ings while increasing plant productivity.
Managers can obtain better equipment
and supplies at lower unit costs by util-
izing competitive bidding practices and
by purchasing bulk chemicals and
supplies jointly with other communities,
municipal departments, or local indus-
try. Employee incentive, certification,
and safety programs have resulted in
Legend
Labor
i-~-~-i Chemicals
H+H Solids Handling
I I Other
62,000
15,000
87,000
Spokane Fairmont Dublin Aberdeen
San Ramon
Holland Wenatchee
safer, more efficient operations,
improved staff morale, significant
reductions in overtime and accident
pay, and better trained operators.
Proven fpecfjye: Management
Techniques That Work
• Staffing and scheduling
innovations
• Purchasing efficiencies
(e.g., bulk chemicals, competi-
tive bids)
• Employee training, certification,
and incentive programs
'** "Cross-training" staff: encou-
raging general capabilities
rather than specialists
• Sharing administrative functions '
(and costs) with other
departments
* Providing contract services tike '
lab work and disposal of grease ;
and sludge for smaller plants ,
• Implementing computerized
management and information
systems
Selected Cost Reduction Measures at 6 Wastewater Facilities;
Facilities Used Additional Cost Saving Methods Beyond Those Included Here.
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SUCCESS
STORIES:
GOOD
MANAGEMENT
Schedule Changes Save
Costs By Trimming Staff
The Spokane. Washington wastewater
treatment facility — a 44 mgd advanced
wastewater treatment plant — reduced
its staffing needs by 18% through a var-
iety of changes in staff scheduling. The
reduction from 90 to 74 staff over the
last six years has resulted in labor cost
savings of more than $600,000 per
year, while increasing plant productiv-
ity. Staff reduction was made possible
by changing to a ten-hour day, four-day
work week with permanent shifts. In
addition, the wages of grade III opera-
tors were increased. The staff was
pleased with these changes and
responded with an increase in produc-
tivity. Other productivity increases were
achieved by assigning a support crew
to work with each of the day shift oper-
ations crews and by development of a
new operations and maintenance man-
ual by the plant staff themselves. As an
indication of the positive effect on staff
morale, the plant has not lost an
operator in over three years. In con-
trast, personnel turnover prior to the
utilization of cost-effective techniques
was 100% every six months.
The Aberdeen, Maryland treatment
facility, a small (4 mgd) advanced
wastewater treatment plant, also util-
ized staffing and scheduling changes
to achieve cost savings. Staffing reduc-
tions were partially accomplished by a
change to a four-day work week, with
ten-hour overlapping shifts. This elimi-
nated the need for two permanent staff
positions, with the shift overlap also
eliminating the need for overtime work.
With this strategy, effluent quality was
maintained with fewer staff. At the same
time, staff morale has increased and
turnover has significantly decreased.
Plant staff at this 4 mgd plant were also
cross-trained and staff responsibilities
restructured so that absences and
vacancies could be easily
accommodated.
The Fairmont, West Virginia treatment
plant is a 6 mgd secondary plant using
rotating biological contactors. It went
on line in 1984. Fairmont uses over-
time as a means to cover weekend and
holiday O&M needs. Although overtime
is considered a high cost item at many
plants, management in Fairmont per-
formed an analysis of staffing and over-
time use and determined that by incur-
ring overtime costs equivalent to one
staff salary, they could avoid the need
to hire two extra staff members. Specif-
ically, over the past year, overtime pay
of $22,000 was incurred. Two new
hires would have cost approximately
$46,000 per year.
This same plant also installed an auto-
dial alarm system that eliminated the
need for a third shift during the week
plus a second shift on weekends. The
autodial system resulted in a reduction
of staff needs that represents an esti-
mated $50,000 savings per year in
labor costs with only a limited capital
investment. This savings was accomp-
lished while removal efficiencies
increased.
An autodial alarm system was also
installed at the Wenatchee, Washington
treatment plant. Wenatchee is a 5 mgd
secondary, activated sludge plant. The
plant is only staffed eight hours each
day, seven days a week. The shifts are
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arranged so that peak staffing is in
place when maximum plant flows
occur. During periods when the plant is
not staffed, the alarm system with the
autodialer is in place to summon help if
there are any operating incidents. This
arrangement has required only 17
hours of overtime over the period of
one year to respond to plant alarms.
With these staffing and operations
procedures in place, the plant can be
staffed with only nine persons. The
design engineer's estimate of staff
required to operate the plant was 14.
An indication of the success of these
management practices is that effluent
quality has consistently been better
than permit limits.
An employee incentive program, which
makes monetary awards for superior
performance and suggestions for more
efficient plant operations, has proved to
be a significant morale booster at the
Spokane plant. In addition to increasing
productivity, one employee recently
received a $1,200 bonus for sugges-
tions that saved $17,000 in operating
costs per year.
Use Training And Employee
Incentives To Increase
Productivity
The Dublin San Ramon, California
treatment facility is a 9 mgd secondary,
activated sludge treatment plant. An
aggressive safety program has been
implemented at this plant that has
resulted in extremely safe operations.
This program provides for: chlorine
training seminars, which are open to
area fire and rescue squads in addition
to plant personnel; the creation of a
plant safety committee; and the use of
hazardous conditions reports. The
successful integration and use of these
actions have resulted in no loss-of-
time accidents in the past year.
An employee incentive program for low
sick leave and workers compensation
usage has increased productivity and
morale and reduced overtime costs at
the Fairmont plant. This program pro-
vides bonuses to employees if they do
not use all their sick leave, based on a
prorated, sliding scale. The plant's self-
insured workers compensation pro-
gram allows it to provide bonuses to
workers from the interest earned on the
fund principal if all compensation is not
paid out. Incentive pay for higher
licensing, on the order of $.50 per hour
per level (up to $1.50 per hour), has
also resulted in improved staff morale,
as well as providing for better trained
operators.
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OPERATIONS: THE
FULCRUM FOR
LEVERAGING COST-
EFFECTIVENESS
Modify Purchasing To Buy
More Performance For Less
In Spokane, a number of techniques
are utilized for efficient and cost-
effective purchasing of supplies. These
techniques include joint purchasing,
coordinated bulk purchases of chemi-
cals with surrounding municipalities
and private industries, prequalification
of suppliers, and competitive bidding
practices. For example, the plant coop-
erates with the local paper mill in the
timing of bids for alum, and coordinates
the purchasing of all housekeeping
supplies, and office and automotive
equipment with other city departments.
The plant also buys chemicals in bulk
for surrounding, smaller communities.
Prequalification of suppliers and com-
petitive bidding practices have resulted
in savings of $100,000 by purchasing
less expensive, better performing
equipment and supplies.
To ensure cost-effective chemical pur-
chases, staff at the Aberdeen plant
make purchasing decisions on the
basis of yearly tests of chemical per-
formance, not just low unit costs. This
allows for chemicals to be purchased
not only at lower rates, but at costs
based on the removal efficiency of
chemicals.
Plant operations involve a wide range
of chemical and biological processes
used in treatment, as well as the elec-
trical and mechanical equipment asso-
ciated with them. Because of the
number of processes involved and the
extensive use of electrical and
mechanical equipment, efficiencies
can be maximized at many points.
Indeed, strategies for increasing cost-
effectiveness have traditionally focused
on plant operations.
Operational efficiencies can result in a
plant that runs more economically, per-
forms at higher output levels, and
requires less labor. Most of the tech-
niques recommended by the plants
studied fall into one of two categories:
those that save chemicals and those
that save energy. The box on the nex*
page identifies specific ideas.
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Several other approaches are both
widely used and very effective:
• Optimizing Unit Processes — Taking
unneeded process units off-line, if
planned wisely, can boost the effi-
ciency of remaining units, save
energy, and conserve equipment.
• Equalizing Flow— Flow equalization
helps achieve maximum efficiency by
running a nearly constant flow
through the plant. It saves money by
allowing a significant amount of flow
to be treated during off-peak electri-
cal hours.
• Modifying Solids Processes —
Dewatering and disposal of sludge
are the major sources of solids han-
dling costs. Major savings can be
achieved by altering the overall sol-
ids processes to minimize dewater-
ing and by changing from expensive
disposal techniques like incinera-
tion or landfilling to less expensive
methods such as land application.
The following section provides actual
success stories from the high per-
formance plants studied. Fine-tuning
operations has definitely paid off
for them.
Modifying Operations Can Save
Energy and Chemicals
Successful plant managers save
energy by:
• Recovering and using digester
gas
• Using energy management to
minimize peak period use and
keep power factors low
• Maximizing process efficiency
• Using automated process con-
trols or timers to streamline use
of electrical equipment
• Using only the minimum level of
aeration needed to maintain
biological processes and meet
effluent limits
• Reducing interior and exterior
lighting
High performance plants save
chemicals and boost treatment
efficiency by:
• Substituting alternative
chemicals
• Using waste byproducts in lieu
of expensive chemicals
• Fine-tuning chemical feed to
identify point of maximum
efficiency
• Using automated process con-
trols to maintain optimal level of
chemical feed
• Maximizing performance of bio-
logical processes to lower
chemical use for nutrient
removal
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SUCCESS
STORIES:
THRIFTY,
SKILLFUL
OPERATIONS
Fewer Unit Processes
Equals High Quality
Effluent With Less Cost
Many of the treatment plants in
the study have improved cost-
efficiency by taking certain units
off-line. Some did so to cut use of
unneeded equipment, others did
so to equalize flows and maximize
efficiency of remaining process
units. Over $8,000 per year was
saved at the Wenatchee,
Washington plant by taking one
flotation thickener, an aeration
basin, and a secondary clarifier
off-line. Taking equipment off-line
is entirely dependent upon indi-
vidual plant designs, flows, and
permit limits. It will clearly be more
feasible at plants where flows are
well below design flow. Taking
units off-line should never be
done where adverse effects on
effluent quality could result. All of
the plants in the survey main-
tained or improved effluent quality
even with units off-line.
Equalize Flows To Use
Off-Peak Electricity
Use of off-line units or dedicated stor-
age facilities to equalize flow through
the plant has also been used at many
treatment facilities. The Dublin San
Ramon plant has primary effluent bas-
ins which are used for storage,
decreasing peak pumping rates, and
maximizing electrical usage during off-
peak periods. Cost savings were esti-
mated to be $21,000 per year. At the
Florence, South Carolina plant (a 10
mgd trickling filter system), it was esti-
mated that equalization has resulted in
a yearly electrical savings of $24,000
per year.
Revised Solids Handling
Effects Major Savings
Cost-effective handling of solids has
been accomplished at a number of
plants in the study. In Spokane, solids
handling costs were cut $200,000 by
replacing vacuum filters with belt
presses, switching from lime and ferric
chloride to polymers only, and applying
dewatered sludge to farmland instead
of disposing of it in a landfill. A smaller
plant in the same region has been able
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to cut costs by an even greater rate by
eliminating dewatering and applying
liquid sludge to city owned land at the
airport. The Fairmont, West Virginia
plant is saving over $40,000 per year in
landfill costs alone by using land
application.
Use In-Plant Energy To
Replace Costly Electricity
Recovery of digester gas as a power
and heat source is another cost-
effective technique that is being
employed more frequently at plants
around the country. Many plants have
been designed with anaerobic diges-
ters and methane recovery systems;
however, many were not utilized or per-
formed poorly. Rehabilitation or improv-
ing the performance of existing sys-
tems will usually be cost-effective.
Construction of a new system should
be carefully evaluated. An eastern 4
mgd advanced wastewater treatment
facility was able to save $10,000 per
year in fuel oil by reactivating methane
recovery.The Fairmont, West Virginia
plant recovers methane equal to
$30,000 in fuel oil costs each year. Use
of methane to generate electricity
(cogeneration) is also feasible, but
probably not cost-effective on a retrofit
basis. Cogeneration has supplied over
$60,000 (in net value) per year in elec-
tricity to the Dublin San Ramon plant. It
should be pointed out, however, that
cogeneration equipment can be very
costly. Cogeneration equipment may
only be cost-effective where electrical
rates are very high or where a portion
of the capital cost can be recovered.
Other energy savings include an esti-
mated savings of $45,000 in electricity
at Spokane by limiting the speed and
submergence of mechanical aerators
to maintain only the minimum level of
dissolved oxygen necessary (.5mg/l).
Plant effluent quality is still as high or
better than before this technique was
implemented.
Electrical savings do not have to come
from sophisticated operating tech-
niques. The Wenatchee plant saved
over $500 per year just by taking out
unneeded light bulbs. Other plants have
saved even greater amounts just from
eliminating extra lighting.
Save Costs With
Attention To Chemical Use
The Aberdeen Plant has implemented
two techniques to save money in the
use of chemicals. By reworking the
lime feed system to meter only the min-
imum necessary dosage, $14,000 per
year has been saved. Substantial sav-
ings have also been achieved by
replacing alum with aluminum chloride,
which is a waste byproduct of the
chemical industry and can be pur-
chased for transportation costs only.
Chemical savings are possible at large
plants as well as small. Spokane has
been able to save $40,000 per year by
reducing lime dosage by about a third
without upsetting the treatment pro-
cess. Better monitoring of chemical
usage was achieved by transferring
supplies from bulk storage to individual
tanks holding one day's chemical
requirements. These types of actions
rarely have a substantial capital cost,
and often can be carried out by the
plant operations or maintenance
personnel.
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EFFECTIVE
MAINTENANCE
KEEPS
PERFORMANCE
HIGH
Today's complex POTWs require a
highly skilled maintenance staff with
excellent mechanical, analytical,
observational, and troubleshooting
talents. Such personnel are costly, but
in the long run, inadequate plant O&M
is costlier still. The management sec-
tion of this brochure provides some
innovative ideas for getting good staff
economically and using them strategi-
cally The ideas presented here cover
other aspects of maintenance.
Modified or improved maintenance
activities can reduce costs by cutting
consumption of electricity, water, and
lubricants. Skillful maintenance also
increases the reliability of equipment,
resulting in lower labor costs. Overall
benefits generally include less down
time for equipment and more predicta-
ble expenditures for maintenance.
Maintenance practices most highly
recommended by the plants studied are
shown in the box on the right.
Maintenance cost reduction can also
be pursued on an even larger scale.
However, such techniques require
special care or expertise to be suc-
cessfully implemented. For example,
the plant's O&M manual can be
assessed for procedures that can be
changed, but experience with plant
requirements is crucial to assure that
proper operations will continue. Insti-
tuting a capitalization program (the
process whereby funds are set aside
regularly for long-term needs) for major
repairs and replacement can reduce
nonbudgeted emergency expenditures.
However, such a program cannot be
implemented without expertise in
accounting and finance. Elimination of
collection system infiltration and inflow
will generally lead to reduced energy
and chemical costs and improved
operation, but the expense of such an
effort requires a careful analysis of
cost-effectiveness before proceeding.
The following section offers mainte-
nance success stories from 15 well run
plants across the country.
Preserve Gains With Good Main-
tenance Practices
• Enforce scheduled preventive
maintenance, organized by a
card file or computer program
• Increase plant staff capability to
handle routine and nonroutine
maintenance instead of relying
on service contracts
• Institute an oil analysis program
to optimize frequency of oil
changes
• Develop a cross-referenced
parts listing to reduce the
number of parts that must be
kept inventoried and to increase
ability to obtain parts
competitively
• Rebuild equipment to save on
operating and replacement
costs
• Invest in equipment that will
need less maintenance or pro-
long the life of existing equip-
ment (e.g., radial tires on trucks
and mechanical seals on cen-
trifugal pumps)
-------
SUCCESS
STORIES:
EFFECTIVE
MAINTENANCE
Preventive Maintenance
Can Help Any Plant
Card-based preventive maintenance
systems have been available for a long
time and can be effective in directing a
preventive maintenance program. More
recently, computer-based systems
have been developed that can automat-
ically generate maintenance schedules,
work orders, and backlogs, and have
the potential to improve maintenance
capability at any plant that implements
such a system. Additionally, some sys-
tems exist which will generate an
inventory of spare parts needed.
For example, both the Spokane and
Fairmont plants successfully use card-
based preventive maintenance sys-
tems, citing benefits of minimal
unplanned down time and low levels of
overtime for maintenance. At Spokane,
there are now plans to install a compu-
terized system. In Fairmont, a planned
computer process control system
including preventive maintenance is
now being put in place.
The Holland, Michigan treatment facil-
', an 8.5 mgd oxygen-activated sludge
plant, has found that its computerized
preventive maintenance system pro-
vides a more precise allocation of
maintenance time and is expected to
result in increased equipment reliabil-
ity. Staff at the Dublin San Ramon plant
also have found the computerized
preventive maintenance program bene-
ficial in maximizing equipment life and
minimizing breakdowns and mainte-
nance overtime.
In-House Repair
Capability Has Many Benefits
Service contracts costing $38,000
annually have been eliminated at the
Aberdeen plant by training plant staff to
handle nearly all maintenance tasks.
This in-house capability also allows
faster response to problems, but has
required some investment in training to
obtain necessary skills. In Holland,
Michigan, the plant staff repaired pump
seals throughout the facility, resulting in
a 20% savings in water. Staff in Holland
also rebuilt lime slakers in-house for
half the cost of replacing them. A 3 mgd
activated sludge plant in Weirton, West
Virginia found it saved 10-15% on the
cost of operating a sludge pump by
rebuilding it, while in Wenatchee, an
aging lift station was rebuilt resulting in
a large reduction in maintenance
overtime.
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WHERE TO GO
FROM HERE
Lubricants And Spare Parts:
Expensive Necessities
The expense of maintaining a spare
parts inventory can be controlled in
several ways. The plant in Spokane,
Washington and a 700,000 gpd acti-
vated sludge plant in Burrillville, Rhode
Island both have developed cross-
referenced spare parts lists to allow for
purchasing off-the-shelf from local
suppliers instead of maintaining exten-
sive and expensive inventories. Such
cross-referencing also is used as a
basis for competitive purchasing
instead of buying by brand name.
A 5 mgd activated sludge plant in
Amherst, Massachusetts has instituted
an oil analysis program to reduce the
frequency of oil changes. This program
indicated that synthetic oil was the
most cost-effective lubricant. The same
oil has been in place for three years,
avoiding the labor associated with
normal twice-yearly oil changes.
An 886,000 gpd activated sludge plant
in River Falls, Wisconsin found one
grease that would serve all plant needs,
which simplified its maintenance
procedures and reduced purchasing
costs and inventory. While this is an
option available to you, it is important
that lubricants be used that are in
accordance with equipment manufac-
turer's specifications.
Not all of the techniques described here
will apply to your treatment plant. As the
success stories reveal, some are more
appropriate for small plants, others for
large plants; some for conventional
secondary treatment facilities, others for
advanced wastewater treatment facilities.
Obviously, it is more difficult to pursue
chemical cost savings in secondary
treatment plants. Before you begin to
implement techniques, you should carry
out an assessment of your plant.
Begin by evaluating the adequacy of
overall plant management. Are operations
and administration well organized? Do
information systems alert managers to
problems, and does problem resolution
feed back into planning? Are personnel
and financial management systems
sound? Is reporting scrupulous, and does
it drive maintenance procedures and fine
tune operations?
-------
If the basics are in place, go to the next
level of detail. Are you operating at opti-
mum staffing levels? Staffing guidelines
are available in many reference sources.
However, we suggest you talk to superin-
tendents at other well run plants. In many
cases, you can run a plant well with
fewer staff than the guidelines recom-
mend. Examine training, other staff skill-
building activities, and performance
incentives. Are they effective? What about
purchasing procedures? Are you getting
the most for your dollar?
Assessing your own procedures and
determining their costs will give you a
baseline for comparing your operations
to those of other plants. Where you see
room for improvement you may want to
consider the techniques suggested in this
pamphlet as well as others to be found in
the references listed below. Careful
assessment will reveal which of the
recommended techniques are right for
your situation.
Managers who are willing to undertake
the task of self scrutiny are well on the
road to better management, operations,
and maintenance of their community's
wastewater facility.
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SOURCES
More information on the cost-effective
techniques discussed in this brochure
is available from EPA's Office of
Municipal Pollution Control, 401 M
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20460
(202) 382-5998.
The following reference sources are
also suggested:
• "Energy Conservation for Existing
Wastewater Treatment Plants," Jour-
nal of the Water Pollution Control
Federation, Volume 53, Number 5,
Bruce E. Burris, 1981.
• Technical Report, Operation and
Maintenance Costs for Municipal
Wastewater Facilities, U. S. EPA,
1981.
• "Cost Reduction and Self-Help
Handbook," U.S. EPA, 1986.
• Energy Conservation at Wastewater
Treatment Plants, Water Pollution
Control Federation, 1980.
• Plant Maintenance Program, Manual
of Practice OM-3, Water Pollution
Control Federation, 1982.
This brochure was prepared by EPA's
Office of Municipal Pollution Control,
Planning and Analysis Division. We
wish to recognize the assistance of the
treatment plant staff of the following
municipalities: Aberdeen, Maryland;
Fairmont, West Virginia; Dublin San
Ramon Services District, California;
Holland, Michigan; Spokane, Washing-
ton; and Wenatchee, Washington. The
staff at the following plants around the
country also gave time for phone inter-
views: East Providence, Rhode Island;
Pocatello, Idaho; Burrillville, Rhode
Island; Weirton, West Virginia; Amherst,
Massachusetts; Lake of Egypt, Illinois;
Clarksdale, Mississippi; River Falls,
Wisconsin; and Florence, South Carol-
ina. EPA was assisted in the prepara-
tion of the brochure by the staff of Roy
F. Weston, Inc., and Peat, Marwick,
Mitchell and Company.
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