WASTEWATER FACILITIES OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE SECTION

The Wastewater Facilities Operations & Maintenance Section is charged with helping to protect public health and the environment of the community by treating 277 million gallons per day (MGD) of raw sewage, also called wastewater, with an overall permitted capacity of 564 MGD. The wastewater is generated by residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The section operates 420 lift stations and 40 wastewater treatment facilities, servicing an area of approximately 650 square miles, and a population of over 2.8 million people.

The success of the Wastewater Facilities Operations & Maintenance Section can be measured by its EPA and TCEQ discharge permit compliance rating of 99% and in the 2 Platinum, 15 Gold and 20 Silver awards presented to the City of Houston by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) in 2007. The criteria for these awards are as follows:

• Platinum awards are given to agencies that have consistently met all EPA NPDES permit limits for five or more consecutive years.
• Gold awards are given to agencies that have achieved 100% compliance with the EPA NPDES permit limits during the calendar year.
• Silver awards are given to agencies that have had five or less EPA NPDES permit violations for the 2006 calendar year.

The Wastewater Facilities Operations & Maintenance Section is divided into four groups. The first two groups are for treatment plant operations (Major Treatment Plants Operations and Satellite Treatment Plant Operations). The second two are support groups (Automation and Electrical Systems Group and Lift Station and Maintenance Group).

Major Treatment Plant Operations Group

Within the Major Treatment Plant Operations are the five major treatment facilities; with permitted capacities ranging from 20 MGD to 200 MGD of flow, plus one wet weather facility. These facilities are typically advanced secondary treatment plants utilizing the activated sludge process. The largest facility is the 69th Street Wastewater Treatment Plant (also the largest within EPA Region 6).

Most of the biosolids produced within the major treatment plants are processed at the 69th Street and Almeda Sims Treatment Plants. At these facilities, the biosolids are heat dried to produce a class “A” organic fertilizer called Hou-Actinite. The end product has been sterilized and pelletized, is clean and easy to handle, and is a nutrient rich fertilizer with excellent soil enrichment properties. Approximately 46,000 dry tons per year of Hou-Actinite is produced. In addition to Hou-Actinite, 8,000 dry tons of class “B” cake per year is produced at the Sims Bayou North Wastewater Treatment Plant. These products are used as beneficial organic fertilizer on local grazing land in Southeast Texas, or as daily cover at landfills.

The wet weather facility is operated during storm events when either the treatment plant or collection system becomes overwhelmed with infiltration/inflow water generated by the storm event.

Satellite Treatment Plant Operations Group

Within the Satellite Treatment Plant Operations Group are 35 satellite treatment facilities with permitted capacities ranging from 0.378 MGD to 26.4 MGD of flow, plus two wet weather facilities. These facilities are typically advanced secondary treatment plants utilizing the activated sludge process.

The biosolids produced at the satellite plants are processed at 13 of the facilities, or at the major plant facilities. The satellite plants process the biosolids into a cake-like substance. These are Class “B” biosolids that are used as a beneficial organic fertilizer on local grazing land in southeast Texas, or as daily cover for landfills. Approximately 12,000 dry tons of product per year is processed at the satellite facilities.

The wet weather facilities are operated during storm events when the treatment plant and collection system becomes overwhelmed with infiltration/inflow water generated by the storm event.

Automation and Electrical Systems Group

This group supports the plant and lift station operations groups with network and system applications, electrical services, instrumentation installation and maintenance, network infrastructure, security system design, Work Management System (WMS), control system support, information system/application services, and the operations of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The SCADA system, which is staffed 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, insures that wastewater service is maintained to our customers by monitoring treatment plant and lift station operations

Lift Station and Maintenance Group

The Lift Station and Maintenance Group insures the proper operation of the mechanical equipment to meet the needs of each facility. The following functions are performed:

ON-GOING CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

Two new high efficiency rotary drum dryers at the Almeda Sims facility. Dryers will be used to convert biosolids to pelletized fertilizer. The Engineering and Construction Division is responsible for the implementation of all design and construction infrastructure projects in the city's adopted five year capital improvement plan (CIP).

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