Help Available for Nonmunicipal Systems
DWRF Provides an Assist
Don Christianson works for Minnesota Rural Water
Association (MRWA) as a Technical Advisor, a position funded
through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health. His
primary responsibility is assisting community nonmunicipal water
systems (places like manufactured housing developments, nursing
homes, housing developments, colleges, and prisons). Although
most of the 250 community nonmunicipal systems in the state are
small, the total population served by these systems is more than
60,000. Below, Don explains his role in helping these systems.
The main purpose of my activities is to help these systems
understand and comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
requirements. This includes having a water operator’s certificate, Since 1998, more than $100 million has been awarded
taking the required water samples, complying with the Consumer in Minnesota for below-interest-rate loans through
Confidence Report requirements, and completing the necessary the drinking water revolving fund (DWRF). This money
has helped systems make improvements to achieve
training required to renew their water operator’s certificate.
One of the challenges these systems face is that providing drinking or maintain compliance with drinking water
water is not a primary function of the facility. At the mobile home standards. For more, see the story on page 4.
parks, the owner or manager is usually the water operator. Except at
Certification Exam Dates
the larger parks, the owner or manager usually has another job or
business. At the housing developments, the water operator is usually
March 8, St. Cloud
April, Southwest
the resident that is most concerned about the water system and is
March 29, Rochester
May 4, Biwabik
probably on the Homeowners’ Association board of directors. Often
the operator is someone who just got stuck with the job and does not
April 6, Bloomington
June 15, Brainerd
receive any compensation for his or her efforts.
Facilities such as nursing homes, colleges, and prisons normally have full-time maintenance personnel. These systems are
usually better operated and maintained. Many of these operators have been attending training sessions for many years and
have passed written exams in order to receive their operator’s certificate. Many nonmunicipal have a large turnover in
personnel. Managers of mobile home parks and apartment buildings usually don’t stay there for a very long time. By the time
a manager understands what has to be done to comply with SDWA requirements, the person is gone and a new manager
takes over. Another challenge is that mobile home parks are frequently sold. This means a new owner to deal with and
usually a new manager, as well. When buying the property, the new owner may not have had any idea that there were
requirements concerning the water system.
There are some special challenges that these nonmunicipal systems have, but to the operators’ credit, many of them are
doing a very good job. Owners of mobile home parks who consider the water system as part of their investment and realize
that it needs to be protected usually take very good care of the system. This is the upside to a facility such as a mobile home
park. The operator owns the system. How many city operators can say that?
I enjoy my work and feel very good about things when I’ve had a good day and have been able to help someone. For the
city water operators out there, if one of these systems calls for assistance, please help them. You’ll enjoy it and they will
greatly appreciate it.
Winter 2000-01
Volume Eight/3
Inside:
Marshall Water Treatment Plant
Radon in Drinking Water
School News
Historic Water Towers
Coming Down . . .
Minnesota Ranks First
A pair of historic Minnesota water towers will be dismantled in
the coming months. After many years of service to Green Isle,
the city’s wooden tower will be taken down after a new one
goes on-line. A similar fate awaits the tower in Lyle, where a
wooden tank bowl was once perched. It is believed that the
wooden vessel was replaced with the existing metal tank after
a cyclone struck the town in 1897, according to city clerk Diana
DeBoer. A new tower (visible behind the existing tower) will be
put into service after it has been painted and disinfected.
A study by the National Rural Water Association,
assessing the effectiveness of state environmental programs
for drinking water safety, ranked Minnesota as the top state
in the nation in terms of drinking water compliance and health
rates. The study analyzed the last four years of National
Public Water Systems Compliance Reports published by the
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The reports
track the overall success of each state’s effectiveness in
administering the federal drinking water safety program
under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The other states in the top five for the most effective
programs were, in order of ranking, Rhode Island, California,
Texas, and New York.
Signs of the Times
Seen outside a second-hand shop:
We exchange anything—bicycles,
washing machines, etc.
Bring your wife along and
get a wonderful bargain.
. . . But Still Up
Meanwhile, in St. Paul, the Highland Water Tower (below) not
only remains as an historic landmark, it continues to serve the
city as a storage facility in addition to providing one of the best
views of the Twins Cities. (The photo at lower right shows
downtown St. Paul from the observation deck of the tower.)
Completed in 1928, the Highland Tower was designed by
Clarence “Cap” Wigington, the first African-American
municipal architect in the country. The tower is 127 feet tall, 40
feet wide at the base, and 36 feet wide at the observation deck,
with 151 steps ringing the tank. The octagonal structure features
a base of Kasota stone, a tan, pressed brick shaft with several
windows, and a Bedford stone lookout area. A band of small
stone arches separates the base of the tower from the shaft,
and a stone dentil course, decorated with carved stone down
spouts and shields, separates the top of the shaft from the
observation level. The roof is finished in glazed tile and capped
with a small cupola.
In a department store:
BARGAIN
BASEMENT
UPSTAIRS
On a repair shop door:
We can repair anything
(Please knock hard on
the door—the bell
doesn’t work)
In a toilet on a London office block:
Toilet out of order
Please Use the Floor Below
2
Marshall Increases Capacity, Meets Demand with New Treatment Plant
“Southwestern Minnesota is not laden
with any major aquifers,” says Morrie
Chaplin, the water superintendent for
Marshall Municipal Utilities. “There’s
a big challenge out here for many
communities to find water supply for
expansion.”
In conjunction with the utility’s need
to increase capacity was a desire to
provide a more reliable means for iron
and manganese removal. With those
goals in mind, the city commissioned an
engineering report in the mid-1990s to
identify alternatives. From this came a
recommendation to construct a new
water treatment plant that would use
lime softening to reduce iron and
manganese as well as approximately 30
to 50 percent of the water’s total
hardness. Another element of the project
was a backwash reclamation basin,
allowing the water system to reclaim all
of its backwash water. Keeping control
over the water it has helped the utility
meet the water supply challenge.
“Partial lime softening is a new
technology for us,” said Chaplin.
“With the old process there was some
reduction in hardness as calcium
carbonate would precipitate out”
The previous plant had been built in
1958 and upgraded 13 years later with
the addition of iron removal filters. The
media used for the filters was berm, a
charged media specifically designed for
iron removal. “All we had was a little
aeration detention and then the water
went right into the filters,” Chaplin
explained. “The filters weren’t designed
to handle the calcium carbonate that
precipitated out, and it would build up
inside the filters, causing us to have to
clean the filters more frequently.”
A new process was tested during the
summer of 1996 with the operating
parameters determined during the pilot
testing used as a basis for the design of
the new facility, which was built
adjacent to the existing plant.
Aeration followed by the addition of
lime at a solids contact clarifier unit
were found to be the most effective
method for reducing iron and manganese,
which can cause aesthetic problems with
the water. The lime raises the pH of the
water, reducing the hardness and
removing the natural carbonation which
may be present in the water. The higher
pH also provides for more effective
removal of manganese.
The treatment plant also has provisions
for feeding small quantities of alum and
polyphosphate. The alum is added to
enhance coagulation and sedimentation
in the clarifier units. The polyphosphate
is fed to keep the filter media in good
condition and provide some residual
phosphate for corrosion control.
Chaplin points out that they’ve
actually been able to get by with less
polyphosphate because the lime
softening, by raising the pH of the water,
Lime is added when the water reaches the clarifiers.
3
A look at one of the filters while it is being
backwashed.
has been making the water less
corrosive. “Raising the pH really makes
a difference,” Chaplin said. “We had
been having a tough time with copper,
but now we’ve got it under control.”
From the clarifier, the water next goes
to the gravity filters to remove any
remaining particles. The filter systems
in the new treatment plant are each
controlled with a separate control panel
to permit independent operation. Each
filter has four cells and each cell has a
capacity of 1 million gallons per day.
The filtered water is stored in the
ground storage reservoirs at the plant site.
The water flows by gravity from the
ground storage reservoirs to the high
service pumps in the treatment plant.
These pumps deliver the water to the
city’s distribution systems and water
towers.
The hardness removed from the
water is collected as lime sludge. The
sludge is pressed and dried, producing a
sludge cake suitable for agricultural
re-use.
The plant went on-line in May 1999.
The new facility includes a laboratory for
testing total hardness and alkalinity.
“It performs very well,” said Chaplin of
the plant, adding that their customers
have noticed the difference with the
water, especially with the reduction in
total hardness.
DWRF Making It Happen
One of the key elements of the 1996 amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was the creation of a
drinking water revolving fund (DWRF) to provide below-market-rate loans to water systems to make capital improvements
necessary to achieve or maintain compliance with the SDWA. “By providing below-market-rate loans, the revolving fund
makes it more affordable for a water system to make necessary improvements,” says John Schnickel, who administers the
DWRF program for the Minnesota Department of Health. Schnickel points out that loans are made for all types of
infrastructure projects with most of the money being lent in four main areas—supply, treatment, storage, and distribution—
although projects involving things like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and emergency
generators have also been funded. “Initially, the projects focused primarily on source or treatment. We’re now seeing more
storage projects,” Schnickel adds. Since the first loan was granted a little more than two years ago, a total of $100,836,429 has
been awarded for 83 different projects.
Here are a few projects that have taken place with money from the revolving loan fund.
The Green Lake Water and Sewer District was formed with the
consolidation of water systems to serve the cities of Spicer and
New London as well as homes along the shoreline of Green Lake
(which is in between the two cities) that have been on private wells.
The project included a treatment plant (located about a mile south
of New London), multiple wells, several towers, and miles of water
mains. Neither New London nor Spicer had filtration to deal with
problems with iron and manganese, but the new facility, with its
filters, is now producing “excellent quality water,” according to MDH
engineer Jon Groethe, who serves the area. Spicer and New London
have retained their own distribution systems and are still community
water systems (serving as consecutive systems by purchasing their
water from the Green Lake Water and Sewer District).
The new treatment facility in Sauk Centre (shown on the
front page) features an outside sand infiltration basin for
receiving backwash water. “They have an area with lots of
sand and great infiltration to the side of the plant, so they
thought this would be a way to get rid of a lot of the backwash,”
says Groethe. “It works great.” The plant has filters
consisting of anthracite and sand (the same as the previous
plant had) to reduce iron and manganese. “The iron has
been coming out okay,” says water superintendent Ken
Friedrichs, “but the manganese has been tougher.”
Friedrichs added that the old plant had aeration with
post-chlorination while chemical oxidation (with potassium
permanganate) is being used at the new plant.
In Litchfield, four small, aging treatment plants had been scattered throughout
town. Those plants have been replaced by one large new plant. The city of
Melrose used DWRF money to erect two new spheroid water towers, each with
a capacity of one million gallons. The city of Lyle needed a new tower because of
the deteriorating condition of the old tower (especially the framework, which has
missing cross beams and crumbling concrete footings) and a need to increase
storage capacity. The existing tower has a capacity of 55,000 gallons—not enough
to leave a full day’s storage capacity for the town, which is using more than
60,000 gallons per day on average. The new tower will have nearly double the
capacity. The Lyle towers are shown in a photo on page 2.
4
More DWRF Projects
AWWA News
Youth Education Initiative Moving Forward
A subcommittee of the Education Committee of the
Minnesota Section of the American Water Works
Association is continuing its efforts to get drinking water
curriculum into Minnesota classrooms. Toward this end, the
group, in conjunction with the Science Museum of
Minnesota, will begin conducting a series of Drinking Water
Institutes. Approximately 25 teachers will attend an Insitute,
which will be two or three days with a follow- up session set
for a month or two later. At the Institutes, teachers will learn
about various aspects of drinking water and then write
curriculum to take back to their classrooms and their
students. The first two Drinking Water Institutes have been
scheduled for the summer of 2001. One will be in Richfield
in late June and will focus on the treatment of drinking
water. The other will be in central Minnesota in mid-August
and will cover water sources.
The city of Comfrey constructed a new treatment plant along
with an additional well, giving the town a total of four wells. A
conventional aeration/filtration facility for iron removal, the
new plant also allowed for the addition of a phosphate inhibitor
to deal with a lead and copper problem. Dassel (below) had an
aging filtration plant for iron and manganese removal. They
added a section to the plant and installed two new filters, then
converted the old filter bay into a detention tank.
Awards
Richfield Water Division had its Consumer Confidence
Report (CCR) for 1999 voted as the best in the state in a
contest sponsored by the Minnesota Section’s Public
Information Committee. The winners by district were:
Central—Joint Water Board (Albertville, St. Michael,
Hanover); Metro—Richfield Water Division; Northeast—
Grand Rapids Public Utilities; Northwest—Marshall & Polk
Rural Water System; Southeast—Waseca Water Utility;
Southwest—City of Mankato.
Waterline
Published quarterly by the
Drinking Water Protection Section
of the Minnesota Department of Health
Gary Peters of Wadena (above, right) accepts the Meritorious
Service Award for the Minnesota Section of the American Water
Works Association at the Section’s Annual Conference last
September. Allen Lamm (below, left) received the George
Warren Fuller Award for distinguished service while the L. N.
Thompson Award, recognizing dedicated service to the water
industry and engineering profession, went to Verne Jacobson
(below, right).
Editor
Stew Thornley
Staff
Dick Clark
Noel Hansen
Jeanette Boothe
To request this document in another format,
call 651/215-0700; TDD 651/215-0707 or
toll-free through the Minnesota Relay Service,
1/800/627-3529 (ask for 651/215-0700).
5
Radon in Drinking Water
Some Systems to Collect Samples
By Karla Peterson
There was some variability in radon concentrations for
individual wells. The results did not indicate a cause for
variability, although seasonal variation, pumping rates, and
sampling techniques may be a contributing factor. Future
compliance monitoring will require at least four samples to
determine an exceedance, thereby reducing the effect of
variability.
Many water treatment plants using aeration for iron and
manganese oxidation removed radon. The survey indicated
that non-pressure aeration designed for oxidation of iron and
manganese was moderately useful in the reduction of radon,
with removal rates of 3 to 98 percent. It is known that
aeration specifically designed to remove radon is 90 to 99
percent effective.
Several water treatment plants increased radon
concentrations during pressure filtration. In supplies
surveyed that use pressure aeration and pressure filtration,
radon concentrations increased from 2 to 138 percent,
although most supplies did not exceed the AMCL of 4,000
pCi/l. It is suspected that radium-226 scale on the filter
media may be increasing the radon level in the finished water
(radon-222 is produced by radium-226).
The results of the survey indicated that the occurrence of
radon in drinking water is both a significant health and
regulatory concern in many areas of the state. Additional
occurrence data will be available as MDH begins
compliance monitoring.
Also: Some supplies will begin in 2001 to take radon samples
once every quarter for one year at each entry point to the
distribution system. The samples must be collected on a
Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and must be returned the
MDH lab (by mail or dropped off) on the same day of
collection. Systems that are on the monitoring schedule for
2001 will receive the vials and lab forms by the end of the
year. Instructions, which are summarized in the adjacent
box, will also be provided on the back of the forms provided
with the vials.
Systems with questions or needing additional information
may contact me at 651/215-0761.
In anticipation of the proposed Safe Drinking Water Act
Rule for Radon-222 (scheduled to be finalized in late 2000),
the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) surveyed 166
public water supplies throughout Minnesota to determine
radon occurrence in drinking water.
The survey showed that approximately 37 percent of the
community and noncommunity nontransient public water
supplies surveyed would exceed the proposed maximum
contaminant level (MCL) of 300 picoCuries per liter (pCi/l),
with fewer than 1 percent exceeding the alternative
maximum contaminant level (AMCL) of 4,000 pCi/l. The
use of the AMCL as a regulatory standard by water
suppliers would require a multimedia mitigation program
to address radon in indoor air—a larger health threat
than radon in water—via public participation, establishment
of goals, implementation of strategies, and tracking of
progress.
MDH found that public water supplies will be affected by
the rule in several ways.
The highest concentrations of radon in drinking water
were found in parts of east-central and southern Minnesota.
The radon concentrations at distribution entry points in these
areas ranged from 15 pCi/l to 4,340 pCi/l, with a mean
concentration of 420 pCi/l.
A Super Flush
Sampling Primer
Full instructions and two 15-milliliter glass vials
will be provided for each sampling location.
Samples must be taken at the designated well or
entry point, after any treatment has taken place.
Samples should be taken on the date indicated
under the “Scheduled Sample Date” on the lab form
(or a date as close as possible within the same
quarter) and in accordance with the step-by-step
instructions provided.
For submitting the samples to the Minnesota
Department of Health (MDH), the vials and forms
should be placed in the styrene cooler and the
original shipping box provided by MDH and mailed
to the MDH lab by first-class mail on the same day
the samples were collected.
The Minnesota Wild got the water moving in their new arena,
the Xcel Energy Center, on September 13 with a “Super Flush.”
At 8:30 in the morning, all toilets in the arena were flushed
simultaneously, a practice conducted in all new sports venues
to ensure that “facilities are functioning properly and
efficiently,” according to Bill Robertson, the Wild’s Vice
President of Communications and Broadcasting. More than
150 flushers were needed for the event.
6
Spring 2001 Schools
The 2001 Metro Waterworks Operators School will be held from Wednesday, April 4 through Friday, April 6 at the
Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington. The certification exams will be offered on Friday afternoon. Participants in the school
will receive 16 credit hours for their attendance. The registration for the school will be $100 ($130 after March 19 or at the
door).
John Thom Class
Other spring schools:
Southeast School, March 27-29, Best Western Apache, Rochester
John Thom will conduct an
Southwest School, April (exact date and location to be announced)
11-week course on basic water
Northeast School, May 2-4, Giant’s Ridge, Biwabik
operations in Woodbury, starting on
Central School, June 13-15, Cragun’s, Brainerd
Wednesday night, January 10. A
certification exam will be held the
Below is a registration form for the Metro School. The Spring 2000 Waterline
final night. For more information,
will have the entire Metro School agenda with another registration form that will
contact John at 612/861-9168.
include the other three-day spring schools.
MRWA Conference
2001 Teleconferences
The 2000 Minnesota Rural Water
Association (MRWA) Technical
Conference will be held at the St. Cloud
Civic Center from Tuesday, March 6
through Thursday, March 8. For more
information, contact the MRWA office
at 218/685-5197 or via e-mail at
[email protected].
The American Water Works Association has set the dates for its 2001
teleconferences. Alternative Oxidants/Disinfectants will be the topic of the
teleconference on Thursday, March 8. The other teleconference, with no topic
yet assigned, will be on Thursday, November 1. The downlink locations serving the
Minnesota Section will be at the Hennepin County Technical College in Brooklyn
Park and Memorial Union Hall on the campus of the University of North Dakota in
Grand Forks. All AWWA members will receive registration information in the
mail. A registration form for the March 8, 2001 teleconference is below.
REGISTRATION FORM
You may combine multiple fees on one check if more than one person is attending a school; however, please make a copy
of this form for each person. Questions regarding certification, contact Cindy Cook at 651/215-0751. Questions regarding
registration, contact Jeanette Boothe at 651/215-1321.
AWWA Teleconference: Alternative Oxidants/Disinfectants, March 8, 2001, $60 ($80 after March 1 or at the door).
Check location you wish to attend:
____ Hennepin County Technical College, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
____ Memorial Union Hall, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks
Metro School, April 4-6, 2001, Thunderbird Hotel, Bloomington. Fee: $100 ($130 after March 19 or at the door)
Check here if you would like to receive an exam application. (Applications must be submitted at least 15 days
prior to the exam.)
Check here if you would like to receive a study guide.
Please print:
Name
Address
City
Zip
Day Phone
Employer
Please enclose the appropriate fee. Make check payable to Minnesota Department of Health. Mail this form and
fee to Public Water Supply Unit, Minnesota Department of Health, 121 East Seventh Place, Suite 220, P. O. Box 64975, St.
Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975.
7
CALENDAR
Water Operator Training
Minnesota Section, American
Water Works Association
*March 27-29, Southeast Waterworks
Operators School, Best Western
Apache, Rochester. Contact Paul
Halvorson, 507/292-5193.
*April 4-6, Metro Waterworks
Operators School, Thunderbird Hotel,
Bloomington. Contact Stew Thornley,
651/215-0771.
*April, Southwest Waterworks
Operators School. Contact John
Blomme, 507/537-7308.
*May 2-4, Northeast Waterworks
Operators School, Giants Ridge,
Biwabik. Contact Stew Thornley,
651/215-0771.
*June 13-15, Central Waterworks
Operators School, Cragun’s, Brainerd.
Contact Dick Nagy, 320/587-5151.
AWWA Teleconference
March 8, Alternative Oxidants/
Disinfectants,Brooklyn Park and Grand
Forks. Contact Stew Thornley,
651/215-0771.
Wastewater Training
Minnesota Rural Water Association
Contact Kyle Kedrowski,
1/800/367-6792.
December 12, Winterizing Your
Water System, Mankato.
December 13, Winterizing Your
Water System, St. Cloud.
*March 6-8, Technical Conference,
St. Cloud.
April 18, Operation & Maintenance,
St. Cloud.
Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency
Contact Emily Armistead, 651/296-7251.
December 13-15, Wastewater
Treatment Technology Seminar,
Maplewood.
January 17-19, Annual Collection
Systems Operators Conference,
Thunderbird Hotel, Bloomington.
February 15-16, Land Application of
Biosolids, Residuals, and Effluents
Conference, Thunderbird Hotel,
Bloomington.
March 21-23, Annual Wastewater
Operators Conference, Thunderbird
Hotel, Bloomington.
Minnesota Rural Water Association
Contact Pete McPherson,
1/800/367-6792.
December 5, Operation &
Maintenance, Elbow Lake.
January, SCADA Control Systems,
*Basic Water Operations
Vadnais
Heights.
Contact John Thom, 612/861-9168.
March
14, Operation & Maintenance,
11-week course starting January 10
Moose
Lake.
in Woodbury.
April 10, Activated Sludge/
Mechanical Plant, Norwood-Young
America.
May 9, Operation & Maintenance,
Warroad.
*Schools/meetings marked with an asterisk include a water certification exam.
To be eligible to take a certification exam,
applicants must have hands-on operations experience at a drinking water system.
Minnesota Department of Health
121 E. 7th Place Suite 220
P. O. Box 64975
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED