pH Neutralization, pH adjustment

Association of Boards of Certification

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:26:35 +0000

Practical Applications is pleased to announce our membership with the Association of Boards of Certification (ABC).

ABC offers a voluntary certification program to water treatment, distribution, collection, wastewater treatment, and industrial waste operators, water and wastewater laboratory analysts, plant maintenance technologists, and biosolids land appliers. ABC certification is not only a way to protect public health and the environment, but provides numerous career benefits to both employees and employers. The ABC helps develop many online training exams, including the MA Wastewater Operator Exam.

(from the ABC website)

Our membership with the ABC gives Practical Applications the opportunity to influence some of the material that appears on the MA Wastewater Operator Exam.

Learn more on the ABC website by clicking the link below:

http://ww2.abccert.org/

Wastewater Operator Exam Prep Course

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:05:45 +0000

Starting TUESDAY, JULY 21 Practical Applications will be offering the next session of our rolling Wastewater Exam Prep Course. Wastewater Operators are welcome to attend any or all of the 8 course days we’re offering. If you already have your MA Wastewater Operator License you may audit any of the course days for Training Contact Hours.
The course day is 3 hours long, from 8-11am at our training center in South Boston. The course dates are:

Wednesday, July 21
Wednesday, July 28
Wednesday, August 4
Wednesday, August 11
Wednesday, August 18
Wednesday, August 25
Wednesday, September 1
Wednesday, September 8

See the graphic below for the curriculum for each day. You may attend all of the days or just the days that you feel you’ll need to in order to pass the exam. You will receive 3 TCHs for each course day you attend.

MWRA Boil-Water Order

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:51:48 +0000

As you’ve likely heard, a massive water main break has resulted in communities east of Weston having to boil any water that will be ingested. That includes many of our customers in the Boston area. If you need assistance, Practical Applications can help determine if you can use your water, provide you with bacteriological testing as needed, and help with high purity water system flushes and filter changes once the order has been lifted.

Testing inquiries can be directed to compliance@pai-online.com.

O&M requests should be sent to sbertrand@pai-online.com.

FOR UPDATES, PLEASE VISIT THE MWRA SITE HERE: MWRA UPDATES

Harbor Cruise TCH Course and FREE Deer Island Plant Tour

Brian — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:36:34 +0000

Join us for a Boston Harbor Cruise TCH Course, followed by a FREE tour of the Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant on TUESDAY JUNE 22nd.

The cost for the TCH course, meals and the harbor boat cruise is $800 per person.

The Deer Island tour is FREE.

You will earn up to 5 TCHs for this course. PAI will be conducting the workshops on board one of Boston Harbor Tours’ boats. Breakfast and lunch will be served on board. After the course is complete we will dock at Deer Island and take a tour of the grounds and treatment plant. The Deer Island tour will be run by MWRA staff, and is sponsored by WOOMA, the non-profit Wastewater Operators of Massachusetts Association.

The cost for the TCH course, meals and the harbor boat cruise is $800 per person.

The Deer Island tour is FREE. If you would like to attend ONLY the Deer Island tour, and not earn any TCHs, you are welcome to find transportation to the island and join our group for the tour.

Register today!

Tribe Mediterranean Foods pH Neutralization Wastewater Treatment System

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:57:52 +0000

For Immediate Release: January 14, 2010

Boston, MA – Leading environmental firm Practical Applications, Inc. (PAI) has been awarded the contract to build the central wastewater treatment system for the plant expansion project at Tribe Foods, Inc., a subsidiary of Nestle, SA.

Tribe Foods Wastewater Treatment System - DAF Unit supplied by Krofta

Wastewater generated during food manufacturing operations is controlled using Dissolved Air Flotation. Designed to meet strict Massachusetts sewer discharge limits, wastewater in the system is continuously treated at 50,000 gallons per day with peak flows of 200 gallons per minute.

Composed of a 12,000 gallon equalization tank, pH Neutralization controls, coagulant and polymer dosing, rotary drum screening, and sludge dewatering, the system incorporates PAI’s automatic control package and integrated expert knowledge software to predict and prevent system upset. The system is housed in a custom-built 400 square foot packaged steel building.

PAI has been designing, building, and operating wastewater treatment systems since 1994. Our systems are designed and built by operating engineers and technicians who understand that an effective system must ensure performance while remaining economical to operate and maintain.

Wastewater Systems Operation & Maintenance Supervisor

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:04:33 +0000

Practical Applications would like to introduce the newest member of our team, Sam Bertrand.
Sam is the supervisor of our Operations and Maintenance division and comes to us with over 34 years of experience in the controls industry as a technical, manufacturing and service manager. He is a highly organized, personable and hands-on individual. If you have any O&M needs or questions about your existing service from Practical Applications, please contact Sam at 617-721-5083 or email him at sbertrand@pai-online.com

Wastewater Operator Exam Training and TCH Courses

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:31:01 +0000

Practical Applications announces the second session of our rolling Massachusetts Wastewater Operator Training Exam Prep and TCH Courses.

The next session begins on June 16th and continues for 8 weeks. You may attend any or all of the classes for this session, or combine them with the classes remaining in session one. Register today at our Wastewater Operator Training registration page.

Course details are as follows:

DAY ONE

Wastewater Chemistry
Wastewater Math

DAY TWO

Chemistry & Math
Pollutants & Industrial Wastewater Sources
Wastewater Flow Measurement

DAY THREE

Wastewater Dosage Math
Wastewater Treatment Basics
pH Adjustment

DAY FOUR

Wastewater Math
Wastewater Treatment Equipment

DAY FIVE

Wastewater Math
Wastewater Sampling & Testing
Wastewater Treatment Methods

DAY SIX

Wastewater Chemistry
Wastewater Metals Treatment

DAY SEVEN

Special Wastewater Treatment Methods

DAY EIGHT

Wastewater Operator Safety
Health Information

Wastewater Operator Status Change

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:51:05 +0000

If you are a current MA Wastewater Operator and need to change your status (active, inactive, etc.), please download the form below, or view our Training Page for more information.

Wastewater Operator Status Change
Download this PDF to change your operator status.

Wastewater Operator Status Change Form

Is There Mercury In Your Industrial Wastewater Discharge?

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:32:54 +0000

Is There Mercury In Your Industrial Wastewater Discharge?

This article was written by Practical Applications’ biologist Kimberly Baxter and originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Plumbing Engineer magazine. A PDF of the article is available HERE.

Abstract

An assessment of sampling locations for three industrial wastewater effluent piping systems is presented. The assessments provided demonstrate that by installing sampling ports at the appropriate location along an effluent stream’s piping system, truly representative samples can be collected. These real and accurate results scientifically prove that a specific industrial wastewater discharge does not contain mercury levels that will trigger regulatory enforcement action.

MA DEP Mercury Regulations

Practical Applications — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:52:49 +0000

Name & Citation of Regulation(s)

Collection, Recycling, Labeling and Sales Ban of Mercury-added Products; and Disposal Prohibition of Mercury-added Products in Solid Waste–310 CMR 19.00 (amended), 74.00 (amended), 75.00 (amended), 76.00 (added).

Brief Explanation and Rationale for Changes

Signed into law in July 2006, the “Massachusetts Mercury Management Act” is designed to keep mercury out of our trash and wastewater, where it is released into the environment. MassDEP is implementing this law in two phases. The Phase 1 regulations (promulgated on December 28, 2007) banned the sale of mercury-added products in Massachusetts unless the manufacturer registers the product with an interstate clearinghouse and establishes a collection program for the end-of-life products, banned schools from buying mercury-containing products, required auto manufacturers to collect and recycle mercury switches from “end of life” vehicles, required manufacturers of mercury containing lamps to educate consumers about mercury hazards and the requirement to recycle discarded lamps and to report on lamp recycling to MassDEP.

The Phase 2 regulations (promulgated on August 21, 2009) ban the sale in Massachusetts of specific mercury-added products, establish a procedure for manufacturers to apply for an exemption from the sales ban, and establish labeling requirements for mercury-added products that are sold in Massachusetts. The regulations also prohibit disposal of any mercury-added product in solid waste.

View the final regulations here: http://www.mass.gov/dep/public/reglist.htm or contact Practical Applications with any questions.