The First American Water Works Association Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE) that I went to was in 1994 in New York City – also the first time I had been to New York. Seems like a long time ago. I have gone to every ACE since then. 2020 was to be #27, in Orlando -I could stay “home” for ACE. Alas, coronavirus has killed it. I guess #27 straight will have to wait until next year….San Diego – let’s hope we can come!
The 1930s Rural Electrification Administration brought 90% of those in rural America to the electric grid. The goal of an “electric world” remains elusive, however. A recent Power engineering magazine notes that while the electric world sounds great, there are certain sectors where electricity remains ill-suited to today’s world – those are primarily transportation and logistics based. Electric cars sound great (my great grandmother had one of the first in Detroit back in the day), but the infrastructure needs to be built to support electric cars. OR any hybrid model like hydrogen fuel cells, natural gas, etc. The biggest barrier to expansion of the transportation industry to w=electric is delivery o f fuel.
The article also noted that certain industrial processes that are power intensive may not be suited for full electrification at present – high heat processes were one. Energy efficiency is also a challenges in industrial facilities, and a challenge for an electric grid that may require substantial upgrades to accept the added power needed to fuel such facilities.
Despite the federal discourse to the contrary, coal mines are still operating. Major mining operations are, and will likely continue in Wyoming and Montana (which has 4 major operations). Much of that coal goes overseas to a declining demand. Eastern coal, well that is harder to mine and many areas are played out of cost effective coal. IT is why coal is not coming back
The loss of work is an issue – but the cleanup from old mines, much like the gold and silver mines of the nineteenth century, still need to be cleaned up to protect downstream and adjacent property owners and water users. If Montana is going to give $107 million to cleanup coal ash, let provide funds to do more cleanup. And let’s retrain these workers to cleanup these sites and retain others to manufacture and build renewables. Wouldn’t that put us all in a better place as opposed to trying to prop up a dying industry. Thankfully concord coach-makers didn’t have a lobby. We still wouldn’t have cars.
SEATTLE – The King County Wastewater Treatment Division says the buildup of masks, gloves, and non-flushable wipes in the wastewater system is at an all time high. Marie Fiore, a spokesperson at the King County Wastewater Treatment Division, says since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early March, they have seen a huge buildup of masks, gloves, and non-flushable wipes in the county’s wastewater system. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, toilet paper was in short supply.
— Read on komonews.com/news/coronavirus/buildup-of-non-flushable-wipes-and-ppe-in-wastewater-at-an-all-time-high
Yes
A paper I am in the process of getting published discussed issue in water distribution systems. Biofilms are a major part of the topics, but legionella is a hidden pathogen that only really gets noticed when people get sick. It is a cause of pneumonia, which generally manifests from aerosol form – in showers. Utilities do not test for legionella, its not thought by some water distribution operators to be an issue except from air. However, public health experts are suggesting that legionella may be a hidden problem promoted by biofilms in water. The number of cases has increased substantially since 2000. There are a couple indicators of a potential issue. First, water temperatures greater than 17C appear to be required. Low chlorine residuals are a problem yet, for systems using chloramines, a minimum of 0.5 mg/L will suffice while in free chlorine residual systems, as little as 0.1 mg/L. Stagnant water is a problem. Hydraulic flushing of the distribution system systematically will help remove deposits that might harbor legionella. Nitrification may be an indicator, which means a pH between 8 and 8.6 should be avoided.
These are basically the same findings as for nitrification and biofilms. What it indicates is that the tubercles and rusty water may harbor far more significant organisms than once thought. Time to take biofilm and nitrification control more seriously.
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