American Water Works Assn.

2006 water and wastewater rate survey.

The seven exhibits prepared for this report cite the service population, number of accounts, ownership, daily gallons sold, capacity, capital needs, balance sheet, and monthly rates for 230 water utilities and 164 wastewater utilities. The utilities are arranged into three groups from largest to smallest for comparison. An opening chapter analyzes interesting findings, pricing trends, rate structures, billing cycles, conservation efforts, production ratios, capital costs, and affordability. Twenty-three colorful charts of monthly charges and population served by region, billing frequency, and rate structure round out the survey. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

AWWA wastewater operator field guide.

This text is comprehensive enough to serve as a reference, containing a broad range of information, including charts, graphs, formulas and drawings operators can use daily in maintaining wastewater and collection systems. It covers basic math, including key formulas and conversions for flows and meters; units of measure and conversion, including temperatures and water conversions; chemistry, including conductivity and dissolved fluids; safety, including OSHA safety regulations and fire safety; collections, including flow measurement, sewer construction, pipe characteristics, gauges and valves, pipe cleaning, corrosion and water exfiltration; pumps, including electrical measurements, horsepower and efficiency; flow, including types of flumes and meters and key formulas for flows and meters, wastewater treatment, including information on grit, diffusers and settling; biosolids, including sludge processing calculations, dewatering, measurement practices and regulatory requirements; and discharge and isinfection, including chlorine and ultraviolet treatments and marine discharge. A glossary, list of abbreviations and acronyms, and a comprehensive index are included. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Benchmarking; performance indicators for water and wastewater utilities; 2006 annual survey data and analysis report.

Published in a horizontal format (11x8.5 inches) to better display the tables, this volume displays performance indicators in several categories as reported by 193 utilities, mainly in the US. Among the indicators for which statistics were gathered are organizational development, customer relations, business operations, water operations, and wastewater operations. Statistics are given for numerous aspects of each indicator and a frequency distribution summary is provided. An appendix contains definitions and calculations; there is no index. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Math for distribution system operators; practice problems to prepare for distribution system operator certification exams.

The 430 worked problems in this study guide are divided into four sections corresponding to each grade level for water distribution. Each section walks through the solution of progressively more difficult conversion problems, average and percent calculations, pressure problems, volume determinations, flushing time problems, dosage calculations, and pumping discharge problems. Appendices list conversion factors, formulas, chemistry tables, and maximum contaminant levels. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Math for water treatment operators; practice problems to prepare for water treatment operator certification exams. (CD-ROM included)

Water is, not surprisingly, a numbers game, particularly in the efforts to make it safe for the public. This study guide explains the mathematics necessary to sit for certification exams and is organized according to grade. Grade 1, for example, includes conversion problems, percent calculations, pressure problems and pumping calculations, while Grade 2 includes density calculations, flow rate problems, and more advanced calculations for wells. Grade 3 includes advanced filtration rates, backwash, corrosion, and ion exchange softening problems and Grade 4 includes problems on lime dosage, mixture problems and calculations for such chemical issues as bicarbonate, carbonate and hydroxide alkalinity. Each grade comes with a sample test and answers and the guide comes with bibliography and resource lists. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Minimizing operational interruption during filter bed surveillance.

Filtration remains the most important process for maintaining safe drinking water, and examining the filters periodically to make sure they are working well is a critical necessity. This report identifies, selects, evaluates, and provides guidance on methods for assessing filter conditions that are less interruptive than those currently used in the water industry. Methods that interrupt flow less can be applied more frequently and require fewer resources. The team formally tested four methods at operating water plants: conductivity probe, dynamic particle analysis, fiber optic camera, and multi-point head loss probe. There is no index. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Multiplexed waterborne pathogen detection using DNA microarrays.

Straub (Battelle Memorial Institute) investigates DNA microarrays as a method for achieving deeply multiplexed pathogen detection as it might apply to waterborne pathogen monitoring. However, even with the most efficient methods for concentrating and purifying target nucleic acids from water, some form of amplification is needed. The research evaluates different strategies to amplify and label target DNA using PCR-based, direct RNA, and random amplification approaches. The conclusion recommends further research on the random generation method for generating labeled targets to hybridize to a waterborne pathogen microarray. No index is provided. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Occurrence of MTBE and VOCs in drinking water sources of the United States. (CD-ROM included)

This book/CD-ROM report presents the findings of research on the frequency of occurrence, concentration, and distribution of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), other gasoline oxygenates, their degradation products, and 62 other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in source water used by community water systems (CWSs) in the US. The investigation was completed in two stages: reviews of three national, two regional, and 13 statewide assessments of water supplies, and the collection of new data in two surveys. The first survey collected data from 954 randomly selected ground-water-supplied and surface- water-supplied CWSs in all 50 states, Native American lands, and Puerto Rico. The second survey included samples collected from 134 CWS source waters, including ground water, reservoirs, lakes, and streams, that were suspected or known to contain MTBE. The CD-ROM contains more than 250 pages of appendices. Koch is affiliated with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The book was published in 2003, but the book/CD-ROM package was not available until 2006. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Random demands, travel times, and water quality in deadends. (CD-ROM included)

This book/CD-ROM report describes a study designed to improve modeling and prediction of flow and quality of drinking water in municipal distribution systems. The study established a record for water consumption and quality in a residential neighborhood near Cincinnati, Ohio, and sought to derive travel time distributions for water delivered to consumers on a dead-end loop and to evaluate the usefulness of real-time monitoring of distribution system water quality. The CD-ROM contains about 200 pages of data appendices, accessible with Adobe Reader. Buchberger is affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. The book was published in 2003, but the book/CD-ROM package wasn't available until 2006. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Real-time artifical intelligence control and optimization of a full-scale WTP.

This publication, from a study sponsored by the Awwa Research Foundation, describes the development of an advanced artificial neural network (ANN) model-based process control system for the dissolved air flotation water treatment facility in Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada. It builds on the results of two previous studies of the Awwa Research Foundation on the use of ANNs in the potable water industry and moves the process control technology from research to operation. The study's research background is outlined, followed by the process of building the system, development of models for the pilot plant and the transferability to the full-scale plant, application of the system to the full-scale trial, and protocol that can be used by other utilities for implementation. There is no index. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Riverbank filtration; an evaluation of RBF hydrology and impacts on yield.

Hubbs (University of Louisville) and two employees of the Louisville Water Company assess clogging in riverbank filtration systems using data from 11 riverbank filtration sites, and collect site-specific data on one site to help interpret the larger data. The resulting report focuses on the interaction between the river, the riverbed, the aquifer, and the well along with the associated parameters that influence how much water will flow from a given system at a given site. The conclusions recommend design considerations for planning a project involving riverbank filtration. The appendices examine three techniques for estimating shear stress, and evaluate pump tests in the Ohio River. No index is provided. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Water resources planning, 2d ed.

This resource for water utility professionals explains how to forecast future demands for potable water and create a plan for developing new water supplies. Some of the topics addressed include water rights and policy; evaluation of surface and groundwater sources; hydrologic modeling; environmental impact analysis; and watershed management. The volume concludes with an overview of the integrated resource planning (IRP) model. The second edition provides additional case studies and features a new section on conjunctive use as a water source option. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)