Why it’s important to assess your treatment facility
We can all tell when it’s time to get our own health checked, but what about your treatment facilities?
It is important to ensure that your treatment technology is working smoothly. Like any process or machine, there are always some issues along the way, so how do you know when to check in or what kind of check-in you should do?
A Recent Case Study
Recently, Simmonds & Bristow conducted a design review of the STP and WTP for one of our construction client’s sites. The request was born out of a concern about compliance issues facing the site, in which the client wanted to ensure that the plants were able to provide clean drinking water and effluent-treated water.
As part of the design review, our engineers undertook an initial desktop review of the plants, familiarising themselves with the design plans before attending a site inspection to consolidate these plans against the completed construction.
The subsequent assessment report highlighted several issues across both treatment plants ranging from general equipment failures, and issues with the removal of nutrients to improper operation and maintenance. The STP suffered from process performance issues, with nutrients unable to be removed effectively and increased suspended solids as a result of misaligned tanks and equipment and improper commissioning. Thus resulting in the plant’s failure and non-compliance. The WTP didn’t face as many issues, instead suffering from some minor design flaws and maintenance methods that weren’t quite up to scratch and hindering the plant’s longevity.
Our assessment and the findings of this work has allowed the owner to proceed quickly to become compliant with the Environmental Authority and their workplace health and safety.
A plant that is well designed, built and maintained can be expected to give 25-50 years of good, reliable service. Not getting it right can halve the lifetime of a treatment plant, as well as have detrimental effect on population health and our environment.
So it is important to get to the bottom of any issues, and stay on top of preventative maintenance work.
Our discoveries with just this one client has proved to be a brilliant reminder for why you need to check on your treatment facility. By knowing your plant’s condition, you will be able to address issues as they come and not before its too late.
There are a few types of assessment to choose from according to your needs. Simmonds & Bristow commonly complete these 4:
Treatment Plant Desktop Assessment
An external review of the treatment plant. It is ideal for operators who have previously assessed their treatment plant, but may need to update their information. It’s also particularly useful as a routine procedure to note changes in infrastructure and water quality. The plant operation is assessed from:
- Photographs of the plant
- Past testing results
- Previous design information or drawings
- Client input
Treatment Plant Inspection
A plant inspection involves one of our experienced engineers reviewing your water or wastewater treatment plant with your regular operator. It is an onsite, visual assessment that reviews operational parameters and assesses plant capability and basic performance. This is a quick method that benchmarks the operating quality of the plant and identifies any present and potential non-compliance issues.
Such a visit is suitable for workplaces that are unsure of the condition of their plant and would like a summary of how their plant is performing.
Standard Audit
This is one of the most common measurement tools, it involves a thorough on-site examination and review of monitoring results that studies both the equipment and the process.
This audit is suitable for a vast range of clients who have a moral and legal obligation to ensure their water and/or wastewater treatment plant is in line with regulatory guidelines. A formal report by our experienced engineers and scientists provides a full analysis and recommendations on how to improve the operation of your plant.
Comprehensive Audit
This audit is the most detailed assessment and requires an on-site thorough examination of the facility and the external environment to generate a comprehensive report.
In addition to addressing the recommendations a standard audit would identify, this process will allow our specialist to make recommendations on how to improve the sustainability of the facility as well as the environment. The comprehensive audit is ideal for water treatment plants that are undergoing major change or have not thoroughly been audited for three to five years.
