OIT and ELC Study Notes

What are the roles and responsibilities of water treatment and water distribution operators?

- operate, maintain, repair and manage systems 

- produce safe drinking water that meets regs and standards 

-understand where water comes from 

- potential for threats to water 

- limitations and capabilities of system 

- how to respond if something goes wrong

What are the 3 groups of contamination in Reg 169/03?

1) Microbiological 

2) Chemical 

3) Radiological

What is a pathogen?

- disease-causing organism

- refer to microbiological contamination organisms

What is microbiological contamination?

- causing disease or death to human or wildlife

- reside in fecal waste - can occur naturally in aquatic environments and soil

What does ODWQS stand for and explain

- Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards

- limits on contaminants before causing health concerns

- legally enforceable limits to protect public health

What is chemical/radiological contamination?

- may or may not be present in raw water

- depends on intensity of industrial, agricultural and urban practices

What are the different types of pathogen organisms?

- bacteria

- viruses

- parasites

- protozoa

What is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic Aerobic - needs oxygen to grow Anaerobic - dies in environments with oxygen

What is a virus? - smallest waterborne pathogen - remove by coagulation but small size filtrations can't be the sole method - can be removed by UV filtration but not all viruses apply to this

What is bacteria? - fond almost everywhere - present little to no health concerns to humans - can cause gastrointestinal disease, liver/kidney problems and breathing problems

What are the 2 most common types of bacteria in water treatment systems? 1) Coliforms 2) E.coli

What factors can enhance bacterial growth in D.W - warm temps - nutrients - lack of disinfection - ph=7 (neutral)

What is protozoa? - microscopic single-celled organisms - found in soil and water - some are parasites that live in intestine of warm-bodied animals - can survive in water for extended periods of time

What are the two types of protozoa of concern in D.W? 1) Giardiasis 2) Cryptosporidium

What is giardiasis? - can cause gastrointestinal infection - beaver fever - results in diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fatigue - environmentally stable and infectious lifecycle

What is cryptosporidium? - diarrheal disease - environmentally stable and infectious lifecycle

What are cyanobacterial toxins? -blue-green algae - peak season from late May to early October - standard is 0.0015 mg/L

What are the different types of indicator organisms? 1) Total coliforms 2) E.coli 3) Heterotrophic Plate Count

What are total coliforms? - good indicator of good treatment - less reliable on fecal pollution

What is E.coli? - most effective indicator of presence of fecal pollution and fecal-derived pathogens

What is Heterotrophic Plate Count? - indication of level of aerobic bacteria - data/results used to see if there's efficient treatment

What are some common chemical contaminants in D.W? - Arsenic (0.01 mg/L) - Benzene (0.001 mg/L) - Fluoride (0.5-0.8 mg/L) - Heavy metals - Nitrite/Nitrate (10 mg/L) - Pesticides - PCBs (0.003 mg/L) - Sodium (200 or greater) - Trihalomethanes (0.1 mg/L) - Radionuclides

What are the 5 steps to the multi barrier approach? 1) Source Water Protection 2) Effective Treatment 3) Secure Distribution 4) Effective Monitoring 5) Effective Management

What is source water protection in the multi barrier approach? - keep raw water as clean as possible to reduce risk of contaminants

What is the effective treatment in the multi barrier approach? - use one or more approach to remove and/or inactivate contaminants

What is the secure distribution in the multi barrier approach? - prevent contaminants from entering treated water in system - ensures an appropriate amount of free chlorine residual throughout

What is the effective monitoring in the multi barrier approach? - detects contaminants that exist in concentrations beyond acceptable limits

What is the effective management in the multi barrier approach? - thorough and effective response helps prevent adverse health impacts - prevent further water degradation when other processes fail

What is the operator's role in an emergency? - have knowledge and familiarity with emergency plans and contingency plans - familiar with equipment and facility

What are the 4 elements of risk management? 1) Preventive rather than reactive 2) distinguish greater risks from lesser ones 3) Take time to learn from experience 4) invest resources that are proportional to danger

What information does one provide to the public about a D.W emergency? 1) Nature of situation 2) If water is safe to consume 3) Where to get safe D.W 4) Time to restore services

##What should contingency plans address? 1) objective of the plan 2) criteria to invoke plan 3) expected life of plan 4) roles, responsibilities and authority 5) training and testing 6) procedures for operating in contingency mode 7) resource plan for operating in contingency mode 8) criteria for returning to normal operations 9) procedures for returning to normal ops 10) review/modifications of plan

What does OWRA stand for and explain - Ontario Water Resource Act - cover permits for water, wells and other topics related to water

What does SDWA stand for and explain - new regulations and standards are made under this Act to consolidated D.W legislation from other acts

What is O.Reg 128/04? - Certification of D.W system operators and water quality analysis - establishes training and certification requirements for certified operators and analysis - establishes new D.W subsystem types

What is O.Reg 169/03? - Ontario D.W Quality Standards - provide minimum level of D.W quality acceptable for human consumption - assess acceptability of water through compliance with standards - has 3 schedules - Schedule 1: Microbiological - Schedule 2: Chemical - Schedule 3: Radiological

What is O.Reg 170/03? - D.W systems - alarms - eight categories of D.W and any system that serves a designated facility - treatment equipment, minimum level of treatment for surface and groundwater sources are addressed

What are the 8 categories of D.W in O.Reg 170/03? 1) Obligations, treatment equip and minimum levels of treatment 2) monitor, report and corrective actions for adverse results/problems 3) Chem and microbiological sampling and testing 4) Engineering evaluation reports 5) Sum reports for municipalities 6) Organic and inorganic parameters 7) Operation checks, sampling and testing 8) Warning notices of potential problems

What is O.Reg 903/90 - Wells - technical requirements and regs for construction, maintenance and abandonment or water wells and test holes

What is O.Reg 387/04? - Water taking and transfer Reg - anyone using/taking 50,000 L of water needs a permit to take from MOECC - record data on volume of water taken daily and report to Ministry daily

What is O/Reg 319/08? - treatment, testing, monitoring, reporting and training for those who control non residential and non municipal seasonal residential systems

What is considered a small municipal residential system? - municipal water system that serves FEWER than 101 private residences

What is considered a large municipal residential system? - major residential development and serves more than 100 private residents

What is a designated facility? - school/daycare/private school - health care facility - camps - emergency facility - social care facility - university/college - senior residences

What causes an alarm to sound at a WTP? - if the plant loses power - equipment malfunction - test results are higher/lower than maximum or minimum alarm standard

Who is responsible to notify the Medical Officer of Health about adverse results? - Owner/operator in charge of D.W system

What must you do within 24 hours and 7 days of verbal notification? - provide written notice of adverse results to MOH and Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change's Spills Action Centre - 7 days = after problem has been resolved, notice of resolution issued to MOH and MOECC's SAC

What must be included in a report in response to adverse results? - actions taken to resolve issue and whether or not corrective actions are being taken in accordance to Schedule 17 and 18 of O.Reg 170/03

What parameter does not require verbal notification? - trihalomethanes - written notice must be given within 7 days of last day of each calendar quarter

What is the minimum Combined Chlorine (total) in O.Reg 170/03? 0.25 mg/L

##What is the minimum Free Chlorine in O.Reg 170/03? 0.05 mg/L

##What is the minimum Combined Chlorine (total) in D.W systems? 0.25 mg/L

##What is the maximum Combined Chlorine (total) in D.W systems? 3.0 mg/L

##What is the minimum Free Chlorine in D.W systems? 0.05 mg/L

##What is the maximum Free Chlorine in D.W systems? 4.0 mg/L

##What is the turbidity amount allowed in D.W systems that provide filtration? < 1.0 NTU

##What is the turbidity amount allowed in D.W systems? 1.0 NTU

What circumstances can cause alarms to sound in the D.W system? - loss of power - equipment malfunction - test results higher/lower than acceptable standards

What parameter does not need immediate verbal notification? - Trihalomethanes (THM)

##What is a solution?- liquid containing dissolved substances

##What is a solvent? - liquid substances where other substances are dissolved - most common is water

##What is a solution? - substance that is dissolved in a solvent

##What is concentration? - strength of a solution - number of molecules of substances in a given volume

##What is precipitate? - solid particles which settle out of a solution by a chemical reaction

##What is precipitation?- chemical reaction that forms a chemical precipitate

##What common application used in D.W is used to treat Calcium hypochlorite (Ca(OCl)2), Chlorine (gas - Cl2), Chlorine dioxide (ClO2), and Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO)? - disinfection

##What common application used in D.W is used to treat Alum {Aluminum Sulphate} (Al2(SO4)3 * 14 H2O) and Sodium Silicate (Na2SiO4)? - coagulation

##What common application used in D.W is used to treat Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and Calcium hydroxide/lime (Ca(OH)2)? - ph adjustments

##What chemical compound uses oxidation to treat in D.W? - Potassium permanganate - KMnO4

##What is an organic compound? - A compound that contains carbon

##What is an inorganic compound? - A compound that does not contain carbon

##What is pH? - measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution and indicates if water is neutral, acidic or basic - scale range of 0-14 - 14 = basic - 7 = neutral - 0 = acidic - natural water has range of 5-10

##What is an acid? - pH less than 7 - increase the hydrogen concentration when added to water which results in reduced pH - acids used in D.W include sulphuric acid and carbon dioxide

##What is a base? - pH greater than 7 - strong base = alkaline or caustic - reduce number of hydrogen ions when added to water - common bases used in D.W include calcium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate

##What happens when an acid is added to a base? - neutralization - formation of a salt - common salts include sodium carbonate, potassium chloride, and magnesium sulphate

##Why are sodium hypochlorite solutions unstable? - degrade over time as NaOCl decomposes and loses ability to disinfect

##What is the half life principle? - time required for solution to lose half of its strength - shorter half life = less stable

##What are hydraulics? - study of water/liquid in motion - important for both treatment plants and distribution systems

##What does one mean about pressure in water treatment plants? - amount of force acting on a certain area - measured in pascals (Pa), kilopascals (kPa)

##What is the pressure head in WTP? - pressure on water in reservoir feeding a pump

##What is static pressure/head? - pressure of a fluid at rest - when water is not moving - vertical distance from a specific point to the water surface

##What is residual pressure? - pressure of water under flowing conditions

##What is the residual pressure equation? Residual pressure = Static Pressure - Friction Losses

##What is head loss?- pressure loss due to friction as water flows thru pipe

##What is the hydraulic grade line? - line that connects the head along the pipeline or thru WTP - slopes downward in direction of flow - represent residual pressure in water main after taking into account pressure loss due to friction

##What is a water hammer? - forced caused by sudden change in water velocity - can be very powerful and can cause water main breaks

##How can you prevent a water hammer from occurring? - opening and closing valves slowly - starting/stopping pumps gradually - using surge tanks to absorb and dampen water velocity changes

##What does a thrust mean in WTPs? - force water exerts as it changes direction

##Can thrusts be eliminated? - no but it can cause fittings, valve and couplings to leak and pipe joints to separate

##What is cavitation? - formation and collapse of a bubble or gas pocket - is it forms on impeller of a pump or gate valve, can cause damage - accompanied by loud noise and/or vibration - occur with poorly designed pump or valve if suction lift is too high or impeller speed is too fast

##What is friction loss? - loss of pressure due to flow of water in the pipe - determined by the size, roughness, flow rate and length of pipe

##What are some electrical terms used in water? - Current = flow - Voltage = pressure/head - Resistance = friction

##What is Ohm's law? - has 3 formulas used to determine current, voltage and resistance

##What are the 3 Ohms law formulas? Current (I) = voltage (E) / resistance (R) Voltage (E) = current (I) * Resistance (R) Resistance = Voltage (E) / Current (E)

##What is turbidity? - solids or particles found in water - cloudiness caused by suspended matter in water

##Why do we look at color in water? - can result in presence of decay of vegetation - result in presence of iron and manganese compounds

##What are the two types of color tested in WTPs? - True color - Apparent color

##What is the true color in WTPs? - color of water when turbidity has been removed - filtered

##What is the apparent color in WTPs? - unfiltered samples used to measure