Wastewater Treatment Services is comprised of Administration, Operations, Maintenance, Biogro, and Laboratory. There are 52 FTE in this division with an annual operating budget of approximately $9 million.
Mission:
To meet or exceed the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) administration of these CWA rules.
Operations
The Willow Lake Water Pollution Control Facility (WLWPCF) and River Road Wet Weather Treatment Facility (RRWWTF) are responsible for treating the wastewater generated by the citizens of Salem, Keizer, Turner, and other unincorporated areas of Marion County served by the sewer collection system. Salem’s wastewater treatment service population is approximately 229,000 people. The performance of the facilities is measured on a daily basis through the collection and analysis of influent and effluent samples. The results of the analysis confirm compliance with the operating permit regulatory standards. These standards are designed to protect in-stream water quality and the health of the organisms living in and around the Willamette River.
Maintenance
The maintenance department executes an aggressive preventative maintenance program to keep existing and new equipment at WLWPCF and RRWWTF operational and reliable. Upgrades and enhancements to the Electrical, Mechanical, and Distributed Control System (DCS) have significantly improved both facilities.
Biogro
The Biogro program ensures that all 31 million gallons of biosolids (primarily organic product produced from the wastewater treatment process) produced at WLWPCF are beneficially reused in an environmentally sound, publically acceptable and cost-effective manner consistent with all state and federal biosolids regulations and management practices.
Laboratory
The laboratory analyzes samples supporting many programs throughout the City including, wastewater treatment, water treatment and distribution, industrial billing and pretreatment and stream and storm water monitoring. The laboratory is Oregon Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ORELAP) accredited and performs many different types of analysis including, microbiological, metals, solids and nutrients.
Major Accomplishments 2009-2010
• Construction was completed at WLWPCF and 2010 was the first winter that both the expanded WLWPCF and RRWWTF were available for use.
• Wastewater Treatment and Collections staff gained more experience balancing flows between the WLWPCF and RRWWTF and communication procedures improved greatly resulting in very successful operational events.
• Several projects were completed in 2010 including, repair of the effluent diffuser with a new riser and check valve design and a mixing zone study was prepared and submitted to the ODEQ for the RRWWTF.
• Sampling and testing was completed to comply with Senate Bill 737 related to pollution prevention.
• The DCS was upgraded without any interruption to plant process.
• The Laboratory was approved to analyze potable water by using more sophisticated methods which significantly reduces the amount of time required to do metals analysis.
• The Laboratory completed its latest round of Accreditation Proficiency Testing (PT) intended to measure analytical proficiency with a score of 100 percent.
Statistics for 2009-2010
• The wastewater treatment capacity increased from 155 million gallons per day (mgd) to 205 mgd.
• The average wastewater flow to WLWPCF and RRWWTF was approximately 41 mgd.
• A total of 14.9 billion gallons of wastewater was treated at WLWPCF and RRWWTF.
• Approximately 900 acres were available locally for application of winter stored biosolids.
• The laboratory tested approximately 15,000 samples which resulted in approximately 55,000 analyses.