Objective

This course is designed to train operators in the practical aspects of operating and maintaining wastewater treatment plants, emphasizing safe practices and procedures. Information presented includes detailed descriptions of the equipment and advanced treatment processes used for odor control, pure oxygen activated sludge treatment, solids removal from secondary effluents, residual solids management, enhanced biological control including nitrogen and phosphorus removal, and wastewater reclamation. Operators also learn to operate and maintain treatment plant instrumentation equipment and systems. The residual solids management chapter contains information on sludge types, characteristics, and quantities; sludge thickening using gravity thickeners, dissolved air flotation units, centrifuges and thermal conditioning as well as wet oxidation and elutriation; dewatering with pressure filtration (plate and frame, belt, vacuum), centrifuges and drying beds; volume reduction using composting, mechanical drying, incineration, and lagoons; and disposal methods for dewatered or liquid stabilized sludge. This course focuses on actual operating procedures and teaches operators to analyze and solve operational problems.