I'm in wastewater and we will be renewing our contract next year. We get 1 hour of straight pay for being on call but we want to ask for more time. What do other plant get paid for being on call

I took treeo, studied the binder, in my humble opinion as much I love Ron Trygar the test didn’t reflect the class very much. Does anyone have any good study material to reference outside of treeo or Sacramento? I’m devastated to fail by one question, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance fellas.

Operators: I'm building an inspection tool and trying to understand how this actually works before I build the wrong thing. No link, not selling anything here.

• Paper, spreadsheet, your SCADA/CMMS, or an app?
• Who reviews the checks, and how do they find out if something was missed?
• What's the most annoying part: photos, no signal at remote sites, getting reports to the board/engineer?

Happy to share what I learn in a follow-up post.

Anyone else save pictures of dyed influent? Currently dying a flow of 11 MGD

My last post got way more answers than I expected, so thank you. Here's the summary I promised.

How people log:

• Most still use paper, either a log sheet or a book kept at the station
• Some copy the paper into a spreadsheet, and one keeps the SCADA reading in the next row to compare
• One crew uses a spreadsheet that calculates run hours automatically, so the chief can review a month in about 5 minutes
• One uses an app (GoPlant) for rounds plus Hach WIMS for run times
• One uses a monthly checklist where you initial each item, plus a carbon-copy sheet with the pink copy left at the station

Things I didn't know going in:

• Nobody fully trusts SCADA. One story: the pump showed running but the check valve had failed and the wet well kept rising. Physical checks aren't going away.
• Supervisors can often tell you were on site from the SCADA graphs (generator test, pumps kicking on)
• Weekly PMs on Thursday so anything broken gets fixed before the weekend. Nobody wants the weekend call-out.
• Missed problems mostly lead to angry calls from residents more than trouble with the state

Biggest takeaway: a good spreadsheet plus a supervisor who actually follows up beats most fancy systems.

Follow-up for chiefs, supervisors, and ops managers, especially if you oversee several crews or districts:

• How do you keep checks consistent across different operators or districts?
• How do new operators learn what to check at each station?
• What happens to the rounds when you're out for a week?
• Someone mentioned BirdNest for digital log sheets. Has anyone actually used it or something similar? What did you think?

Thanks again, this was genuinely useful.

I see a lot more complaints about collection than anything else, so; if you have worked in wastewater collection before, what makes it worse than treatment or drinking water? Or what makes those other positions better?

I've been trying to convince my boss to be more proactive with lift station maintenance. 2 weeks ago I had a crew vac out this high flow station. I get a scada call for a pump tripping. In less than 2 weeks the motor cable have 80 lbs of rags wrapped around them. I understand this is job security, but the amount of trash that the public flushes is ridiculous. We have a small WWTP, just over 10k connections and maybe hitting a million gallons on a decent day. I spend more time cleaning trash out of these stations than anything else...... End rant....

We have been having issues with our sbr this past week. The normal level pre decant is 13.3-13.5 and 12.1-12.4 after the decant. We are currently decanting by hand to try and suck more water out. The current levels pre decant is 15.7-16.0 and 13.6-14.2 after the decant. The blanket is currently about 1.5 feet below the top of the water line. Would increasing the wasting help bring us back to normal or do we just have to keep sucking the water out until it fixes itself. I’m new to using a sbr and haven’t been awake going on 48 hours so forgive me for any incoherence

Freshly washed

this was water but probably applies to some of my collection bros too. How are you supposed to cut this garbage without a cut off saw and getting drenched in asbestos? I was told to use a soil pipe cutter but it just crushed a hole in the top of the cl200 i was trying to chop. Here's chatgpt's answer when i pressed it-

"I spent time trying to find exactly what you're asking for.

I cannot find a commercially available cutter today whose manufacturer explicitly states "for asbestos-cement pipe" or "transite pipe."

I don't want to make one up or point you to a cast-iron cutter and pretend it's for AC pipe."

all the old operators in nearby towns just said use a cut off saw. ohsa says "NEVER USE A CUT OFF SAW" . What the hell am i supposed to do to work on this absolute dog shit properly?

before anyone says use water, I had a water truck full bore soaking me, the saw, and the entire pit and i still saw dust flying everywhere. :

I'm a lift station mechanic for a small town in central Florida. I've made Posts here in the past and some of y'all have helped me out tremendously and I thank you for it..

I'm wondering if spraying the float balls with something similar to WD40 would help keep the Grease from sticking to them ?

OR

Do you know of something else I can use?

Thank you for your time, have a wonderful day.

The guy was surrounded by his kids and he was crawling into a manhole as I was pulling into a parking lot.

Of course, I instantly imagined him dying in front of his kids from gases. H2S, oxygen displacement from methane...

I immediately parked and ran over to stop him. He had already jumped in and came out already. I explained to him he could have died and that a lot of steps are taken to prevent workers from dying of gases. He realized he fucked up and slinked away. He said he was trying to save a duckling.

But I was still shaken as I went into the store thinking about it. Can you imagine? What if he collapsed in front of his kids? I would not have went in after him. I was imagining a scenario where I call 911 while I watch him die as his kids look on. What would I have said after calling the ambulance? Would I have told them their dad was dying? Would I have to keep them from going in after him?

I added two pictures the old busted one is the one I need repaired and the other picture is the new one I found online but even that company doesn't seem to have repair kits on their website I did put in a request for them to contact me about it.

In the past I have tried to use a piece of bicycle chain and that did not fit at all so I'm trying to find a place that I can order repair parts.

If y'all have any ideas I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

For the collections guys, is there a way to locate the city cleanouts faster? All I know is that it's the furthest from the property. Is there like a code or law that specifically has them put in specific places? I know some houses might not be connection to a city line and go straight into main line.

I got my wastewater treatment plant operator license and I've been job hunting. Could you tell me more about this company. I've read some reviews and it's mixed. From what I understand this is a private company that operates in several states. Any information would be appreciated.

Just curious how much time and effort y’all spend on lift station landscaping and how much of a priority it is for your organization?

So recently my wife and I moved to a new place and found out that there's a massive root ball in the lateral line. Normal id dig it up and replace that part of the line and be done with it. But this is a rental and the lateral goes under the building and there isn't a crawl space SO, it's just going to have to stay and continue to grow (according to my landlord)🤷🏻.

But my question is about Wipes, the flushable kind. Now up until now I just thought they were the same kind of wipe as the other ones. But have you ever tried to wipe with the "flushable" kind?? It's super difficult to not get freaky with yourself unintentionally 😂 because they fall apart so easily.

With that being said, are these the same "Rags" that I'm pulling out of my station pumps ?? Because they seem to fall apart if you look at them wrong.

I don't get it..

UPDATE: i have attached links of the pdf versions of the maps/drawing that should be more legible.

Based on these drawings, can someone help me understand the wastewater flow path for each of these two parcels? (house icon and shop icon)

Can you identify the type of system and components (gravity lateral, force main, pressure main, manhole, cleanout, grinder pump, lift station, wye, etc.) and explain how you believe each parcel ultimately reaches the sewer system?

Thanks!
Drawing PDF
Engineering Maps (the red hand annotations were by the Town)

I'll be in queens in like 2 weeks and I am from a small north texas water reclaim plant. I am one of two of our FOG Team. Our MS4 is separate sanitary and storm water lines but new yorks is combined + I want to see the EGG DIGESTERS!!!! I'll gladly pay for a tour if it costs money!!!

Sorry to bug y’all about this, but I lost an important ring down a toilet in a public place yesterday. The toilet was an automatic flush and took my ring before I could grab it after it fell in. Tried fishing it out of the toilet and the bend, no luck. Is it at all possible to recover from the treatment plant itself???

Hello!
Recently my job has tasked me to find Mono-incinerated sewage sludge ash (for an upcycling project), and I'm having a difficult time procuring the product. Is there any advice anyone can give me, or links/contacts that will help me? Thank you!!!

Any recommendations for a temporary basket for collecting rags. This is for a new industrial customer. I have no clue what will be flushed. Currently there is nothing on site to collect rags. Trying to be proactive. Only thing I came up with so far is a milk crate on a rope hanging below pipe.

Edit: I will be checking basket after one week to determine how often I need to stop in at station. So with little information about what waste I will be receiving. Waste will need transported off site for disposal.

It gets better pump station is 25 feet from main entrance, building front is all glass. I will be doing early AM stealth ops 🤣

I successfully passed collections 3 in NC I’m now the ORC of my collection system and have been promoted to the supervisor role. I’m looking to test for the number 4 in September and currently being considered for another promotion. Certifications have made a huge difference in my professional career path.

Hello everyone. Was hoping I could find anyone that can help me with a pdf or questions when I comes to the collections smoke testing part of the exam. That’s the part I struggled with. Anything is appreciated, thank you.

I’ve passed 1,2,and 3 first try just wondering how others found the difficulty on collections 4 exam in NC?