The Alexandria, Virginia Sanitation Authority (ASA) owns, operates and maintains a 54
million gallon per day (MGD) advanced wastewater treatment plant, 3 pump stations and
related interceptor infrastructure, serving the City of Alexandria and portions of Fairfax
County. With a discharge located one quarter mile from the Potomac River and ultimately
reaching the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, regulatory change in the form of more stringent
permit limits are constant. A new permit with much stricter limits and a signed voluntary
agreement for Total Nitrogen removal with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
(VDEQ) required a massive upgrade to the Authority's treatment facilities. Not only would
this upgrade change the physical appearance of the plant, but it would drive an even more
important event, an organizational change, from command and control to teams and from
dependence on manual labor and unskilled tasks to almost complete automation and highly
skilled employees.
It was not only important to spend considerable time and effort on the design and
construction elements of the project, but also the people part. Key to this was to develop a
comprehensive training approach for operations, maintenance and laboratory staff to insure
buy in and understanding of the new equipment being installed. Not only was the plant
going to biological nutrient removal at very low limits, but it was also changing from
simplistic, fixed film rotating biological contactors to an advanced activated sludge system
with the flexibility to be operated in two modes - MLE and step feed, with or without
methanol addition.
Several opportunities for training were reviewed. Vendor training, while always a part of a
construction contract, is usually overlooked in terms of quality for the owner. ASA's
contracts required lesson plans from the vendors, resumes from the actual vendor trainer
and coordination in scheduling the training date with operations and maintenance start up
teams. Staff was involved during design reviews, which required close contact with the
engineering consultants and with the equipment and buildings, helping to familiarize staff to
the updates to existing facilities and the new equipment planned. The designers developed
training modules to review the design specifications of the new equipment and buildings. A
separate consulting firm, specializing in efficient wastewater operations, was hired to
provide fifteen modules of defined classrooms, hands-on and on-the-job training, as well as
start up assistance. The engineering consultant contract also calls for monthly Process
Demonstration reviews with the start up and operations team to review nutrient removal
processing and efficiencies and learn how to operate the facility in different modes. The
training effort in dollars is less than $1 million, while the total program cost is $330 million.
These efforts have created a greater team spirit among staff, as well as a genuine
anticipation for operating the new facilities as they begin operation. The Authority feels that
its large capital expense in construction will be well served by its parallel commitment to
investing in staff education and skill enhancement.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
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