Combined Sewer System (CSS)  A CSS is a sewer system that transports both sanitary wastewater and stormwater.

In dry weather, all flow goes to a wastewater treatment plant. In wet weather, capacity may be exceeded. Unfortunately, most CSSs are designed to discharge excess flow directly to surface water such as rivers, streams, estuaries and coastal water.

Sanitary Sewer System (SSS)  A SSS is sewer system that conveys domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater to a treatment plant, with limited amounts of infiltrated groundwater and stormwater.

SSSs are not designed to collect large amounts of stormwater runoff from weather events. Areas served by SSSs have a separate storm water system to collect and convey runoff from rainfall and snowmelts.

Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) CSO is Overflow from a Combined Sewer System.

Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) SSC is Overflow from a Sanitary Sewer System.

What’s the Big Deal with CSOs and SSOs?
Both CSOs and SSOs contain untreated or partially treated water. Whether they are caused by a limited capacity, line breaks, blockages or lapses in maintenance, overflows release microbial pathogens, pollutants and toxins to surface waters – all of which negatively impact the environment and human health.

What Has Been Done?
CSOs are a nationwide problem. In 1994, the federal government developed the CSO Control Policy which suggests that States:

• Implement a tracking method, preferably the permit program created by the federal Clean Water Act
• Develop Long-Term Control Plans (LTCPs)
• Communities implement CSO controls as soon as possible

What Technology is Available?
Readily available options range from large-scale capital improvement projects to improved maintenance practices. A community’s action plan would be influenced by the size and type of system, the problems they are experiencing, their performance goals and available resources.

In the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s 2004 “Report to Congress on the Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs”, the EPA categorized technologies used to address CSOs and SSOs into 5 categories:

1. Operation and Maintenance Practices
2. Collection System Controls
3. Storage Facilities
4. Treatment Technologies
5. Low-Impact Development Techniques

MultiTrode Can Help
MultiTrode takes pride in designing, manufacturing and marketing pump station management systems that improve the integrity of the nation’s wastewater infrastructure and protect both the environment and public health. We offer a wide range of products including complete control panels, pump station controllers, pump station supervisors, RTUs, liquid level sensors, liquid level relays, SCADA software and web-based monitoring and control solutions.

MultiTrode utilizes technological advancements to provide sophisticated solutions to every day challenges. Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) ranks among the more noteworthy of these tools. SCADA can be used as a safeguard against overflows and to gain centralized electronic control. Utilized as a broader management tool, SCADA can reduce staff overtime, help in preventive maintenance scheduling and enhance the operational cost efficiencies of a utility. Read more…

Industry Clean Water Act, Combined Sewer Overflow, Combined Sewer System, CSO, CSS, liquid level sensors, Pump Station Management, Sanitary Sewer Overflow, Sanitary Sewer System, sewer, sewer system, SSS, stormwater, water

We believe MultiTrode’s Engineers are the Best! When others echo our sentiments, we can’t help but shout it from the roof top!

MultiTrode had the opportunity to work with the Town of Greenwich, CT, on a telemetry upgrade to their sanitary sewer collection system pump stations, a project that required extraordinary preliminary planning.

Recently, the Town of Greenwich’s Wastewater Division Manager, Richard Feminella, took time out of his busy day to write Aaron Parkinson, President of MultiTrode, to share his praises of both MultiTrode and our Engineering Services Manager, Nick Claudio.

About MultiTrode, Mr. Feminella wrote that Greenwich has “been extremely satisfied with the MultiTrode system and installation.” 

As an organization, our longstanding goal is to be the very best we can be – to meet every challenge head on, to solve every issue to the utmost of our ability, overcoming the foreseeable and unforeseeable, to ensure each and every MultiTrode customer walks away satisfied.

Mr. Feminella goes on to write that “Nick was responsive, courteous, polite, knowledgeable and performed each and every task correctly and without any delay”.

We couldn’t agree more!  Nick is that rare combination of knowledge, professionalism and readiness that makes every project easier, and every client happier. 

 Thank you, Mr. Feminella, for your kind words.
& Thank you, Nick, for yet another job well done! Read more…

General News efficiency, greenwich, Pump Station Management, sanitary sewer collection, telemetry

The Blue Ocean Strategy is a great book by Kim and Mauborgne (Harvard Press) that looks at how exciting new  products can be created at the development stage by focusing on uncontested market space.

In the book the authors argue that instead of companies trying to be better than the competitors and fighting over market share they should instead focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating uncontested Blue Ocean market places where new demands of customers are satisfied.  Rather than trying to beat the competition at their own game businesses looking for uncontested space should answer four questions:

• Which of the factors that our industry takes for granted should be eliminated?
• Which factors should be reduced well below the industry’s standard?
• Which factors should be raised well above the industry’s standard?
• Which factors should be created that the industry never offered?

I found the book a good read and like anyone who learns about a new model or concept I wanted to try it out on one of our products at home.  I knew that no-one here had read the book before designing the MultiSmart Pump Station Manager over five years ago so it would be a good test. I am now sitting down and will do my best to answer the four questions:

• What did we eliminate that the industry took for granted?
That is easy. We took away the need to bring in a third party expert to set up, commission or make changes to the configuration of pump control in a lift station. It was all made so easy to use that any operator could be given simple training to do it and save themselves big dollars!

• What factor did we reduce below the industry standard? 
After thinking about that for a while it occurs to me that the MultiSmart reduces the number of moving parts found in any panel or station control box. The standard control panel is full of gear. A MultiSmart takes a lot of that away – up to 14 different devices are eliminated from one panel, maybe more. Again – big savings.

• Which factors did the MultiSmart raise well above the industry standard?
One of the biggest issues for the industry is getting enough data from lift stations and pump station. On average the industry is used to controllers providing less than 50 tags. We saw that as being the big picture for customers. The more information you have to hand the better your decision making. Asset managers are becoming more focused on network management, efficiency, energy and operating costs. Information and lots of it was going to be the key. We upped the ante with the MultiSmart and brought back 500 tags of data (and growing).  This allows greater level of control and monitoring than ever offered before in a controller.

• Which factor did we create that had not been offered before? 
Going back to the book for examples the authors showed how Cirque Du Soleil had solved this by being the first to offer a high level of theatre to their industry (Circus entertainment). That leads me to say that the MultiSmart was the first to offer an out-of –the-box solution for full pump station management. All the hard work has been done for you.  All the smarts come with the unit and we provide free upgrades as we develop them.

You might agree with me on those answers or you might not. My view is that they stand up to some scrutiny but I would love to hear if anyone has a different view. Read more…

General News, Industry MultiSmart, Pump Controller, Pump Station Management