Cert III in Water Industry Operations

Cert III in Water Industry Operations

Workbook

NWP310B – Monitor and operate water distribution systems

Instructions for use of Workbook

The workbook is designed to help you work through the Toolbox.

You can use the workbook in a number of ways – you may prefer to print it out and write in it, alternatively you may prefer to use it electronically.

The sections in the workbook match those found in the Toolbox.

You will notice some sections have the statement – Attach print out. This is to remind you to attach the printed document from the Toolbox to your answers. This can be included in your workbook rather than writing information into your workbook.

If you prefer to write the information you will see a table in your workbook where the information can be written.

Remember you don’t need to complete all learning tasks. It is important to check with your trainer / assessor if there are specific learning tasks that need to be completed.

Use the checklist provided to ensure that you have completed all the required learning tasks and project. Use it to track yourprogressas you work through the Toolbox,thenagain on completion of the Toolbox to double-check that you have done all the required learning tasks.

Learning tasks

Learning tasks give you background knowledge and information to complete your project. Remember you can do learning tasks in any order. If you are confident you can go straight to the project.

In this unit there are three sections: monitor, operate and report. In the context of water operations, these terms mean:

Checklist

Monitor - Monitor site: case study

Case study – Catchment fire impacts on Onyx township water supply

Onyx is a small town with a population of 600 people. A food processing factory is the only major industry.Onyx township derives its water from a mountainous catchment some 50 km away. This water is taken from the OpalRiver which connects the town and the catchment. There is a one mega litre storage to supply the town, and a small disinfection plant and pumping station. Telemetry connects Onyx plant to the Central Water SCADA system.

Last summer, much of the mountainous bushland that forms the catchment for Onyx’s water supply was devastated by bushfire. Subsequent rains washed a huge amount of ash and debris into the OpalRiver. Here is senior operator Adrian Jones' verbal account of the incident and how it was managed.

Adrian Jones' verbal report.

On April 21, the event that Central Water had been dreading occurred. A severe thunderstorm struck the mountains and deposited 75 mm of rain in the catchment. Over the three months since the bushfires in the upper catchment, we'd stocked up on extra filtration and water treatment chemicals, knowing there was likely to be a problem when the rain came.

We knew that a large amount of sediment and ash (called a 'slug') could be washed into the OpalRiver from the denuded slopes of the catchment. This much sediment generally causes fish kills and it also leads to a severe drop in the quality of the town’s drinking water.

I'd been monitoring the situation with Michelle Murphy, our Environmental Officer, since March, shortly after the bushfires. There was some light rain in late March, which resulted in increased turbidity - we recorded 40 NTU’s, well above the Critical Control Point of 0.5 NTU’s. However as the rain wasn't heavy, the quantity of sediment in the water wasn't huge. We estimated that it would pass in two days. As Onyx's local storage is enough for about four days at medium consumption levels, we simply stopped pumping from the river for 48 hours.

Everything was dry again for a few weeks, then in mid-April the deluge came. It was a good way up the catchment, so we had a couple of weeks to get organised before the 'slug' got down the pumping point.

It was a huge 'slug', likely to take at least a couple of weeks to pass through. The turbidity was very high - 3,000 NTU’s. The water was the colour of black coffee - there's no way anyone was going to be drinking that stuff.

One of the first things we had to do was meet with the local council and the emergency services people. We had people from the Department of Human Services and the Primary Industries people come to check out the situation and how it was being handled. The town went onto Stage 4 water restrictions straightaway.

We discussed various strategies for maintaining the town's water supply. One option was to construct a temporary treatment plant using the local swimming pool as a filtration and settling tank. Another was to buy bore water from local farmers to augment the existing supply. In the end we decided on transferring water from CampReservoir by pumping it back up the line to Onyx via Spinel. Normally, any excess from the Onyx storage flows down into the main distribution system from the lower part of the catchment. However it is possible to reroute water and to send it back up the line to a higher reservoir.

We had to think about supply needs downstream, as the 'slug' of dirty water would move on down the OpalRiver through Spinel and out into SapphireBay. However the CampReservoir was pretty full and Central Water holds 25 mega litres at the Spinel treatment plant. We filled all the local water towers around Spinel first. Then we increased the percentage of bore water going into the mix.

We calculated that we could keep Spinel's supply up plus pump a few mega litres up to Onyx to tide them over. So for a couple of weeks, they actually had fully treated water instead of just disinfected water as they were used to.

To cope with the dirty water when it got down to Spinel, we increased the dosing of alum and polymer. We were jar testing every half hour at the peak. It was tricky because we had to bring in extra staff, and they weren't all familiar with the plant at Spinel. What's more, the polymer we were using wasn't getting the results we needed - the sediment just wasn't flocculating! We had to try out a whole range of different flocculating agents before we found one that did the trick.

As you can probably imagine, there was masses of reporting to do from all the extra testing and the changed dosing rates and chemicals. We had a swag of different MSDS’s to file with all the new polymers we tested. Then we had to document everything that was a variation from our standard operating procedures. The customer relations people were flat out too, handling enquiries and calming worried customers. We put out a lot of press releases, which turned out to be a very good thing. People felt they knew what was going on.

In the end we came out of it pretty well. No one went without water and we were able to deliver within our performance targets most of the time. When we were outside, it wasn't by much and it was still within Australian Drinking Water Guidelines standards.

Monitor - Monitor site

Gathering information – Catchment fire

Use the table to record issues associated with each hotspot.

Best website for effects of bushfires on water quality: ______

Comments:______

Monitor -Test water quality

Look on the Central Water Intranet site for information about how to do different kinds of tests. You should check the SOPs and the HACCP. Check the glossary for terms you are uncertain about. Fill in the table below to indicate how these tests are done at Central Water and how they are done at your workplace.

Monitor -Use Standards

Match testing parameters and units to test types.

Use the table to record which test parameters and units go with which test types.

Check the parameters on your state or territory environmental protection agency or authority website. Are they the same as the ones listed here? Note any differences in the table above.

What other types of testsare used at your workplace? What units and parameters does your workplace use? List them in the table below.

Monitor -Monitor with SCADA

Record data you have gathered from the SCADA activity in this extract from the Conorville Pumping Station Plant Log sheet.(You will need to use the interactive version to see the pump times.)

Conorville PS Plant Log

Week ending __/__/____

Operate - Operator tasks

Show the photos in this activity to a workmate or fellow learner. Discuss what each photo is showing and note beside each photo which assets and procedures are similar to those in your workplace and which are different. Explain differences if possible. (The images are high resolution. You can click on an image then drag the corner ‘handle’ to resize it to see more detail.)

Operate - Operate SCADA basics – Conorville Pumping Station

If power to the pump fails, how long can the tank be used at the current outflow rate?

______

What are the tank Mode Cut-in and Cut-out values in litres?

______

What factors could require an operator to change the Mode Cut-in and Cut-out values?______

What OHS concerns might there be in turning pumps on using a remote control system? (Hint: maintenance)______

______

______
Operate - Operate SCADA pump times – Tom’s Creek Pumping Station

How long will it take to fill the tank, given the current situation?

______

Why is Pump 1 currently off? (Hint: Look at the pump times)

______

At what time did Pump 2 start operation?

______

If current flow to town is 10 L/s, how long would the tank take to fill?

______

Why is there zero volume to the tank today?

______

Turn Pump 2 off and Pump 1 on (this is called changing duty).

How long will it take to fill the tank now (Pump 2 flow = 25 L/s)?

______

How long will it take to fill the tank if current flow to town is 10 L/s?

______

What changes can be observed as a result of changing pump duty?

______
______
______
______
______
______

Operate - Operate SCADA flow control – Pumping back up to Onyx from CampReservoir

Reread the Case Study for this unit to refresh your memory about this situation.

What physical infrastructure is necessary in order to pump from one bulk water storage to another?

______

What problems might you encounter in pumping from a lower location to a higher location in the catchment?

______

What other approaches to maintaining supply to a small town might you consider using in a situation such as described in this case study?

______

What problems might you encounter using other approaches?

______

Discuss your findings with colleagues or fellow students. What problems have previously been encountered when pumping water 'backwards' through a distribution system? When does it work? When doesn't it work?
Summarise any new points that arise from your discussions here:

______

Operate – SCADA trends – Spinel Water Treatment Plant

Record pH, turbidity, chlorine residual and water levels for today and the previous three weeks on the same day and time.

Day:______Time:______

Does each parameter fall within the acceptable range for your workplace?

______

______

How would you describe the trend of each parameter?

______

______

For each parameter, what are likely reasons for the changes?

______

______

What actions, if any, would you undertake to modify these trends? ______

______

Report - Routine reports

Routine reporting means being able to:

• identify appropriate forms or documents to use
• accurately record data from manual inspections and/or electronic systems
• write clear observations as required.

Written reports are usually a summary of readings from the routine performance of the reticulation system. These reports might be summaries of:

• pump hours
• levels in storages
• flow rates
• water quality parameters.

The appropriate workplace form should be completed on a timely basis as required by your water authority. These forms then become a permanent record of the performance of the water distribution system.

Many water authorities have Intranets (internal websites) where all documentation such as SOPs and forms are kept.

Examples of various forms can be found on the Central Water Intranet site.

Locate and read 'Form 181 - Weekly Operations' sheet in the Central Water Intranet site.

Navigate to Spinel Water Treatment Plant in the SCADA activity.

Select the 'trends' button.

Drag the red pointer to view the data for different dates.

Record on 'Form 181' the readings for the last seven days for:
- storage level (treated water)
- chlorine residual (treated water)
- turbidity (raw water)
- pH (raw water)

Attach the form to this page.

Report - Special reports

Special reporting means being able to:

• find, identify and fill in appropriate forms or documents
• give an accurate account of what happened.

Special reports are usually a summary of facts about an unscheduled repair or maintenance activity.

• Locate and read the 'Central Water Operations and Maintenance Report' in the ‘Forms’ section of the Central Water Intranet.
• Locate the corresponding form at your workplace.
• Complete a copy of the form from your workplace using the information from one of the scenarios from the Central Water Intranet or use an incident from your own experience.
• Attach the form to this page.

PROJECT

This project is designed to let you demonstrate and apply your knowledge to a workplace situation.

In this project you are required to actually demonstratethat you can monitor and operatea water distribution system using a SCADA and / or manual control.

Part A - Operate

Undertake at least three of the following tasks using your organisation's SCADA or manual control system.

• fill or empty a tank or other storage
• divert water from one storage to another location
• operate valves
• start a pump
• shut down a pump.

All tasks must be done according your organisation's procedures. Your supervisor may suggest other tasks.

Part B - Monitor

Demonstrate that you can monitor water quality parameters:

• turbidity
• pH
• chlorine residual.

Part C - Report

While completing tasks you need to complete any relevant reports and documents.

Hint

To help you collect evidence you might find it useful to screen dump SCADA screens or take photos. Include copies of any reports or forms that you complete.

• Download the workbook from the Central Water Intranet 'Training' page.
• Print a copy of the workbook for your handwritten notes.
• Attach completed Central Water workbook here.
  

NWP310B – Monitor and operate water distribution systems

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