2024 APWAOK/OWEA Joint Technical Conference
Tulsa, Okla. | May. 06-08
The American Public Works Association Oklahoma Chapter and the Oklahoma Water Environment Association are combining again to create a professional conference experience for participants. OWEA is an organization of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals striving to preserve and enhance the water environment of America’s heartland. Professionals from all areas of public service, including engineering design and Public Works management, fleet management, street maintenance and water/wastewater operations attend this conference. Garver joins professionals across Oklahoma in advancing their careers through networking and professional development while learning about a variety of topics.
Technical Presentations
1:30 PM
Capital Gains? Maximizing Return on Investment of your Next Master Plan
The ideal project is the one that is sized perfectly for the needs over the asset’s effective useful life. Master planning can help identify condition and capacity-related needs into the future, and master plans that incorporate needs for growth, asset renewal, and system optimization can be invaluable tools for certain utilities. This presentation will discuss ways to maximize the return on investment (ROI) associated with your next master planning effort. Key elements that will be discussed are focusing scope while maintaining flexibility, developing a capital improvement plan that aligns with anticipated funding, prioritizing projects to maximize ROI, and completing preliminary engineering reports to support funding opportunities and maintain progress towards installation of capital improvements.
Presenter: Water Practice Area Team Manager Evan Tromble, PhD, PE
Rooms: Salon VIII/IX
3:30 PM
Confidence is Key - Avoiding Down Times, Additional Costs, and Murphy's Law During Pipe Inspections by Careful Planning
The American infrastructure is growing old and, unfortunately, many system failures are occurring such as chemical and groundwater pollution, main breaks, and the inability to maintain services during extreme natural disasters and supply shortages. Utility operators are tasked to balance funding and meeting the ever-increasing demand on their water systems. This presentation will discuss the methodical approach, which is recommended to establish project objectives, reduce downtime, minimize risks, and increase the confidence in field collected data for pressure pipe systems. It will also provide a disciplined approach to evaluate and select modernized technology to inspect challenging systems.
Presenters: Project Manager David Trejo, PE
Project Engineer Thomas Helvick, PE
Rooms: Salon VIII/IX
9:00 AM
Demonstration Testing of Aerobic Granular Sludge for IPR
In 2014, the City of Norman selected technologies to address a key issue of water reuse, including AquaNereda Aerobic Granular Sludge Technology and a modified University of Cape Town (mUCT) system. The pilot testing demonstrated strong performance by both technologies achieving the effluent nitrogen and phosphorous objectives, with the AquaNereda technology presenting significant power savings compared to mUCT, with the footprint requirements of a full-scale system proving to be significantly less, resulting in capital cost savings. This presentation will provide a basic description of the AGS technology and review of its testing at the City of Norman for indirect potable reuse.
Presenter: Oklahoma Water Team Leader Cole Niblett, PE
Room: Seville I
2:30 PM
Explaining Water Rates, Cost of Service, and Impact Fees to the Engineer and Operator
Ever wonder how the utility determines water rates and charges for a customer’s bill? As a system grows, how do you fairly charge a new customer for the existing utility infrastructure investments paid by current customers? This presentation is intended to clearly explain what makes for equitable utility bills and charges for anyone who isn’t a full time financially focused utility professional. The presentation will explain the math of revenue requirements, the art of cost-of-service, and the politics of impact fees.
Presenter: Texas Region Water Director Randy McIntyre, PE, BCEE
Rooms: Salon VIII/IX
3:30 PM
Water You Waiting For? The Story of Doubling the Capacity of a Water Treatment Plant
Throughout the life of the Locust Grove Water Treatment Plant project, the team encountered significant budgetary constraints, design hurdles, and emergency construction issues, all while battling the uncertain economic status in the infancy of the COVID pandemic. This led to a unique design that maximized the use of existing infrastructure at the plant to solve project specific roadblocks. This presentation will look at those unique challenges, including funding efforts, limited construction space, and other unforeseen issues, and how collaboration worked together to double the town's water treatment capacity.
Presenters: Oklahoma Water Team Leader Cole Niblett, PE
Project Engineer Collin Bellmer, EI
Room: Salon VII
4:00 PM
Opportunistic and Emerging Pathogens in Drinking Water and Their Impacts to Human Health and Regulations
Current surface water disinfection practices have successfully reduced the number of illnesses and deaths associated with pathogens in drinking water across the United States. However, in recent years, reports of illnesses and deaths associated with opportunistic pathogens have increased, while emerging pathogens have gained public attention. This presentation will describe emerging and opportunistic pathogens, their occurrence, and potential control strategies.
Presenter: Water Technology Team Leader Ashley Pifer, PhD, PE
Room: Salon VII
