GRANT FUNDED RESEARCH:
SANTA ANA RIVER AND WATERSHED GRANT FUNDED PROJECTS:
Middle Santa Ana River Pathogen Total Maximum Daily Load study (9955**) – Phase II of sample analysis for this joint study with SAWPA with the support of San Bernardino County Flood and Riverside County Flood to evaluate pathogenic sources in the Santa Ana Watershed. Samples will be analyzed to address the effectiveness of BMPs that have been issued as a result of Phase I and to further prioritize sites along the Santa Ana Watershed for pathogenic sources. R&D will analyze surface water samples for Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (a human waste-specific indicator organism) to identify the sources. Project duration: July 2009 to July 2010. Funding: $5,000 – 15,000 (depending on BMP Pilot Studies and rainfall).
Middle Santa Ana River Pathogen and Bacterial Indicator Scoping Study (9958**) – A potential study at the request of The Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) for OCWD to evaluate the occurrence and concentration of selected pathogenic organisms in the Middle Santa Ana River (MSAR). Funding for the study will be provided by the RWQCB; the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) will serve as project administrator. If executed, the anticipated completion is in FY 09-10. Funding: up to $5,000 (depending on number of pathogens evaluated).
SPECIAL FUNDED PROJECTS:
Collaborative Membrane Characterization Project with Dr. Amy Childress (9957**) – Collaboration (as a subcontractor) on AwwaRF grant “Evaluation of Membrane Characterization Methods” awarded to Dr. Amy Childress of the University of Nevada, Reno. This project will evaluate best methods for characterization of water processing membranes. OCWD participation will consist of providing operating data from the AWPF, consulting expertise, access to a test RO platform, modeling and analytical support. Anticipated completion in FY 09-10. Funding for OCWD: up to $40,000 (up to $20,000 in FY 09-10).
MicroMem Analytical (9956**) – discretionary small (<$20,000) short-term projects performed for other agencies (such as Metropolitan), entirely funded in the fiscal year, to be executed providing personnel resources are available.
NON GRANT FUNDED RESEARCH
GWR SYSTEM O&M (9952):
Task 1: Groundwater Replenishment System Support – R&D will engage in short-term research activities on an ad-hoc basis to assist the Water Production Department in solving problems arising during operation of the AWPF. Examples of research under this activity from FT 08-09 included:
o Evaluation of differences in AOC and particle distribution between activated sludge effluent (ASE) and trickling filter effluent (TFE).
o FTIR analysis of material fouling RO membranes in the AWPF.
o Assistance determining the basis of excessive particulate production from the AWPF lime contactor.
The R&D Department will also assist Water Quality to provide biochemical and biological data from monitoring wells impacted by GWR System finished product water (FPW) to comply with requests by the NWRI IAP, the RWCB or the CDPH.
Task 2: Determination of Mechanism(s) of Microfiltration Fouling by Reclaimed Wastewater; Development of Potential Mitigation Strategies* – Improving the efficiency of the MF process can result in increased water production while reducing energy and O&M costs for the AWPF. This project continues past work aimed at control of nanoparticulate accumulation in the polypropylene MF membrane material used in the AWPF. Emphasis during FY 09-10 will be on holistic effects of coagulant on the MF-RO-UV train, and on cost/benefit analysis for nanoparticulate pre-flocculation. It is anticipated that a significant amount of this research will involve use of the research center pilot test facility. Pilot testing of coagulants designed to flocculate nanoparticle foulant material will continue; tests will begin aimed at extending MF loading longer than 22 minutes between backwashes, with the ultimate aim of exceeding 20 GFD MF water recovery so that GAP could operate on GWRS MF product. A bench top MF simulator will be developed that includes air scouring so that different fiber treatments can "quickly" be tested at the bench scale level before scaling up to longer, more involved pilot tests. Bench scale MF testing will also include investigating effects of chlorine (chloramine) on MF efficiency as well as downstream effects on the RO and UV processes. This activity includes the potential for collaborative research with other membrane research centers.
Task 3: Characterization/Mitigation of RO Fouling in the AWPF* – Operation experience with the AWPF suggests that water production by the 3rd RO pass is currently hampered by accumulation of foulant material on the membrane, which decreases RO efficiency. This is a cooperative study between Water Production and R&D to characterize the foulant and determine fouling kinetics using RO test cells attached to feed and brine ends of the last stage of pilot and full-scale RO trains. Water Production will maintain the test cells, while R&D will provide membrane autopsy data from test cell swatches and statistical analyses to correlate accumulation of various types of foulants with RO performance reduction. One anticipated outcome of this study is a swatch test protocol capable of rapidly assessing RO surface fouling in situ. Data from this study may result in a significant O&M cost improvement for the AWPF RO plant.
Task 4: Modeling RO Removal of Organic Contaminants – OCWD staff will continue participation in the project advisory committee (PAC) overseeing WateReuse Research Foundation (WRF) grant WRF 06-009 “Predictive Models to Aid in Design of Membrane Systems for Organic Micropollutant Removal” awarded to Dr. Jorge Drewes.
Task 5: Advanced Oxidation Plant (AOP) Studies* – Continued research is aimed at measuring the capabilities of the Trojan Technologies UVPhox UV/AOP reactor train through analysis of water quality and system operational parameters. Research during this period will consist of a combination of full-scale AWPF experiments, data analysis and experiments at the pilot scale at the GWRS Research Center with a modified single-lamp Trojan pilot UV reactor. The goal of this research is to optimize direct photolysis (e.g. destruction of nitrosamines) and the UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation process (e.g. degradation of trace organic contaminants). The activity will include collaborative research with Dr. Bill Cooper and Dr. Diego Rosso at The Urban Water Research Center in conjunction with a tailored collaboration research grant awarded by the WateReuse Foundation (see below). Other activities may include limited studies with (1) Dr. Joel Ducoste from the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University to construction a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model of the Trojan UVPhox reactor train to be used to predict the destruction of current and future organic contaminants, and (2) Dr. Stephen Mezyk from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University Long Beach to measure hydroxyl radical rate constants and removal efficiencies of target organic compounds (e.g. 1,4-dioxane).
Task 6: WateReuse Foundation Tailored Collaboration WRF-08-11 “Process Optimization, Monitoring and Control Strategies, and Carbon and Energy Footprint Evaluation in Water Reuse: Full-Scale Microfiltration, Reverse Osmosis, and UV/H2O2“ (9961) – This is a three (3) year research project representing a collaboration between Dr. William Cooper and Dr. Diego Rosso of the Urban Water Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Irvine and the Orange County Water District. The overreaching goal of this project is to minimize energy utilization and to maximize treatment efficiency of the Advanced Water Purification Facility using data collected during execution of five research objectives:
• Analyze fouling mechanisms of the MF process (will dovetail with R&D MF studies).
• Determine the chemical nature of the organic and inorganic compounds in the RO permeate (product water).
• Characterize the dissolved organic compounds in the UV / H2O2 Advanced Oxidation Process (UV/AOP) using a variety of standard and non-standard analytical techniques.
• Develop monitoring and control-strategies based on the characterization of organic constituents in the different process waters and evaluate and offer alternatives which will lead to minimization of the carbon footprint (maximization of energy efficiency) of the Advanced Water Purification Facility.
OCWD will contribute $20,000 per year (to UC Irvine) over the 3 years project duration ($60,000 in total). It is anticipated that this project will result in a valuable understanding of organic matter transport and transformation through the AWPF, as well as suggest areas where significant O&M cost savings may be achieved.
Task 7: Round-Robin test and Optimization of a Rapid Assimilable Organic Carbon (AOC) and Inhibition Assay for wastewater and groundwater - R&D will engage in round-robin tests and optimization of the bioluminescence-based rapid AOC and inhibition assay using wastewater, groundwater, surface, and reclaimed water with various agencies, including OCSD, MWD, Santa Margarita Water District. Compare rapid AOC assay with standard AOC methods (van der Kooij method).
Task 8: Development and optimization of a Bacteroides human-specific fecal contamination assay using quantitative PCR (QPCR) – Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is a human-specific fecal indicator organism that is currently being evaluated by the EPA as an additional fecal standard (legacy fecal standards are not human-specific). The OCWD R&D Department is one of the laboratories involved in seminal research to develop PCR methods capable of specifically detecting this organism. Currently, our methods can only detect this organism semi quantitatively. R&D will attempt to develop and optimize a QPCR assay capable of completely quantifying this organism in surface water, groundwater and wastewater samples. This assay will be highly useful for source tracking human fecal contamination.
Task 9: Bacteriophage Testing Facility Support – R&D will assist the Main Laboratory with implementation of a bacteriophage testing facility, including staff training, setup and quality control assessment.
Task 10: Potential Mobilization of Metals during AWPF Recharge/Injection – R&D staff will continue to review data provided by Water Quality for the GWR System to monitor for potential mobilization of metals during longer term infiltration/injection of GWRS FPW into the groundwater basin.
TALBERT BARRIER O&M (9908):
Injection Well Fouling Issues – R&D staff will provide ad hoc support for Barrier Operations, including microscopic, biological and biochemical analysis as well as use of the model injection well (MIW) system in case issues arise with the injection wells requiring experimental solutions.
FOREBAY O&M (9920):
Task 1: Percolation Studies – Studies performed at the Field Research Laboratory (FRL) Laboratory and field studies to determine the interaction of foulants in recharges waters with recharge basin sediments that lead to percolation reduction. Research during this period will be partly determined by the outcome of the desilting project from the third quarter of FY 08-09, where data will be used to validate model hypotheses. Field data will also continue to be collected and used to validate model hypotheses.
Task 2: Recharge Working Group (REWG) Support – Research staff will provide scientific assistance and analytical support for implementation and performance analysis of the following recharge enhancement schemes developed as an outcome of the REWG during the fiscal year:
• Desilting Improvement Program
• Subsurface Recharge
• Alternative Basin Cleaning Methods Testing
• Basin Sediment Optimization
• Fletcher Basin Vadose Recharge Well Project
• Santa Ana River Armoring Study
BCV O&M (9942):
R&D Support for Basin Cleaning Vehicle (BCV) Operations - ongoing FRL research in support of REWG schemes to improve BCV operations including BCV design, analyses of sediment mass loading, mass removal analysis and correlation of BCV activities with recharge facility performance. Supported REWG projects include:
• Shallow Water BCV Optimization
• Deep Water BCV Development
R&D Department Contact:
Donald W. Phipps, Jr.
Research Director
The Orange County Water District
18700 Ward Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Phone: (714) 378-3270
FAX: (714) 378-3375
E-mail: dphipps@ocwd.com