BY RAYBURN CASEY HALL
Hello Mama and Daddy
Just a few words to let you know I'm still working at the wastewater treatment plant and everything is fine. I don't think I will get laid off here because of a slow down in business like I did on my last job. My Boss says that Our No.1 business is taking care of everybody else's No.2 business and as long as everybody is eating there will always be a No.1 business to attend to.
Daddy, remember when you decided to quit farming and went to work for the TVA for awhile. I remember you would always come home with a funny story about the people that you worked with. Those people you worked with sure did some funny things but I believe this bunch I work with has them beat. Most of the jokes are funny and in good fun but some of the jokes are a little bit cruel in my opinion. But the things that people do to themselves are the most laughable.
The other day one of the guys was running a little late and he got to work right at work time on the second shift. He came in dressed up in a suit and necktie and his shoes were all shined up. He was wearing a beautiful watch on his wrist and an expensive gold chain around his neck and he had a ring on almost every finger. He looked like he had just left a funeral or a wedding .
Well he jumped out of his car and ran to one of the pump stations and went inside. There was a bunch of us standing there watching him and we were all wondering what was wrong. Well it didn't take us long to find out. Because we heard an awful belt squealing noise and we knew what he had done. He had started a pump without opening the discharge valve. And the pump is a belt driven positive displacement pump. Well Daddy the first thing a wastewater treatment plant operator learns is, YOU DO NOT START A POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT PUMP WITH THE DISCHARGE VALVE CLOSED.
We stood there waiting and in a few minutes he came out of the pump station. Do you remember how Frankenstein walked in those old horror movies? Well he was walking stiff legged and holding his arms out from his side just like the old monster did in the movies only he was covered in sludge from his hair to his shiny shoes. He looked like a walking melting fudge-sicle. We couldn't understand everything he was saying because he had a mouth full of sludge but everything he was saying could have been rated from PG to XXX.
Something happened the other day that you would really get a kick out of if you had been here. There is a guy that works here and he wouldn't weigh 125 pounds soaking wet. And that's just what happened to him the other day. He was going to wash off the primary scum rakes with a big fire hose. He was standing there holding the water hose and he asked one of the other guys to turn it on for him. Well when the guy turned the water on, the pressure from the hose started pushing him backward and he walked backward several feet until he tripped and fell. After he fell he ended up on his back with his feet stuck straight up and holding the water hose up and all the water was falling back down on him. He knew he couldn't turn the hose loose because if he did it would beat him to death before he could get up and get away from it. He was using treated plant effluent water to wash the scum rakes, and if a plant effluent water hydrant has not been turned on in a few days you will get a lot of old black smelly water out of it at first. Well that was what was raining on him while he was laying there on the ground. He was using some rated movie language too.
The guy that turned the water on finally turned the water off but he said he didn't know what was happening for a few minutes and didn't know the water needed to be turned back off. Yea Daddy, I believed him too.
There is one guy that works here that loves to wet people with a water hose. It doesn't matter if it is 95 degrees in the Summer or 25 degrees in the winter he will wet you if you get near him with a water hose. Well the other day an operator saw him standing outside a door with a water hose and he knew he was going to get sprayed with the water hose if he went out the door. Instead he went up on top of the building and was looking down on him and trying to think of something to do to teach the guy a lesson. He said he looked down and over the top of the door there was a big wasp nest. He got a stick and eased it down to the wasp nest and gave it a punch and knocked it down. The nest almost hit the guy on the top of his head. I didn't see it but some of the fellows said that was a sight to behold. They said those wasps got after him and he started running backward and he was trying to swat them with one hand and wet them down with his water hose all at the same time. But in a minute he ran to the end of his water hose and he threw it down and started running as fast as he could. Luckily neither one of the guys got seriously stung by the wasps.
Well Daddy, I told you some of the jokes were kind of cruel but I guess they mean for it to all be in good fun. But there is an old man that works here and he tries to be kind of like a Daddy to all of us operators here. Well two of the guys went to him the other day and one of them asked the old man to loan him some money. The old man didn't think he was serious and told him he didn't have any money to loan him. They went on back to work and the other guy came back to the old man and told him a sad story about the guy that was trying to borrow the money. He told him that he was real depressed because his wife had ran him off from home and he needed money to get a place to stay.
When lunch time came the old man tried every way in the world to loan the man some money. But no matter what the old man said the guy wouldn't take the money. He kept telling the old man he didn't want his money now because he wanted him to loan the money to him because he trusted him and was his friend, not because he felt sorry for him. Well the old man went on back to work but you could tell he felt like a dog.
Well that evening at break the guy's friend started yelling to the old man from a pump building that his friend had committed suicide and he needed help. The old man ran into the pump station and inside there is an opening to pull pumps up from the bottom floor. He looked down into the opening and four floors down below him he seen the other guy lying on the bottom. He was lying on his side with his legs and arms all twisted up and under him.
The old man started yelling, "Oh my God, Oh my God ,call an ambulance". He didn't even take time to get on the elevator and ran all the way to the bottom floor and was yelling, "Oh my God" all the way down. When he got to the bottom floor he ran to where the guy was laying and fell to his knees and picked up one of the guy's hands. When the old man did that the guy jumped up and yelled April Fool.
The old man was kinda sore at him for awhile and cussed him out every time he got near him but he's over it now I think.
Oh, Daddy and Mama, I almost forgot, my Boss said I could go up North to Bowling Green, Kentucky to a meeting in a few weeks. Its where a bunch of Operators, Engineers and Venders get together every year and talk about No.1 and No.2 business. I will write you a letter telling you all about it when I get back.
I will close for now and don't worry about me because life is been good to your oldest son.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Waste Water Plant Operator
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
A LETTER HOME
BY RAYBURN CASEY HALL
Hello Mama and Daddy
Just a few words to let you know I have a new job and doing fine. Daddy, all those years I spent taking care of our old outhouse is finally going to pay off for me. I went to work in an outhouse that covers about 80 acres. Now you can really be proud of your oldest boy.
Everybody that lives inside the city limits have toilets inside their house and when they flush them it all goes to a place called the Wastewater Treatment Plant. When the water comes into the plant it has to go through some screens to remove all the trash. I haven't figured out how anybody can get a tin can or a bottle down a commode yet, but they are doing it some how. And in the next process we take tons of grit and sand out of the wastewater every day. These city people must use sand paper for toilet paper.
Daddy you ought to see the pumps that pumps the wastewater through the plant. One of them will pump 40,000,000 gallons of water each day. That many zeros means it's 40 million gallons. Don't worry Daddy I'm not trying to show off my smartness and get ahead of my raising. I just know that you don't have very much experience at counting to a million and may have forgotten how many zeros it takes to make a million. And I will be using the word wastewater a lot but its just a fancy word for used water.
And Mama, you remember giving me a whipping and making me wash my mouth out with soap because I used that little four letter word to describe what was in our outhouse. Well everybody here uses that word to describe what we work with and I'm afraid I'm getting a bad habit of using the word myself. All the Big Shots wants us to call it "biosolids" . They said if we use the word "biosolids" it will improve our public image. But my boss said he would fire an operator that he heard using that word near him. So to satisfy you and my boss I will call it sludge from now on.
Well, anyway the wastewater is pumped into a big concrete tank with chains and sprockets and rakes called a primary clarifier. The sludge is scraped off the bottom of the clarifier and pumped to a big round tank called a digester. My boss told me that the digesters work like a human stomach. The sludge is pumped to the digester three times a day and kept at about the same temperature as the human body. The sludge will digest in the tanks about like food does in your stomach. Part of the sludge is converted to methane gas. Mama, the smell of a digester kinda makes me homesick. It reminds me of sitting on the front with Uncle Martin after supper when we had Pinto beans for supper.
They got another tank where they pump the wastewater to and blow air into it all the time. Daddy you always said if you stir in mess that it will always stink but this don't. It smells a lot like a new fresh plowed field. The wastewater in the tank is called mixed liquor. Don't worry Mama its not one of those fancy mixed drinks that the city folks have concocted. The mixed liquor looks a lot like chocolate milk and the sludge they settle out of it reminds me of the chocolate gravy you always cook for breakfast.
I told my boss how we deal with the waste in our outhouse on the farm. I told him we sprinkled lime on the waste in our outhouse about once a week and every few years we would dig a new hole and move the outhouse on top of it. And then we would cover up the old hole and let the waste turn back to dirt. Well Daddy according to my boss you are breaking a federal law. He said it was against the federal law for the city to treat their wastewater in that manner. Daddy be careful because it would be a shame to get caught burying outhouse waste after out foxing Mr. Hoover and all his revenuers all these years with your moonshine operation. Daddy I never heard you mention a department of the government called the EPA. Did Mr. Roosevelt create that department too?
Daddy before I left home for the big city you tried to give me the benefit of your experience with city people you met in the army during the war. Well I found some people doing and acting just like you said they would but I've found some that don't.
You remember telling me that city people were always in a hurry to get somewhere or get something done. Well Daddy these fellows that I work with aren't like that at all. You know how on the farm we all try to get everything done before daylight or before breakfast or before it gets too hot, or before lunch or before it rains or before the first big frost or before dark. Well the city people I work with always want to wait until after a certain time. They always want to do everything after awhile, or in a little bit, or in a minute or after break or after lunch or tomorrow or next week.
Daddy, I had a long talk with my boss about my future here as a wastewater treatment plant operator the other day and he said that I was a natural for working in wastewater and seem to take to it like a duck does to swimming. He advised me to go to night school and get a GED and it would help me a lot when an opportunity for a promotion came along. A GED or a General Equivalency Diploma means that it is equivalent to a high school diploma. How about that Daddy I would be the first person in our family to have an offical piece of paper that says I'm smart. But he said if I really wanted to go far in the wastewater treatment business I should get me a sheep skin to hang on my wall. Well Daddy I want you to tear that old coon's skin down that I'm drying on the back of the barn and put me a sheep skin up there to dry as soon as you can.
Well Mama and Daddy I better close for now. I'll be home in a few weeks to visit so don't y'all worry about me. OK.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Hello Mama and Daddy
Just a few words to let you know I have a new job and doing fine. Daddy, all those years I spent taking care of our old outhouse is finally going to pay off for me. I went to work in an outhouse that covers about 80 acres. Now you can really be proud of your oldest boy.
Everybody that lives inside the city limits have toilets inside their house and when they flush them it all goes to a place called the Wastewater Treatment Plant. When the water comes into the plant it has to go through some screens to remove all the trash. I haven't figured out how anybody can get a tin can or a bottle down a commode yet, but they are doing it some how. And in the next process we take tons of grit and sand out of the wastewater every day. These city people must use sand paper for toilet paper.
Daddy you ought to see the pumps that pumps the wastewater through the plant. One of them will pump 40,000,000 gallons of water each day. That many zeros means it's 40 million gallons. Don't worry Daddy I'm not trying to show off my smartness and get ahead of my raising. I just know that you don't have very much experience at counting to a million and may have forgotten how many zeros it takes to make a million. And I will be using the word wastewater a lot but its just a fancy word for used water.
And Mama, you remember giving me a whipping and making me wash my mouth out with soap because I used that little four letter word to describe what was in our outhouse. Well everybody here uses that word to describe what we work with and I'm afraid I'm getting a bad habit of using the word myself. All the Big Shots wants us to call it "biosolids" . They said if we use the word "biosolids" it will improve our public image. But my boss said he would fire an operator that he heard using that word near him. So to satisfy you and my boss I will call it sludge from now on.
Well, anyway the wastewater is pumped into a big concrete tank with chains and sprockets and rakes called a primary clarifier. The sludge is scraped off the bottom of the clarifier and pumped to a big round tank called a digester. My boss told me that the digesters work like a human stomach. The sludge is pumped to the digester three times a day and kept at about the same temperature as the human body. The sludge will digest in the tanks about like food does in your stomach. Part of the sludge is converted to methane gas. Mama, the smell of a digester kinda makes me homesick. It reminds me of sitting on the front with Uncle Martin after supper when we had Pinto beans for supper.
They got another tank where they pump the wastewater to and blow air into it all the time. Daddy you always said if you stir in mess that it will always stink but this don't. It smells a lot like a new fresh plowed field. The wastewater in the tank is called mixed liquor. Don't worry Mama its not one of those fancy mixed drinks that the city folks have concocted. The mixed liquor looks a lot like chocolate milk and the sludge they settle out of it reminds me of the chocolate gravy you always cook for breakfast.
I told my boss how we deal with the waste in our outhouse on the farm. I told him we sprinkled lime on the waste in our outhouse about once a week and every few years we would dig a new hole and move the outhouse on top of it. And then we would cover up the old hole and let the waste turn back to dirt. Well Daddy according to my boss you are breaking a federal law. He said it was against the federal law for the city to treat their wastewater in that manner. Daddy be careful because it would be a shame to get caught burying outhouse waste after out foxing Mr. Hoover and all his revenuers all these years with your moonshine operation. Daddy I never heard you mention a department of the government called the EPA. Did Mr. Roosevelt create that department too?
Daddy before I left home for the big city you tried to give me the benefit of your experience with city people you met in the army during the war. Well I found some people doing and acting just like you said they would but I've found some that don't.
You remember telling me that city people were always in a hurry to get somewhere or get something done. Well Daddy these fellows that I work with aren't like that at all. You know how on the farm we all try to get everything done before daylight or before breakfast or before it gets too hot, or before lunch or before it rains or before the first big frost or before dark. Well the city people I work with always want to wait until after a certain time. They always want to do everything after awhile, or in a little bit, or in a minute or after break or after lunch or tomorrow or next week.
Daddy, I had a long talk with my boss about my future here as a wastewater treatment plant operator the other day and he said that I was a natural for working in wastewater and seem to take to it like a duck does to swimming. He advised me to go to night school and get a GED and it would help me a lot when an opportunity for a promotion came along. A GED or a General Equivalency Diploma means that it is equivalent to a high school diploma. How about that Daddy I would be the first person in our family to have an offical piece of paper that says I'm smart. But he said if I really wanted to go far in the wastewater treatment business I should get me a sheep skin to hang on my wall. Well Daddy I want you to tear that old coon's skin down that I'm drying on the back of the barn and put me a sheep skin up there to dry as soon as you can.
Well Mama and Daddy I better close for now. I'll be home in a few weeks to visit so don't y'all worry about me. OK.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
COME THIS WAY FOLKS AND DON’T TOUCH THE HANDRAILS
Rayburn Casey Hall
The management at the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant started giving tours to the public to build a positive public relationship with the customers. It was a program to educate the public on what happened to their waste water after they disposed of it. Also it was hoped that once the customers seen what was involved in treating the waste water, that they would understand why the sewer cost attached to their water bill was so high.
In the beginning my superintendent, Jerry Stewart, would give the classroom portion of the tour. Jerry would go thru the process explaining how the water got from their home to the plant and what was done to the water in the plant from start to finish. It was my job to collect samples from each process in the plant for him to use in the classroom to demonstrate what the water looked like before and after each step. After his classroom portion was over I took the group on a tour of the plant showing them each step of treatment.
Jerry is a natural teacher and a very funny entertainer. You could hear the groups laughing just about the whole time the class lasted. Having a speech defect and an introverted personality, the tours were hard for me to conduct at times. Later when Jerry was promoted to Director and I started doing both the classroom and plant tours, I felt like a complete failure after each group left. But after doing it a few times I developed my own program and found that I also had an ability to entertain most people and I became more comfortable with the responsibility. But as you will see further down there were some obstacles I could never overcome no matter how hard I tried. But I came to the conclusion after beating myself down for awhile that you can’t please everybody. After talking to Jerry one day about how successful he was, he informed me that he failed at winning the groups over at times too.
Tours were given to one person or any group that requested one. There were several local elementary, middle, and high school science classes that took the tours each year. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College brought their environmental classes for tours each semester.
I had to be really careful with the grammar school kids while leading them around the plant. They were curious about everything they seen in the plant and wanted to get up close for a closer look. They were kept on the roadways and only allowed to see some of the processes that we felt were safe enough to let them near.
I probably enjoyed giving tours to the middle school kids more than any other groups. They were not only curious about the equipment in the plant but about how waste water got from their house and treated and where it went. They asked lots of intelligent questions about the treatment processes. And I always enjoyed a group that asked a lot of questions instead of making me stand there for 30 minutes making a speech.
I think the high school kids were interested in the processes used to collect and treat waste water because they paid attention while I was talking to them. But it was difficult to get a question/answer discussion going with them. I figured that it must have been a peer pressure thing. They were afraid they would ask something that the others in their group would consider funny. But sometimes there was a kid that either didn’t care if he was laughed at or his curiosity got the better of him. If one of the kids broke the ice, there would be others that followed with more questions. And that resulted in a lively discussion which helped me relate to them more.
I always dreaded giving tours to environmental classes from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The majority of them were taking environmental courses because it was a required subject. They hated the idea of being around human waste and the smell of it made them sick, some of them actually threw up. Most had no sense of humor at all. You could rarely get a smile or laugh out of them. I would stand in front of them in the class room explaining the steps in treating waste water and I felt like I was in a room talking to myself. Some would go to sleep. I would ask them questions and receive stares and dead silence.
The tours thru the plant were worse. While I was explaining what was happening in a particular process or what a piece of equipment was for, the group would be standing almost out of hearing range from me, some with their backs to me, holding their nose, and complaining about how bad it smelled. I never said it, but I always wanted to say “that’s your turd floating around out there; it has your name on it, what’s your problem.
The environmental classes from Chattanooga State Community College were always a pleasure to work with. There was a mixture of people in the classes. Teenagers out of high school, young men working at night and attending college to complete their degrees, women pursuing a dream to get a degree after their kids were grown. With the exception of most of the teenagers, most were interested in what they could learn about waste water treatment. Some were interested because they wanted to be sure to pass the environmental course. But some were actually interested in the science and technology of treating waste water. Those people had actually wondered where the water went and what happened to it after they flushed their commode.
The Chattanooga State students didn’t like the smell in the plant either, but they weren’t offended by it, and I didn’t feel insulted by them. They had a good sense of humor about it all. I had one tour where every student brought a mask and put them on and took a group picture.
I guess once I figured out I had an uninterested, non-responsive group, and I seen I was going to bomb no matter what I done; I went thru the routine with the same attitude. But when I had a group that interacted with me, I’m confident that I was a good tour guide and even entertaining. I knew I did a good job when a grammar school teacher would send me a packet of letters from each student thanking me for the tour. And they would have little notes referring to something I had said or had drawn a picture of something they had seen in the plant. A lot of times I would get a call from a college student asking a question about something they didn’t quite understand during the tour. This made me feel like I had accomplished something for the city and the waste water treatment industry.
The most memorable acknowledgement that I received was from a middle school class from Silverdale Baptist private school. When they started to leave after the tour they gave me a Payday candy bar and a bottle of mellow yellow.
The biggest insult I ever got was from a teacher from GPS, an all private girl’s school. I gave them the routine in the classroom and we started on the tour. That’s when the teacher informed me that she was only interested in seeing the laboratory. And that she didn’t want her girls exposed to the waste water in the plant and that these girls would never have any need to know what was happening in the plant.
After the tour I would always explain to the groups how important waste water treatment was to the public’s well being and asked them to imagine the environment, if waste water treatment plants didn’t exist and if nobody was willing to work in them. Most of the people gained a new appreciation for the plant and the people that work in it.
And I always explained to them that there were many opportunities for a career in treating waste water. The field needed biologist, chemist, engineers, mechanics, plant operators, instrumentation techs, electricians, computer operators and programmers. I also informed them that a lot of people had sworn to me after the tour, that they would never step foot in this place again, but a lot of those people had come back after finishing college and applied for a job and were working for me now.
At the end of the tours everybody went back to the classroom and each group was given an opportunity to ask questions. This was an opportunity to cover something that I may not have made clear or for that matter I may have omitted something that a student was curious about. But a few of the questions was about me.
1. How long you been here? Ever how many years it was at that time, always amazed them that someone would work in a place like this for that many years.
2. Do you ever get used to the smell? I explained that it smelled a little better each time I got a raise. Since I had been there I had failed to get a raise one time, and it sure did stink that year. (If I was still working there this would have been my fourth year without a raise. Whew)
3. Has anybody ever fell in? I explained to them the events of a few people falling in and if they were completely submerged they qualified to be inducted to a Waste Water Snorkeling club for life. (Whether they wanted to be or not)
4. What is the strangest thing that you have ever seen in the sewers? I would always tell about the strange phone call that the front office receptionist got from Erlanger hospital one day. An employee at the hospital dropped a section of a cancerous colon down the drain to a sewer. They called and requested that we be on the lookout for it coming into the plant. It was never seen, but it was the conversation around the plant for a day or two, and a good story to tell the tour groups.
In conducting tours of the plant and educating the public about waste water I gained a new confident in myself. I was not only proud to be a part of the waste water industry but proud of having the opportunity to meet the students and teachers in my community. It may not seem at times that I made very much impact in gaining respect for our industry but every once in awhile there would be a student that let you know he/she appreciated what we did for the environment. And I recommend any waste water treatment plant to start a program giving tours for the public. We need all the friends we can get.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
The management at the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant started giving tours to the public to build a positive public relationship with the customers. It was a program to educate the public on what happened to their waste water after they disposed of it. Also it was hoped that once the customers seen what was involved in treating the waste water, that they would understand why the sewer cost attached to their water bill was so high.
In the beginning my superintendent, Jerry Stewart, would give the classroom portion of the tour. Jerry would go thru the process explaining how the water got from their home to the plant and what was done to the water in the plant from start to finish. It was my job to collect samples from each process in the plant for him to use in the classroom to demonstrate what the water looked like before and after each step. After his classroom portion was over I took the group on a tour of the plant showing them each step of treatment.
Jerry is a natural teacher and a very funny entertainer. You could hear the groups laughing just about the whole time the class lasted. Having a speech defect and an introverted personality, the tours were hard for me to conduct at times. Later when Jerry was promoted to Director and I started doing both the classroom and plant tours, I felt like a complete failure after each group left. But after doing it a few times I developed my own program and found that I also had an ability to entertain most people and I became more comfortable with the responsibility. But as you will see further down there were some obstacles I could never overcome no matter how hard I tried. But I came to the conclusion after beating myself down for awhile that you can’t please everybody. After talking to Jerry one day about how successful he was, he informed me that he failed at winning the groups over at times too.
Tours were given to one person or any group that requested one. There were several local elementary, middle, and high school science classes that took the tours each year. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College brought their environmental classes for tours each semester.
I had to be really careful with the grammar school kids while leading them around the plant. They were curious about everything they seen in the plant and wanted to get up close for a closer look. They were kept on the roadways and only allowed to see some of the processes that we felt were safe enough to let them near.
I probably enjoyed giving tours to the middle school kids more than any other groups. They were not only curious about the equipment in the plant but about how waste water got from their house and treated and where it went. They asked lots of intelligent questions about the treatment processes. And I always enjoyed a group that asked a lot of questions instead of making me stand there for 30 minutes making a speech.
I think the high school kids were interested in the processes used to collect and treat waste water because they paid attention while I was talking to them. But it was difficult to get a question/answer discussion going with them. I figured that it must have been a peer pressure thing. They were afraid they would ask something that the others in their group would consider funny. But sometimes there was a kid that either didn’t care if he was laughed at or his curiosity got the better of him. If one of the kids broke the ice, there would be others that followed with more questions. And that resulted in a lively discussion which helped me relate to them more.
I always dreaded giving tours to environmental classes from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The majority of them were taking environmental courses because it was a required subject. They hated the idea of being around human waste and the smell of it made them sick, some of them actually threw up. Most had no sense of humor at all. You could rarely get a smile or laugh out of them. I would stand in front of them in the class room explaining the steps in treating waste water and I felt like I was in a room talking to myself. Some would go to sleep. I would ask them questions and receive stares and dead silence.
The tours thru the plant were worse. While I was explaining what was happening in a particular process or what a piece of equipment was for, the group would be standing almost out of hearing range from me, some with their backs to me, holding their nose, and complaining about how bad it smelled. I never said it, but I always wanted to say “that’s your turd floating around out there; it has your name on it, what’s your problem.
The environmental classes from Chattanooga State Community College were always a pleasure to work with. There was a mixture of people in the classes. Teenagers out of high school, young men working at night and attending college to complete their degrees, women pursuing a dream to get a degree after their kids were grown. With the exception of most of the teenagers, most were interested in what they could learn about waste water treatment. Some were interested because they wanted to be sure to pass the environmental course. But some were actually interested in the science and technology of treating waste water. Those people had actually wondered where the water went and what happened to it after they flushed their commode.
The Chattanooga State students didn’t like the smell in the plant either, but they weren’t offended by it, and I didn’t feel insulted by them. They had a good sense of humor about it all. I had one tour where every student brought a mask and put them on and took a group picture.
I guess once I figured out I had an uninterested, non-responsive group, and I seen I was going to bomb no matter what I done; I went thru the routine with the same attitude. But when I had a group that interacted with me, I’m confident that I was a good tour guide and even entertaining. I knew I did a good job when a grammar school teacher would send me a packet of letters from each student thanking me for the tour. And they would have little notes referring to something I had said or had drawn a picture of something they had seen in the plant. A lot of times I would get a call from a college student asking a question about something they didn’t quite understand during the tour. This made me feel like I had accomplished something for the city and the waste water treatment industry.
The most memorable acknowledgement that I received was from a middle school class from Silverdale Baptist private school. When they started to leave after the tour they gave me a Payday candy bar and a bottle of mellow yellow.
The biggest insult I ever got was from a teacher from GPS, an all private girl’s school. I gave them the routine in the classroom and we started on the tour. That’s when the teacher informed me that she was only interested in seeing the laboratory. And that she didn’t want her girls exposed to the waste water in the plant and that these girls would never have any need to know what was happening in the plant.
After the tour I would always explain to the groups how important waste water treatment was to the public’s well being and asked them to imagine the environment, if waste water treatment plants didn’t exist and if nobody was willing to work in them. Most of the people gained a new appreciation for the plant and the people that work in it.
And I always explained to them that there were many opportunities for a career in treating waste water. The field needed biologist, chemist, engineers, mechanics, plant operators, instrumentation techs, electricians, computer operators and programmers. I also informed them that a lot of people had sworn to me after the tour, that they would never step foot in this place again, but a lot of those people had come back after finishing college and applied for a job and were working for me now.
At the end of the tours everybody went back to the classroom and each group was given an opportunity to ask questions. This was an opportunity to cover something that I may not have made clear or for that matter I may have omitted something that a student was curious about. But a few of the questions was about me.
1. How long you been here? Ever how many years it was at that time, always amazed them that someone would work in a place like this for that many years.
2. Do you ever get used to the smell? I explained that it smelled a little better each time I got a raise. Since I had been there I had failed to get a raise one time, and it sure did stink that year. (If I was still working there this would have been my fourth year without a raise. Whew)
3. Has anybody ever fell in? I explained to them the events of a few people falling in and if they were completely submerged they qualified to be inducted to a Waste Water Snorkeling club for life. (Whether they wanted to be or not)
4. What is the strangest thing that you have ever seen in the sewers? I would always tell about the strange phone call that the front office receptionist got from Erlanger hospital one day. An employee at the hospital dropped a section of a cancerous colon down the drain to a sewer. They called and requested that we be on the lookout for it coming into the plant. It was never seen, but it was the conversation around the plant for a day or two, and a good story to tell the tour groups.
In conducting tours of the plant and educating the public about waste water I gained a new confident in myself. I was not only proud to be a part of the waste water industry but proud of having the opportunity to meet the students and teachers in my community. It may not seem at times that I made very much impact in gaining respect for our industry but every once in awhile there would be a student that let you know he/she appreciated what we did for the environment. And I recommend any waste water treatment plant to start a program giving tours for the public. We need all the friends we can get.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Monday, August 23, 2010
THERE'S CASH IN THAT TRASH
THERE’S CASH IN THAT TRASH
Rayburn Casey Hall
In addition to my other duties at the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant, I served as a tour guide. Tours were given to elementary, middle, and high school science classes. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College brought their environmental classes for tours each semester. And several clubs, Kiwanis and engineers requested tours a couple of times a year.
There were four questions that somebody in the group would always ask me. 1. How long you been here? 2. Do you ever get used to the smell? 3. Has anybody ever fell in? 4. What is the strangest thing that you have ever seen in the sewers?
I would always tell about the strange phone call the front office receptionist got from a local hospital one day. An employee at the hospital dropped a section of a cancerous colon down the drain to a sewer. They called and requested that we be on the lookout for it coming into the plant. It was never seen, but it was the conversation around the plant for a day or two, and a good story to tell the tour groups.
Strangely the people in the groups weren’t surprised when I told them about all the gold and diamond jewelry that had been found in the sewers by the people working in manholes and sewer lines. Just about everybody had dropped something of value down the sink, or flushed a piece of jewelry down the commode or they knew somebody that had had the experience.
But they couldn’t believe their ears when I told them about all the paper money that had been found in the trash and the grit after it was removed from the waste water. The rings, brackets, necklaces, knives, cigarette lighters, and coins were small enough in size and heavy enough to sink and settle out in the sewer lines before reaching the plant. But the paper money, plastic credit cards and driver’s license, wallets and purses would go with the flow into the plant. Before the sewage entered the plant there was a bar screen that screened out the trash before it entered the treatment area. Some of the paper money, wallets and purses would get trapped on the screen. An automatic rake and conveyor carried the trash to a dumpster. Employees would rake the pile down every few hours and sometimes find as much as a 20 dollar bill. It didn’t happen every day but it happened often enough that we didn’t have any problems with the buckets running over.
Money or Ids were rarely found in the wallets and purses because most of them had been stolen, cleaned out, and thrown down the storm drains. If a credit card was found the bank issuing it was notified and if a driver’s license was found we contacted the owner
Some of the paper money and plastic cards would pass through the screens and would get mixed in the grit and would be removed to a dumpster with a continuous operating rake. Employees raking the grit buckets down to keep them from piling up and running over found a lot of ones, fives, tens, and twenties. I found a lot of ones, a twenty a few times. But to my knowledge there was only one, hundred dollar bill ever found.
Years and years ago before there was an automatic screening system, employees had to clean the bar screens manually with a rake, put it in a bucket, and haul it to a dumpster. There was one operator that worked there about ten years before retiring, and he insisted on cleaning the bar screens himself when he was on duty. It was estimated that while he was there, for that ten year span, that he found enough money to match his salary for about a month.
Most of the paper money could be washed and cleaned and spent without anybody knowing that it had been found in the sewage. But if a bill was found and had gone through some rough treatment and torn up, it was carried to the bank to be exchanged for a good one, if it still had the serial number. You could see the teller wasn’t sure about touching the bill, and would ask the finder where they got it. When she was told that it was found in the sewage, a nauseated look would come over face, and she would find something on her work station to rake it in a drawer.
Just goes to show you, there can be a silver lining wherever you look, even in a sewer.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Rayburn Casey Hall
In addition to my other duties at the Moccasin Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant, I served as a tour guide. Tours were given to elementary, middle, and high school science classes. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College brought their environmental classes for tours each semester. And several clubs, Kiwanis and engineers requested tours a couple of times a year.
There were four questions that somebody in the group would always ask me. 1. How long you been here? 2. Do you ever get used to the smell? 3. Has anybody ever fell in? 4. What is the strangest thing that you have ever seen in the sewers?
I would always tell about the strange phone call the front office receptionist got from a local hospital one day. An employee at the hospital dropped a section of a cancerous colon down the drain to a sewer. They called and requested that we be on the lookout for it coming into the plant. It was never seen, but it was the conversation around the plant for a day or two, and a good story to tell the tour groups.
Strangely the people in the groups weren’t surprised when I told them about all the gold and diamond jewelry that had been found in the sewers by the people working in manholes and sewer lines. Just about everybody had dropped something of value down the sink, or flushed a piece of jewelry down the commode or they knew somebody that had had the experience.
But they couldn’t believe their ears when I told them about all the paper money that had been found in the trash and the grit after it was removed from the waste water. The rings, brackets, necklaces, knives, cigarette lighters, and coins were small enough in size and heavy enough to sink and settle out in the sewer lines before reaching the plant. But the paper money, plastic credit cards and driver’s license, wallets and purses would go with the flow into the plant. Before the sewage entered the plant there was a bar screen that screened out the trash before it entered the treatment area. Some of the paper money, wallets and purses would get trapped on the screen. An automatic rake and conveyor carried the trash to a dumpster. Employees would rake the pile down every few hours and sometimes find as much as a 20 dollar bill. It didn’t happen every day but it happened often enough that we didn’t have any problems with the buckets running over.
Money or Ids were rarely found in the wallets and purses because most of them had been stolen, cleaned out, and thrown down the storm drains. If a credit card was found the bank issuing it was notified and if a driver’s license was found we contacted the owner
Some of the paper money and plastic cards would pass through the screens and would get mixed in the grit and would be removed to a dumpster with a continuous operating rake. Employees raking the grit buckets down to keep them from piling up and running over found a lot of ones, fives, tens, and twenties. I found a lot of ones, a twenty a few times. But to my knowledge there was only one, hundred dollar bill ever found.
Years and years ago before there was an automatic screening system, employees had to clean the bar screens manually with a rake, put it in a bucket, and haul it to a dumpster. There was one operator that worked there about ten years before retiring, and he insisted on cleaning the bar screens himself when he was on duty. It was estimated that while he was there, for that ten year span, that he found enough money to match his salary for about a month.
Most of the paper money could be washed and cleaned and spent without anybody knowing that it had been found in the sewage. But if a bill was found and had gone through some rough treatment and torn up, it was carried to the bank to be exchanged for a good one, if it still had the serial number. You could see the teller wasn’t sure about touching the bill, and would ask the finder where they got it. When she was told that it was found in the sewage, a nauseated look would come over face, and she would find something on her work station to rake it in a drawer.
Just goes to show you, there can be a silver lining wherever you look, even in a sewer.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
THE UNSUNG HEROES OF THE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS
THE UNSUNG HEROES OF THE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS
Most of the public view them as slackers because they work for the city. They are considered abnormal by most people because they work in a place that collects and treats human waste. The mayor and the city council use them along with other employees as an excuse to raise taxes. Management considers them uneducated, and ignorant, because most don’t have a college degree. And their department, whatever name it’s called, will be ranked on the bottom of the popularity scale, compared to other city department by the mayor, city council, and public. The public is willing to do whatever is necessary to support the police and fire departments and will make sacrifices to get their garbage picked up. But they want their human waste disposed of quietly and out of sight and out of mind and of course with no smell and very little cost. Discussing the needs for collection, treatment and disposal of sewage, is the least popular subject for any city leaders to discuss and deal with.
These people are waste water plant operators and they collect human waste and sometimes industrial waste and treat and dispose of it to protect their community and the communities located downstream from their community. It is estimated by some, that by removing the water pollution from their communities, that they save more lives than all the doctors, nurses, polices and firemen of the world put together each day. But yet, the level of respect they receive from the public is far below any other occupation because they work with sewage.
I was a waste water plant operator for 37 years. When I retired I was the supervisor over the liquid side of a 240 MGD waste water treatment plant. In addition to that I was responsible for about 65 waste water pump stations, 7 Combined Sewage Overflow treating facilities (CSOs), 7 storm water pump stations and a levee system. I was responsible for five Chief Operators and each one of them was responsible for five plant operators. In order to manage all of this successfully I had to have a lot of good operators help me operate this system.
I belonged to the Water Environmental Federation, (WEF) the Kentucky – Tennessee Water Environmental Association (Ky-Tn WEA), and the Tennessee Water and Waste Water Association (TWWA). I served as a Ky-Tn representative for the WEF Professional Waste Water Operation Division (PWOD). I served as Secretary of treasure, Vice Chairman, Chairman, for the Lower East Section of Tennessee and State Chairman for the TWWA. I have given you my resume to show you the opportunities that I have had to meet and talk with and become friends with hundreds of Waste Water Plant operators. And I have taken the advantage of my positions to visit several waste water plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. I am proud to be associated with the people that work to preserve our health and wellbeing from illnesses and diseases associated with water pollution.
But I will not publish this article leaving you with the idea that I think all waste water plant operators are angels of mercy. In my career, I have seen and known and dealt with some undesirable employees that didn’t need to be given responsibilities for protecting the public’s welfare. But luckily those people are an exception to the rule and don’t fit the general description of the Waste Water Plant Operator being discussed here in this article.
There are a lot of people that get into the waste water treatment industry as operators and want to make a career out of it and treating waste water becomes a mission for them. If not for their dedication, the industry would lack advances in furthering the knowledge and technology of treating water pollution. There are many good waste water operator organizations that have programs to recognize these people with certificates, awards and plaques.
But what about the operator that is always at work on time, and stays until quitting time. And while he is there he is doing what he gets paid to do. And those operators that come in to work in emergencies, if they are needed, and stay as long as they are needed, during rain and snow storms or when another operator has to be off.
What about the operators that stays behind to operate the plant while management, supervisors and career minded people go out of town to attend association meetings, and conferences and collect awards. If not for them earning those awards would be impossible.
The majority of operators have a normal life outside of work and this is where they want to spend their time instead of going out of town and attending banquets. They want to be with their family, do things in their church, go fishing and hunting, enjoy a hobby, so for this they rarely are recognized for the work they do at the plant, because they have a greater personal interest in other areas.
In large plants it is the grunt or Plant operator that is doing the foot work, collecting samples, collecting and recording data, making adjustments to the processes, checking for equipment malfunctions, draining clarifiers and tanks if necessary, unplugging sludge lines, priming airlock pumps. Some managers think they can convert the plant to computer control and the need for these people will go away. To my knowledge only very small, simple operating system has been successfully operated with computer control. The plant manager must have operators that he can trust to collect and record accurate data because much of it goes on a state report that the supervisor is under oath to report accurately.
Let’s not ignore the small town waste water treatment plant operator that may be the only one on duty. He is the operator, chemist, mechanic, and may fulfill the administer duties such as completing and signing the state report. He has to be trusted completely because like the large plants there may not be checks or balances. But in my 37 years I have heard of very few operators failing to carry out the duties they had been entrusted with.
As a supervisor I wanted people on my team that came to work when they were scheduled, willing to work if needed, even if they weren’t scheduled, care enough about their job to want to learn what they could about the job, reliable to do their duties because they took pride in doing what they got paid to do and doing it right, able to make decision in most situations instead of waiting on someone else, and people that asked how, when, and where, not why. I found that the people I respected and valued most were those operators that looked for a way to complete the job, instead of looking for reasons not to do the job at hand. And most of these people do it without thoughts of receiving an award or recognition for just doing what they get paid to do.
The one thing they don’t need or deserved, is to be considered second class citizens, because they take a waste that is generated by people from their homes, a product that the public doesn’t want to hear about, a product that the public never want in their sight, and they treat and dispose of it, to protect the public’s health and well being. If you want to know how important they are to your city and civilizations, read about the Black Plague, where millions of people died, before they found the cause of the disease was rats living in sewage and fleas carried by those rats were biting the people and spreading the plague. No civilization can survive living in its own filth. No matter how primitive a society or culture is they have learned to separate themselves from their human waste.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Most of the public view them as slackers because they work for the city. They are considered abnormal by most people because they work in a place that collects and treats human waste. The mayor and the city council use them along with other employees as an excuse to raise taxes. Management considers them uneducated, and ignorant, because most don’t have a college degree. And their department, whatever name it’s called, will be ranked on the bottom of the popularity scale, compared to other city department by the mayor, city council, and public. The public is willing to do whatever is necessary to support the police and fire departments and will make sacrifices to get their garbage picked up. But they want their human waste disposed of quietly and out of sight and out of mind and of course with no smell and very little cost. Discussing the needs for collection, treatment and disposal of sewage, is the least popular subject for any city leaders to discuss and deal with.
These people are waste water plant operators and they collect human waste and sometimes industrial waste and treat and dispose of it to protect their community and the communities located downstream from their community. It is estimated by some, that by removing the water pollution from their communities, that they save more lives than all the doctors, nurses, polices and firemen of the world put together each day. But yet, the level of respect they receive from the public is far below any other occupation because they work with sewage.
I was a waste water plant operator for 37 years. When I retired I was the supervisor over the liquid side of a 240 MGD waste water treatment plant. In addition to that I was responsible for about 65 waste water pump stations, 7 Combined Sewage Overflow treating facilities (CSOs), 7 storm water pump stations and a levee system. I was responsible for five Chief Operators and each one of them was responsible for five plant operators. In order to manage all of this successfully I had to have a lot of good operators help me operate this system.
I belonged to the Water Environmental Federation, (WEF) the Kentucky – Tennessee Water Environmental Association (Ky-Tn WEA), and the Tennessee Water and Waste Water Association (TWWA). I served as a Ky-Tn representative for the WEF Professional Waste Water Operation Division (PWOD). I served as Secretary of treasure, Vice Chairman, Chairman, for the Lower East Section of Tennessee and State Chairman for the TWWA. I have given you my resume to show you the opportunities that I have had to meet and talk with and become friends with hundreds of Waste Water Plant operators. And I have taken the advantage of my positions to visit several waste water plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. I am proud to be associated with the people that work to preserve our health and wellbeing from illnesses and diseases associated with water pollution.
But I will not publish this article leaving you with the idea that I think all waste water plant operators are angels of mercy. In my career, I have seen and known and dealt with some undesirable employees that didn’t need to be given responsibilities for protecting the public’s welfare. But luckily those people are an exception to the rule and don’t fit the general description of the Waste Water Plant Operator being discussed here in this article.
There are a lot of people that get into the waste water treatment industry as operators and want to make a career out of it and treating waste water becomes a mission for them. If not for their dedication, the industry would lack advances in furthering the knowledge and technology of treating water pollution. There are many good waste water operator organizations that have programs to recognize these people with certificates, awards and plaques.
But what about the operator that is always at work on time, and stays until quitting time. And while he is there he is doing what he gets paid to do. And those operators that come in to work in emergencies, if they are needed, and stay as long as they are needed, during rain and snow storms or when another operator has to be off.
What about the operators that stays behind to operate the plant while management, supervisors and career minded people go out of town to attend association meetings, and conferences and collect awards. If not for them earning those awards would be impossible.
The majority of operators have a normal life outside of work and this is where they want to spend their time instead of going out of town and attending banquets. They want to be with their family, do things in their church, go fishing and hunting, enjoy a hobby, so for this they rarely are recognized for the work they do at the plant, because they have a greater personal interest in other areas.
In large plants it is the grunt or Plant operator that is doing the foot work, collecting samples, collecting and recording data, making adjustments to the processes, checking for equipment malfunctions, draining clarifiers and tanks if necessary, unplugging sludge lines, priming airlock pumps. Some managers think they can convert the plant to computer control and the need for these people will go away. To my knowledge only very small, simple operating system has been successfully operated with computer control. The plant manager must have operators that he can trust to collect and record accurate data because much of it goes on a state report that the supervisor is under oath to report accurately.
Let’s not ignore the small town waste water treatment plant operator that may be the only one on duty. He is the operator, chemist, mechanic, and may fulfill the administer duties such as completing and signing the state report. He has to be trusted completely because like the large plants there may not be checks or balances. But in my 37 years I have heard of very few operators failing to carry out the duties they had been entrusted with.
As a supervisor I wanted people on my team that came to work when they were scheduled, willing to work if needed, even if they weren’t scheduled, care enough about their job to want to learn what they could about the job, reliable to do their duties because they took pride in doing what they got paid to do and doing it right, able to make decision in most situations instead of waiting on someone else, and people that asked how, when, and where, not why. I found that the people I respected and valued most were those operators that looked for a way to complete the job, instead of looking for reasons not to do the job at hand. And most of these people do it without thoughts of receiving an award or recognition for just doing what they get paid to do.
The one thing they don’t need or deserved, is to be considered second class citizens, because they take a waste that is generated by people from their homes, a product that the public doesn’t want to hear about, a product that the public never want in their sight, and they treat and dispose of it, to protect the public’s health and well being. If you want to know how important they are to your city and civilizations, read about the Black Plague, where millions of people died, before they found the cause of the disease was rats living in sewage and fleas carried by those rats were biting the people and spreading the plague. No civilization can survive living in its own filth. No matter how primitive a society or culture is they have learned to separate themselves from their human waste.
Please let me know that you were here by making a comment. If you like the subject of my blog I hope you will become a follower.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
WASTE WATER OPERATOR’S PRAYER
BY RAYBURN CASEY HALL
Please God make the storm go around
To avoid another plant shut down
This is the place that lightening will strike twice
And with our lives we could pay the price
You know while I’m out there on my rounds
I could provide the perfect ground
Please God let it rain another day
How about on my off day
At home I can stay inside
But here I have to be outside
I can wait about going fishing
I’ll just stay home wishing
Please God no more pumps down
Overflows causes us to frown
Give maintenance the power
We could really use it within the hour
Their failure would be depressing
Lord I could use a blessing
Please God tell our customers we are sane
Don’t let our pride be in vain
Yes we work with human waste
But each man to his on taste
If not for our choice of vocation
Can they imagine the situation?
Please God no more college degrees
We have lots of PHD’s
We need a few more qualified walkers
And a lot less certified talkers
Please take away those engineers
Cause all they do is interfere.
Please God tell our city mothers and Fathers
That we hate to be a bother
We know spending money on us
Will cause the constituents to fuss
After voting for environmental protection
Help them win another election
Please God give me the know how
To complete my duties and my vows
Because if at this I do fail
My boss will rant and rail
Oh Lord Please this day I ask
Help me to complete my task.
Please God make the storm go around
To avoid another plant shut down
This is the place that lightening will strike twice
And with our lives we could pay the price
You know while I’m out there on my rounds
I could provide the perfect ground
Please God let it rain another day
How about on my off day
At home I can stay inside
But here I have to be outside
I can wait about going fishing
I’ll just stay home wishing
Please God no more pumps down
Overflows causes us to frown
Give maintenance the power
We could really use it within the hour
Their failure would be depressing
Lord I could use a blessing
Please God tell our customers we are sane
Don’t let our pride be in vain
Yes we work with human waste
But each man to his on taste
If not for our choice of vocation
Can they imagine the situation?
Please God no more college degrees
We have lots of PHD’s
We need a few more qualified walkers
And a lot less certified talkers
Please take away those engineers
Cause all they do is interfere.
Please God tell our city mothers and Fathers
That we hate to be a bother
We know spending money on us
Will cause the constituents to fuss
After voting for environmental protection
Help them win another election
Please God give me the know how
To complete my duties and my vows
Because if at this I do fail
My boss will rant and rail
Oh Lord Please this day I ask
Help me to complete my task.
ODE TO WASTE WATER PLANT OPERATORS
BY RAYBURN CASEY HALL
Weather man predicting rain again
Boys we gotta do what we can
Gotta keep those manhole tops from blowing
Prevent those sewers from overflowing
If you lose a cup of sewage today
It’s the same as a million gallon a day.
Well boys here we go again
We gotta deal with this rain
Those big pumps are humming
The wet weather flow is coming
Gallons coming in by the millions
Boy what a way to make a living
Well the creek is out of its banks
And even without the thanks
Gotta keep the town from flooding
So those people can keep on flushing.
Close the Levee floodgates
Start the pumps before it’s too late
Hey those CSO are filling up fast
And look at that new weather forcast
We just got them cleaned and drained
Well there’s no need to complain
They’re calling for two more inches tonight
Are you sure those high level alarms are right
There goes another station down
The biggest pump station in town
Runs like a top during dry weather
But fails every time in wet weather
Let’s get those pumps a pumping
Before those manholes start to jumping
Hey those EQs are filling up fast
And look at that new weather forcast
Don’t like but another foot
Having those EQ basins full
You know the operator’s SOPs
Ramp those pumps to full speed
Start those clarifiers sucking
Stop those solids from puking.
Don’t let me hear you whine
Its our reputation on the line
Hold those solids in the plant
Don’t let me hear the word Can’t
You know the operator creed
And you know what we need
You know we’re the last defense
So don’t it make sense
Don’t be stingy with disinfection
We gotta stop those violations
Weather man predicting rain again
Boys we gotta do what we can
Gotta keep those manhole tops from blowing
Prevent those sewers from overflowing
If you lose a cup of sewage today
It’s the same as a million gallon a day.
Well boys here we go again
We gotta deal with this rain
Those big pumps are humming
The wet weather flow is coming
Gallons coming in by the millions
Boy what a way to make a living
Well the creek is out of its banks
And even without the thanks
Gotta keep the town from flooding
So those people can keep on flushing.
Close the Levee floodgates
Start the pumps before it’s too late
Hey those CSO are filling up fast
And look at that new weather forcast
We just got them cleaned and drained
Well there’s no need to complain
They’re calling for two more inches tonight
Are you sure those high level alarms are right
There goes another station down
The biggest pump station in town
Runs like a top during dry weather
But fails every time in wet weather
Let’s get those pumps a pumping
Before those manholes start to jumping
Hey those EQs are filling up fast
And look at that new weather forcast
Don’t like but another foot
Having those EQ basins full
You know the operator’s SOPs
Ramp those pumps to full speed
Start those clarifiers sucking
Stop those solids from puking.
Don’t let me hear you whine
Its our reputation on the line
Hold those solids in the plant
Don’t let me hear the word Can’t
You know the operator creed
And you know what we need
You know we’re the last defense
So don’t it make sense
Don’t be stingy with disinfection
We gotta stop those violations
HELP!! I HAVE FALLEN IN AND I CAN’T GET OUT
BY Rayburn Casey Hall
I knew of one operator that worked in a waste water treatment plant that never got any sludge on him. He would leave work just as clean as he was when he came in. He worked there for 25 years and never got dirty. He was a conscientious worker, but he was also conscientious about being clean also. He operated in the plant during the hardest time to stay clean, which was during three years of construction. He worked second shift and I followed him on the third. After a rain he would leave looking like I did coming in to work. When I left the next morning, I looked like I had laid down in the mud and wallowed in it.
The majority of people that work in a waste water treatment plant are going to get some sludge or scum on them sooner or later. Mine was sooner. I got activated sludge on me the first day I went to work at the plant. No big story. I grabbed a hold of a plant water screen and it was covered with sludge.
The first thing a waste water plant operator is told, and if he don’t listen, he learns the hard way, don’t start a positive displacement pump while the discharge valve is in the closed position. If you push the start button on a Marlowe belt driven piston pump with the valve closed, you will hear the belts start squealing in seconds, and before you can get the stop button pushed and the shear pens break, you will be showered with sludge. And it ain’t no warm fuzzy feeling either. Your uniform will be covered; your shoes full, your hair soaked with it, you will be trying to get it out of your eyes, and all this time you are trying to spit the salty used food out of your mouth.
Someone falling into a settling basin, or a wet well, or a sludge trough, can be funny to everybody else, embarrassing to the person that fell in, but all employees in a waste water plant recognizes the danger to anyone that falls in and that everyone should take precautions and avoid. But it is going to happen to a few people, but luckily it rarely happens. Well at least I think it rarely happens. There was a case where evidence showed an employee fell in, but he managed to get cleaned up before anybody seen him.
I was standing in the control room one day looking out the window and I seen a man coming up the road and he looked like Frankenstein. He was walking stiff legged and with his legs spread apart, he was holding his arms straight out from his side. As he got closer, I could tell he was covered in some brown greasy looking material from head to toe. The closer he got to the control room building, the bigger the crowd grew around him. I went outside myself to see what kind of monster had gotten into the plant. When I got close to him, but at a safe distance, I could see it was one of our plant operators. He was covered with scum from head to toe.
We got him cleaned up and took him to the emergency room to get him checked out for any injures and the Doctors gave him hepatitis and tetanus shots. He was Ok except for being embarrassed, which got worse later. He was working at the scum end of the primary clarifier and breaking up thick scum before it got to the rakes. He was standing on top of an eight inch thick wall (not supposed to do that) and stepped off of it backward.
Faith wasn’t as kind to the next diver. The first one that fell in was working the day shift on a warm summer day. The next guy picked the midnight shift to fall in, in the winter, and the temperature was 10 degrees Fahrenheit. He was priming a secondary clarifier claravac and tripped and fell and ended up on his back in the bottom of a trough submerged in activated sludge. Luckily he had a co-worker with him and helped him get up and out of the trough. His co-worker contacted their Chief Operator via radio and reported the accident. He was hauled to the control building on the back of a pickup. He didn’t want to mess up the truck seats. By the time they got him into the building and to the shower, the sludge on him had frozen and breaking up into chunks. He looked like a frozen ice cream fudgesicle or brown cow. Again luck was on his side and the city’s, he received no physical injuries but a big wounded pride.
The next operator that fell in was a professional scuba diver. He was working to break up harden activated sludge on the influent end of a secondary clarifiers. The influent end of the clarifiers has barriers to control short circuiting in the tank. And because the area is static the lighter solids will float to the top and set up and become a hard crust on top of the flow. The operator was breaking up the hardened crust with a water hose while standing on the top surface of the tank. He had cleaned one section of a tank and replaced the grate before starting on another one. When he got the grating off the next one to clean, he stepped on the grating that he had just replaced, and he and the grating went into the clarifier. Luckily the grating was too big to go all the way in and lodged before going to the bottom. The operator was left standing in the clarifier in mixed liquor up to his neck. He couldn’t crawl out of the tank alone without some help. He had pulled his radio out of his pocket and laid it on the side of the clarifier so he wouldn’t accidently drop it in. He managed to get a hold of the radio and called for help. His worst injury was to his ego.
After the first operator fell in the primary, a club was formed called the Clarifier Snorkel Club. From then on each unfortunate operator was issued a certificate with his new nickname on it. Each inductee had to learn and repeat the club’s slogan “Well Shut My Mouth”. This all took place at the Annual Christmas dinner party.
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