How a water utility plant operator job is explained?

by  Maryam Hussain

What is the definition of job description?

A job description is a document setting out in detail the duties of the job, the reporting requirements, and the qualifications and experience required.

Job description of water utility plant operator
Position Title:	Water utility plant shift operator
Area:	Water treatment plant and distribution bay
Reports to:	In-charge Operator Plant Utilities (I/C-O)
Required skills:	Have a high school diploma in chemical or mechanical technology Have water utility plant certification Basic computer software operation skills e.g. MS-word, MS-excel, MS-ppt
Preferred skills:	Communication skills 1-2 years of experience in the water treatment plant, and plant utility section
Key duties and responsibilities:	Shall assume the charge of area shift Shall be responsible for the performance of all activities during his shift Shall operate the process in accordance with daily, weekly, or monthly plans & as per I/C-O instructions Shall perform the grab sampling of raw water, primary, secondary & tertiary treated water as per described frequency and submit these to utilities chemistry control department Shall operate the process in such a way as to maintain the chemistry (turbidity, halogens, pH, conductivity, concentration, dissolved air or oxygen, etc.)  and biology (algae, fungi, BOD) of all types of product waters within an allowed range Shall maintain the water inventory of all types of product water in storage tanks Shall monitor the trend of parameters & control the process precisely Shall operate the equipment within its safe operating envelop, e.g. operate the pump between minimum & maximum flow specifications Shall report any abnormality in the behavior of parameters to I/C-O Shall record all the activities performed by the operator or other personnel in his area during his shift Shall record operational parameters in data sheets Shall lodge deficiency rectification application (DRI) upon identification of deficiencies identified during the shift Shall ensure the execution of the lock-out-tag-out procedure, prior to authorizing the work permit Shall ensure that all updated, approved & designated documents are being followed in his area Shall maintain shift operator logbook of his area
Key accountabilities:	Technical requirements	Core requirements
	Waterworks Treatment Process Water Sampling Water composition concentrations & pH Water pumping, storage & distribution hydraulics	Plant safety policy & rules Plant quality policy Plant housekeeping policy

 

What are communication skills?

Most of the communication skills are known to the average person but some of these are not. For example, we don't routinely use three-part communication and check someone else's work, e.g., Peer-Checking. These are the most required behaviors that should be a part of culture and need to be reinforced in the workplace. If consistently and effectively applied, they help minimize human errors.

Effective Communication is a set of communications principles and formal techniques that are exercised to ensure the accurate transfer of information from sender to receiver (1^st part: sending a narration) then repetition of narration by receiver (2^nd part: confirmation of reception) and then the acknowledgment by the sender to the receiver (3^rd part: closing of loop). The formal techniques involve the use of:

1. Three-part communications

2. Phonetic Alphabet

3. Phonetic Numerals

What is a utility water treatment plant?

Raw water and wastewater must be collected and conveyed to a treatment facility and treated to remove pollutants to a level of compliance with the required standard before a municipal or industrial facility can supply it to public consumers or to industrial usage or discharge it into receiving water stream.  The most common systems in water treatment employ processes that combine physical, chemical, and biological methods.

Water treatment plants are usually classified as providing primary, secondary, or tertiary treatment, depending on the purification level to which they treat.

Once at a treatment facility, in primary treatment plants, physical processes remove a portion of the pollutants that settle or float. Pollutants too large to pass through simple screening devices are also removed, followed by disinfection. Primary treatment typically removes about 35% of the BOD and 60% of the suspended solids.

Secondary treatment plants use the physical processes employed by primary treatment but expand the processes with the microbial oxidation of wastes. When properly operated, secondary treatment plants remove about 90% of the BOD and 90% of the suspended solids.

Tertiary treatment pants are specialized, and their use is dependent upon the pollutants for removal and high purity requirement in the downstream industrial process, e.g. boiler feedwater preparation.

What may be the minimum syllabus to make a qualified personnel eligible for the job of water treatment and water utility plant operator?

The minimum syllabus should present the basic science and engineering knowledge required in drinking water, water treatment & distribution operations via a systematic approach. The syllabus should describe each unit process, what function the process provides in water treatment & distribution, and the basic equipment each process uses.

The syllabus should provide the details to the operator that how the processes fit together within a drinking water or water treatment system and survey the fundamental concepts that make up water treatment & distribution processes as a whole.

Basic Math

Mathematical terms, Units, conversions, Calculation steps, Fractions, Decimals, rounding off numbers, Determining significant figures, Exponents, Averages, Ratios, Proportions, Percent, Areas, Volumes, Distances. 

Basic Electricity

Definitions, Measuring voltage and current, Ohm's Law, Electrical circuits, Electrical phases, Electrical power, Electromagnetics, Motors, Power generators, Electrolysis, Transformers.

Basic Water Chemistry

Definitions, Water chemistry fundamentals, Water solutions, Water constituents, pH, Conductivity, Alkalinity, Water hardness, Water concentration units, ppm & ppb

Sampling and Examination

Grab sampling, Water Sampling procedures.

Basic Hydraulics

Basic definitions, Weight of water, Pressure, Height of fluid column, Velocity of flow, Head, Flow, Detention Time, Distribution system hydraulics, Pumps, and their characteristics, Valves & their characteristics, water hammer.

Water Distribution and Storage

Water distribution systems, Water storage systems, Water storage requirements, Storage tank maintenance.

Primary Water Treatment Processes

Sedimentation, Gravity Settling, Coagulation, Flocculation, Filtration.

Disinfection

Chlorination

What is grab sampling of water?

It is an individual water sample collected at a randomly selected short period of time. There are two types of sampling techniques that are employed for water quality monitoring. One is called a grab sample and the other is called a composite sample. The type of sample to be employed depends on the specific parameter determination, the reason the sample is being collected, and the applicable standards.

How is the turbidity of water defined?

Turbidity index is a powerful measure of water's clarity. Insoluble particulate that is suspended or is floating in water, scatter and absorb light rays, and impede passage of light rays through water. Turbidity indices measure light passage interference. The index starts with 1, showing little or no turbidity, to 5, allowing no passage of light. 

Turbidity is used as a measure of suspended solids. One of the units of measurement for turbidity is the turbidity unit (TU) which is equivalent to the turbidity produced by one mg/L of silica (SiO₂). The other unit of measurement for turbidity in nephelometry is the nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU).

There is no precise relationship between turbidity and the concentration of total suspended solids in untreated water. However, a reasonable & customized relationship may be used between turbidity and total suspended solids for the settled and filtered water from the treatment process. The general form of the relationship is presented as:

TSS   ≈   TSS_f   x   T

where

TSS: total suspended solids in the given sample of water, mg/L

TSS_f: a factor used to convert turbidity readings to total suspended solids, (mg /L)/NTU

T: turbidity, NTU

How is the pH defined?

In every aqueous solution (aqueous solution is the solution of a solute in water; H₂O), two ions, i-e., the hydronium ion H₃O (or hydrogen ion, H⁺) and the hydroxide ion OH^-, are available as a result of the self-ionization of water, a reaction of water with itself. Pure water can be safely considered as nonelectrolyte (nonconductor of electricity).

Experiments show that water cannot be considered a nonconductor and pure water does show a very small conduction. This conduction results from self-ionization (or auto-ionization), a reaction in which two like molecules react to give ions. In the case of water, a proton (H⁺ ion) from one H₂O molecule is transferred to another H₂O molecule, leaving behind an OH^- ion. The molecule of water, H₂O, that received the proton (H⁺ ion), now became a hydronium ion, H₃O⁺ (aq).

H₂O _(l)    +    H₂O _(l)    ⇌    H₃O⁺ _(aq)    +    OH^- _(aq)

Because the concentration of ions formed is very small, the concentration of H₂O remains essentially constant. In a neutral solution, the concentrations of H₃O⁺ and OH^- remain equal, as they are in pure water. In pure/neutral water, the concentration of H₃O⁺ produced is 1.0 x 10^-7 M (g-moles H₃O⁺ of per liter of solution).

But by dissolving substances in water, you can alter the concentrations of H₃O⁺ and OH^- ions. In an acidic solution, the concentration of H₃O⁺ ions is greater than the concentration of OH^- ions. So it can be concluded that at room temperature (298 K);

In an acidic solution;  [H₃O⁺] > 1.0 x 10^-7 M (g-moles H₃O⁺ of per liter of solution).

In a neutral solution;  [H₃O⁺] = 1.0 x 10^-7 M (g-moles H₃O⁺ of per liter of solution).

In a basic solution;  [H₃O⁺] < 1.0 x 10^-7 M (g-moles H₃O⁺ of per liter of solution).

Where [         ] brackets are used as symbolic representations of the concentration of a solution.

Because the concentration, H₃O⁺, values may be very small, it is often more convenient to give the acidity in terms of pH, which is defined as the negative of the logarithm of the molar hydronium-ion concentration. pH can be represented mathematically as

pH = -log [H₃O⁺]     or simply as

pH = -log [H⁺]

pH value of a neutral solution = pH = -log [H₃O⁺] = -log [1.0 x 10^-7] = 7

Illustration:

Let the concentration of H₃O⁺ ions for a given acidic solution is 1.0 x 10^-2 M, then the pH value of this acidic solution will be = pH = -log [H₃O⁺] = -log [1.0 x 10^-2] = 2

Therefore,

a neutral solution always has a pH of 7.00.

an acidic solution always has a pH of < 7.00.

a basic solution always has a pH of > 7.00.

How is the conductivity of water defined?

Pure water is a poor conductor of electricity. Drinking and washing water can contain varying concentrations of dissolved salts which dissociate, either wholly or partially, to form charged particles called ions. These ions are the positively charged cations and negatively charged anions. These ions allow the water or solution to conduct electrical currents and are therefore called electrolytes.

Electrical conductivity is thus a measure of water purity, with low conductivity corresponding to a state of high purity. The dissolved salt concentration also affects corrosion reactions and chemical reactions in general. The conductivity of water is measured directly through the use of a conductivity meter. The unit of conductivity is μS/m.

Salinity is another parameter that resembles conductivity. It refers to the presence of soluble salts in waters, or in soils, usually measured as electrical conductivity in dS/m. The unit magnitude of dS/m is larger than μS/m because saline contains a higher concentration of dissolved solids in the sample.

What is BOD?

BOD stands for Biochemical oxygen demand. BOD is the amount of oxygen consumed by the organism in the process of stabilizing waste that contains organic material. As such, it can be used to find out the amount of oxygen-consuming substances that water or wastewater may contain.

BOD is measured by incubating a sample in a refrigerator for five days at a temperature of 20 °C and measuring the amount of oxygen consumed during that time. The materials that consume oxygen in a given water sample are composed of carbonaceous and nitrogenous portions. The carbonaceous portion refers to the carbon content of the solid material in water; carbon reacts with the dissolved oxygen producing CO₂. On the other hand, the nitrogenous portion refers to the ammonia content; ammonia also reacts with the dissolved oxygen.

There is a difference between BOD and COD. BOD is based on dissolved oxygen reduction by organisms in consuming (oxidizing) organic carbon in the water sample. COD is based on the chemical oxidation of all organic carbons, in the water sample, using an acid dichromate oxidation or in some countries a permanganate oxidation of organics.