From Jon Dyer, jondyer-etc@carolina.rr.com. Invitation to Firms with Emerging Technologies to Include in WEF Solids Design Manual. The WEF Solids Processing Design and Management Manual is a massive undertaking that is intended to bring together information on the realm of technologies that are used in solids processing, including the so-called emerging and innovative technologies.  The information in hand is distributed among the chapters of the Manual, now undergoing the first of three peer reviews.  The Team managing the preparation of the Manual with its 27 chapters recognizes that experience with emerging and innovative technologies is changing rapidly, especially with the accelerating interest in energy recovery, waste solids minimization technologies, and characterization of greenhouse gas emissions from solids processing trains. 

Accordingly, the Team desires to include recent information on innovative and emerging technologies in the second draft and before it is sent to peer review. Sales pieces are not acceptable.  To this end the team is soliciting information in two categories from the owners of such processes:

• A technical description of the process, to include: process description including appropriate flow diagram, mass and heat balances, a worldwide list of treatment plants where the technology has been in extended use or demonstrated if such is the case, process design criteria, performance data and cost estimates (including date when made).  The Team will judge the acceptability of this information for inclusion in the Manual, and reserves the rights to use or reject the information based on its objectivity and factualness, and to place the material in the appropriate chapter.
• Case studies (up to three per technology), which are be written in a concise format that describes the objectives of the case studies, the host wastewater treatment plant location and the cognizant person at the site, the time period, and the principal findings, conclusions and recommendations of the work. The total length of each case study shall be limited to five (5) pages.  The criteria for acceptance will include: verification of the facts presented; demonstration of biosolids quality before and after processing; and health and safety record.

A first decision about acceptance of case study content will be made by the chapter lead author of the pertinent chapter, and if necessary, such decisions will be reviewed by the Team. Owners should contact Jon Dyer, jondyer-etc@carolina.rr.com expressing their interest in contributing case studies.  Upon such notification owners will be provided with the information included in the first draft of the Manual. The deadline for such responses is 30 days after date of release of this notice.

From Canada.com - Don Mills, Ontario, Canada, 7-10-09. Vancouver, Canada Sewage May Be Turned into Power Source. A B.C. company is turning feces into fuel.Vancouver-area officials shipped eight truckloads of sewage to Kamloops for the pilot project, hoping to create a new source of revenue from one of the city's natural resources. Tests showed the fecal sludge can be used to make fuel, generate power and potentially create a new source of revenue, using a technology known as biomass gasification. The process, developed by Nexterra Energy Corp., involves burning treated fecal matter in an oxygen-deprived environment to create a synthetic gas. The gas can be used to power dryers that dry sewage at waste-water plants.

The dried sewage is then chopped into pellets, which can be burned to power the waste-water plants, sold to other users or turned into electricity to be sold to power producers, or used in other Vancouver operations. "This was one of our first steps to take a look at how we can actually recover the inherent energy in biosolids so that it can be used as a fossil-fuel replacement," said Paul Kadota, a regional program manager.

From Chronicle Herald-Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 7-16-09. Kings County, Canada Gets Help with Sludge Strategy. KENTVILLE Residents of Kings County will benefit from a federal government fund that will help develop a long-term sustainable sludge management strategy.The county has received $190,000 from the governmentts Green Municipal Fund to study its sewage treatment facilities, the way it transports sludge and the possibility of developing compost, or biosolids, the municipality and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities announced in a recent news release.

Improvement to the wastewater facilities are expected to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 50 per cent and overflow into local waterways by up to 90 per cent, the release said.It will also examine the possibilities of obtaining revenue for the county through the sale of its compost products. "The FCMMs Green Municipal Fund is playing a valuable role in supporting the Municipality of the County of Kings as it assesses strategy options for sustainable wastewater treatment," Warden Fred Whalen said in the release. "Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting our fresh water resources and exploring new avenues for economic benefit . . . are the positive outcomes that we look forward to as a result of this study and our implementation of its recommendations in the near future." The Green Fund, managed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, was designed to help municipal governments and private businesses undertake projects to improve air and water quality.

From Sam Hadeed, shadeed@wef.org. This Week in Washington from WEF. This Week in Washington (TWIW) is a free weekly e-newsletter of the Water Environment Federation's Government Affairs Department that is published on Fridays. It provides updates on the latest legislative and regulatory developments affecting the water and wastewater communities. View the on-line edition. You can also bookmark this link for future reference. To receive via email, send your request to the Editor Sam Hadeed at shadeed@wef.org.