O & M Newsletter headerEnviroNews banner: forest stream, lake cottage, landfill construction, autumn field, winter lakefront
*September 2025*

In this issue:

* Unlock Your Potential: Updates on Certification and Training Opportunities. [ #link_1389912064779 ]
* The Role of Compliance in DEP's Enforcement Process: What You Should Know. [ #link_2 ]
* DMR-QA Study 45. [ #link_1389912066563 ]
* Enforcement Update. [ #link_1 ]
* Summer Wastewater Operational Problems-Part 3. [ #link_3 ]
* For Practice. [ #link_1389912072571 ]

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Unlock Your Potential: Updates on Certification and Training Opportunities.

*EPA to Offer FREE Cybersecurity Training for Maine Water & Wastewater Operators*

EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Cyber Resilience Division (WICRD), in collaboration with the Maine CDC and DEP is hosting a "Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan Webinar" for drinking water and wastewater utilities in Maine.

The webinar will assist Water & Wastewater utilities in developing cybersecurity incident response plans to help mitigate a cyber-attack. This FREE webinar is open to Maine public water and wastewater system owners, operators, and IT professionals.


* September 3, 2025, 9 AM – 10 AM - Developing a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan
* Approved for 1 Wastewater TCH
* To register, go to: Incident Response Plan Workshop for Maine's Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities | US EPA [ [link removed] ].

Additional questions concerning this course can be directed by email to Melanie Woods, GDIT (EPA Contractor) at [email protected].

*3-D Math for Operators Taught at 3 Locations*

Math can be confusing, frustrating, and just plain difficult, especially if you haven’t used it in a long time or don’t use it every day. Join MWUA for “3-D Math” to help water and wastewater operators “visualize” math problems by moving them from a 2-dimensional diagram on a piece of paper to a 3-dimensional (3-D) experience by holding them in your hands. Taught by Phyllis Rand.


* September 9 – Saco
* September 10 – Waterville
* September 11 – Ellsworth

Go to this link to register: Registration [ [link removed] ].

*MeWEA's Fall Convention September 18-19, 2025 at Sunday River * The Maine Water Environment Association’s (MEWEA) Fall Convention is an annual two-day conference packed with professional development and networking opportunities for all wastewater professions and anyone who has an interest in the environment and clean water.

The in-person event taking place September 18-19 at Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine. More information is available at [link removed].

*Replacing a Submersible Pump: Installation, Wiring, and Safety; Live Pump Changeout in Vassalboro*

Join MRWA and Champlin Associates on September 23rd in Vassalboro for a hands-on training designed to walk you through the complete process of  replacing a pump within a submersible station. From assembling a rail slide system to properly lowering and wiring the new pump, attendees will gain the practical skills needed for a safe and efficient installation.

This course covers:


* Step-by-step pump hookup and installation
* Wiring the pump to the control panel
* Testing procedures
* Required safety gear and protective measures
* Commonly used materials and their advantages
* Best practices developed from years of field experience

For more information and to register, go to Registration [ [link removed] ]

*MRWA Administrative Summit – October 7, 2025*

MRWA will hold a virtual Administrative Summit on October 7, 2025. The Summit provides important information for wastewater administration, including audits, employee complaints, employee coaching and counseling, and negativity in the workplace.

For more information, contact Kate Warner [email protected] or visit Registration [ [link removed] ].

*MWUA to offer Leadership Training *

MWUA is pleased to announce their new training: "The Leadership Edge: People, Purpose & Performance" at Husson University in Bangor on October 7, 21, November 4, 18, and December 2, 6. The course will be held every other Tuesday from 9 AM – 4 PM.

Topics include:


* Explore the Leader Within
* Effective Leadership Styles
* Key Principles of Leadership
* Understanding the Human Side of Work
* Establishing Organizational Leadership Roles
* Transitioning as a Leader

For more information, go to Registration [ [link removed] ] or contact Cindy Wade at [email protected].

*Basic Water Chemistry and Hands-on Chlorine Analyzers*

Join MWUA and Tom’s Water Solutions for a hands-on training covering Basic Water Chemistry and Chlorine Analyzers for water and wastewater operators, presented in an easy-to-understand format. Attendees will also learn about chlorine analyzers and their applications for our industry before moving onto use, cleaning, and maintenance. Attendees will see firsthand the Hach Cl.


* October 8 – Topsham
* October 15 - Ellsworth
* November 19 – Presque Isle
* November 21 – Farmington

Go to Registration [ [link removed] ] to register.

*Maine’s Management Candidate School – Beginning November 5 at Portland Water District*

This 11-month training program is aimed at mid-level operators with management potential. Participants gain professional development through management courses, technical courses (such as engineering basics and construction planning), and skills training in areas of personnel management, communication, working with regulatory agencies, and budget preparation.

Classes begin November 5 at the Portland Water District. More information and registration will be available soon at  Maine’s Management Candidate School • NEIWPCC [ [link removed] ].

*Save the Date for MRWA’s 45th Annual Conference & Trade Show*

Mark your calendars for MRWA’s 45th Annual Conference & Trade Show. The event will be held on December 9 - 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

More information can be found at;  Event Registration - Maine Rural Water Association [ [link removed] ].



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The Role of Compliance in DEP's Enforcement Process: What You Should Know.

"by Brenda Faford-Pizer, DEP Water Enforcement"

The Department's primary intention is to encourage voluntary compliance among the regulated community while minimizing any activities that might lead to environmental violations. Enforcement actions, when necessary, aim for efficiency in resolution and consistency in treating similar violations through corrective or preventive measures, with the overarching goal of protecting the environment.

In evaluating compliance, the Department considers various factors, such as the environmental impact of the violation, its severity, the circumstances surrounding its discovery, and the regulated party’s overall environmental record. Detailed guidance on our non-compliance response can be found at [link removed] [ [link removed] ].

It’s crucial to note that the enforcement process involves more than issuing notices of violations or establishing penalties. There are three major ways that facilities/incidents get referred to enforcement:


* Persistent or significant effluent limit violations;
* Compliance inspections that produce findings of unsatisfactory conditions, or findings of noncompliance; and
* Incidents reported via Discharge Incident Reports. 

The Bureau of Water Quality Management staff conduct a monthly Non-Compliance Review (NCR) to discuss Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) reporting issues, effluent violations, unlicensed discharges and concerns from compliance inspections, to determine the appropriate response to compliance issues.       

Once a violation occurs that needs to be resolved, we can issue a Letter of Warning (LOW), a written notice of a non-compliance that describes the violation.  LOWs are often chosen when the violation is limited in duration, or was fairly minor, the facility responded appropriately, and the violation is not expected to recur.  Another option is a Notice of Violation (NOV), a formal notice issued for non-compliance. 

Recently, compliance inspectors have been issuing some NOVs, these are for violations that are serious enough to warrant an NOV, perhaps requiring more extensive corrective actions, but are not expected to require further enforcement action.  If an NOV comes from the enforcement unit staff, it means that the violations are more serious and may necessitate further action.  

After enforcement has issued an NOV, an Administrative Consent Agreement (ACA) is typically completed to outline expectations for compliance.  An ACA is a negotiated agreement between the Department and the violator as acknowledgement of non-compliance and stipulates corrective actions to return to compliance.  ACAs normally include penalties which are a result of non-compliance and reflect additional penalties for failure to adhere to the ACAs requirements.  Once an ACA is agreed upon by the Department and the violator(s), it will be posted for public comment for 30 days, then presented to the Board of Environmental Protection by enforcement staff for final approval.   

If you ever receive an LOW or an NOV, it is important to read through the letter/notice for important information from the Department regarding requested items to be completed with dates due, and to contact the Department staff for this notice by a certain date.  Please remember, if you receive a letter or notice and fail to respond by the date requested, a lack of response could elevate an LOW to an NOV and possibly generate penalties, or it could impose penalties/additional penalties to an NOV.  If you have any questions, or you don’t understand anything, please contact enforcement staff or your inspector.  Prompt response is always appreciated, and it is only an acknowledgement of the receipt of a letter or notice and allows the opportunity to have a conversation and address other requested items within the letter/notice.  We are human too, so we do understand that mistakes can be made.  We want to work with you to ensure that the waters of Maine are protected and can be enjoyed by all.  

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DMR-QA Study 45.

DMR-QA Study 45 officially opened June 6th, 2025 and closed August 29th, 2025, at which time all results must be reported to the DMR-QA supplier. Results must be submitted to the DMR-QA coordinator by October 24th, 2025. Click here to receive the announcement letter:  Discharge Monitoring Report - Quality Assurance Study 45 (2025) [ [link removed] ].

Remember, if you receive a “Not-Acceptable” score for one or more parameters, you must complete a corrective action and perform retests for all parameters with “Not Acceptable” results. A copy of the corrective action report and retest results must be sent to the State DMR-QA coordinator by December 5th, 2025. 

If you have questions about the DMR-QA program, please contact Brett Goodrich at 207-450-5590 or [email protected].

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Enforcement Update.

Compliance Diagram

Recently the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) approved an Administrative Consent Agreement (ACA) with a municipality for failures to submit an approvable Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) program Master Plan for 10 years and conduct the work necessary to identify appropriate CSO reduction projects. 

The municipality agreed to a 10-year schedule of infrastructure projects that should significantly reduce the volume and number of CSO events.  The projects represent approximately 38 million dollars’ worth of work. The municipality also paid a $20,000 penalty.  

If you have any questions about the DEP’s enforcement program, please do not hesitate to contact Pam Parker at 207-485-3038 or [email protected].   



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Summer Wastewater Operational Problems-Part 3.

"Copyrighted material.  Reprinted (with edits) with permission from "Environmental Leverage, Inc., found at www.environmentalleverage.com/Summer.htm [ [link removed] ]." The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. "

This article will discuss problems that may develop when warm weather increases biological activity and you do not make adjustments to the wasting rate.  The results is an F/M ratio that is too low (too old an SRT), which can cause operational issues.

There are some strains of filamentous bacteria that can gain a foothold when the F/M gets too low (or when the D.O. gets too low).  This is where your Wastewater Biomass Analysis (BMA) are invaluable!  Using the microscope as a daily monitor and control tools will help make running your wastewater treatment plant easier. 

Filaments will cause bulking in the secondary clarifier, eventually resulting in solids problems as they get washed over the weirs.  But how do you know if poor settling is due to filamentous growth or just too high MLSS?  What to do if the problem _is_ filamentous?  And how do I avoid this from occurring again in the future?

To assess the sludge quality you can use a settleometer or graduated cylinder to measure the settling rate of the sludge.  The results give you a good picture of what is happening in the secondary clarifier.

A desired settling rate in the settleometer should be:

Within 5 minutes, a solids interface below 800 ml/L (80% of volume height), but still above 500 ml/L (50%).  Also an SVI (the 30 minute settling volume divided by the grams MSS) somewhere in the 70-120 range (certain industries can range higher or lower).  If the SVI is above 250 (the 5 minute settling would be above 900 ml/L), you probably have filamentous bulking, zoogleal bulking (nutrient deficiency/too high or too old sludge age) or else there are just too many solids in the aeration basin (too high MLSS).

To determine if the problem is filamentous, use a microscope to observe these thread-like bacteria in the system.  If only a few or no filaments exist, look for non-filamentous bulking caused by zooglea or polysaccharide bulking by performing an India ink stain under the microscope.  If you do not have a microscope available, you can send your sample to a lab (or ask a larger treatment plant’s lab) to do a WBA of your Mixed Liquor (ML).

If there are no filamentous bacteria present, or polysaccharides are not a problem, you can perform a diluted settleometer. Make 75% and 50% dilutions samples at the same time you do a settling test at 100% ML to determine if settling is much better in the diluted samples (compacts to less than 75% or 50%, respectively of the level of the undiluted sample).  If the settling is improved by dilution, you may just have a solids glut on your hands.  In this case, reduce the MLSS concentration in the aeration basin by increasing the RAS rate and/or the wasting rate. 

Also, check the flux on the secondary clarifiers (solids loading per square foot surface area per day) to be certain that the clarifier isn’t just under or overloaded vs. its design.  Generally, a flux of 15-25 #/ft2 /day is the design rate (industrial wastewaters will vary).  Too high or low flux will require polymer dosage.

If the situation is a filamentous bulking problem, you usually apply chlorine to the system to kill the filaments and speed up the recovery.  You must make a process change though, according to the type of filaments present.  If you just chlorinate and kill the filaments and do not make any process changes, eventually the filaments will come back.  You may need Bioaugmentation to maintain performance integrity in the system while you kill some of the indigenous biomass.   Bioaugmentation helps compete with the filaments and speed up the recovery process.

If the cause of the bulking is non-filamentous – DO NOT CHLORINATE, as this will make the problem worse.  For non-filamentous bulking, correct the stress and use a polymer to aid in holding the sludge in the clarifier (polymers only aid in the initial settling rate, but will not aid in compaction).  Usually a coagulant is used rather than a flocculant, which could hold in too much gas and cause the sludge to rise.  Typically, if the bulking is due to zooglea or nutrient deficiency, adding nutrient directly to the aeration tank, sludge holding tank, and clarifier simultaneously can clear up the problem in house.  Make sure if excessive, that mixing occurs.  Slime bulking can be easy to get rid of if it is due to nutrient deficiency and enough nutrients are added.  In many cases, plants tent to be overcautious and do not add enough nutrients.  Be sure to add enough to solve the problem, but not cause excess nutrients to go out with the final effluent.

Do not add biocide to treat filamentous bulking.  These chemicals are persistent in the environment and will harm floc-forming bacteria and cause effluent toxicity.

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For Practice.

1. A wastewater treatment plant has an average flow of 3.75 MGD. If the influent TSS concentration is 175 mg/l, how many pounds of suspended solids enter the plant in a day

A. 3,823 lbs
B. 4,908 lbs
C. 5,473 lbs
D. 7,564 lbs

2. The following device is used to measure the flow into a treatment plant

A. Parshall flume
B. Comparator
C. Sluice gate
D. Proportional weir

3. Which of the following would most likely cause rising sludge in secondary clarifiers?

A. Low MLSS
B. Long aeration tank detention time
C. Hydraulic loading on the clarifier
D. Long detention time in the clarifier

4. The type of bacteria that releases hydrogen sulfide gas are

A. Pathogens
B. Aerobic
C. Anaerobic
D. Coliforms

5. Which of the following affects air requirements in an activated sludge aeration tank:

A. BOD loading
B. Solids concentration
C. BOD removal efficiency
D. All of the above

6. The minimum dissolved oxygen content in an aeration tank should not fall below

A. 1 mg/l
B. 2 mg/l
C. 4 mg/l
D. 8 mg/l

7. If the influent BOD is 185 mg/l, the influent flow is 500,000 gpd, the MLVSS is 2,800 mg/l, the volume of the aeration tank is 145,000 gal, and 1,200 gallons of sludge are wasted daily. What is the F/M ratio?

A. 0.15
B. 0.23
C. 0.32
D. 0.38

8. A circular clarifier is 127 feet in diameter. It is 12 feet deep and receives a flow of 8700 gpm. What is detention time in hours for the clarifier?

A. 1.7 hrs
B. 2.2 hrs
C. 3.4 hrs
D. 4.3 hrs

*Answers*

1. C. 3.75 MGD X 175 mg/L X 8.34 = 5,473 lbs

2. A.

3. D.

4. C.

5. D.

6. B.

7. B. F/M = pounds/day BOD in influent / lbs BOD in aeration tank
185 mg/L X 0.5 MGD X 8.34 / 2800 mg/L X 0.145 MG X 8.34 = 771.45 / 3,386 = 0.23

8. B. Volume = 0.785 X 127 ft X 127 ft X 12 ft X 7.48 gal/cf = 1,136,475 gal
D.T. = Flow/Volume = 1,136,475 gal / 8700 gpm = 131 minutes = 2.2 hrs

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