Whew!... It's been a busy month, but we made it! CAPTAINS 10 has been launched and several customers have already been updated. We've also set up our new website and some new methods for keeping in touch with the Captains Community.
If you've never seen our Industrial Pretreatment software program, or if you just want to take a look at the latest release, I highly recommend one of our free live demos!
Check out the cool new stuff and drop us a line, or feel free to comment here. Let us know what you think! Our product development staff takes your input very seriously. In the wastewater treatment and water quality fields, there are innumerable ideas and approaches to protecting our citizens and our treatment plants. Our consultants and developers are committed to keeping CAPTAINS on the cutting edge of industrial pretreatment management.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
EPA Will Propose Rule to Protect Waterways by Reducing Mercury from Dental Offices
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced it intends to propose a rule to reduce mercury waste from dental offices. Dental amalgams, or fillings containing mercury, account for 3.7 tons of mercury discharged from dental offices each year. The mercury waste results when old mercury fillings are replaced with new ones. The mercury in dental fillings is flushed into chair-side drains and enters the wastewater systems, making its way into the environment through discharges to rivers and lakes, incineration or land application of sewage sludge. Mercury released through amalgam discharges can be easily managed and prevented.
EPA expects to propose a rule next year and finalize it in 2012. Dental offices will be able to use existing technology to meet the proposed requirements. Amalgam separators can separate out 95 percent of the mercury normally discharged to the local waste treatment plant. The separator captures the mercury, which is then recycled and reused.
Until the rule is final, EPA encourages dental offices to voluntarily install amalgam separators. Twelve states and several municipalities already require the installation of amalgam separators in dental offices.
Approximately 50 percent of mercury entering local waste treatment plants comes from dental amalgam waste. Once deposited, certain microorganisms can change elemental mercury into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish.
Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methylmercury exposure to humans. Methylmercury can damage children’s developing brains and nervous systems even before they are born.
More information on mercury from dental offices: water.epa.gov/scitech/
More information on mercury and the environment: www.epa.gov/mercury/index.html
(SOURCE: EPA Water Headlines Listserv)
EPA expects to propose a rule next year and finalize it in 2012. Dental offices will be able to use existing technology to meet the proposed requirements. Amalgam separators can separate out 95 percent of the mercury normally discharged to the local waste treatment plant. The separator captures the mercury, which is then recycled and reused.
Until the rule is final, EPA encourages dental offices to voluntarily install amalgam separators. Twelve states and several municipalities already require the installation of amalgam separators in dental offices.
Approximately 50 percent of mercury entering local waste treatment plants comes from dental amalgam waste. Once deposited, certain microorganisms can change elemental mercury into methylmercury, a highly toxic form that builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish.
Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methylmercury exposure to humans. Methylmercury can damage children’s developing brains and nervous systems even before they are born.
More information on mercury from dental offices: water.epa.gov/scitech/
More information on mercury and the environment: www.epa.gov/mercury/index.html
(SOURCE: EPA Water Headlines Listserv)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Comment Period Extended for the Proposed Revised Total Coliform Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending by 30 days the public comment period for a proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, the Revisions to the Total Coliform Rule (RTCR), which was published in the Federal Register on July 14, 2010. The comment period for the proposed RTCR now ends October 13, 2010.
(SOURCE: EPA Water Headlines Listserv)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Infographic: Wastewater Treatment Costs in Major U.S. Cities | Circle of Blue | WaterNews
Infographic: Wastewater Treatment Costs in Major U.S. Cities | Circle of Blue | WaterNews
"We cannot ignore the arriving wave of rehabilitation and replacement we will face over the next several decades. To do so would put the achievements of the last 30-40 years and our nation’s waters and public health at risk."
In my region of the country, the cash-strapped municipalities don't want to "ignore" these improvements, but they need help just to find the funding to make the improvements. I'm fortunate to work with some folks who are great at writing grants for these kinds of things. Otherwise, ...I don't know what these small towns would do.
How are things in your region? Is the stimulus money still flowing? Are you writing your own grants or are you getting help? If you've never gotten a grant before, I recommend that you talk to someone who has--there's a real art to answering grant questions the right way.
"We cannot ignore the arriving wave of rehabilitation and replacement we will face over the next several decades. To do so would put the achievements of the last 30-40 years and our nation’s waters and public health at risk."
In my region of the country, the cash-strapped municipalities don't want to "ignore" these improvements, but they need help just to find the funding to make the improvements. I'm fortunate to work with some folks who are great at writing grants for these kinds of things. Otherwise, ...I don't know what these small towns would do.
How are things in your region? Is the stimulus money still flowing? Are you writing your own grants or are you getting help? If you've never gotten a grant before, I recommend that you talk to someone who has--there's a real art to answering grant questions the right way.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
CAPTAINS Pretreatment 10
Our IT team is hard at work putting together the 2010 release of CAPTAINS (Computer-Aided PreTreatment And Information Navigation System... yes, I know, it's a mouthful) database software. This will be our tenth major release of CAPTAINS Pretreatment. Since we started releasing our new software products in the fall, someone suggested we release CAPTAINS 10 on 10/10/2010. I'm not sure if they'll wait until 10:10 a.m. to make it available... :-) At any rate, you should check it out! If you're still keeping compliance data on paper and performing the calculations by hand, ask for a free demo. I use the software myself to perform calculations and manage my data--it's been a HUGE time saver! With just a few clicks, I can just enter in 30 days of sample data, save it all to the database, and generate a notice of violation (if that's necessary)! Then, when it's quarterly report time, the program automatically pulls all that data about the industries, any violations or SNC violations, any WWTP violations... and generates a report I can send to my Control Authority. I remember when I was doing everything by hand and I would NEVER go back!
How about you? What are you using to manage all of your pretreatment data? ...CAPTAINS? ...something else?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Welcome... Let's Get Something Started!
I'm thrilled about this new opportunity to connect. Wastewater management can be complicated, and it never hurts to have connections with others in the field.
I'm a pretreatment coordinator who's been working in the field since 1989. I hope my thoughts and advice about setting up and managing an efficient pretreatment system will help you make the best decisions possible for your municipality or industry.
I hope you'll bookmark, follow, and recommend this site to your colleagues. I look forward to getting to know you through your comments. Let me know what you want to talk about. Feel free to leave off the names of yourself and your agency or industry, but let's get a good discussion started and swap stories about what's worked and what hasn't worked.
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