Contributed by Adele Rucker 
Adele Rucker is the RMWQAA President and Laboratory Services Manager in South Platte Renew’s Laboratory. 

Where can you see over 55 teams compete in what is called The Wastewater Olympics?

Operations Challenge at WEFTEC of course!

Ops challenge is a competition, organized by WEF, the Water Environment Federation, where teams of wastewater collection and treatment professionals compete and display their skills. 

In the competition, teams compete to earn the highest score in five different events. Each team includes four members and often a coach as well. Each event is designed to test the diverse skills required for the operation and maintenance of water resource recovery facilities, collection systems, and laboratories. The five events are collections systems, laboratory, process control, maintenance and safety. Here is a summary of each event:

Collections Event

The event simulates connecting a 4-inch PVC lateral sewer to an 8-inch PVC sewer pipe; replacing a leaking section of existing 8-inch PVC sewer pipe while in service; and the construction of the Victaulic Pipe Tower per defined procedures.

Safety Event

Scenario: While a facility crew is working, one of the workers collapses inside a manhole.  The coworker is found at the bottom of a lift station (confined space) unconscious.  It is suspected that he/she has been overcome with an unknown gas or lack of oxygen due to a worn 4” check valve gasket in the station.  The in-plant rescue/repair team is immediately called to the scene. The Ops challenge team then safely rescues the coworker.

Maintenance Event

The purpose of this event is to test the skills of a maintenance team in response to issues at a sanitary pumping station. 

Process Control

The Process Control event consists of handwritten and computerized activities and simulations to test the relative process control skills of the teams.  This event highlights skills used to run a wastewater treatment plant. The questions include all areas of wastewater treatment.

Laboratory Event

Laboratory results are valuable as a record of plant operations.  This data lets the operator know how efficiently the plant is running and help predict and prevent troubles that may be developing within the various processes. Laboratory results are required as a record of performance for regulatory agencies and are of value to the operations staff and design engineers for performance optimization, troubleshooting, determination of loadings, and for determining when plant expansions are necessary. For these reasons, laboratory tests should be conducted as carefully and consistently as possible and according to appropriate analytical methods.

The entire event fosters cross training, professional development, leadership and teamwork.  Improve old skills, learn new skills, and prepare for the unexpected that is a win, win situation no matter the outcome of the competition.

Four teams from the Rocky Mountain Region competed in Ops Challenge at WEFTEC this year.  I had the privilege of being a judge in the laboratory event this year.  All of the teams worked hard to compete and we congratulate them all for their hard work and dedication.

Excerpts taken from Water Environment Federation, WEF, www.wef.org and RMWEA, rmwea.org