30th Annual RMWEA PWO Vail Training Seminar
September 24th, 2025
Lionshead Grand View Room in Vail, CO
Only the first 30 people to register can attend!
This event is for RMWEA members only. Not a member yet? Join today to register.
Click here to view membership options: Professional $50, Operator $40, Academic $40, Young Professional $35, Student $0.
Register by 9/22/2025.
Location
Setting: In-Person Vail Grand View Room 395 S Frontage Rd W. VAIL, CO 81657-5704
8:00 – 8:15 am
Sign In (Reserve your spot at www.rmwea.org)
Space is limited to the first 30 people who register!
Training Units (TU’s) Provided
8:15 – 9:15 am The Future Is Now: Digital Liquid Analysis in Water/Wastewater
Megan Anders, Regional Sales Manager, Endress+Hauser
Accurate water quality analysis is essential throughout the water cycle, from source to wastewater, and recent advancements in digital analytical instrumentation have significantly improved measurement precision and usability. Modern “smart” probes and transmitters simplify deployment and maintenance, reduce the need for reagents, and provide real-time data for better process control. This presentation explores how digitalization enhances water treatment efficiency and consistency, empowering operators with more reliable and accessible insights.
9:15 – 10:15 am Using a Suboxic Operational Strategy to Achieve Biological Nutrient Removal: A longitudinal case study of utilizing intermittent aeration in an oxidation ditch
Craig Hibbard, Plant Manager, Boxelder Sanitation District
Learn about the relevance of suboxic operational strategies in achieving stringent nutrient removal goals with minimal capital investment by reviewing previous research. Hear about a long-term full-scale case study to support the broader adoption of suboxic operations in the wastewater industry, including a discussion on intermittent aeration for controlling dissolved oxygen, operating targets, and long-term biological nutrient removal performance. Understand operational boundaries and operational troubleshooting observed in the case study, including sludge settleability and strategies for selecting floc-forming bacteria over filamentous bacteria.
10:15 – 10:30 am
Break
10:30 – 11:30 am Size Doesn’t Matter – Successful Alternative Delivery for Small Utilities
Ben Miller, PE, DBIA, Client Services Manager, Tetra Tech
Alternative delivery methods in the water and wastewater market are proven to provide owners with value added and risk reducing approaches for executing capital projects. These delivery approaches are often associated with large utilities completing projects with hefty budgets. However, the same approaches can have equal, if not greater, advantages to small utilities providing resources for limited staff, minimizing design changes, and saving time and money. This presentation will review project delivery methods, provide case studies of small utility capital projects for City of Fruita, the Snake River WWTP, the City of Laramie, and Winter Park Ranch WSD that have successfully leveraged these collaborative approaches, and review lessons learned from these project anecdotes.
11:30 am – 12:30 pm Is My Activated Sludge, Activated? And How Can I Enhance It?
Bob Dabkowski, CWP, Principal, Process Optimization, LLC
In 1914, the creators of the activated sludge process published results showing that crude sewage could be completely oxidized in an aerated tank. This was a breakthrough - the typical treatment plant at the time relied on Imhoff Cones for solids separation and large spray fields for biological treatment. In their paper, they relied on the "Four Hour Oxygen Absorption Test" to show that the water was purified. Over time, the Four Hour Oxygen Absorption Test has morphed into separate methods for analyzing different aspects of the process. For example, the BOD test was created to determine water quality, and Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate test was created to analyze microbial quality. In this presentation we will dive deep into the SOUR test and discuss commercially available ways to enhance the biology of the activated sludge process while using SOUR as our guide.
12:30 – 1:15 pm
Lunch
1:15 – 2:15 pm Anaerobic Selectors for Improved Sludge Settling & Enhanced Phosphorus Removal
Sherri Jones, Senior Advanced Technical Specialist, Advanced Engineering & Environmental Services, LLC
Nutrient removal has become more important as discharge limits continue to get stricter. Before new processes are given serious consideration, let’s look at the benefits of an old process - anaerobic digestion. This paper discusses the advantages of installing an anaerobic selector upstream of the aeration tank. The goal is to have most of the influent’s readily biodegradable carbon oxygen demand (rbCOD) consumed by floc-forming bacteria, instead of filamentous bacteria. These conditions give the advantage for substrate uptake and growth to the phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). Stored PHA (poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate) is metabolized, providing energy from oxidation, and carbon for new cell growth. The new biomass with high stores of polyphosphate accounts for phosphorus removal (the phosphorus is wasted with the sludge). The Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) contains a dense, well-developed floc with good settling and thickening properties.
2:15 – 3:15 pm Low Cost, Low Carbon Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal and Recovery using an Engineered Algae Biofilm Process
Steve Wirtel, P.E., Vice President of Business Development, Gross-Wen Technologies, Inc.
This presentation will describe a novel technology for removing nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater by algae grown as a biofilm. The revolving algal biofilm (RAB) process leverages algae’s natural nutrient scavenging capability, providing low-cost nitrogen and phosphorus removal and recovery from wastewater. The algae biofilm is scrape harvested directly off the revolving belt at a high solids concentration for easy solids management. This process has been applied in four applications and will provide case studies to demonstrate the RAB technology in each of these applications.
• Secondary treatment: BOD, nitrogen, and phosphorus removal.
• Tertiary treatment: nitrogen and phosphorus removal
• Sidestream treatment (dewatered liquor following anaerobic digestion): ammonia and phosphorus removal
• Industrial wastewater treatment: nitrogen and phosphorus removal
3:15 – 3:30 pm
Break
3:30 – 4:30 pm Innovative Wastewater Treatment Process Solutions Leveraging Compressed Gas Mixing
Tyler Kunz, P.E. Vice President of Sales - EnviroMix
This presentation will introduce compressed gas mixing technology and how it is applied in a variety of applications throughout wastewater treatment facilities. The presentation will highlight the critical components of a compressed gas mixing system and the energy and maintenance benefits of the mixing technology. There are many process solutions and adaptation options to a variety of treatment systems, which include: enhanced nutrient removal while reducing energy and chemical consumption, optimizing the anaerobic fermentation process with a unique intermittent mixing cycle and also controller options that automatically transition reactor environments between aerobic, low DO, and anoxic conditions, adapting to current and future operational needs without sacrificing treatment capacity and more.
Drinks, snacks, and lunch are provided. See the agenda for Happy Hour details.
