Many
blunders seem
so
obvious.
It
does
not
even
take
an
engineer
to
avoid them.
It
just takes thought-
fulness
and a
sense
of
responsibility.
It
helps
to
culti-
vate
an
attitude
of
asking,
"How
can
this piece
of
equipment
be
maintained, disassembled,
fixed, and
reassembled,
or
replaced?"
Standard specifications
and
codes
are
identified
only
by
their common abbreviations (see Appendix
E
for
a
complete listing).
27-2. Site
Existing
utilities
and
obstructions
not
shown
on the
plans.
Obtain
utility
company information
for the
spe-
cific
site. Prepare
a
good site plan
and field
check
the
design.
Location
in floodplain
without
adequate protec-
tion. Interview
old
timers about
high-
water
marks,
obtain government
flood-hazard
maps, and,
if
critical,
compute
flood
elevations.
Inadequate
street access
and
parking.
Plan
for
access
and
enough parking space
at the
site (closed
to
public
parking)
for
maintenance vehicles, including,
if
appropriate,
a
crane.
Nonconformity
with setback
and
other planning
and
zoning ordinances. Review
the
regulations before
selecting
the
site.
Site
plan
scale inadequate
to
show
all
details
of
site
work. Normally, choose
a
scale
of 1 in. = 50 ft or
larger.
Wells
located
too
close
to
sanitary
hazards
or
property
lines.
The
site plan should show
the
existing
facilities.
Follow
the
state sanitary codes.
Elevation
of finished
work incorrect. Insist
on
ties
to at
least
two
benchmarks.
Field
check
the
contrac-
tor's
work prior
to
placing concrete
for
critical items.
Ground
floor too low or floors
without slope.
Flooding
or
drainage problems
are
created
and may
violate sanitary codes. Have
a
good site survey
and
site
plan, establish benchmarks, slope
the floors to
drains,
and
follow
the
state sanitary
codes.
27-3.
Environmental
Inadequate
silencers
on
engines.
Specify
an
accept-
able noise level, say,
55 dB, at the lot
line.
Use a
resi-
dential-quality silencer.
Fans
too
noisy.
Use
larger
fans
at
lower speed.
Noisy
machinery located within, say,
1
I
2
km
(
1
I
3
mi)
of
inhabited areas.
The
alternatives
are (1)
relocating
the
pumping station;
(2)
using storage (except
for
sew-
age) instead
of
standby diesel power;
(3)
obtaining
independent, supplementary electrical power
as a
standby
power source;
(4)
using submersible pumps;
or (5)
planning
to
soundproof
the
station
at the
outset
of
the
design. Take ambient noise-level readings
before
construction
for
protection
in
possible
lawsuits.
Sewer inlet with
a
free-fall
to the
water
surface.
A
free-fall
of
sewage into
a wet
well might
(1)
enhance
odors
and (2)
promote foaming
and air
entrainment.
Consider Examples 12-4
and
12-5
for
preventing
ingestion
of air
into pipes, and,
for
both controlling
air
ingestion
and
reducing odors
and
release
of
toxic, cor-
rosive gases, consider
an
approach
pipe
as
shown
in
Figure
12-53.
Odor
production within about
1
I
2
km
(
1
I
3
mi)
of
res-
idential
areas.
The
alternatives
are (1)
relocating
the
pumping station,
(2)
pretreating
the
sewage,
(3)
plan-
ning
for
frequent
housekeeping
by
adding hose valves
(bibbs)
for
washing
out
odor-producing deposits,
(4)
sealing
the wet
well with manhole covers (see
Section
23-1
for
details
and
safety
precautions
for
entry),
or
(5)
adding odor-control facilities
on the wet
well
exhaust.
Odor
control. Near residential areas,
all
vented
air
may
require odor control (see Section 23-2), which
may
well
be the
most expensive part
of
O&M. Always
investigate present
and
future
needs
for
odor-control
facilities
if the
station
is (or
will
be)
near inhabited
areas,
and
design
it so
that odor control
can be
added.
When using odor-control systems such
as
carbon
sorption,
consider thermostatically controlled heating
to
prevent
the
freezing
of
moisture
in the
exhaust.
27-4.
Safety
It
is
poor economy
to
skimp
on
items that have
a
strong potential
for
life-threatening
or
hazardous situ-
ations.
Ventilation
Inadequate
ventilation
system
for wet
well.
For
waste-
water
wet
wells that must
be
entered
frequently,
12
air
changes
per
hour
(ac/h)
is a
minimum
to
meet most
codes.
But 12
ac/h
can be
hazardous,
and an
exchange
rate
of 20
ac/h
is a
more reasonable minimum.
The
California State Department
of
Health recommends
25
and the
Arizona Department
of
Health requires
30
ac/h.
Intermittent ventilation, which
is
allowed
by
some codes, including Ten-State Standards [1],
is
con-
sidered here
to be
entirely inadequate where human
life
is at
stake.
The
scavenging
of wet
wells
is
imper-
fect
at
best,
and the
energy cost saving
is not
worth
the