LIMA, OH (WLIO) – It’s a first for the city of Lima’s wastewater treatment and it’s not finished yet.
This is the first year the city has had a team in the Ohio Operations Challenge competition and they finished second overall in the state. The team of 4 took part in various competitions to test the diverse skills required of a wastewater operator. It is also an opportunity to network with other departments and exchange ideas. The team says the competition was a great experience with interesting challenges.
“One is a security incident where a colleague is down and we have to rescue that person from a confined space. Another event is the lab event, it’s a timed event where we do two lab processes. And there’s process control.” “It’s like a certification exam and it’s a 30-minute test that they have to take,” said Jessica Preston, team trainer.
The team is now heading to the National Operations Challenge competition at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference in Chicago in October.
Press Release from the City of Lima of September 6, 2023: The Lima team placed 2nd overall in Ohio’s Operations Challenge competition and will now represent Ohio in the National Operations Challenge competition at the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) taking place October 2-4 .
This is the first year Lima Wastewater Treatment Plant is fielding a team for the Operations Challenge. The four-man team consists of Joe Welker, Ben Lovejoy, TJ Sturgill and Jordan Greeley, along with trainer Jessica Preston. This competition is designed to test the diverse skills required to operate and maintain water resource reclamation across five distinct events: Process Control, Laboratory, Safety, Collection and Maintenance.
All team members must actively participate in each event. The process control session consists of a computerized simulator of a wastewater treatment plant, where, based on the data provided, process control decisions are made to bring the plant back into compliance with water quality standards, as well as answering mathematical and theoretical questions. The laboratory event is based on conducting various laboratory tests for accuracy while adhering to acceptable laboratory practices. The safety event is based on the following scenario: while plant personnel are working, one of the workers collapses in a shaft. The colleague is found unconscious at the foot of a lift station (in a very confined space). It is suspected that he/she is struggling with an unknown gas or lack of oxygen due to a worn 4 inch check valve seal in the station. Two members of the team will enter the narrow space, rescue the fallen worker and fix the check valve. The maintenance event is designed to test a maintenance team’s skills in troubleshooting problems at a plumbing pump station. The team, after capping and tagging the pumps, must perform electrical maintenance on the station, remove the pump and perform pump maintenance, reinstall the pump in the pumping station wet well and ensure it is pumping properly again. And finally, the collection event simulates the connection of a 4 inch PVC cross sewer to an 8 inch PVC sewer pipe; On-the-fly replacing a leaking section of an existing 8-inch PVC sewer pipe; and the programming of an automatic sampler.
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