Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Pollution Control

The Circuit Rider Program provides free technical assistance to rural community wastewater treatment facilities. It is a national program that is funded by the U.S. EPA. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection has participated in this program for over 15 years.

Technical assistance includes operation and maintenance guidelines, permit compliance items, budget preparation, and treatment facility assessments. Numerous communities across the state continue to benefit from this programs assistance.

Photo of the Hungry Valley Native American Community, preparing to check the sludge level in a treatment pond

Program Overview
Why Do We Have a Circuit Rider Program? — Section 104(g) of the Federal Clean Water Act authorizes funding for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator On-site Technical Assistance Training Program, called The Circuit Rider Program. This program was implemented to provide assistance at community wastewater treatment plants with a discharge of less than 5 million gallons per day (MGD). The program provides direct on-site training, operation and maintenance assistance, and guidance to town boards in regards to their wastewater treatment facility.

The assistance activities focus on issues such as wastewater treatment capacity, operations training, maintenance, administrative and financial management, troubleshooting, and laboratory operations. The Program helps identify needs such as repairs or new facilities to meet existing or future permit requirements. The program assists towns in selecting consultants, design reviews, and also recommends ways to improve preventative maintenance of equipment and structures. These assistance effort often reduce energy and chemical costs through more efficient operations.

Participating States
Each state, except california, is part of this program, and each state runs their program differently. Many states use community colleges as the vehicle to administer the program (e.g., Arizona and West Virginia). Some states, like Utah, rely on a one person operation. Nevada is possibly the only state where the program is run with an independent contractor

How Does the Program Work in Nevada?

Photo Duck Valley Native American Community Primary treatment pond

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection currently contracts with SPB Utility Services, an independent contractor based in Nevada. Kirk Peterson, from SPB Utility Services, performs the field related functions while NDEP manages grant and coordination with EPA. NDEP staff accompany the Circuit Rider on 20 to 40 percent of the field visits and 75 to 100 percent of any necessary town meetings. There are approximately ten systems throughout the state that receive assistance on an annual basis. Five Native American systems receive assistance on an annual basis. During the year, each selected site is visited at least two or three times.

NDEP, in association with the Nevada Water Environment Association (NWEA), conducts two classroom training seminars a year. These seminars are held in the Spring and Fall. The seminars are often taught by volunteers recruited by the NWEA.

The volunteers are generally engineers, chemists, experienced operators and other professionals. Seminars are held in different locations throughout the state (e.g., in the cities of Ely, Elko, Las Vegas and Winnemucca). Seminar topics have included:

Reuse Issues and Nitrogen in Wastewater
Stabilization Pond Operation and Maintenance
Lift Station Operation and Maintenance

Circuit Rider Annual Report (Adobe PDF File Format)

Photo -- City of Yerington primary aerated pond

Recent Success Stories

City of Yerington — The flows for this system were reconfigured and the treatment system cut in half. Power requirements were reduced, saving the City approximately $20,000 per year and the effluent quality was improved.

City of Wells — The program provided the City Manager with technical assistance in an effort to help the town upgrade their wastewater treatment system infrastructure. The City Manager was new to the field of wastewater and initially wanted to upgrade the treatment plant because flows were approaching permit limits. The Circuit Rider Program helped to focus the upgrade efforts on identifying sources and controls on inflow and infiltration that may be consuming as much as 40-50 percent of the plant capacity.

Photo -- City of Caliente Effluent reuse site.

Round Mountain — Round Mountain is a small mining community in rural Nevada located near the center of the State. The Utility was originally owned and operated by a local mining operation; the system was donated to the town a few years ago. An initial inspection found one aerated pond inlet blocked and all of the aspirating aerators in continuous 24-hour operation. Sewage flows were measured at less than 1/3 of the plants rated capacity. Disposal basins were dosed frequently and for prolonged periods. Two of the three basins were retaining water between dosing cycles.

With the help of the Nevada Circuit Rider Program, all three aerated ponds were placed into parallel operation. This allowed most of the mechanical aeration to be turned off. Hour clocks were added to allow minimal aeration during the nighttime hours when supplemental aeration is most needed. Full advantage was utilized with the large secondary pond by allowing intermittent and seasonal discharges to the disposal basins. Discharges to the basins were eliminated during the warmer months. The basins now receive two or less dosing cycles annually.

In short, the efforts of the Program helped the Community of Round Mountain maximize treatment system operations thereby saving equipment and cutting expenses. Compliance was also achieved through the intermittent discharges to the disposal basins.

City of Carlin — The City of Carlin is like many other communities -- their sewage treatment ponds are hydraulically and organically under loaded. This under loaded condition caused algae blooms in the final ponds, which caused violations of the discharge permit. The Nevada Circuit Rider Program has conducted extensive testing of Carlin's two treatment ponds. These analyses have clearly demonstrated that effluent quality deteriorates with the additional treatment afforded by the second pond. Treatment was also being accelerated by the use of mechanical aerators in the primary pond. Mechanical aeration was reduced and effluent Carbonaceous Biological Oxygen Demand (CBOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) values improved.

The Nevada Circuit Rider Program was therefore able to reduce power consumption, reduce equipment failures and improve effluent quality. Throughout this process, the Carlin staff increased their knowledge and effectiveness by following the different stages in process modifications.