ARRO recognized for operation of Conewago Township Wastewater Facilities

ARRO is proud to announce that it has received recognition from Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. for exceptional AquaSBR © plant performance in 2009 at the Conewago Township Wastewater Treatment Facility.  This marks the fourth consecutive year that ARRO has received this special recognition.

ARRO began operating and maintaining the 0.5 million gallons per day wastewater treatment plant and collection system that serves Conewago Township in May 2002.  The Aqua-Aerobic Systems sequencing batch reactor plant consists of two 0.25 MGD units followed by chlorine contact tanks and a cascading outfall, and two aerobic sludge digesters.

At the treatment plant, ARRO is responsible for the normal operation and maintenance of the facility, including staffing, operator licensing, sampling, analyses, discharge monitoring report preparation, routine equipment maintenance, general housekeeping, and other miscellaneous tasks.

ARRO’s efforts have included additional influent and industrial testing, mechanical changes to pumps and piping, repair and rewiring of floating mixers, and process control modifications for more cost-effective treatment and biological nutrient removal.

The collection system includes over 100 individual residential grinder pump stations and eight major submersible pump stations, all operated and maintained by ARRO.

For more information on this project, please contact Paul Ruffini, L.O.

ARRO's Brath to participate in DEP Workgroups

ARRO is pleased to announce that Phillip W. Brath, E.I.T., Project Manager, has been accepted into the Management Team, the Urban/Suburban/Rural Workgroup, and the Wastewater Workgroup associated with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) effort to develop a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). This plan is in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, which is aimed at reducing nutrients and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay, and is viewed as the next step towards developing local and state Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDL’s.

The Management Team has been assembled by DEP to manage the process and ensure that the established goals are met.  The Workgroups and the Management Team are made up of various stakeholders representing a variety of interests and views. A fourth workgroup – Technology - will be merged with the other workgroups.

Pennsylvania has draft TMDL’s from the EPA for the Chesapeake and Potomac at the State lines.  The State is required to submit a draft WIP to the U.S. EPA by June 1 and a final draft WIP by August 1, 2010.  At that point the TMDL's go into public comment periods until October 15, 2010.  The EPA expects to finalize and publish the TMDL's by December 21, 2010. 

In addition to his involvement with the DEP workgroups and Management team, along with other Chesapeake Bay initiatives, Phillip also serves as the Chairman for the Upper Allen Township (Cumberland County) Sewer Advisory Board, and is on the Board of Directors for the Yellow Breeches Watershed Association.

For more information on the Chesapeake Bay initiatives, please contact Phillip Brath.

ARRO's Lutz appointed to LANTA Board of Directors

ARRO is pleased to announce that Freddy E. Lutz Jr., Director of Marketing, Strategies and Communication, has been appointed to the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) board of directors.

Created in 1972, LANTA is a bi-county public transit authority that carries more than six million passengers a year on a fleet of eighty city buses plus one hundred twenty vans that provide door-to-door transportation services to people with disabilities and medical issues. Additionally, LANTA manages the public transportation system for the County of Carbon (Carbon County Community Transit).

Lutz joins the Board with fourteen years experience in municipal operations, procedures and regulations. “It is clear from the tremendous ridership growth that LANTA has experienced over the years that the Board and staff have worked diligently to be responsive to the transportation needs of the Lehigh Valley” Lutz said.  “I look forward to working with the other Board members to continue these successes through innovative and cooperative efforts that result in cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions.”

Of the twelve member Board of Directors (10 voting, 2 ex-officio), six are appointed by the Lehigh County Executive and six by the Northampton County Executive. The Board meets monthly to review operations, finance matters, and establishes the policies and direction for the organization.