Peer Review Team & Process
Process
With projects as large as the Core Area and West Shore Wastewater Management Project, a peer review process is frequently used to provide opportunity for an independent panel of experts to respond to questions elected officials may have as they make decisions regarding various system development options and strategies.
The peer review team (PRT) will assist the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee in reviewing the options developed by the consultant team, which includes location, size and number of treatment plants to be constructed, and will provide an independent opinion when the committee is selecting the wastewater treatment strategy due December 31, 2009.
The Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee has approved a list of questions for the Peer Review Team:
2009 Findings
Peer Review Team Final Report
The Peer Review Team has issued its Final Report (PDF 
). The report will be considered by the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee on April 22, 2009.
February 12-13, 2009 Workshop
The Peer Review Team held their first workshop on February 12th and 13th. The initial findings were presented to the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee on March 11, 2009.
Read the full Preliminary Findings document (PDF)
March: Biosolids Management Recommendations
Integration of Liquid & Solid Wastes
- The team recommended that solid and liquid waste facilities be addressed separately, rather than as an integrated system, as recommended by the CRD's consultants.
- By dealing with solid and liquid waste in separate streams, a system would have more flexibility.
- The one exception to this would be the processing of fats, oils and grease (FOG) at a wastewater treatment plant.
- The peer review team has found that typically, only about 50% of the energy required for secondary treatment is available from wastewater biosolids digestion.
- The PRT believes that the wastewater treatment costs shown in the CRD's IRM report underestimates the cost of providing the level of treatment and reliability required for the desired reuse applications. It also does not adequately consider the cost of underground construction and subsurface effluent disposal.
Flexible Phasing of System Construction
- The consulting team described three system options to the PRT at the workshop. The PRT believes it would be more appropriate to consider these as describing potential system elements that could constitute potential phases of a long-term system. The first phase would focus on the elements common to the three system options.
Relative Value of Wastewater Management Infrastructure
- In general, 60-80% of the capital cost for wastewater management is associated with the collection system.
Risk of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals from Sludge Application to Land
- Based on limited findings to date, it can be concluded for the concentrations of endocrine disrupting chemicals actually present if the biosolids are applied at low application rates under conditions that will not result in runoff, the potential for contamination of groundwater and surface water is limited.
Assessment of Relative Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- The overall carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the vital services provided by well-run water and wastewater treatment systems are less than 1% of the total carbon dioxide emissions from buildings and transportation.
Triple Bottom Line Analysis
- A triple bottom line analysis (TBL) is an acceptable methodology for assessing the relative merits of several competing development paths for a project, and many jurisdictions have adopted it for broad use. The PRT identified an analysis to overcome to enhance the effectiveness of the TBL by establishing a simple formula for the “value” quotient.