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Mr . J . David holm, Director <br /> Water Quality Control. Division <br /> May 30 , 1989. <br /> Page 2 <br /> chemical treatment required to bring the more toxic parameter <br /> (zinc) into compliance. Changes in the system or reagent usage <br /> can be seen in trends on the graphs . After the reagent feed <br /> system became operational in January of 1988 , any major <br /> improvement in removing zinc from the discharge resulted in a <br /> corresponding increase in TSS (because of heavier demands on the <br /> system due to precipitates) until the increased loading could be <br /> compensated for . The system is now in this stage, and zinc <br /> quality in the discharge is being met . With some planned <br /> improvements to the settling ponds , the final step toward <br /> continued compliance for TSS and zinc should be achieved . <br /> Several. factors have attributed to the relatively long time it <br /> has taken to bring the discharge toward final compliance . These <br /> factors are listed below : <br /> ( 1 ) The long turnaround time for sample results from commercial. <br /> labs has slowed progress toward compliance. In order to <br /> gauge the efforts of treatment changes , we have had to wait <br /> from 3 to 6 weeks . This problem was solved by contracting a <br /> portion of our analysis work to a lab with a quick <br /> turnaround , although this solution brought to light another <br /> problem explained in Item 2 . <br /> (2 ) Two months of progress was lost due to inconsistent analysis <br /> received from two commercial labs . Although we never <br /> pinpointed the problem, we are now sure that the labs <br /> involved have a viable quality assurance program. <br /> (3 ) 12esignation of a key employee resulted in the loss of <br /> valuable knowledge and experience, causing delays in <br /> treatment progress while other employees "reinvented the <br /> w1we l " . The possibility of this happening aga.in is very <br /> slim because of a program of employee cross-training and <br /> employee awareness that was adopted . <br /> (4 ) The system as a whole does not react as experience or lab <br /> tests suggest it should due to inherent variables in the <br /> system. Time was spent trying to run the system with no <br /> flocculant addition and with addition at rates determined by <br /> testing , with little success . In order to achieve what <br /> success we have had , we have to use 4-6 times the maximum <br /> recommended dosage of flocculant. The variables that cause <br /> this type of phenomenon take time to define and eliminate <br /> due to the experimentation time and lab turnaround time . <br />