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To many, wastewater ser­vices may not seem to be emotion­ally rewarding, but Gary Zrelak would disagree. He is the director of operations for the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Auth­ority (GNHWPCA), where em­ployees regularly treat water so people can use it again.

“At the end of the day, you feel you have accomplished something,” he says. “It is a hands-on [job] where you can see results from your activities.”

Based in New Haven, Conn., the authority manages 550 miles of sewer pipes in its home city, as well as in East Haven, Woodbridge and Hamden, Conn. Additionally, GNHWPCA has 30 pump stations and one treatment plant that handles the wastewater.

The authority, which was founded in 2005, has specialized in staying innovative in its work, Zrelak says. For example, GNHWPCA focuses on reducing the amount of pollutants in the water and air emissions that are produced when treating sewage.

Within its incineration operations, the authority uses a wet electrostatic precipitator, which removes “all the fine colloidal materials,” Zrelak says. The regenerative thermal oxidizer also gets rid of a lot of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.

“We have one of the more advanced air pollution control [systems in the industry],” he says, noting that the authority is already in accordance with new regulations implemented by the EPA. “[They are] not any issue for us.”

The authority also uses a heat recovery system that captures heat from its incinerator and converts it into steam that turns a turbine that produces electricity, Zrelak says. “We’re making a third to a quarter of the power needed for the facility,” he states.

Finding Savings

Zrelak has worked in New Haven since 1989. “New Haven was closing its last primary treatment plant, which would bring the current treatment plant to full capacity, and there was concern from the regulators how this would turn out,” he recalls. Now the facility is compliant and removing nitrogen, which brings in $250,000 per year in credits for removing more nitrogen than the permit requires.

Today, he enjoys working for the authority, which benefits the local environment. “I feel good about what we do,” he says, adding that the GNHWPCA plans to offset more of its energy costs with wind energy.

Executive Director Sid Holbrook has investigated the benefits of building a windmill that generates electricity. Not only would it reflect the authority’s mission of protecting the environment, but wind energy is a free, renewable resource, which Zrelak says makes it a worthwhile endeavor.

“We’re a leader and trying to use innovative technology, but using it so it has an economic payback,” he adds.

The Right Time

GNHWPCA is at work on a $400 million long-term control plan to reduce combined sewer overflows. Part of this plan involves a sewer separation project on Trumbull Street in New Haven. According to Zrelak, the separation project, which is in conjunction with Yale University, will help reduce combined sewer overflows during wet weather for a portion of the city’s old­er communities.

“[It] was built with one pipe down the street,” he explains. “When it rains, we get a large input of flow into our system here.”

When the capacity of the pipe is reached, it discharges the water into the nearest receiving stream. Zrelak says New Haven was the first city in Connecticut to have a plan for combined sewer overflow control.

“The alternative is that it backs up into your house,” he says. 

Although the project requires workers to dig up streets and sidewalks, the authority chose to move forward when it learned that Yale University would be starting infrastructure work of its own on the street. “It was the right time to get in there,” he says, noting that the project is aiming for completion in summer 2012.

On The Horizon

Looking ahead, Zrelak predicts that GNHWPCA will add more water treatment technologies to its operations. “As technology increases, we find more [new innovations],” he says.

For example, he predicts that the authority may utilize nanoparticles to clean the water. “That’s one of the things I see on the horizon,” he says.