On-site, plant-specific training

Training in person at your plant, built around your plant. In-house training, including the full plant-specific package, is arranged with us directly.

The live, plant-specific package

Training in person at your plant, built around your plant. The package includes four parts. Each stands on its own, or combine all four.

Plant-specific O&M manual

Written by operators for operators, from your drawings, equipment and SCADA screens.

The training

Classes taught in person at your plant, chosen from our list of classes and topics.

Plant-specific training materials

Materials built around your plant, so your staff trains on the plant they run.

Process control workbooks

Interactive workbooks that can be tied to SCADA.

Use the pieces you need

Take one part, or combine them into the complete live training package.

Diagram: the plant-specific O&M manual, the training, plant-specific training materials and process control workbooks can each be used on their own or combined into one complete live training package — Each part stands on its own, or combine all four into the complete live training package.

The manual anchors the package. Our manuals are electronic, illustrated and written by operators for operators, so your staff trains from a document they will actually use.

Live virtual training

Prefer live online? We can teach any class live over Microsoft Teams, customized for your staff.

Brad Musick teaches the same classes live over Microsoft Teams. Like on-site training, it is built around your plant and your staff, and your operators can ask questions as they go.

Any class, liveChoose from our list of classes and topics, or ask us to put a custom set together.
Customized for your staffWe plan the content, examples and schedule with you, the same way we plan on-site training.
No travelYour operators join from the plant or the office. CEUs available where approved.

Request a quote for live Teams training

This is the manual your operators get

Plain steps, drawings of the plant, and the numbers an operator needs. These sample pages are from our fictional training plant, the White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF).

Sample manual page from the White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): process flow diagram of an anoxic zone and aeration basin with numbered callouts, color-coded RAS, internal recycle, air and WAS lines, instrument tag boxes, a numbered step list, setpoint tiles, a Need to know box and an Operator tip — Process flow with numbered calloutsSample page, White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): a process flow diagram with numbered callouts, instrument tags and setpoints. Enlarge this page.

Sample manual page from the White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): schematic of a digester heating loop showing the digester, sludge circulation pump, spiral heat exchanger with counter-current flow, bypass valve, hot-water pump and boiler, with a numbered list of what the operator checks, a warning and an Operator tip — Equipment you can pictureSample page, White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): every part labeled, with what the operator checks at each one. Enlarge this page.

Sample manual page from the White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): plan view of a secondary clarifier with numbered callouts tied to the five startup steps, plus the four shut-down steps, a Need to know box, a Warning and an Operator tip — Startup and shut-down, step by stepSample page, White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): numbered steps tied to drawing callouts. Enlarge this page.

Sample manual page from the White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): digestion and gas troubleshooting table with symptom, probable cause and check or action columns, a color bar showing VA/ALK ratio ranges, a Warning and an Operator tip — Symptom, cause and fixSample page, White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): common problems in plain words, with cause and action side by side. Enlarge this page.

Sample manual page from the White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): primary digester equipment data sheet, instrument schedule with tags, what each measures and what the operator checks, and a row of operating target tiles — Design data and instrument scheduleSample page, White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): equipment data and operating targets on one page. Enlarge this page.

Laptop showing the manual as an electronic file with a bookmarks panel and a troubleshooting page that has cross-reference links, next to a tablet showing a process control workbook linked to SCADA tags — Electronic and interactiveSample page, White River Resource Recovery Facility (WRRRF): bookmarks, clickable contents and process control workbooks that can tie to SCADA. Enlarge this page.

Why operators trust our manuals

We write our manuals to be used on shift. Our instructor, Brad Musick, has been superintendent of two Indiana plants, and our manuals are written by operators for operators.

ElectronicYour manual is a file, not a binder. Bookmarks, a clickable contents and links between sections take an operator straight to the section needed.
InteractiveThe manual works with our process control workbooks, which are interactive and can be tied to SCADA.
Great illustrationsCutaways and process drawings of your own plant show where the flow goes, which pump serves which tank, and what each valve does.
Need to knowEach process is written the same way, so operators find operation, valve lineups, troubleshooting, maintenance and safety where they expect them.
Written by operatorsWe write for the operator on shift.
Plant-specificBuilt from your drawings, equipment, SCADA screens and the knowledge of your own operators, not a generic template.

What is in a manual

Each process area follows the same outline, so an operator who knows one chapter knows how to read them all.

Purpose and functional descriptionWhat each process does and how it fits the plant.
Design dataEquipment, capacities, controls, and the power source and lockout point for each unit.
OperationStartup, shutdown, valve lineups, and how to read the SCADA screens for that process.
Process control and mathWhat to monitor, the operator math, and a process control spreadsheet.
TroubleshootingSymptom tables and step-by-step decision trees.
Maintenance and safetyMaintenance by equipment item, plus lockout, confined space and gas safety.
Competency checksQuestions with answer keys, so a new operator can check what they learned.
Daily round and operator formsRound sheets and review forms that operators fill in and keep.

We have written manuals for plants in Texas, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Indiana, British Columbia and Hawaii, for municipal and industrial plants. See the plants and projects on our consulting site.

How a plant-specific package comes together

Kick-offWe meet your team, agree on scope, audience and schedule, and collect your drawings, vendor manuals and existing manuals.
Plant walk-through with operatorsWe walk the plant with the operators who run it and learn how each process is really operated.
Drawings and P&ID reviewWe read the record drawings, P&IDs, SCADA screens and vendor documents, and note where they disagree.
WritingWe write each process the same way: purpose, design data, operation, process control, troubleshooting, maintenance and safety.
Field verification of equipment dataWe check tags, nameplate data and valve lineups in the field. Anything not yet confirmed stays marked until it is.
Operator reviewYour operators read the draft and tell us what to fix. We revise until it reads right to the people who use it.
TrainingWe train your operators from the finished manual, in person at your plant.

Some of our training projects include

We have trained operators at hundreds of treatment plants. These are some of them.

Indiana, 10 MGD plant

We have trained here 26 of the last 29 years. Twelve operators went from few certified to all certified, seven at Class IV, and the plant placed 2nd in the state operator competition.

Indiana, 20 MGD plant

Operator training, O&M manual development, and process optimization.

Trinity River Authority, Texas

150+ MGD. Activated sludge control, selectors, and nutrient removal.

Hyperion WWTP, California

450 MGD. We directed Power Restart and Digester Screening training.

British Columbia

Startup training at two regional plants.

Utoy Creek WWTP, Georgia

44 MGD. We evaluated training and staffing needs and developed startup training.

In-house training at your plant

In-house training, including the full plant-specific package, is arranged with us directly. Contact us to plan training for your staff.

Call 503-701-2766 or email help@ActivatedSludge.com.