This past year was an interesting year for water: we saw an uptick in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), more fallout from Flint, a focus on smarter water technologies, lack of government investment in water, and an increasing number of weather events impacting on water infrastructure.

While succession planning is a common topic in the industry, not very many people outside of it know that it’s a problem. We often hear about global warming, dwindling resources, and corporate ownership, but succession planning isn’t as hot a media topic.

Wastewater treatment using lagoons is widespread in certain areas. The lagoon treatment process usually works well for wastewater treatment in some regions, but the regulated lagoon effluent quality is not always met.

Cold climates present serious difficulties for biological wastewater treatment. Falling temperatures produce lowered biological activity in lagoons, which results in lower BOD removal rates.

The three-cell, 6-acre aerated lagoon at the Remsen (Iowa) Wastewater Treatment Plant could not meet new ammonia permit levels of less than 4 mg/l in winter and 2 mg/l in summer.

In January 2007, the town of Troy, New Hampshire completed a lagoon upgrade designed to meet ammonia nitrogen limits imposed in their reissued NPDES discharge permit.

Lemna Environmental Technologies, Inc. (LET) was distinguished for its "groundbreaking water infastructure design" in an American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Magazine article, published in their March/April 2006 issue.