GERMAN ATV RULES AND STANDARDS

W A S T E W A T E R - W A S T E

ADVISORY LEAFLET
ATV-M 704E

Operational Methods for the Self-Monitoring of

Wastewater Systems

May 1997
ISBN 3-934984-59-2

Marketing:
Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Abwassertechnik e.V. (GFA)
Theodor-Heuss-Allee 17
D-53773 Hennef
Postfach 11 65, 53758 Hennef
 ATV-M 704 E

The ATV Working Group 7.4.3 "Methods of Analysis for the Self-Monitoring (Functional
Monitoring) of Wastewater Treatment Systems by Operational Personnel" has revised
the ATV Guide ATV-H 704 (9/91 Edition) and has converted it into an up-dated version in
an ATV Advisory Leaflet, ATV-M 704.

The following persons have participated:

Dipl.-Ing. M. Fischer, München

Dr. K. Furtmann, Essen (Chairman)
Dr. D. te Heesen, Dinslaken
Herr M. Kaczor, Düsseldorf
Dr. J. Köthe, Darmstadt
Prof. Dr. J. K. Reichert, Roetgen

The Advisory Leaflet presented here has been prepared within the framework of the
ATV committee work, taking into account the Standard ATV-A 400 "Principles for the
Preparation of Rules and Standards" in the Rules and Standards
Wastewater/Waste, in the January 1994 version. With regard to the application of
the Rules and Standards, Para. 1 of Point 5 of A 400 includes the following
statement “The Rules and Standards are freely available to everyone. An obligation
to apply them can result for reasons of legal regulations, contracts or other legal
grounds. Whosoever applies them is responsible for the correct application in
specific cases. Through the application of the Rules and Standards no one avoids
responsibility for his own actions. However, for the user, prima facie evidence shows
that he has taken the necessary care.

All rights, in particular those of translation into other languages, are reserved. No part of this Advisory
Leaflet may be reproduced in any form by photocopy, microfilm or any other process or transferred or
translated into a language usable in machines, in particular data processing machines, without the written
approval of the publisher.

 Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Abwassertechnik e.V. (GFA), Hennef 1997

Produced by: J. F. CARTHAUS GmbH & Co, Bonn

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Contents

1 Introduction and Objective ....................................................................................4

2 Requirements on Operational Methods and Their Limits...................................4

2.1 General Requirements on Operational Methods ................................................ 5

2.2 Requirements on the Manufacturers of Equipment and Reagents..................... 5

2.3 Requirements on the User ................................................................................. 6

2.4 Employment Possibilities of Operational Procedures ......................................... 6

2.5 Selection of Operational Methods ...................................................................... 7

3 Application of Operational Methods.....................................................................8

3.1 Qualification of Personnel .................................................................................. 8

3.2 Instruction and Supervision of Personnel ........................................................... 8

3.2.1 Basic Instruction.......................................................................................... 8

3.2.2 Subsequent Supervision ............................................................................. 9

3.3 Quality Control, Plausibility of Measurement Results ......................................... 9

3.4 Sampling and Conservation ............................................................................... 9

4 Documentation .....................................................................................................10

4.1 Documentation of Measurement Results ......................................................... 10

4.2 Documentation Of Quality Control.................................................................... 10

5 Terms ....................................................................................................................11

6 Literature
(Known translations are given in full. Where there is no known translation a short courtesy
translation is given in square brackets) ............................................................................12

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1 Introduction and Objective

In order to be able to meet the legal provisions with the discharge of wastewater into
lakes and rivers or into public wastewater facilities, wastewater treatment systems must
be maintained and operated correctly. Only in this way is it possible to be able to take
immediate remedial measures if internal or external faults occur. The majority of the
German Federal State governments have already promulgated ordinances for the self-
monitoring of wastewater systems. These ordinances regulate the procedure with
functional and discharge control in order to ensure an optimum protection of lakes and
rivers.

With the majority of public and industrial wastewater systems self-monitoring is carried
out by operational personnel. In order to reduce and simplify the overall analytical
expense, methods of analysis have been developed for this, the so-called operational
methods. They can be handled simply by personnel with basic analytical-chemical
knowledge. In this Advisory Leaflet it is shown how personnel of a public or industrial
wastewater system can use the operational methods for self-monitoring reliably and
safely.

Therefore, in the Advisory Leaflet, requirements on quality under the assumption of

which a comparison is possible, are also drawn up in addition to the practical
employment of operational methods. Taking into account these measures the operational
methods correspond with the requirements in accordance with § 4 of the Abwasser
Verordnung (AbwV) [German Wastewater Decree], to whose employment as a
procedure of equal standing for the establishment of the discharge approval there is no
objection from a technical measurement aspect. The technical prerequisites for the
employment of the operational methods in the execution of a future measurement
solution within the Abwasserabgabengesetz (AbwAG) [German Water Pollution Control
Levy Law] therefore exist.

In order not to expand this Advisory Leaflet, descriptions are limited to physical and
chemical procedures, whereby some aspects also apply for biotests with which,
however, additional more far-reaching problems can appear.

Questions concerning continuous measurement methods have also been deliberately

omitted as here more operational demands are at the forefront. These measurements
are processed within their own specialist committee (ATV Specialist Committee 2.13
"Automation of Sewage Treatment Plants").

The determinations for the employment of operational methods made in this Advisory
Leaflet serve to supplement and develop the regulations under Federal German and
German State law, however, they represent no replacement for these regulations.

2 Requirements on Operational Methods and Their Limits

Analytical investigations within the framework of operational monitoring of wastewater

systems are subject to the constraint of balancing whether the gain in information
obtained has a satisfactory relationship to the effort applied. The application of

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operational methods contributes considerably to the solution of the problem as, with this,
expensive separation steps are to a large extent disposed with and time saving
simplifications are undertaken.

The simplification of the methods has only insignificant consequences for the accuracy of
the measurement results. With the determination of the individual content substances of
the wastewater, disruptive influences can indeed occur due to non or only incompletely
separated attendant substances, these can, however, based on the as a rule constant
wastewater composition in the individual plant, be determined using the measures
described in Sect 3 and taken into account appropriately. If the results of the operational
methods are ensured by the quality controls described in Sect. 3.3 these can be used for
the perpetuation of evidence.

2.1 General Requirements on Operational Methods

These procedures must:

- be carried out in situ without large time expense

- have an as high as possible accuracy and good selectivity

- be simple to deal with

- be specifically applicable for the individual investigation case

- be checked at repeated time intervals during employment (e.g. following a certain

number of completed samplings) by parallel investigations using the respective
analysis procedures laid down in the legal execution

- correspond, within the meaning of work safety, with laiddown standard specifications
(e.g. Accident Prevention Regulations, Safety Rules, etc.

- be environmentally friendly in application and disposal.

2.2 Requirements on the Manufacturers of Equipment and Reagents

- comprehensible and clear instructions must be available

- possible faults are to be indicated in the operating instructions. Measures for

rectification and avoidance are to be described

- details on shelf life dates and storage conditions for reagents are to be made clearly
visible on the packaging

- possibilities for disposal for environmentally hazardous, used chemicals must be

indicated (e.g. recycling or disposal of used test vessels)

- possibilities for quality control within the sense of Sect. 3.3 are to be given

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- modifications to the handling (e.g. amendments to factors with photometric
determination) must be current and indicated clearly.

2.3 Requirements on the User

- operating personnel (e.g. environmental technicians) are to use the operational

methods for functional control and the monitoring of procedures. For this the following
requirements are to be met:
a) basic instruction
b) follow-up care, regular instruction measures
c) provision of written work instructions for all important task steps
d) internal quality control
- the user must know that, with the employment of operational methods, one can obtain
greater or lesser findings dependent on the composition of the sample; this is to be
taken into account with evaluation and interpretation
- investigation findings, which are determined using these methods, must be identified
for differentiation from the standardised analysis methods, in particular if different
methods of measurement are used in one system.

2.4 Employment Possibilities of Operational Procedures

The basic advantage of these methods is the rapid information in comparison with timely
and instrumentally expensive standardised analysis methods. In addition handling of
large quantities of reagents is dispensed with. As a result of the cost advantage and the
more rapid practicability of operational methods these can be employed considerably
more frequently. In order to ensure a trouble-free operation of a wastewater system
investigations in the sewer network and with indirect dischargers are, in addition to
surveillance investigations in the sewage treatment plant, important. Assessment criteria
are given in the ATV Standard ATV-A 115E and in local bylaws. In addition
measurements with industrial indirect dischargers within the framework of the Indirect
Discharger Ordinance of the German Federal States also belong to the area of
application of operational methods.
In accordance with the technical wastewater principle: process water with hazardous
content substances to be treated at source (partial flow treatment), a broad field for the
employment of operational methods exists.
Every user of an operational method must be clear that the area of application is limited:
Therefore, for a sensible application, the user must be aware of the following guiding
principles:
- operational methods can replace the standardised analysis methods, within the
execution of water and wastewater levy law, only if this is legally possible
- operational methods are to be applied only by specialists with basic analytical-
chemical knowledge, e.g. environmental technicians

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- investigation findings from operational methods have until now not been called upon
as evidence with assessments and investigations in connection with court proceedings
as these methods are not standardised. Under the safeguard of quality control in
accordance with Sect. 3.3 the results of operational methods, however, can certainly
be called upon for the perpetuation of evidence

- the employment of operational methods can significantly reduce the requirement for
standardised analytical methods with self-monitoring up to parallel investigations by
which external analytical quality assurance can even be totally replaced.

As additional possibilities for the application of the methods there are, for example, the
following:

- determination of pollutant concentrations for defence against a possible hazard for

humans and the environment

- decisions as to whether, with internal causes of faults, immediate measures are to be

carried out or whether a systematic search for the perpetrator of the cause should be
undertaken

- orientational pre-investigation of samples before implementing extensive analytical

tasks (hazardous substances proved to be present or not) by another examining
laboratory

- carrying out of investigation series (e.g. with technical process changes of the
treatment process)

- determination of operational results for the performance comparison of sewage

treatment plants.

2.5 Selection of Operational Methods

The operator must decide the operational method suitable for his special application case
based on the criteria mentioned in Sects. 2.1. and 2.2. With this the measurement range
is in particular to be so chosen that the expected result can be found as far as possible in
the 20 to 80 % interval of the measurement range. This range, based on experience,
shows the greatest analytical certainty. Suitable dilution measures are permitted.

With the question of the suitability of a new operational method or, with difficult
wastewater, the comparative measurements described below can be used.

With parallel investigations, the operational method is compared to the standardised

analysis method.

With this, the following prerequisites are to be fulfilled:

- the investigations are to be undertaken from a divided sample. Attention is to be paid

to a homogenisation of the original sample before dividing. The analyses are to be
carried out concurrently due to the danger of sample changes

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- it is recommended that this parallel investigation is carried out on at least 10 samples
which each represent a representative operational condition of the sewage treatment
plant

- the parallel investigation is to be carried out separately at all sampling points relevant
for the operator.

In each case the mean value of the standardised analysis method (y) and that of the
operational method (x) are calculated from the respective measurement values. The
difference (D) is the measurement figure for the systematic deviation of the results with
the comparison between the standardised analysis method and the operational method
(D = [y - x]) in mg/l. Based on the percentile deviation (Drel ) the user can decide whether
the examined method satisfies his requirements.

3 Application of Operational Methods

3.1 Qualification of Personnel

The application of operational methods to wastewater systems requires analytical-

chemical personnel. Incorrect execution of analyses, assessment and interpretation of
findings leads in part to considerable errors. The applicant of operational methods should
therefore have the level of training or the qualification of an Environmental Technician, or
equivalent training.

3.2 Instruction and Supervision of Personnel

Independent of qualification the following should be observed with the application of

operational methods (see also Sect. 2.3):

3.2.1 Basic Instruction

Intensive basic instruction is to be carried out according to the following aspects:

- overview of the parameters to be investigated

- instruction in the parameter specific sampling including the pre-treatment of samples

and conservation

- practice of the operational method using existing operational instructions for each
parameter with representative wastewater samples of the planned application case
(independent execution and handling)

- instruction in the documentation of measurement results

- information on the respective hazards with the handling of chemicals taking into
account the employment of personal protective equipment (e.g. protective glasses,
protective gloves) as well as first aid treatment

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- sorting and disposal of resultant wastes and wastewater.

3.2.2 Subsequent Supervision

The skills and knowledge imparted in the basic instruction must be consolidated and
brought up to date at regular intervals through instruction by specialist personnel. With
this particular value is to be placed on the careful acquisition, documentation and
interpretation of the measurement values.

3.3 Quality Control, Plausibility of Measurement Results

With the employment of operational methods the operator must pay particular attention
to Internal Quality Controls (IQC) [in German IQK]. Through this it is to be ensured that
the handling, the reagents used and the measurement equipment are subject to
permanent internal examination. These controls are to be carried as follows:

- regular examination of the reproducibility by multiple determination of a sample

- joint analysis of standard solutions to check functioning, measurement devices and

reagents

- comparative measurements several times a year using operational methods of other

wastewater systems (e.g. within the framework of the sewage treatment plant
neighbourhoods)

examination of the plausibility using dilution series or addition

- monitoring of measurement equipment (adjustment, calibration)

- regular maintenance in accordance with manufacturers' details

- monitoring of the durability of the reagents.

In addition, parallel investigations within the scope of external analytical quality

assurance are necessary to ensure exactness. Here the methods of analysis laid down
in the implementation of the Water Management Resources Law (WHG) (e.g. § 7a) and
the Water Pollution Control Levy Law (AbwAG) (e.g. Annex B to §3). The respective
decrees of the German Federal States are to be observed.

3.4 Sampling and Conservation

In most cases the user of operational methods will carry out sampling himself (DIN
38402-A 11). Therefore instruction into the significance of sampling, associated
problems, the selection of suitable sampling equipment and the sampling vessels as well
as the transportation of samples and the handling of samples is to take place. If it
appears that, within a certain time, the samples cannot be examined on site, then
instruction on correct preservation is to be given.

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4 Documentation

The taking into account of the above given advice for internal quality control is
prerequisite for the obtaining of correct analysis results with constant high quality.
However, the data earns a reasonable significance only if the circumstances of their
registration and the further measures which are carried out for quality assurance, are
verifiably documented in the operational logbook.

The consequent execution of the documentation in the areas of measurement results,

quality control and qualification leads to the objective proof of the quality of the analysis
and thus to measurement results which can stand up in a dispute before a court of law.
With this the running of an IQC card has particular weight.

4.1 Documentation of Measurement Results

The measurement results must give a representative statement for the application case.
Basically, for all procedures, it applies that the accuracy of the measurement results is
dependent on the precision of the respective measurement method and not on a high
number of points on the indicator scale. By appropriate selection of the unit all figures are
to be limited to as far as possible few points (DIN 38402, Part 1, Details on Analysis
Results).

In addition to the actual measurement results all boundary conditions for the sampling,
sample preparation and measurement must be documented. To this belongs the point in
(or period of) time, type and location of sampling, type and duration of storage, measures
for the conservation of the sample, details on the analysis method etc. Furthermore it
must be possible to find in the protocol who carried out the respective activities and is
thus responsible. The documentation of the measurement results must be complete and
clear.

4.2 Documentation Of Quality Control

The measures given under Sect. 3.3 serve for the quality assurance of the analysis. All
measures, which are made in this connection must be documented clearly and
comprehensively. Through this it is possible for the operational personnel and also, in
particular, outsiders, to obtain an objective picture of the quality of the data achieved.
The documentation can, for example, be in the form of method related IQC cards, into
which every quality control measure for this method is collected. This should take place
in a form which, in a case of dispute, makes it possible to allocate certain disputed data
to appropriate IQC measures so that the proof of correct determination can be easily
produced.

4.3 Documentation of the Qualification of personnel

Within the framework of the representation of IQC measures a permanent current

overview on the qualification of personnel as well as the participation in regular

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instructional measures should be kept which allows, at any time, verification that certain
measurements or samplings are carried out by qualified personnel.

5 Terms

Several important terms are used in the Advisory Leaflet, which are of fundamental
significance in operational analysis. These terms have, until now, not been consistently
laid down in the relevant specialist literature. They are therefore described here in more
detail and defined. It would be desirable that these terms found application in the same
way in technical rules and standards.

Operational methods

Simplified methods of analysis which can be employed by personnel with basic

analytical-chemical knowledge and which, in the planned operational application, deliver
measurement results with an analytical quality which can be placed at the same level as
the results from standardised methods.

Standardised methods of analysis, laboratory, reference, standard methods

Methods of measurement which are described in relevant standard specifications (DEV

[German Electrical Specifications], DIN [German Industrial Standards] etc.) and which
require personnel with at least the minimum qualification of a laboratory assistant. These
methods as a rule form the basis for legally regulated surveillance tasks.

Internal Quality Control (IQC)

Measures for quality verification which the user can carryout him/herself with the
employment of operational methods.

IQC card

Documentation aid for operators' measures in connection with quality assurance.

Parallel investigations

Parallel investigations from divided samples using operational and reference methods.

Comparative measurements

Comparative investigations from divided samples using operational methods of other

users.

Self-monitoring

In the Advisory Leaflet the term "Self-monitoring" represents the regulations made in the
individual German Federal States for the carrying out of measurements by the operator
under his/her own responsibility (in German "Selbstüberwachung" and also
"Eigenkontrolle" and "Eigenüberwachung").

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Accuracy

The accuracy of a measurement result is, in this Advisory Leaflet, a general expression
for analytical quality. Terms such as "correctness" and "precision" are included in this.

6 Literature
(Known translations are given in full. Where there is no known translation a short courtesy
translation is given in square brackets]

Abwasserverordnung - AbwV über Mindestanforderungen an das Einleiten von Abwasser

in Gewässer [Wastewater Decree on the Minimum Requirements on the Discharge of
Wastewater into Lakes and Rivers] in the respective valid version

ATV Standard ATV-A 115

Discharge of Non-domestic Wastewater into a Public Wastewater System"
Abwassertechnische Vereinigung e.V. ,Hennef, October 1994

ATV Standard ATV-A 124E

"Service and Operating Instructions for Personnel of Sewage Treatment Plants"
Abwassertechnische Vereinigung e. V., Hennef, November 1989

Deutsche Einheitsverfahren zu Wasser-, Abwasser- und Schlammuntersuchungen

[German Common Procedures for Water, Wastewater and Sludge Investigations], (DIN)
Beuth Verlag GmbH, Berlin
therein:
DIN 38402 Part 1 „Allgemeine Angaben (Gruppe A) - Angaben von Analysen-
ergebnissen“ ["General Details (Group A) - Details on Analysis Results"]
DIN 38402 Part 11 „Allgemeine Angaben (Gruppe A) - Probenahme von Abwasser“
["General details (Group A) - Wastewater Samples]

Gesetz zur Ordnung des Wasserhaushalts (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz-WHG) [Law on the

Administration of Water Management (Water Resources Management Law - WHG)] in
the respectively valid version

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