Iowa DNR specialist keeps the ‘bugs’ happy to make wastewater treatment plants running smoothly

Whether they employ a series of simple lagoons or more sophisticated equipment, wastewater treatment plants in Iowa rely on tiny helpers to cleanse the sewage from homes and businesses before sending that water downstream.

Bacteria are the engines that power the facilities.

The trick is: “How do we keep the bugs happy?”

That's according to Michele Smith. She's a senior environmental specialist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and oversees a team of folks who help answer that question for 265 treatment plants in northeast Iowa.

The bugs can be finicky. When it gets cold they slow down. They might not be able to feast as quickly on ammonia and other pollutants in the wastewater.

So the treatment process also must slow. Maybe the amount of oxygen injected into the vats of waste needs to be adjusted.

And there should be enough of the critters in the water to get the job done.

“They are very specialized zookeepers,” Smith said of wastewater facility operators. ”They're scientists.“

Her unforeseen path

That was what Smith, who grew up in Ankeny and is now 54 years old, intended to be when she graduated from high school — a biologist to help study and bolster the ecological systems of forests, to ensure Iowans can continue to enjoy their escapes to nature.

She earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in environmental science at the University of Northern Iowa.

Her first professional job after school was with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in Des Moines. She spent her days indoors, writing drinking water permits.

It was 1997, and although the job was different from what she had envisioned for her career, she was proud to work for the same state agency as her father Ralph Turkle, an engineer who helped develop the state's wasteload allocation program.

That program guides the contaminant limits the state imposes on the wastewater facilities Smith now monitors.

Her path to that job now might appear preordained because of that, but again Smith didn't foresee it.

"Not many people go to school and say, 'I want to inspect wastewater treatment plants,'" she laughed. "This turned out to be my thing."

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While still tasked with drinking water duties in her first job, she was dispatched to the DNR's Manchester field office. It was part of a short-lived experiment in which the water permit writers also would take a peek at the wells they were governing, rather than dividing the duties between two people.

When that initiative ended, Smith stayed in Manchester and diversified her expertise to include wastewater monitoring. The department’s needs can shift along with state and federal environmental priorities.

Now she leads a small team that evaluates the monthly reports the wastewater operators submit to the department and visually inspects the facilities periodically. Those inspections happen every two or five years, depending on the amount of wastewater the facilities process.

The front-line defenders

Smith likes the minutia of the job — interpreting data and prepping for inspections.

It's difficult to tell by looking at a vat of wastewater how well it is performing, Smith said. But the cleanliness of the facilities can be an indicator of their overall operations. She also reviews on-site records and ensures wastewater samples have been collected and analyzed according to protocol.

Her team most often detects problems from the monthly reports that document the contaminants in the wastewater that arrives at the facilities and the treated water they discharge into streams. Ammonia and bacteria counts are among the contaminants that are commonly monitored, but certain toxins might be watched as well, especially if the wastewater is flowing from an industrial site.

Smith's biggest task — as she sees it — is to assist wastewater operators when they run into trouble.

"They're the front line, protecting the environment," she said. "The vast majority of them don't need me to help them out, but one of my biggest joys is knowing they can call me."

Outside of work, Smith likes to travel afar to glimpse the outdoors with her fiancé. They met because of work: he is a water and wastewater operator in the area.

His can be a thankless job at times, she said. The operators get little public acclaim when they do the job right to ensure minimal disruption to the environment.

"Any good operator has that passion," Smith said.

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com