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Expert Interview 

S. Joh Kang, Ph.D., P.E.

Dr. Kang is a national leader in wastewater at Tetra Tech. His areas of expertise include policies and technologies in water quality management, safe drinking water, water reclamation and reuse, and air quality. His specialties are in management consulting, engineering studies, research and demonstration, and facility design and its successful implementation.

As the Director of National Wastewater Technologies, he has managed, designed, and built more than 80 facilities ranging from 50,000 gallons per day to 900 million gallons per day.

Dr. Kang also serves the engineering profession as a published author, an independent reviewer to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies, and an editorial peer reviewer to Water Environment Research (WER), Journal of Environmental Engineering of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and Water Research Journal of the International Association on Water Quality (IAWQ).

Q:  Describe your work as a Wastewater Engineer. What are some of the current projects you’re working on?

A:  As a Technology Leader, I’m part of a team that just finished writing a manual for the EPA on nutrient removal technologies. We have done many innovative things to develop, demonstrate, and eventually design and build full-scale facilities. They help the clients—municipalities as well as industries—make their water cleaner at a reduced cost, and essentially make the world more sustainable.

As a Water Quality Leader, I work with water quality professionals at Tetra Tech in planning the future together. The clients see us as their experts for future planning for infrastructure: roads, watersheds, stormwater systems, sewers, and treatment plants. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the first one of its kind in the United States in watershed-based planning.

I am also the Director for the Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion project for YCUA (Ypsilanti, Michigan, Community Utilities Authority), which is being completed at the cost of $112 million in seven years from the planning, design, construction, and now start-up training and optimization.

Q:  This project won an American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Engineering Excellence Honor Award in May. What went into developing the “cleanest, most advanced municipal biosolids incinerator system in the United States”?

A:  Two answers: The Board had a vision of being the environmental leader and directed us to achieve that vision. Secondly, we researched and selected two innovative technologies for this client: activated carbon for removal of certain air pollutants and electrostatic precipitator, which is like an air cleaner at home, in capturing small particles in the air.

Q:  How important is this development in the wastewater treatment industry? Will others likely follow suit?

A:  This project has become a standard to compare against. Many municipalities are visiting this facility—some in the United States and others from foreign countries, too.

Q:  How long have you been working in the Wastewater Treatment market? How has it changed since you began?

A:  I’ve been working in the field for over 30 years. The market has changed in that there is an increased demand from the public for advanced treatment for higher quality of water and also for sustainable growth for the environment.

Q:  What are some of the greatest challenges facing municipalities as they consider their wastewater treatment needs today?

A:  Two things are important: public awareness and education, and sustainability. We know an educated public supports both sustainability and the costs in reaching that goal. We know a lot of pollution comes from stormwater runoffs, and overflows from old sewer systems. These are expensive to manage. With public support, we could achieve the goal of clean water where needed.

Q:  Are there certain communities that are more in need of wastewater treatment services than others? Is there a geographic element to what municipalities need?

A:  Location is a deciding factor. If you are in a dry region, water is reused for various purposes and thus needs a higher degree of treatment. If you are near a large body of water, you may not need to reuse and would only need a normal level of treatment.

Q:  What new technologies or developments are driving growth in the wastewater treatment market today?

A:  The new technologies are in particle removal from water, such as membrane; activated carbon from air, as with the YCUA project; and new green technologies. Integrated systems for automatic controls are emerging as a new way of managing water infrastructure. All of these will make our water infrastructure more sustainable.