Environmental Foundations

The balance of power has always hinged on the environmental tradespeople of the world. What great nation passed an era without running sewers? When was the last notable reign without proper waste management and sanitary practices? Who built aqueducts without engineers? Learned engineering without educators?

Today, the global biome revolves around the balance of nature, with millions of environmental stewards contributing to the mix. From rangers, researchers, and scientists to replanters, trash pickers, and wildlife rehabilitators, everyone has a part to play.

Environmental tradespeople and stewards are essential to life as we know it. These fine individuals deserve our gratitude, respect, and more.

Environmental Icons celebrates respected individuals who have made lasting impacts on the environmental sector.

We thought it would be fitting to choose the most respected environmental engineer and consultant we know as our first featured environmental icon. A gentleman who has become a legend from Texas and New Mexico through the southern United States to the international stage: engineer, environmental expert, teacher, and current head of Advanced Process Technologies, Henry Hervol.

Henry Hervol

Henry, thank you for decades of environmental service. Can you tell everyone about yourself?

I started my journey in 1955 (at the age of 14) in Environmental Engineering, putting together a 17,000 gpd packaged WWTP and lift station in Pennsylvania. In 1959, I moved to Texas to study at the University of Texas, working my way through three degrees. 

My first job was with Clyde Smith Construction Company from 1961 to 1966, working on a number of potable water and wastewater treatment facilities all over Texas. In 1966 I was working part-time for the City of Austin Water and Wastewater Engineering Department, designing wastewater siphons, lift stations, large sewer lines, and large water pumping stations, as well as doing long-range planning for the city’s water and wastewater systems. I held that position until 1969 when I went to work full-time as a consultant with Hunter Associates, Consulting Engineers of Dallas and Austin.

 I worked on a number of potable water and wastewater treatment projects with that consulting firm until  October 1974. One of those projects was one of the first advanced wastewater treatment plants in the state of Texas.

 In the fall of 1974, I took the position of Applications Engineer at Enviroquip, Inc., a potable water and wastewater treatment equipment manufacturer. I got the chance to work on many fine applications with Enviroquip and their clients all over the Southwest, rising to the position of Sales Manager with that company in 1977. Got a chance to do some development work, file some patents, and learn another side of the business. I later left Enviroquip (as a direct employee) and established a manufacturer’s rep firm primarily working in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. That company had a history of over 36 years of operations.

Henry, you’ve been solving environmental problems for a long time. You’ve earned a rock-solid reputation on the international stage. Can you take us back to the beginning?     Where did your environmental career start?

As I indicated above, my first experience (at age 14) was putting together a small “developer type” packaged wastewater treatment plant and lift station. I got some real experience working for a potable water and wastewater treatment plant contractor for almost six years, estimating projects, purchasing equipment, running projects, and dealing with people- employees as well as consultants.

What was water treatment like in the nineteen fifties?

In the 1950s potable water treatment was a lot more “defined” than wastewater treatment, which, in my humble opinion, was evolving from an “art to a science.”  Looking back to some of the most popular papers written in those days were the works of McCabe and Eckenfelder.

I was fortunate to have studied under Dr. Wesley Eckenfelder when he taught at the University of Texas. Today, the research work carried out by many of our universities, as well as process equipment manufacturers, has broadened our available knowledge in the field and allowed for quantification in facility engineering design.

What modern sewage and wastewater technologies did they have seventy years ago?

The activated sludge process was developed early in the last century and was fairly well developed 75 years ago to the point where pre-packaged WWTPs were constructed, primarily from steel and hauled/trucked in for small developments. I would say that the biggest difference from what we see today is the design efficiency of those facilities. In 1955, we might typically see a WWTP designed for about 85% removal of BOD5 and TSS, whereas for most facilities we see today, we might more typically see design removals of the same pollutants in the 97 to 98.5% range (or greater).

Today, we also see more removals of phosphorus and nitrogen than we did in the fifties.

How was solid waste managed post World War 2?

 In the town I grew up in, near Pittsburgh, PA, we had no treatment plant.  The wastewater was collected and dumped into a creek, which was a tributary of the Monongahela River, which emptied into the Ohio and later the Mississippi River Systems. I think that the area installed primary treatment in the late sixties and secondary treatment in the late seventies.

When I was a small child, we had no indoor plumbing. I can remember our sanitary sewer system being hand dug by recently returned troops, probably around 1946 or so. That was a drastic improvement to my way of thought. Didn’t have to keep a chamber pot in the house for those cold winter nights.

What made you start teaching?

I wanted to “give back” to the field, especially by teaching in the operator schools in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. I have observed and always felt that the plant operators were “under-appreciated as well as underpaid” for the work that they do. In my whole career, I have always recommended that our local political leaders visit their water and wastewater treatment facilities at least twice a year and visit with their operations staff. Listen to their problems and assist them wherever possible.

I have also been pleased to fill in for some of my former professors in college, as well as to have been asked to speak at various Technical Conferences for engineers over the years.

As the industry evolved, you’ve been right there on the cutting edge. You’re still on the cutting edge. What water treatment innovations are you working on today? 

Probably in the last 20 years, I would say that the biggest innovations have been in the way of membrane applications for wastewater treatment/recovery.  Re-use (especially in the Southwest) is something that has to be done so as to, in effect, develop a new water resource. Water rights are very costly to come by in many areas. We are also seeing many planners talking about the concept of “toilet to tap” where we treat wastewater to a level where it can be totally recycled back into our potable water drinking systems. I think that in the next 10 years, you will see a lot of systems going in this direction.

The treatment standards that most of the states are looking at for “toilet to tap” are very stringent so as to protect public health. The ones I have been privy to are much more stringent than many current surface water treatment drinking standards. 

The new technologies, i.e., membrane bio-reactors, have been so efficient that they have produced their own set of operating problems, primarily dealing with the fiber that these systems can filter out of the wastewater. Also, initially we only had polymeric type membranes, that required “wetting agents” to pass water, but the newer silicone carbide membranes have been a big improvement, especially when considering “toilet to tap.”    

The technology is here now to do “toilet to tap.”

What is currently considered high tech in sewage and wastewater technology?

Twenty years ago I would have said membrane bioreactors, but after dealing with operational problems encountered at some MBRs, if I were charged with the design of a facility today that would eventually go to “toilet to tap,” I would go with a more or less conventional treatment approach, incorporating biological phosphorus removal as well as nitrification/de-nitrification for nitrogen removal (with final clarifiers) followed by tertiary membrane filtration treatment technology (incorporating Ozone) treatment. This approach gives less operational problems as well as higher filtration rates.

What do you see in solid waste management advances today?

There is a plethora of new processes being applied on the solid stream side right now. The science of polymer application for sludge de-watering/thickening is one area where we have seen increased efficiencies, with lower application rates to still get a good sludge cake. New processes have also been developed to “harvest” nitrogen and phosphorus and/or to cut down on the amount of those elements recycled back to the WWTPs from the sludge solids handling side stream. Also, sludge sterilization processes are being applied.

What’s the most absurd thing you’ve seen?

I can remember going to a WEF conference in the sixties where one booth exhibited the “Electrostatic Toilet” that would eliminate the need for sanitary sewers as well as WWTPs. The unit utilized a high-temperature electric furnace that would turn all human waste into solid waste. Of course, if you had any part of your anatomy hanging below a toilet seat, you would certainly want some protection for that.  When I asked the manufacturer about the protection, they indicated it was a micro-switch. Apparently, mankind was not ready to trust their “privates” to a micro-switch, as I have not seen this concept gain much traction.  Never saw the manufacturer back at WEF.

Where do you see drinking water treatment in the next seventy years?

It will get more complicated. Our treatment plant operators will need to be more highly educated and paid commensurate with their education and responsibilities. At some point, we are going to have the discussions as to what level of treatment do we need to go to for the true “benefit of the public.”

If we provide too high a level of treatment, are we causing problems for the public with regards to their bodies not being able to fight off disease/infections?

Where is sewage and wastewater treatment heading from here?

As we deal with more valuable water supplies, we are going to have to look at more chances for “toilet to tap.”  In my whole career, I have seen more articles dealing with the increasing value of water. I know my particular water bill seems to be going up yearly, even though I am using less water through conservation techniques we have applied.

What do you foresee in the future of solid waste management?

I don’t expect to see this in my lifetime; however, I think that on the solids stream side we will see more and more resource recovery. Also, as the cost of energy increases, we will see more and more biosolids side streams set up to maximize the production of gas to supply power for running the WWTP.

We are also going to see the application of more solar and wind power applied to WWTPs.

Many people live their lives never giving a thought to water and wastewater treatment.  It never even crosses their minds. After all you’ve seen, what message would you want the world to hear?

In my consulting days, I always recommended that every city councilman visit their treatment plants, maybe at least twice a year, to see what the biggest expenditure for most cities was doing with the funds the taxpayers earmarked for that facility.

For me, whenever I talk to anyone contemplating running for office, I ask if they will do this. If they won’t – they don’t get my vote,

What advice do you have for people interested in a career in engineering?

It’s a great way to make a living, as well as to help your fellow man. It is very rewarding to see a WWTP influent arrive at a facility as a mess and then leave in a condition that is better than the receiving stream into which it flows. Great opportunity to travel and also meet “like-minded” individuals with similar goals. In my case, I have traveled east to many countries in Europe as well as north to Alaska/Canada, south to Brazil, and west to Guam, with a lot of points in between.

What do you see as the most dangerous environmental challenge we face today?

I think plastics in our environment, as well as some things that have gotten into our water resources, such as PFAS. There are viable processes on the market for removing these compounds. We need to do a better job of removing them, recycling them, and getting them out of our environment …and our bodies.

We thank Henry Hervol for getting us started on the Environmental Icons journey.