FLORIDA WASTEWATER COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔A confined space is defined as having a space large enough to bodily enter and
perform work, has limited entry and egress and is ___________? - ✔✔Not designed for
continuous occupancy
✔✔You noticed that your bearings are excessively hot on a pump, why? - ✔✔Over
lubrication
✔✔Where can you gain access for collection system maintenance? - ✔✔Man hole
✔✔Low DO and nutrient deficiency will promote the growth of _________? -
✔✔Filamentous bacteria
✔✔When charging a lead-acid type battery for a composite sampler, what dangerous
gas could be produced? - ✔✔Hydrogen
✔✔What is the best method in dealing with a chemical spill? - ✔✔Contain and clean up
✔✔There is septic wastewater entering your primary clarifier. What is the problem? -
✔✔Anaerobic conditions in the collection systems
✔✔Which of the following substances is highly viscous and very slippery? - ✔✔Polymer
✔✔If you pump green sludge to a drying bed what chemical should be applied? -
✔✔Lime
✔✔In a lab, a dilute acid solution must be prepared for titration in the alkalinity test. The
proper procedure for making the weak acid is to: - ✔✔Add the acid slowly to the dilution
water
✔✔What is the dosage of chlorine, in mg/L, if the flow being treated is 85,000 GPD and
3 pounds of chlorine are used per day? - ✔✔4.2 mg/L
✔✔Upon arriving at the package treatment plant serving a small community, you find a
uniform sludge blanket rising throughout the clarifier. A settleability test reveals a very
slow-settling sludge, leaving a clear supernatant. MLSS test results are normal, but a
calculation of the SVI shows high sludge volume index. What is the most likely cause of
the high sludge blanket? - ✔✔Filamentous bacteria are causing the slow settling
✔✔Solids are washing out of the secondary clarifier of the activated sludge plant. Plant
personnel increase the Return Activated Sludge flow rate, which slows the problem
, temporarily, but gets worse after 30 minutes. What is the cause of the plant problem? -
✔✔Increasing the RAS decreased the detention time in the clarifier
✔✔The chlorine residual is falling, and inspection of the 150LB cylinder and chlorine
feed equipment shows ice forming on the chlorine regulator and feed lines. The BEST
method to fix the falling chlorine residual is to: - ✔✔Place a second chlorine cylinder
online
✔✔The ash content in lab procedures is the same as? - ✔✔Inorganic solids
✔✔Denitrification will cause what? - ✔✔Rising sludge
✔✔If a 220 volt, 3 phase motor is running backwards, what should you do? - ✔✔Switch
the two leads
✔✔Coliform count fails to meet standards. Your chlorine supply is not the problem.
What is? - ✔✔Short circuiting and low contact time
✔✔What type of material should be used for transporting samples? - ✔✔Polyethylene
✔✔How does temperature effect disinfection? - ✔✔Higher the temp, the better the
disinfection
✔✔The advantage of an anaerobic digester over an aerobic digester is? -
✔✔Decreased power consumption
✔✔How long should you wait after you make a process change before making another
change? - ✔✔1 week
✔✔The settleometer settles fairly slowly. You have shiny dark foam of the surface of the
aerator. What is the problem? - ✔✔MCRT too high
✔✔The removal of nitrogen and phosphorus are? - ✔✔Advanced secondary treatment
✔✔What would cause a pump to fail to discharge? - ✔✔Suction lift too high
✔✔Chlorine is not coming out. Another cylinder is hooked up with the same problem.
What is the problem? - ✔✔Manifold line is clogged
✔✔How would you measure the amount of load being applied from the digester to the
head works? - ✔✔Total solids test
2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔A confined space is defined as having a space large enough to bodily enter and
perform work, has limited entry and egress and is ___________? - ✔✔Not designed for
continuous occupancy
✔✔You noticed that your bearings are excessively hot on a pump, why? - ✔✔Over
lubrication
✔✔Where can you gain access for collection system maintenance? - ✔✔Man hole
✔✔Low DO and nutrient deficiency will promote the growth of _________? -
✔✔Filamentous bacteria
✔✔When charging a lead-acid type battery for a composite sampler, what dangerous
gas could be produced? - ✔✔Hydrogen
✔✔What is the best method in dealing with a chemical spill? - ✔✔Contain and clean up
✔✔There is septic wastewater entering your primary clarifier. What is the problem? -
✔✔Anaerobic conditions in the collection systems
✔✔Which of the following substances is highly viscous and very slippery? - ✔✔Polymer
✔✔If you pump green sludge to a drying bed what chemical should be applied? -
✔✔Lime
✔✔In a lab, a dilute acid solution must be prepared for titration in the alkalinity test. The
proper procedure for making the weak acid is to: - ✔✔Add the acid slowly to the dilution
water
✔✔What is the dosage of chlorine, in mg/L, if the flow being treated is 85,000 GPD and
3 pounds of chlorine are used per day? - ✔✔4.2 mg/L
✔✔Upon arriving at the package treatment plant serving a small community, you find a
uniform sludge blanket rising throughout the clarifier. A settleability test reveals a very
slow-settling sludge, leaving a clear supernatant. MLSS test results are normal, but a
calculation of the SVI shows high sludge volume index. What is the most likely cause of
the high sludge blanket? - ✔✔Filamentous bacteria are causing the slow settling
✔✔Solids are washing out of the secondary clarifier of the activated sludge plant. Plant
personnel increase the Return Activated Sludge flow rate, which slows the problem
, temporarily, but gets worse after 30 minutes. What is the cause of the plant problem? -
✔✔Increasing the RAS decreased the detention time in the clarifier
✔✔The chlorine residual is falling, and inspection of the 150LB cylinder and chlorine
feed equipment shows ice forming on the chlorine regulator and feed lines. The BEST
method to fix the falling chlorine residual is to: - ✔✔Place a second chlorine cylinder
online
✔✔The ash content in lab procedures is the same as? - ✔✔Inorganic solids
✔✔Denitrification will cause what? - ✔✔Rising sludge
✔✔If a 220 volt, 3 phase motor is running backwards, what should you do? - ✔✔Switch
the two leads
✔✔Coliform count fails to meet standards. Your chlorine supply is not the problem.
What is? - ✔✔Short circuiting and low contact time
✔✔What type of material should be used for transporting samples? - ✔✔Polyethylene
✔✔How does temperature effect disinfection? - ✔✔Higher the temp, the better the
disinfection
✔✔The advantage of an anaerobic digester over an aerobic digester is? -
✔✔Decreased power consumption
✔✔How long should you wait after you make a process change before making another
change? - ✔✔1 week
✔✔The settleometer settles fairly slowly. You have shiny dark foam of the surface of the
aerator. What is the problem? - ✔✔MCRT too high
✔✔The removal of nitrogen and phosphorus are? - ✔✔Advanced secondary treatment
✔✔What would cause a pump to fail to discharge? - ✔✔Suction lift too high
✔✔Chlorine is not coming out. Another cylinder is hooked up with the same problem.
What is the problem? - ✔✔Manifold line is clogged
✔✔How would you measure the amount of load being applied from the digester to the
head works? - ✔✔Total solids test
