AMDTreat
Frequently Asked Questions
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This page contains answers to common questions handled by our support staff, along with some tips
and tricks that we have found useful and presented here as questions.
Note: In these answers we will follow a few shorthand conventions for describing user-interface
procedures. Key combinations will be presented like this:
Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which means that you
should press and hold down the Control key, the Alt key, and the Delete key at the same time.
Menu selections will be presented like this: File->Open, which means that you should open the File
menu, and then make the Open selection.
- How do I ... ?
- Where can I find ... ?
- Why doesn't ... ?
- Who is ... ?
- What is ... ?
- When is ... ?
AMDTreat is a tool to assist users in the process of estimating the cost of
abatement of pollutional discharges.
- AMDTreat provides a detailed
framework for calculating real-world site-specific treatment cost estimates.
- AMDTreat users can calculate costs
both forward (In advance of construction.) and reverse. (Determining the
cost of a previously constructed system.)
- AMDTreat is a what-if modeling tool to help in determining the most cost
effective treatment type
for a given discharge.
- AMDTreat is a flexible tool for estimating costs where the user has full
control over how and what elements are considered.
- AMDTreat does not dictate the OSM or DEP vision or policy of how to estimate costs.
- AMDTreat is not a bonding or trust
fund calculator.
- AMDTreat is not a design tool.
To save a project, select the File menu from the upper left portion of the
screen then select the Save As menu item (File->Save As). You will be
prompted for a project name, a company name (optional), a Site Name, a date
and comments (optional). By default, AMDTreat saves your files into a
folder (directory). The default AMDTreat folder is
C:\AMDTreat\complete. Each
saved project is stored in a separate folder within that folder. To save updated information in
an already saved project just hit the Save button (File->Save). To load a saved project just select the
Open menu item from the File menu (File->Open).
Background colors can be changed under the Tools menu by selecting the
background color option. (Tools->Background Color). Just select the new
color you would like to use for your background.
AMDTreat requires a Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000
or XP operating system; a
Pentium computer; and a minimum screen resolution of 1024 by 768.
I am using Windows 2000 or Windows XP and AMDTreat will not install. What should I do?
Many advanced Windows operating systems have a security feature that,
when invoked, will
not allow users to install programs unless they have Administrative Privileges.
If you receive a message to this effect when trying to install AMDTreat you
must contact your system administrator for assistance in installing the program.
Technical assistance is available to system administrators. Please contact Brent Means or Bob McKenzie at
717-782-4036. (This
problem was first reported by personnel at Pennsylvania DEP.)
Why does AMDTreat require a minimum screen
resolution of 1024x768?
The simple answer to this question is screen real estate. Every effort was made by the developers to allow AMDTreat to run on a screen resolution of 800x600. In fact,
early in the development process, 800x600 was the standard for development.
However, there were several requested enhancements that required more
screen space so the Team was forced to increase the resolution requirement to
1024x768. We apologize if
this causes any inconvenience.
Can I change the AMDTreat default values for costs,
etc.?
Yes, this capability is provided. This
feature, in the Tools menu, allows the user to change all default values and
retain the new default values for use in future cost calculations. Note,
however, that changes made to the default values do not take effect until the
next time a New project is started in AMDTreat.
Why do some screen blocks turn
red?
The Development Team jokingly refers to
this as the "Bloody Mary"
error. This is a critical error and it must be corrected before proceeding.
This error can occur in any AMDTreat routine that sizes impoundments. It is
the result of a combination of low flows, narrow surface widths and too much
pond depth. These conditions can cause AMDTreat to model a non-viable
structure. When this error occurs, the portions of the screens that contain
pond depth values turn red. This is done to alert the user that the pond being
modeled is not viable to construct. In most
circumstances, the error can be corrected by entering depth values for the
structure within an acceptable range! Acceptable ranges are provided to the
user in the detailed error message. However, when the error results from a
pond with a negative bottom width the error cannot be corrected by changing
depth values. When this occurs, the user must change the sizing methodology
for the pond to size the pond based on dimensions.
The software does
not appear to support Windows cut and paste. Can you provide cut and paste
capability?
Currently, there is no Cut and Paste function on
any of the menus; however, you can cut and paste by blocking the desired text or
number, then using Ctrl+x and Ctrl+c, for cut
and copy, and Ctrl+ v for paste. We agree that this would be a nice feature and
may place a cut and paste option on an Edit menu in a future release.
The system will let you cost out a treatment system
even though it may be completely unsuitable for the water quality and/or
quantity of the
discharge. The system should, at a minimum, notify the user if a
selected treatment type cannot work with a given water chemistry.
This issue has been debated many times by the Development Team. The
decision arrived at, after much consultation, is not to provide
such guidance. The technology of mine water treatment is still evolving. What
may be considered an unworkable treatment system for a certain discharge today
may
be the system of choice next year. Some
guidance on what is currently considered the appropriate treatment system is
provided in the HELP module.
In the field, during sequential
treatment steps, the water quality will change (improve). This requires the user
to predict what these changes are and change the inlet water quality parameters in the Water
Quality screen for each progressive step. How does AMDTreat calculate costs in
this type of treatment-systems-in-series scenario?
We agree that there is a need to explain to users how we
envision the program being used to size a series of treatment systems. This information
has been included in the Getting
Started module. At this time, it is anticipated that version 4 of AMDTreat
will contain an enhanced ability to handle systems-in-series. Including
the ability of handle changes in water quality parameters.
No cost module is presented for Diversion Well applications. Is this cost category to be
added?
The development team considered writing a module for Diversion
Wells, but quickly decided against it after doing an inventory of the
number of diversion wells. There are only a handful of them in use and their use does not seem to be growing. At this time, it was decided to focus
efforts toward systems that are being used more often in the Eastern United
States.
Installation of Active
Treatment systems should include costs for the start-up chemical supply
inventory. Is one planned for future releases of AMDTreat?
Users can include that cost by accessing the
Chemical Cost module. Here the cost of the reagent will be treated as an annual
cost;
however, if you want to treat it as a capital cost you should use the Chemical
Cost
module to determine the annual price of the reagent and use the Other Cost module to
enter the price of the start-up reagent as an capital cost.
It would be helpful to have a theoretical acidity
calculator. Is one planned?
The team has added several calculator "tools" to AMDTreat, including a Theoretical Acidity calculator and a
Sulfate Reduction Calculator. These tools are found in the Tools menu at
the top of the AMDTreat screen. The acidity calculator is also available on the
Tools section of this website.
Can I have more than one trunk pipe in VFP?
Currently, the only way to have more than
one trunk pipe is to use the custom
piping routine and specify the diameter, length and unit cost.
In VFP, can I have multiple
layers of pipes?
The development team did not include multiple piping layers
for several reasons. If a user wants a multi-layer flushing system they can take
the cost for piping 1 layer (the cost AMDTreat produces) and multiply it by
the number of layers desired. This cost can be placed in the "Other Costs"
module as a capital cost. If multi-layer systems become more popular the team
will add this option in a future release.
In primary pond, why is the pond
L:W assumption 2:1? Why can't the user change it? Site conditions often dictate
long narrow ponds and this would be helpful.
The 2:1 length-to-width ratio assumption applies to only
Primary Pond. It also applies to
secondary pond if the user chooses to design the pond using the Retention Time
method. If the user chooses to size a pond by entering a length and width,
they can choose any length-to-width ratio. The team had to assume a length-to-width
ratio for primary ponds to eliminate unknowns in the volumetric equation. See
Primary Pond HELP topic, Volumetric Calculation, for a mathematical
explanation. The Team has targeted the pond modules for significant
enhancement in version 4.0 of AMDTreat. The plans include consolidating the Primary Pond
and Secondary
Pond modules and allowing cost modeling of numerous ponds of differing size and
type.
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