Upgrade for a 750,000 gallon per day extended aeration wastewater treatment facility to an A/O biological facility. Assistance included acquiring State CWSRF planning grants and USDA Rural Development grant for extensive improvements including separation of combined sewer/stormwater collection systems (CSO), advanced Class A sludge treatment, and reconstruction of original 1970’s treatment facility to new Anoxic/Oxic Treatment System. Total grant funds were $7,275,000.
This project included construction of a 1.5 mgd capacity water treatment facility to treat potable water pumped from the existing Deaconess Well. The water treatment facility consisted of six vertical LayneOx pressure filters. The work also included demolition of the existing well pumping station and construction of a well pump vault with vertical turbine pump over the existing well, and completion of a SCADA system design to monitor and control the water treatment facility and well station.
Background:
Faced with increasing iron and manganese concentrations at two of its existing wells, Concord Public Works (CPW) decided that treatment was required. Several treatment options were evaluated, with the most cost effective option being pressure filtration. Piloting pitted manganese greensand against LayneOx, a proprietary media marketed by Layne-Christensen Company utilized in other parts of the country, but not in New England. In addition to proving its effectiveness in iron and manganese removal, “new technology approval” was obtained for the media from MassDEP. Although piloting showed LayneOx to have an advantage over greensand during testing at the Deaconess well site, the Town’s Procurement Office was reluctant to allow CPW to solely specify a proprietary media. Differences in piping and chemical requirements for both filter processes precluded a design that could have served either treatment system. Hence, a pre-purchase equipment bid was developed specifying both systems.
An additional challenge to treating the water was designing the treatment facility itself, whose architecture had to “blend in” with the bucolic and well healed character of the surrounding neighborhood. The Town requested that we provide three options simulating different themes; a barn, railroad station and a Richardsonian Romanesque style structure similar to the Chestnut Hill pump station. Our Architect provided renderings of the three options along with estimated costs and lists of pros and cons. After several meetings and input from various interested parties the Town chose the barn theme.
Tata & Howard provided engineering services for design, preparation of a hydrologic and hydraulic report, two easement maps, design submittals for DOT review, construction administration, and resident observation for the rehabilitation of the Great Brook Stormwater Culvert under Cherry Street in Waterbury, CT. The project provided for the replacement of about 65 linear feet of the existing structurally deficient top to the Great Brook Stormwater Culvert under Cherry Street and adjacent private properties.
The existing steel beams, corrugated metal arches, and bituminous concrete or concrete slabs forming the top of the culvert were removed and precast concrete beams were placed on elastomeric bearing pads to form the replacement culvert top. Additionally, about 50 linear feet of the existing eroded cobblestone bottom were removed to a minimum depth of 12 inches and replaced with reinforced cast in place concrete.
Further, approximately 32 linear feet of undermined walls (16 linear feet on the west side and 16 linear feet on the east side) were excavated, with cast in place concrete placed below the existing culvert masonry walls. The interior culvert masonry walls within the project limits were also repointed. The work required the reconstruction of 30 feet of Cherry Street, the adjacent sidewalks, and approximately 750 square feet of a private gravel parking lot property. During construction, a water control system capable of conveying normal flow capacity of the Great Brook Stormwater Culvert at Cherry Street was maintained.
Tata & Howard provided engineering services for permitting, design, and bidding of the 1.3 mgd chemical injection Trinity Avenue Pump Station at the Trinity Avenue Wellfield. The project included an evaluation of alternatives for the access road including installation of a bridge or an open bottomed culvert; assistance with the preparation of permanent easements for the installation of utilities and roadway to the well site; preparation and submittal of an NOI to the Grafton Conservation Commission. The design included an access road, bailey bridge with abutments, double wythe block building, interior concrete painted block with wood truss roof and asphaltic shingles, installation of three (3) submersible pumps and pitless adaptors, approximately 1,800 linear feet of 6-inch and 12-inch water main, emergency liquid propane tanks and generator, instrumentation and controls, a SCADA system for the pump station and wells, and a 24-inch transmission main for 4-log removal. Security included chain link fence, gates, locks, intrusion alarms, and lighting. Tata & Howard also assisted Owner with the coordination of the installation of three phase power to site. Chemical feed at the station includes KOH for pH adjustment and chlorine gas for disinfection. Standby power was included in an outdoor enclosure. The project is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
The Home Farm Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts was originally constructed in 1989. Although the WTP is still fully functional, its treatment capabilities are limited to chemical addition and air strippers for VOC removal, and the plant is capable of treating 6.0 million gallons per day (mgd). Manganese is present at all Home Farm wells, with widely varying levels from a low 0.03 parts per million (ppm) to a high 0.7 ppm. The existing treatment plant sequesters manganese, but does not have the ability to remove it from finished water.
Three treatment methodologies were piloted. The first two were greensand and pyrolucite, both commonly implemented catalytic media options for removing manganese and iron. The third was Mangazur®, a new technology. Mangazur® filter media contains the microscopic organism leptothrix ochracea, which consumes manganese and is naturally occurring in groundwater. Through consumption, the microbes oxidize the manganese to a state where it can precipitate onto the media. Unlike other media, Mangazur® does not require regeneration due to the continuous growth of microbes within the filter. Mangazur® technology also does not require chemical addition for pre-oxidation, minimizing the amount of chemical required for the plant.
Pilot testing for the biological treatment was performed over five one-week trials. Test parameters included a long shut-down on the filters, adding pre-oxidant, and adjusting pH or dissolved oxygen. The results of the testing indicated that although the Mangazur® does require a correct dissolved oxygen level and pH, it does not require a pre-oxidant, making the only chemical addition necessary for pretreatment potassium hydroxide for pH adjustment. Filter backwash efficiency is also a major benefit of the Mangazur® technology for the Home Farm application. With loading rates twice that of traditional catalytic media and filter runs exceeding 96 hours; the Town would only need to backwash the four filters once every four days rather than eight filters every day, saving a significant amount of water. The backwash flow rate and duration are also significantly lower for Mangazur® filters than for other traditional filter options. The results of the pilot tests indicated that all technologies were viable options to reduce manganese levels below 0.05 ppm; however, the biological treatment was the most efficient and attractive option.
Initially, the Town was only considering constructing filters along with the required backwash holding tanks in a new building and utilizing the chemical feed systems in the existing treatment facility. However, as the project progressed it was determined that it would be more cost effective to replace the existing aging air strippers rather than to continue to rehabilitate them, and eliminate the need to re-pipe the flow since the existing strippers added too much dissolved oxygen prior to the biological units. Since the existing chemical feed equipment in the plant is aging and the existing building itself was also in need of rehabilitation, the decision was made to construct an entirely new standalone 7.0 mgd facility. The new facility also contains three deep bubble aerators for VOC removal.
While Mangazur® technology has been approved in one other municipality in Massachusetts, there are few treatment plants in the northeast using this technology, and of those treatment plants, none have a design capacity above 5.0 mgd. Home Farm has a much higher design capacity and will be the largest Mangazur® water treatment plant in the northeast once completed. The Mangazur® filters at Home Farm will have the second highest design capacity in the country, after a 26.0 mgd treatment plant in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
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Tata & Howard provided design and construction services for the construction of a 1.44 mgd water treatment facility. The water treatment facility consists of a concrete block masonry building housing filtration equipment, a laboratory and office space, and associated piping, instrumentation and controls. Building components including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services were incorporated in the facility. Other work included, but is not necessarily limited to, site work, exterior piping systems, and electrical work at an existing well pump station.
Tata & Howard also provided design and construction services for the installation of approximately 5,000 linear feet of new 12-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) water main (two parallel pipes at 2,500 linear feet, each) via directional drilling beneath the Pemigewasset River, connecting the City’s Franklin Falls Well Site and the City’s Acme Well Site.
Tata & Howard provided design and construction services for the installation of approximately 2,655 linear feet of 12-inch diameter Class 52 ductile iron water main, water services, and associated valves, fittings, and hydrants on Hill Road (New Hampshire Route 3A) and a service road connecting Hill Road to the City’s Acme Well site; approximately 4,000 linear feet of 12-inch water main, water services, and associated valves, fittings, and hydrants on Lawndale Avenue, Webster Lake Road, and Kimball Street; approximately 3,200 linear feet along Lawndale Avenue; 1,200 linear feet along Webster Lake Road; and 600 linear feet along Kimball Street. The work also included pavement restoration on Lawndale Avenue, Webster Lake Road, and Kimball Street.
The project was funded by NHDES and the USDA Rural Development office.
Tata & Howard has prepared numerous dam emergency action plans (EAPs) for Connecticut dams in accordance with CT DEEP regulations. Between 2015 and 2017, we have completed 52 EAPs for significant and high hazard dams throughout Connecticut. Our clients have included municipalities, private dam owners, and the CT DEEP. The EAPs include the following:
Bliss Street in Northampton, MA had experienced several water main breaks. Therefore, the City wanted the main to be replaced over the winter rather than waiting until spring. The project included design, bidding, and construction administration services for the water main replacement on Bliss Street from Scanlon Avenue to Willow Street. The design included new 8-inch diameter ductile iron water main, services, and appurtenances, as well as preparation of base plans from available City records, City GIS mapping data, and field measurements.
Construction occurred during the winter to meet the client’s schedule. Two change orders were issued to address hydrant extensions and sewer component repairs. The bid opening was the day before Thanksgiving. Construction started in December and was substantially completed by spring.
The wastewater treatment plant in Lyndon, Vermont was experiencing excessive odor issues. The existing odor control system relied primarily on chemical treatment, which was difficult for the operators to manage. Tata & Howard’s project design consisted of a bio-filter with root mulch to remove the odors, which are primarily ammonia, that are generated from the Auto Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion (ATAD) sludge treatment vessels. The ATAD system is a system that results in class A sludge that can be spread anywhere as a fertilizer, and it reduced the annual volume of sludge produced at this facility by 65%. The new system includes fans that pull the air off the top of the ATAD unit vessels through a cool down water wash tank, which knocks down the ammonia, and then pushes the air through PVC piping up through the root bio-filter shown in the picture. The total cost was under $300,000, for which Tata & Howard procured the Town a 100% grant.
The second part of the design project included a nitrogen reduction system for the secondary aeration process that may be necessary in the near future. The design includes a recirculation pump system from the Anoxic zone back to the Oxic zone. The Contractor was T. Buck Construction of Maine.
Through a grant from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Tata & Howard was retained by the City of Northampton Department of Public Works (Northampton) and the City of Easthampton Water Works (Easthampton) to complete a Regional Intermunicipal Interconnection Evaluation for the Easthampton, Hatfield, Northampton, Southampton, and Williamsburg water systems. The purpose of the study is to evaluate potential water distribution system intermunicipal connections and emergency water supply. A combined water distribution system regional hydraulic model was developed and used to evaluate the hydraulic feasibility and impacts of the proposed interconnections. The study evaluated the needed infrastructure improvements, system available supply and demands, and available supply through the potential interconnections.
Potential interconnection locations between Northampton and Easthampton were considered at four locations, between Northampton and Hatfield, between Northampton and Williamsburg, and between Easthampton and Southampton. Infrastructure recommendations at the locations include construction of new water mains, meter pits, flow meters, pressure reducing valves (PRV) and portable pumping systems. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Water Management Act (WMA) permitted and registered pumping volumes for each system’s sources was evaluated for potential supply to other communities. Northampton and Easthampton have surplus supply, while Hatfield, Williamsburg, and Southampton are approaching their WMA permit or registration allowable withdrawal volumes.
The study determined the following:
There is an existing hydrant to hydrant interconnection between Easthampton and Southampton that has been utilized to supply water to Southampton during periods of high summer demands. To supply the entire Southampton system, a pumping system would be required, and a PRV would be required to maintain adequate pressures if Southampton were to supply Easthampton.