The Happy Hollow Chemical Feed Station design consisted of a small chemical feed building and equipment, well pump and water main installation, and associated utilities and site work. The only impervious surface on the site was the new building. Since building roof was a membrane and not metal and there was no paving, MassDEP guidelines allowed for direct infiltration of the stormwater runoff from the roof. This was accomplished by pitching the roof to one side and collecting the runoff into two 4” PVC drain pipes that discharged into an infiltration system consisting of four Cultec infiltration chambers.
Since it was not feasible to install an overflow for these chambers, the infiltration system was designed based on a 100-year storm event in order to have the capacity to collect, store, and infiltrate the largest storms that the site could potentially encounter. The chemical feed building also housed a re-agentless chlorine analyzer that required a constant supply of sampling water and therefore produced a constant waste flow of clean water. This analyzer waste flow was also included in the sizing of the infiltration system.
Tata & Howard has provided the Town of Grafton, MA with extensive stormwater field engineering services. Services have included the completion of stormwater infrastructure mapping in accordance with the Massachusetts NPDES MS4 Permit, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Program. Mapping services included outfalls and interconnections, manholes, catch basins piping, and establishment of catchment areas. Follow-up work will continue with outfall inspection, screening, and dry weather sampling.
Tata & Howard provided engineering services for Marlborough, MA for a redesign of the Town’s Public Works Facility. The work included a stormwater management design and program to reduce the contamination of stormwater runoff and prohibit illicit discharges as required by current regulations and as required by the latest draft MS4 permit.
The project also included a proposed site plan showing the proposed drainage improvements for the site including new drainage system infrastructure, stormwater detention and treatment facilities, existing and proposed grade, and all building and features. The project also included an erosion control plan and drainage report appropriate for various environmental permitting submissions including and erosion control plan with boundaries of any resource areas and associated buffers. Lastly, Tata & Howard assisted with permitting assistance and obtaining Conservation Commission approval of the project.
Tata & Howard provides ongoing stormwater engineering services to the Town of Leicester, Massachusetts in support of their status as a NPDES Phase II Municipal Separate Storm System (MS4) community. Work involves outfall mapping and inspection, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, development of Annual Reports, and compliance with documentation and reporting components of the MS4 Permit.
In addition, Tata & Howard assisted the Town of Leicester Highway Department with mapping and inspection of stormwater outfalls and produced a unique record of each outfall, including photographs. Tata & Howard also developed a report summarizing the outfall inspections.
Tata & Howard completed pilot testing, design, permitting, bidding, and construction management services for the Town of Wayland’s Baldwin Pond Water Treatment Plant which included iron and manganese removal. The facility received MassDEP approval to go online and became Wayland’s first public building to receive an occupancy permit in the last 30 years. The need for the facility arose from high iron and manganese content in Wayland’s water. The facility also addressed any concern over the three Baldwin Pond wells which were under close scrutiny to determine if they were “under the influence of surface water.” The 7,500-square-foot, 1.5 million gallons per day, state-of-the-art water treatment facility was constructed to meet current and future regulations for many years ahead. The design included ozone oxidation, ultrafiltration membranes, waste recycle, and chemical feed for coagulation, pH adjustment, fluoridation, and disinfection. The treatment facility utilizes ozone oxidation and ultrafiltration to remove iron and manganese from the blended raw water from the three water supply wells. Although other constituents are also removed through this process, the basis of this plant is to optimize the removal of iron and manganese.
The Baldwin Pond Water Treatment Facility project was highly successful through good communication and teamwork between Tata & Howard’s construction management team, the general contractor Methuen Construction, and the Town of Wayland. With less than 1% of the contingency budget applied to change orders towards the end of the project, the Town was able to do additional work. The additional work included replacing raw water mains and upgrading the existing garage onsite. A dedication ceremony for the facility was held with Representative Scott Brown, and representatives from MassDEP, Methuen Construction, and Tata & Howard joining the Town of Wayland in commemorating the completion of the facility.
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Tata & Howard provided engineering services to the Town of Upton to address a water supply deficit identified in the 1998 Water Distribution System Study and the 2011 Water Master Plan and Capital Efficiency Plan™, both conducted by Tata & Howard. The multi-faceted approach was recommended to mitigate the supply deficit included maximizing their existing supply sources and the development of a new wellfield.
The original Glen Avenue Wellfield consists of two groups of 12 2½-inch diameter tubular wells, pumped through an 8-inch diameter, cast iron main. The original pumping capacity of the Glen Avenue Wellfield is approximately 0.316 million gallons per day (mgd). Recently, the yield of the Glen Avenue Wellfield has declined to approximately 0.08 mgd during the summer months. Due to the decreased yield, the Town did not have adequate supply to meet existing water demands. Replacement wells were recommended by Tata & Howard to regain the permitted capacity of the source.
The project consisted of a test well investigation program to evaluate the feasibility of replacement wells and preliminary permitting with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). Once the test well program indicated that three 16” x 10” gravel packed wells could replace the yield of the existing tubular wellfield, Tata & Howard met with MassDEP to approve the concept prior to proceeding with the pump test proposal submittal.
The scope of services included conductance of a 48 hour pump test as required by MassDEP, permitting with the MassDEP, Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Heritage Endangered Species Program and the Upton Conservation Commission. Work also included design of well screens, submersible wells pumps, pitless adapters, variable frequency drives (VFDs), transducers in each well and water main to connect the new wellfield to the existing pump station and electrical and signal wiring. The wellfield was metered with one single meter within the pump station. Tata & Howard provided construction administration services and post construction administration services for the project.
Tata & Howard assisted the Town of Winchester to meet the Collection, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) requirements in the Town’s NPDES General Permit. The work consisted of the preparation of an outline for the Full Collection System Operation and Maintenance Plan, which included descriptions of staffing, management goals, information management, condition assessment, recent studies, and construction activities. Tata & Howard was also retained to prepare the Full Collection System Operation and Maintenance Manual, which included updating the outline, preparing a preventative maintenance and monitoring program, identifying sources of suspected overflows and back-ups, preparing a program for preventing I/I related effluent violations, and a public outreach program regarding I/I control.
Additionally, Tata & Howard has assisted the Town of Winchester with three phases of improvements to the Winchester Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), I/I investigations, repair and rehabilitation of the sewer collection system to remove I/I, and securing funding to upgrade the WWTF and sewer collection system.
Tata & Howard provided engineering services for the evaluation, design, and construction of approximately five miles of pressure and gravity sewer to serve the mountain resort community of Jay, Vermont. The design also included the upgrade to air release structures for 4.5 miles of force main and upgrade of two pump stations, one a progressive cavity station.
In addition, Tata & Howard provided engineering services including planning, evaluation, design, permitting and construction services for the Troy-Jay wastewater treatment facility upgrade. The new headworks facility included screening and aerated grit removal and influent design for the force main/pressure sewer from the two towns and mountain resort. The treatment process was an SBR facility with tertiary filtration and UV disinfection for phosphorus removal.
Tata & Howard is assisting the Town of Uxbridge with the design of 18,200 linear feet of 12-inch diameter water main on Route 122 from the Blackstone River to the Northbridge Town boundary. Work includes the preparation of design plans and specifications, permitting with the local Conservation Commission, MESA, and MassDOT, and the preparation of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) application, plans, and specifications checklist for the Route 122 water main design.
In addition, Tata & Howard provided design, permitting, and construction administration services for approximately 4,750 and 1,560 linear feet of 20-inch and 12-inch diameter water main, respectively, on Quaker Highway.
Tata & Howard, Inc. prepared a Water System Operations Plan for the Falmouth water system. As part of the Settlement Agreement between the Town of Falmouth and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Town agreed to complete a Water System Operations Plan. The purpose of the plan was to evaluate seasonal demands, current source and storage tank operations and identify system and operational changes necessary to address distribution areas with low chlorine residuals.
The Town of Falmouth’s water distribution system consists of approximately 400 miles of water mains of various materials ranging in size from six to 24 inches in diameter. The Town has five active water supply sources including both groundwater and a currently unfiltered surface supply. Each source is treated with sodium hypochlorite for disinfection with the exception of Long Pond, which includes disinfection with chlorine gas. Falmouth’s water distribution system includes four water storage tanks and a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to run and monitor operations.
The Falmouth Water Department faced a number of challenges, including the following:
- Maintaining regulatory compliance
- Meeting water demands
- Peak summer demands could only be met with Long Pond surface supply
- Long Pond is an unfiltered surface water supply
- Constant struggle to maintain treatment compliance and water quality
- Seasonal impacts from turnover or algae growth
- Lack of treatment to address taste, odor, and color can require severe curtailment in use of the supply
- Excessive source chlorine residuals needed to maintain distribution system residual chlorine concentrations, combined with source water organics results in elevated disinfection by-products (DBP – Total Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic Acids) which are regulated compounds
The study reviewed the challenges above and recommended changes to systems operations procedures to improve water quality. We used a hydraulic model to determine water age and look at its impacts on water quality. The plan was submitted and approved by Mass DEP.
Additionally, Tata & Howard completed the design of a 3.6 mgd treatment facility which utilizes air stripping and pressure filtration technology for the removal of iron, manganese and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The facility includes an air stripping tower, three greensand filtration units, horizontal carbon contactors, chemical storage and feed facilities, gravel pack supply well, finished water storage, and backwash holding tanks.
