The time is coming to replace equipment at the Southside Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant was built nearly 30 years ago and is currently operating at 60 percent of flow and treatment capacity.

Ozark Utilities is expected to complete a $5 million bond issue for needed capital improvement projects that include replacing filter media and other equipment at the Southside plant, as well as a sewer rehabilitation project on some of Ozark’s older sewer mains. Two-inch water mains placed in the 1960s and 70s are also expected to be replaced with 3-inch PVC pipe in areas throughout the city.

The projects are expected to begin early next year. A total of $2.1 million was spent on sewer rehabilitation from 2009 to 2011 from reserve funds.

Ozark Utilities General Manager Don Hallford said the Southside improvements will allow the plant to operate efficiently for another 25 years.

Recently, the Prescott City Council approved a $35.3 million contract with PCL Construction/Fann Environmental for the expansion and improvement of the Prescott Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The project, which should be complete by fall 2014, will increase the capacity of the plant from its current 1.2 MGD capacity to 3.75 MGD.

While the plant was designed to treat about 2.2 MGD, a combination of conditions have served to reduce the current capacity to 1.2 MGD. In recent years the sewage going into the plant has become about three times more concentrated. A number of factors are attributed to this problem, including less water use by city residents because of conservation efforts, and more widespread use of garbage disposals. The concentration of the material going in has made the city's plant less effective, and has reduced the daily capacity, say city officials.

It is estimated that about 60 percent of the cost of the $35.3 million project would go toward "fixing the plant and making it work," while the remainder would go toward capacity expansion.

The project cost includes $5.3 million in engineering design costs, for which the city already paid. It also includes $500,000 in land acquisition and easements, which is still to come.

The City Council first heard about the need for major improvements in its wastewater treatment system in late-December 2009, when a wastewater master plan determined that about $88 million worth of work would be necessary over the next six years. At that time, the two engineering firms that conducted the master plan noted that the city's two treatment plants were getting close to their capacity.

In February 2011, the council agreed to a use a "construction manager at risk" approach in preparing for and constructing the project's first phase, which was then estimated at $41.6 million.

By later in 2011, the WaterWorks Engineering firm was hired and the design was complete by September 2012.

At a recent Berryville City Council meeting Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney announced he is beginning negotiating a wastewater treatment contract with the Fayetteville-based firm CH2M Hill. The mayor said the city was interested in handing over the entire management of the plant to the firm.

McKinney said he did not yet know whether the city would be able to afford the company's services, though he hoped to negotiate a contract within the current operating costs of the plant -- which he estimated at $350,000 a year. If that was not feasible, he said, the city would consider hiring an engineering firm for the short term. Either way, McKinney said, something had to be done to help the city cope with its wastewater woes.

Those problems stem from new, stricter legislation limiting the amount of phosphorus discharged from the plant -- and from the city's largest wastewater customer, Tyson.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality required the plant to begin limiting its phosphorus output on Jan. 1. The city completed a $3 million overhaul of the plant in November, mostly in anticipation of the new standards. However, city workers have struggled to meet those rules. Berryville Public Works Director Kirby Murray said at the end of August that the renovated plant had not been designed to remove the amount of phosphorus it was receiving from Tyson.

As a result, the plant has exceeded the phosphorus limits, and violated its environmental permit, twice this year. So far, the state has not taken any enforcement action against the city. However, Murray said regulators would not be lenient forever -- and enforcement can be costly.

The city decided in August to explore hiring a private firm to manage the plant. McKinney told council members then that any contract would have to allow the city to retain ownership of the facility, and for city workers to retain their jobs. He said the main benefit of contracting with a private firm would be to provide city staff with the technical and legal support they need to deal with the influx of phosphorus and with Tyson.

McKinney said seven or eight firms had inquired about the contract in the past two and a half months, and four firms had submitted formal proposals. The mayor, along with Murray, vetted each proposal. The two men, acting independently, both concluded that CH2M Hill was the best company for the job.

Two years ago, the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District was ordered to dramatically clean up the treated wastewater it discharges into the Sacramento River.

The effluent, discharged just downstream from the Freeport Bridge, is treated to secondary standards, meaning it is not filtered or comprehensively disinfected. For decades, it had been assumed the Sacramento River provided enough flow to dilute pollutants in the wastewater to harmless levels.

In December 2010, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board concluded that high volumes of ammonia in the effluent are altering aquatic habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, potentially harming endangered species. It also ruled that giardia and cryptosporidium in the effluent posed a potential threat to public health.

The regional board ordered sharp reductions in those pollutants, requiring the sewer agency to adopt tertiary filtration and disinfection measures and a process to eliminate ammonia. It gave the sewer agency a decade to comply.

The sanitation district appealed the order to the State Water Resources Control Board. It claimed the regional board erred in a number of areas by failing to back its order with adequate scientific justification. It also estimated compliance costs at as much as $2 billion, potentially requiring monthly sewage bills to triple across the region, to $60 a month.

Late last month, the State Water Resources Control Board issued a draft order rejecting the appeal, saying the regional board had adequate scientific evidence for all the new permit terms.

The case has been watched throughout the state because Sacramento is the largest source of sewage effluent in the Delta watershed, which provides drinking water to 25 million Californians. The ammonia in that effluent is suspected of disrupting the aquatic food chain, potentially playing a role in the recent collapse of several fish species.

The state board made one noteworthy change to the order that allows the sanitation district to meet slightly higher ammonia limits during winter. But it also slightly tightens the discharge limit in summer.

This added seasonal flexibility will be helpful, said Stan Dean, district engineer at the sanitation district. But on balance, he called the draft order "disappointing."

The district has filed a lawsuit against the regional water board to overturn the new permit. It agreed to delay the lawsuit while the state board heard the appeal. Dean said a decision on whether to proceed with the lawsuit will be made if the state board finalizes the order at its meeting in Sacramento on Dec. 4.

The sanitation district has taken steps to begin complying with the permit. The district board, made up of local elected officials, approved an initial round of $2 rate increases. The first came in October 2011, boosting rates to $22 per month, followed by a second in July. Another $2 boost is expected in July 2013.

The money is being used, in part, to fund an $18 million pilot project to study the best treatment options. The project is expected to yield answers by next spring, Dean said.

Fourteen months ago, Ventura settled a lawsuit about its use of treated wastewater in the Santa Clara River estuary, and recently stakeholders got their first glimpse of many ways the city could comply.

The options include greatly expanding wetlands, building upstream water treatment plants and treating wastewater with reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation to allow it to be recycled. Costs range from undefined but low figures for wetlands expansion to a high of about $150 million for a new plant upstream along the river that could offer a new source of drinking water.

The lawsuit, filed under the Clean Water Act, said high levels of pollutants such as nitrates and ammonia had damaged the estuary habitat, endangering the health of the shallow waters at the mouth of the river near McGrath State Beach. The city agreed to spend up to $55 million in the next 10 years to redirect and reuse, if possible, the millions of gallons of treated wastewater that flows daily from a city facility near Ventura Harbor into the river estuary.

As part of the settlement, the city agreed to work on a new water discharge plan with stakeholders, including officials from McGrath and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, neighboring cities, such as Oxnard, and environmental groups, such as the Wishtoyo Foundation and its Ventura Coastkeepers, which filed the lawsuit.

Representatives from these agencies and many others recently met to hear an environmental engineering firm present plans to solve the wastewater problem. The discussion was based on the results from three studies costing a total of $1.2 million, which were compiled in a 332-page document released this year.

Shana Epstein, general manager of the city's Ventura Water agency, said treating the wastewater could allow the city to reuse or resell the water and defray the cost of new installations. "If we stop looking at it as wastewater and start looking at it as a viable resource, we can see different price points, and different components of what rates will pay for its treatment," she said.

The discussion was complicated by the fact that Ventura's permit to discharge the wastewater into the estuary is governed by the water quality board. That permit will expire next year. The board will reissue a new permit only if the city can show the release of the wastewater is an "enhancement" of the estuary.

But the enhancement of the estuary by the daily release of the city's 9 million gallons of treated wastewater has not been proved. A hydrological study this year found that the estuary, which is partially fed by groundwater, would not fully disappear even if the city released no wastewater, but that may not be enough to satisfy the board.

After considering the comments, the engineering consultants plan to return with a more developed set of alternatives for public discussion in February. Epstein said the city wants to have consensus on a solution by 2015. Ventura plans to offer more public outreach throughout the process as part of the settlement.

"By the end of 2015, we will have completed the Phase 2 studies, which is what we're looking at now, and the Phase 3 studies, and we hope to have arrived at a consensus on a decision," she said. "If we can do it sooner, that would be awesome."

Orange County is seeking contractors for major improvements at the Fountain Valley No. 1 Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The project includes constructing a new thickening and dewatering building and odor control system to replace the existing sludge handling system, along with structural, mechanical, fire-control, plumbing, electrical and instrumentation systems for the building, two new tunnels and a valve vault. The rehabilitation of existing silos and a truck load-out facility are also included in the project.

The project is estimated to cost $102.1 million.

Equipment at the Longmont wastewater treatment plant is at least 20 years old.

"We have two dewatering presses," said public works operations manager Bob Allen. "I believe the other one goes back to the '70s or '80s."

The Longmont City Council will vote on whether to raise rates about 62 percent over five years to cover needed work at the plant and tighter state rules on discharging ammonia.

All together, the plant needs roughly $41.3 million of work, although that total includes a methane reuse project that could lower the plant's power needs.

The biggest piece, $19.5 million, is due to the new ammonia rules. At most, the city is currently allowed to discharge 30 milligrams of ammonia per liter, depending on the time of year. New standards from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment lower that to 20 mg/l, and in some months, to 5 mg/l. Longmont has until December 2016 to meet those limits.

Another $11.2 million goes to replace biosolid and odor-control equipment. That includes the $9 million replacement of the dewatering equipment.

Between the liquid in the sludge and the gas that's released, Allen said, the equipment has to stand up to a harsh, acidic, corrosive environment, and has been doing so for a long time. He said the city plans to replace the presses with a centrifuge.

Roughly $7 million would go to other needed improvements including electrical upgrades and roof work.

A $93.5 million contract has been awarded to C.H. Nickerson & Co. by the Mattabassett District Water Pollution Control Board to renovate and upgrade the Cromwell Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The project includes a comprehensive upgrade of the facility for nitrogen removal and the overhaul of aging equipment and process systems, including new process tanks, new buildings, additions to existing buildings, demolition of a sewage-sludge incinerator and construction of a new incinerator.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2015.

The Cheshire Wastewater Treatment Plant treats waste from 120 miles of sewer mains. It has operated since 1971, when public sewer service was first offered to residents. The plant was partially upgraded in 1991.

Heavy rain brings runoff water and a larger amount of wastewater that must be cleansed at the plant. If the plant were to fail during a storm, supervisor Dennis Dievert said the results "would be catastrophic."

A small scale overflow of untreated water about five years ago during heavy rain is one reason Dievert hopes residents pass the $32.15 million full-scale upgrade of the treatment plant in a referendum on Nov. 6.

Though many components of the plant were replaced in the 1991 upgrade, Dievert said much of the equipment he runs is original, and "most of the manufacturers who made that equipment don’t even exist anymore."

Waste is brought to the plant from nine pump stations throughout town and two sewer lines. The lines lead to the main building, where the treatment process begins. Inside the building three pumps move waste to a grit chamber. All equipment in the plant is redundant in case something breaks, so all three pumps only operate on occasion.

The generator that backs up the pumps in the event of a power outage would be replaced if the plant’s upgrade is approved.

The grit chamber slows the flow of waste and helps settle down inorganic material. Once past the chambers, waste travels to the four primary clarifiers. All four clarifiers will be updated if the referendum passes. Two are more than 22 years old, and the others are 41 years old.

The liquid that leaves the clarifiers moves to aeration bases, where the actual biological treatment of the water occurs. There are five tanks, but only three run at a time. The process adds oxygen and other natural gases to the water, which decomposes waste. Water moves through deep tanks, which hold half a million gallons each, in 12 to 16 hours. A clear liquid leaves the tanks and enters secondary clarifiers, which remove any other solids from the water. At this point the water is clean and ready to be released by pump into the Quinnipiac River. But first, it must pass through a new addition to the plant, the denitrification building. Solids that are removed from the water pass through digesters, and are eventually shipped to Waterbury for incineration.

Dievert said he and his crew have been doing their best to elongate the life of the plant, "but after 40 years, things are getting tired."

Tallahassee is investing $124.6 million in upgrading the Thomas P. Smith Water Reclamation Facility.

The improvements include incorporating a more efficient enhanced nutrient removal treatment process and producing effluent that meets new state permitting requirements. The capacity is 26.6 MGD with a future upgrade to 30.5 MGD.

To save the city $40 million, MWH Constructors, the firm performing construction management-at-risk for the project, eliminated one treatment plant sending flow to the other plant.

The project includes constructing the preliminary treatment facility, a flow equalization pond, primary treatment clarifiers and a primary effluent pumping station, a secondary treatment blower and pump building, a mixed liquid conveyance system and a secondary treatment clarifier, and pump station. The work requires deep bed denitrification sand filters, an effluent pumping building and a biosolids processing facility.

Work began in 2008 and is scheduled to be completed in January 2015.

Lake Worth is the swing vote on a regional sewer system’s decision on whether to build a $24 million pelletizer plant that would transform the solids resulting from sewage treatment into fertilizer.

City commissioners are expected to hear a presentation from consultants Hazen and Sawyer during a special meeting set for Dec. 3 in hopes of reaching a decision on whether to build the plant.

The city is one of five partners in the East Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility (ECR). The ECR plant handles sewage from Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County.

An agreement with the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority to take the biosolids for composting will expire in September 2014, meaning the ECR partners must find an alternative disposal method.

Riviera Beach and Palm Beach are in favor of building the plant. West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County are opposing the construction of a pelletizer. That means Lake Worth is the swing vote.

The ECR board is scheduled to consider the pelletizer plant again at its Dec. 12 meeting.

The $24 million pelletizer is part of a $115 million package of proposed ECR plant upgrades that include better sludge treatment, the addition of a centrifugal dewatering system and converting the plant from aerobic to anaerobic digestion.

A comparison presented in a May report by Hazen and Sawyer showed that the ECR partners could save $200,000 a year — $4 million over 20 years — by building a pelletizer at the ECR plant instead of sending solids to the Solid Waste Authority’s pelletizer. The SWA’s pelletizer was built in 2009 and is operated by the New England Fertilizer Co.

The ECR board also could consider other options for disposing of the plant’s biosolids, including incineration and paying a private vendor by the ton to dispose of it.

Deltona Commissioners concurred at a recent workshop in July on expanding water and sewer utilites, agreeing that more capacity will help Deltona lure jobs — particularly on the southeast side of the city where a major $75 million widening of State Road 415 is under way. The city was already on track to construct a $25 million wastewater treatment plant.

The city had a plan. It would apply for the bulk of the funding from a low-interest state loan later in the year and hope the funding became available early in 2013 to start work on the plant, expected to take two years to build. But a little less than four months later, that timeframe and maybe the plant's future is in question.

A series of votes to lower utility rates continues to dog the plan to build the plant. Deltona bought the utility from a private company in 2003, and, for the first time in 13 years, considered raising rates for water and sewer customers in 2008.

The new plant is needed, officials say, because the old wastewater facility is nearing capacity and the only force main from the city's southeast side is not large enough to handle any additional flow.

The Boca Raton Wastewater Treatment Plant has installed a continuous-backwash sand-filtration system to increase reuse water and treat water to below discharge limits.

In 2009 the city began working with Eckler Engineering Inc. of Coral Springs, FL on plans for the wastewater plant expansion. In anticipation of future regulations and to protect the environment, the plant was designed to consistently discharge effluent with turbidity measuring less than 1 nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU), the statewide standard is less than 2.2 NTU.

The original plant’s tertiary treatment processes used aeration and clarification followed by 24 continuous-backwash sand-filters. Because these filters had operated easily and performed well, they became the basis of design for the plant expansion. As a parallel to the existing sand filters, the city and engineering firm WesTech, Salt Lake City, UT, installed 32 continuous-backwash sand-filter modules from WesTech.

In these up-flow moving-bed filters, secondary clarifier effluent enters near the bottom, and solids are filtered as the water flows up through the media bed. As the filtrate reaches the top, it passes over the effluent weir and leaves the tank. A portion of the filtrate is diverted through the sand washer and used for cleaning and conveying the waste solids.

The filters can be installed in a multi-module sand-bed configuration or as a freestanding unit. Because of the high flow at Boca Raton, the typical sand-bed configuration was the most efficient design.

Boca Raton received a total of eight concrete basins with four modules per basin to handle a maximum daily flow of 26,300 L/min (6950 gal/min) at a filtration rate of 179 L/m²•min (4.4 gal/ft²•min).

The filters provide uninterrupted flow due to the continuous backwash. This eliminates the need for large backwash holding tanks and backwash pumps. The system was designed to provide a minimal waste-stream for disposal or further treatment.

The system installed at the plant removes 96 percent of total suspended solids and 98 percent of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, on average.

The filter units have proven to be effective, averaging a turbidity concentration of about 0.4 NTU without the addition of polymer. Once a month, 5 mg/L of polymer is dosed, and the plant achieves turbidity as low as 0.3 NTU. Throughout the past year, WesTech has made quarterly visits to optimize the filters and ensure that they are performing well.

During a full-scale performance test, the filter influent was spiked to artificially increase the influent turbidity to 10 NTU. The continuous-backwash filters consistently reduced the concentrations to less than 1 NTU.

With the new filters, Boca Raton has been able to increase the amount of reuse water produced and treat water to well below its discharge limits. The continuous backwash filters have enabled Boca Raton to exceed its goal of protecting nearby aquifers and the Florida Everglades.

At a recent Swainsboro City Council meeting the Council was informed that a situation had arisen at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. One of the walls in basin number one collapsed, and two recommendations were made: repair the basin, or construct a new basin inside the old basin (using the same space rather than excavating a new site). The cost to repair the basin, which is 40 years old, would be $800,000. The cost to construct a new basin would be $1.4 million.

After much discussion between Council members, it was unanimously voted to authorize Mayor Charles Schwabe to proceed with the cost estimate of building a new basin.

Twin Falls is moving forward with forming its strategic plan for growth and officials are looking at expanding water and wastewater facilities.

When the yogurt company, Chobani, announced last year that Twin Falls was the location for a new yogurt factory, the company agreed to partner with the city for infrastructure improvements. Those improvements are paid for by Chobani, with tax-increment financing.

The next step is likely larger updates. While the city can accommodate its current industrial users, like Glanbia and ConAgra, updates are needed for more big-time water consumers.

There are three options for paying for improvements to the water and wastewater plants, said city manager Travis Rothweiler. The city could ask the public to consider a bond, find the resources internally or pursue public-private partnerships with companies that want to move to or expand in Twin Falls.

Rothweiler declined to cite a cost range estimate, saying there are too many moving pieces to accurately project how much improvements could cost. But he is hopeful the dialogue will start to take shape by the early months of 2013.

Council members and city officials are crafting a strategic plan, which takes into account resident input and the infrastructure needs of the city, to plan how TwinFalls will grow over the next 20 years. That, coupled with a facilities plan, will determine the direction the city takes next.

The next strategic planning meeting is Nov. 8.

The city of Jerome is forming a new citizen advisory committee to look at options for improving the wastewater treatment plant.

Mayor John Shine said city officials are considering taking a bond to voters during the May election to pay for facility improvements. But a firm date for the election — or exact bond amount — has not been set yet by Jerome’s city council. Under the city’s budget, $43 million is the maximum amount for a future bond.

Jerome officials are working with Keller Associates to put together a master plan for the wastewater treatment plant. One of the city’s primary missions is to attract new businesses and industries in order to create jobs and boost the economy.

Proposed improvements are also linked closely to sewage overflow issues at the wastewater plant that occurred more than a year ago. In early 2011, the wastewater treatment plant’s membrane filtration system was clogged by a foreign substance. Since then, city officials have been working with the U.S. EPA to address concerns.

Baxter & Woodman, Inc. Consulting Engineers has been selected by the city of Morrison, to provide planning, design engineering and bidding assistance for the city’s new wastewater treatment plant.

The plant will treat an average daily flow of 0.92 MGD with excess flow capacity of 10 MGD. The total project cost is anticipated to be approximately $14 million, with planning work to commence immediately. Construction is expected to begin in spring, 2014.

Minonk will consider proposed upgrades to its wastewater treatment plant, where much of the equipment has not been updated since the early 1970s.

In addition, it is nearing the point where repair costs will soon become a serious financial burden.

The initial estimates for the upgrades are $1.5 to $2 million.

After two years of waiting, the village of Goodfield has learned the Illinois EPA will recommend the village’s plan to double the size of its sewage treatment plant.

Village engineer Duane Yockey recommended that the village act quickly to begin designing the new plant. "If you get EPA’s approval, you ought to go while you’ve got it," Yockey said.

The IEPA added two stipulations to Goodfield’s plan: It wants more air blown into the water to remove ammonia and outflow to exceed the maximum flow into the plant.

A document he presented from the Illinois Rural Development Authority showed that an approximate construction cost of $1.5 million, $142,000 in engineering fees and more for layout, construction observation and a 30 percent contingency fund. But actual costs cannot be determined until the design is done.

Design takes three months, IEPA approval can take another three months and bidding another month, so construction is conceivable by next summer, Yockey estimated.

Mayor Ross Hohulin indicated the village would likely need to issue $2 million in bonds for the expansion.

Baxter & Woodman, Inc. Consulting Engineers has been selected by the city of Morrison, IL, to provide planning, design engineering and bidding assistance for the City’s new wastewater treatment plant. The plant will treat an average daily flow of 0.92 MGD with excess flow capacity of 10 MGD. The total project cost is anticipated to be approximately $14 million, with planning work to commence immediately. Construction is expected to begin spring, 2014.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has issued its final denial of Huntertown’s request to build its own wastewater treatment plant.

The IDEM office of water quality said the proposed plant would cause significant pollution to Geller Ditch, where the treated water was to be discharged. IDEM’s final decision follows a tentative denial issued Aug. 8. IDEM also said that other cost-effective measures are currently available for Huntertown that would prevent the degradation of Geller Ditch, which connects with the Eel River.

Huntertown had hoped to proceed with building its own $11.2 million sewage plant, allowing the town to break ties with Fort Wayne City Utilities, which has provided the town with sewer service since 1988. That contract expires in April.

Huntertown officials have 18 days to appeal IDEM’s decision.

Recently, contracts totaling millions of dollars for water and wastewater system work related to the North Central Ag Industrial Park were awarded by the Fort Dodge City Council.

The biggest contract, totaling $16,776,900, was awarded to Gridor Construction of Buffalo, MN. That company will expand the wastewater treatment plant so that it can handle sewage from the Cargill and CJ Bio America plants.

Other bidders for the job were Story Construction, Ames ($17,297,000); Woodruff Construction, Fort Dodge ($17,300,000); Joseph J. Henderson & Son, Gurnee, IL ($18,068,100); John T. Jones Construction, Fargo, ND ($18,560,000) and Rice Lake Construction, Deerwood, MN ($18,606,832).

A 120-acre site 2 miles west of Le Mars will be the location for a new $16.9 million wastewater plant. A permit approved by the Plymouth County Board of Adjustment allows the land owned by the city of Le Mars to be used to treat wastewater.

The site is in Washington Township and was purchased about 10 years ago to establish the city's sludge lagoon which stores treated waste.

A mechanical plant to be built on the land will treat 500,000 million gallons of wastewater a day from Dean Foods and Wells Enterprises, according to Ron Kayser, city of Le Mars wastewater superintendent.

City Administrator Scott Langel said a portion of the industries' waste would be treated at the new plant and the rest of the waste would go through the existing treatment plant within the city.

"Ninety-eight to 99 percent of it will come back to the current treatment plant as treated water and the other 1-2 percent will go into the lagoon," Langel said. Treated waste that is not wastewater will be stored in a new 11-million-gallon lagoon and then applied to farm land as fertilizer, according to the wastewater superintendent.

The city's current wastewater treatment plant is an anaerobic system. Methane gas and hydrogen sulfide from the treatment process may produce odor at the existing plant. But the new facility will treat waste using an aerobic process which involves aeration and much less odor.

All future increased capacity for the city to treat waste would be converted from the existing treatment plant to the rural site.

Construction on the new treatment facility could begin in January of next year.

The South Sioux City Council is moving forward with plans for a new wastewater treatment plant that officials say would encourage industries to move to the area.

The council has approved the concept for the plant but has yet to settle on how to pay for the $14 million project. The plan still must pass a state review, but city officials have said they expect to vote on the funding within the next 60 days.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring and would take roughly 18 months.

Currently, South Sioux City sends its residential and industrial sewage through a pipeline under the Missouri River to the Sioux City Wastewater Treatment Plant. The South Sioux plant would handle only industrial wastewater. Residential property would remain connected to the Sioux City facility. The new plant would be able to process 2.3 MGD and could be expanded to handle 4.6 MGD. The Sioux City plant can handle nearly 29 MGD.

"The current system is OK as it stands, but we would not have the industrial growth that is planned for the city if we don’t expand. The goal continues to be that we want good-paying jobs coming to the area," said Lance Hedquist, city administrator.

The Thibodaux City Council will hear a revamped plan to increase sewage fees in November.

Mayor Tommy Eschete has a plan to incrementally raise sewage fees to finance a new $7 million wastewater treatment facility in North Thibodaux.

The city’s aging wastewater system is nearing capacity, threatening to halt development on the city’s growing north side, Eschete said.

Eschete has also modified his proposed increase to account for a new wastewater treatment facility on the city’s north side and improvements to the city’s south side treatment facility. The financing plan will also include about $1 million to dredge the contaminated lagoon at the south side treatment plant.

At a previous meeting the mayor was asked to provide information on the cost of fixing the city’s old and leaking sewage pipes. During storms, rainwater infiltrates the pipes and increases the burden on the city’s treatment and transfer facilities.

Eschete said this problem could take $20 million to remedy, and just doing the study to identify the problem spots would cost at least $1 million.

A spike in odor complaints has prompted the Portland Water District to look for ways to control odors from the East End Treatment Plant.

Preliminary recommendations from wastewater odor consultants for how to reduce odor from the plant was presented to city residents in October. At that time residents asked the water district to study the performance of odor-control systems, implement an odor control plan and establish a hotline for complaints.

A wastewater odor expert says the plant has more odor controlling systems than most treatment plants in the U.S., but residents and water district officials say this summer seemed particularly problematic. The water district noticed an increase in complaints in September, said Scott Firmin, director of wastewater services.

The water district hired Bowker & Associates of Portland, a nationally recognized firm that specializes in wastewater odor, to do an assessment of the treatment plant in October to identify potential odor sources. The tests have been done and the firm is drafting its preliminary recommendations.

The firm noted that a $2.5 million air scrubber that was installed 10 years ago is still in excellent condition but a second air scrubber could be improved.

"The $2.5 million system for removing odor is working as well as it did when it was put in, said a representative from Bowker. The dual-stage system treats the smelly air twice, removing 99 percent of the stench. An air scrubber that treats odor during the second half of processing is not working as well, he said. That air scrubber is used for the sludge. Of all the odor sources, sludge-handling has one of the strongest odors."

The $2.5 million air scrubber was part of a $7.6 million overhaul of the plant to capture and control odors. The project included building domes over raw-sewage holding tanks.

The district is willing to make investments to reduce smells, but there is no guarantee that the plant will ever be odor-free.

Recently, the St. Mary’s County Commissioners approved a more than $30 million loan to the St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) from the Maryland Department of the Environment. Of the total, $25 million will be used for an Enhanced Nitrogen Removal (ENR) upgrade project at MetCom’s Marley-Taylor Wastewater Treatment Plant.

During the presentation of the loan request, MetCom Executive Director Jacquelyn Meiser said that the ENR project was being mandated by the U.S. EPA as part of the Bat cleanup and that if her agency didn’t comply they would be subjected to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines every month.

On Election Day, Ware voters approved a tax increase to fund improvements to their aging municipal wastewater treatment plant that will involve borrowing $1 million. The $1 million is the town’s share of a proposed $4.5 million upgrade to the treatment plant.

Kanzaki Specialty Papers, the largest employer in town, and a heavy user of the municipal system, has agreed to contribute $1 million to the project. Kanzaki began to pay Ware an extra $6,000 per month in January to process the heavy metal-laden wastewater the company sends to the treatment plant.

State and federal regulators have told the company it must pre-treat its wastewater prior to shipping it the Ware plant, but an engineering firm told Kanzaki, the $4.5 million in upgrades would allow the company to continue to dump its waste in the Ware system.

A state grant to cover $2.5 million of the costs has been pending since September. The sewer plant upgrade and the $4.5 million project is contingent on the town winning the state grant.

Ware’s department of public works director says the town will eventually be required to upgrade the treatment plant, because of stricter limits on phosphorous processing and that it makes sense for the company to pay some of those costs.

The Leominster Wastewater Treatment Plant is undergoing a $28 million renovation and upgrades that includes a new system to remove phosphorus that can harm the Nashua River.

The plant has been removing phosphorous from the water for about 25 years at a rate of 1 part per million, or 1 milligram per liter, but the EPA lowered the limits on its permit issued in 2006 to 0.2 milligrams per liter, said a representative, of Veolia, which has operated the facility for the city since July 1983. With the improvements to the plant, the phosphorus levels are finally below EPA standards.

The DEP and EPA are expected to issue a new discharge permit in the next couple of months.

Design work started in the 2009-2010 timeframe and construction started in late 2010. The improvements went online last spring and operators have been adjusting its workings since then. The DEP made its final inspection Oct. 17.

The recently completed phase 1 was the largest part of the project and cost nearly $20 million. It including the phosphorous removal system, a new primary feed for the facility's electrical service, new gears and a 2,000 kilowatt generator.

As part of the upgrades, the system was improved so adjustments to chemical additives can be made through a computer rather than manually.

The second phase of work has already started and includes the headworks which bring the water into the plant. Phase 2 is expected to be completed by the spring. Phase 3 will include handling of residual biosolids.

Officials trimmed the project cost to approximately $28 million.

The $20 million project to update and expand the Marysville Wastewater Treatment Plant was unveiled to the public at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour on Oct. 22.

Two tanks used to store a million gallons of storm and sewer water overflow during big rainstorms became three tanks with 3 million gallons of storage. Two primary clarifiers became three. Two trickling filers became three. Two secondary clarifiers became three.

The project also included a new headworks screening system, a new upsized chlorine contact chamber, a new 800,000 gallon sludge storage tank, an automatic standby generator and updated instrumentation controls.

The plant now has a design capacity of 3.6 MGD for regular use and a maximum capacity during wet weather events to process 10.2 MGD of sewage.

The consulting engineer on the project was Hubbell, Roth and Clark and the general contractors for the project were 3-S Construction Inc. for the first phase and Bencal Contractors Inc. for the second phase.

Forty percent of the $20 million project was paid for by President Barack Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Greenwood sewer rate increases are necessary to pay for a new wastewater treatment plant. Another is scheduled for 2013.

Construction on a $31 million wastewater plant is scheduled to begin in the spring. It should be completed in 2015.

The new plant will help the city to come into 100 percent compliance with state permitting regulations.

If Liberty officials can get support from voters, a revenue bond issue could be placed on the ballot next year for construction of a new wastewater treatment plant.

City officials held an open house at the Liberty Community Center Nov. 1 to inform residents of the options, building an estimated $75 million treatment plant or continuing to pay Kansas City to provide sewer treatment services.

"It isn’t going to happen in April — maybe in August or September," said Councilman Jeff Moore about putting a bond issue on the ballot. "A decision could be made in 60 days after due diligence."

A Utilities Task Force appointed by the mayor earlier recommended that the city consider building its own sewer plant. The task force also recommended that the city take over operations of the water treatment plant, which the city has done.

According to preliminary estimates from the study, the city could save nearly $50 million from 2013 to 2025 by operating its own sewer treatment plant. Last year Liberty paid Kansas City $3.5 million to provide wastewater treatment and this year is budgeting $4.3 million for the service. Kansas City is under a federal mandate to fix its aging sewer system. As a result of the $2.5 billion overhaul, Kansas City has been passing on double-digit rate increases to its customers to pay for the upgrades.

The City of Kirksville will be applying for loan funds through the state under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, taking steps toward potentially asking citizens whether it can borrow millions at favorable rates to fund an $18 million wastewater treatment plant overhaul over the next two years.

Council unanimously gave the city manager approval to apply for the State Revolving Fund program funding under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

"Based on our need and the scope of our project, we should score very well" in the competitive funding process, Public Works Director John Buckwalter told the Council during its study session Monday.

The deadline to apply for funds to be used in 2013 and 2014 is Nov. 15.

The city is only expressing an interest for consideration of the loan contingent upon voters' approval. Local voters will likely face the matter during next fall's election.

The city and Public Works have been coordinating efforts so far at the wastewater plant, working to meet output limits into surrounding water streams and prepare for expansive changes including changing digester types and installation of a new furnace.

In all, the city is expecting to spend at least $18 million to bring the plant up to Department of Natural Resource- and EPA-mandated levels.

The earliest the city will begin serious construction work at the plant will be 2014.

The city of Washington continues to look into the odor problems at their new wastewater treatment facility.

The problem has been traced to the valve in the pipe that collects all of the city sewage before it’s pumped into the treatment system, Kevin Quaethem, water/wastewater superintendent said. "We’re trying some misting techniques and some covering techniques to try, if nothing else, to at least mask the odor," he said, adding that the odor will likely remain and the trick is masking it.

Officials will continue to look into how to best address the problem.

New Jersey is in a race against time to safeguard its supply of drinkable water due to massive amounts of sewage flowing from treatment plants disabled by Hurricane Sandy, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Drinking water intakes on several rivers are under threat from potentially inoperative sewage plants, power blackouts and failing back-up generators.

The state has declared a "water emergency" and issued boil water advisories for several communities due to loss of power at the drinking water plants. Current water use restrictions include bans on watering lawns, ornamental fountains, car and truck washing.

In a press release, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmed that "several wastewater treatment facilities in the state are off-line, resulting in the temporary runoff of effluents into certain waterways" but has not provided the number or locations of disabled plants. DEP did list the following water bodies, including major drinking water sources, as contaminated:

"New Jersey portion of the Hudson River, Passaic River, Hackensack River, Newark Bay, Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Raritan River, and Sandy Hook Bay"

"With hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage pumping into rivers each day, drinking water intakes on these rivers are at risk of shutdown. If these intakes are forced to close, it is unclear how long cities, particularly in northern New Jersey, will be able to supply water to residents," stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, noting that the absence of information on the status of scores of sewage treatment plants has kept the public in the dark. "Unless these sewage treatment plants are brought back on line we will move from a statewide water emergency to a water catastrophe."

Construction has begun by Tomar Construction for the upgrade of the Frenchtown Borough Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The project includes building a new influent pumping station, final clarifiers and sludge storage facilities, demolition of the existing facility and building new buildings for operations and the Department of Public Works.

The project is expected to be completed by February 2014 and is valued at $12.5 million.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the state will release $22.8 million to New York City that could be used for repairs to wastewater treatment facilities damaged during Hurricane Sandy and other recovery efforts associated with the storm.

The City has a high rate of compliance with all the milestones set forth in the agreements, complying with secondary treatment at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant well ahead of schedule with construction set to be completed a year early. In addition, the City has committed to massive upgrades of its facilities and this year committed $2.4 billion toward a ground-breaking green infrastructure program to further reduce combined sewer overflow discharges.

Mount Airy officials are spending up to $23,500 for a study on nutrients released from the municipal wastewater treatment plant, in the hopes of avoiding a larger expenditure later.

"This is a complicated and potentially expensive issue for the city of Mount Airy," according to Public Services Director Jeff Boyles who oversees municipal water and sewer operations.

It relates to problems detected at High Rock Lake, which is considered impaired due to high chlorophyll levels that promote excess algae growth and can lead to fish, other animals and plants being killed.

This is requiring the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to establish limits on nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients considered to be the most important factors for algae growth. Those limits will affect entities discharging treated wastewater into the Yadkin River basin upstream of High Rock Lake, which includes Mount Airy.

The resulting limits will exceed the city’s present treatment capability and affect its permit for discharges toward the end of this decade. That will require an extra expenditure for the more-extensive treatment measures involved.

The new limits are still several years away, although the preparation should begin now. Regulatory plans have been developed for other watersheds in the state and High Rock Lake is the next in line.

The commissioners voted to fund an initial review and planning project study for nutrient control at the Mount Airy Wastewater Treatment Plant.

This will mean paying CDM Smith Inc. — a consulting, engineering, construction and operations firm with offices in Raleigh and Charlotte — on a cost-reimbursement basis for various aspects of the study. The total fee will not exceed $23,500, according to city documents. The study will include developing potential approaches and estimated costs for controlling the nitrogen and phosphorus output under various permitting scenarios. It also will serve as a foundation for a more in-depth optimization study to be required as early as 2014.

The town of Columbus has completed its initial design and permitting stages for a renovated wastewater treatment plant with bids expected to be received Dec. 6.

Council is scheduled to award the bid during its Dec. 20 meeting and construction is scheduled to begin in early February 2013.

The town received approval from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the design of the plant in order to move forward with the project.

Columbus is paying for the upgrades to the approximate 40-year old wastewater treatment plant through a zero interest loan obtained from the DENR Construction Grant and Loans Section Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program. The $2.75 million loan will be for 20 years with reimbursements beginning after construction begins. The town contracted with W.K. Dickson for engineering of the project.

The town has no choice but to upgrade its plant. The plant no longer meets state standards. Upgrades include replacing several aspects of the plant but it will remain at its current 800,000 gallon per day capacity following the upgrade. Planned upgrades to the plant include a new laboratory, a second chlorine contact chamber and a new water supply well for the plant as well as general upgrades to meet standards.

Consideration of a new River Bend sewer treatment system, which would double available treatment capacity will be explained at a public meetings. An Oct. 23 letter to River Bend residents described the proposed project that would bring individual property owners special assessments of between $4,500 and $12,200.

Mayor John Kirkland said River Bend Town Council and the Public Works Advisory Board, with town residents who are both sewer and non-sewer users, all support the proposal from a 2004 study recently updated by Avolis Engineering and Rivers and Associates.

"They know it is a lot of money," he said, but the assessments can be paid over 10 years and appear to result in a cheaper long term solution than would replacing failing septic systems and the current treatment plant when time wears it down.

Most residents are hooked up to wastewater collection — 1,012 lots are served and 590 lots are not.

The town owns and operates a wastewater treatment system as a separate enterprise fund, as required by state law, and used by about 940 homes and businesses. It serves them through 11 miles of gravity force main pipes using eight lift stations to get wastewater to the plant that processes the wastewater to near potable purity before discharging a daily average of about 100,000 gallons into the Trent River.

Average use is about 30 percent of the capacity permitted by the N.C. Division of Water Quality, with peak flow treatment of about 50 percent.

The plan is for a $12 million "state-of-the-art, progressive system that will address service needs well into the future. It will also provide a viable alternative for property owners with on-site sewer treatment when those systems fail or are considered inadequate by regulatory agencies."

A new program aims to encourage Springfield’s property owners to reduce the rainwater runoff that pollutes local aquifers and waterways.

"As most people know, we have a stormwater problem here in the city," said Sky Schelle, Springfield’s stormwater coordinator. "The city is taking the drastic step of increasing capacity at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, but there are so many other smaller things that we as property owners can do."

The overall cost of complying with the EPA’s sewer overflow standard could end up costing the city $160 million, including upgrades at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the installation of a new sewage line.

"Unless each one of us does our little part to reduce it, the fixes are going to be just astronomical," Schelle said. "We want to show people there are real solutions that they can do on their property to reduce the amount of stormwater, and if enough little steps get taken, you can get a large impact."

The city received more than $50,000 in grants in 2012 to address stormwater issues, including $35,000 from the Miami conservancy District to review Springfield’s building codes and $15,000 from the Ohio EPA for a large rain garden and cistern that will be installed in the spring.

United Water celebrated the completion of infrastructure upgrades totaling $52 million at its City of East Providence Water Pollution Control Facility.

The treatment plant has undergone extensive improvements that have made the facility more operationally friendly and efficient. Now equipped with advanced technology and two new odor control systems that help treat harmful and odorous gases, as well as the new and improved Collection System has increased capacity to eliminate sewer system overflows that have improved water quality in the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.

All of these enhancements were necessary to bring the collection system and plant which was built in 1954 into compliance with new state Department of Environmental Management mandates. In addition to the renovations at the plant, United Water has increased flow capacity at both the Watchemoket Cove and Boyden Boulevard Pumping Stations, designed to help eliminate sewer system overflows.

In 2010, United Water began its 10-year, design-build-operate (DBO) contract for the City’s wastewater collection and treatment facilities, which provide service to roughly two-thirds of East Providence’s 50,000 residents. This is expected to save the city $13 million over what was budgeted to be spent under a traditional project delivery approach.

Major elements of the upgrade include the following:

• BNR Process – Each of the four aeration tanks were modified to provide multiple aerobic and anoxic zones and intermediate pumping that are necessary to achieve enhanced biological nitrogen removal (BNR). The BNR process is important to reduce algae build up that in turn helps improve water quality for aquatic life and recreation use in the Pawtucket River and Narragansett Bay.

• Headworks Building – Construction of this new building now encloses the channels and equipment for odor control, and protects against the environment and weather conditions.

• Odor Control –Two new odor control systems and an upgrade to the existing system at the WPCF were implemented. The first system has a new biofilter unit complete with a fan and control panel to ventilate and treat odorous air from the new headworks building and raw sewage pumping station wet well. The second system is an activated carbon scrubber that treats air from the clarifier weirs. In addition, the improvements include a new belt-press dewatering system with a totally enclosed dewatering press that has significantly reduced odors from these previously problematic operations.

• Collection System Bike Path – The three-mile pipeline placed along the East Bay Bike Path reduced traffic and utility impacts during construction and also maintained access to public and private properties at all times. The repaving of the damaged bike path has also sparked a great sense of pride and usefulness in the community.

• Watchemoket Pump Station – The innovative, reduced footprint design includes a self-cleaning wet well that will minimize solids deposition and floatables accumulation, reduce maintenance costs and the potential for overflows with increased pumping capacity, doubling it to 10.5 MGD.

United Water also operates the nearby Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facility, which serves about one-third of East Providence, for the Narragansett Bay Commission as well as wastewater treatment facilities in Westerly, Newport and Warren.

This summer the Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen began discussing whether to conduct a $50,000 study on the concept of recycling wastewater into drinking water to supplement the city’s potable water supply.

There was notable interest, but the board chose to defer the matter indefinitely in the midst of efforts to get the city back to a financially stable position. As Spring Hill’s next anticipated growth surge is beginning to take shape, recycling wastewater is very likely to show up on a future meeting agenda.

As more homeowners and businesses move into the city of roughly 30,000 people.

The Duck River is the water source for four counties, including Maury County and the southern tip of Williamson County, which Spring Hill is split between. Spring Hill’s water system operates off the amount of water released from the Normandy Reservoir, which depends on river levels. The city currently draws up to 4 MGD from the river during peak summer usage, and estimates are the city will use as much as 6 MGD in 10 years.

Severe droughts from 2006 to 2008 in Middle Tennessee caused the city to implement a water conservation policy in 2009, putting stipulations on which days of the week residents are permitted to water their lawns.

Reclaiming wastewater for irrigation purposes already is a common practice by local governments, including Spring Hill. Of the 938.3 million gallons of wastewater Spring Hill processed in 2011, about 26.1 million gallons of additionally treated wastewater — 2.78 percent — were sent by pipeline to a pond at King’s Creek Golf Club, which uses it to irrigate the course, said Travis Massey, superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant.

The other 97.7 percent of wastewater is treated and sent into a nearby creek, which eventually flows into the Duck River below the intake for the city’s water plant, which creates a cycle as another community downstream reclaims Spring Hill’s wastewater.

Spring Hill’s existing wastewater treatment plant is being expanded to double its capacity. When the $14 million project is complete in spring 2013, it will produce a "drinkable product," Giles said. "They have the most stringent discharge limits in the state of Tennessee now," Giles said. "It is a very sophisticated treatment process."

Since it would cost more to treat effluent than to treat river water, the city would only recycle wastewater for drinking water when necessary, Giles said. How much that would cost is still unknown, another reason Giles said the study would be critical.

In Corpus Christi the largest expenditure for this year’s $200 million budget is $26 million for a new wastewater treatment plant.

The city has been paying for this new facility through the capital improvement plan for the past few years. Officials say this is the last payment the city has to make toward the $51 million project.

The equipment from the wastewater treatment plant is from the 1930's and city officials all agree it's about time to get it replaced.

The new wastewater facility will have a new odor control feature and a generator that will help the facility keep running if a hurricane were to hit.

Wastewater Director Foster Crowell says that with the growth of the area around the plant, it is important for the facility to blend in and make that unappealing smell disappear.

Construction on the new wastewater treatment plant began two years ago, and it's said to be up and running by next year.

The Strasburg Town Council plans to hold the first of two public hearings on funding resolutions that, if approved at a meeting later this month, would limit borrowing for upgrades to the town’s wastewater treatment plant to $24.3 million.

The project seeks to expand the capacity of the plant and implements technology needed to remove more nutrients from wastewater as required by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The total cost of the project is not yet determined, but officials should know in November. Firms interested in constructing the project had until the end of October to submit bids.

Strasburg received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for up to $24,341,000 in financing through the agency's Rural Development program for the upgrade project. The program requires council to hold a public hearing and approve resolutions authorizing the issuance of bonds for up to the approved amount before the town can prepare closing documents.

Staff does not anticipate borrowing the full $24.3 million because the town has arranged for grants and other loans. Staff has recommended council approve the resolutions for up to the amount. A value engineering analysis on the project reduced the estimated cost by $2 million to the current $24.3 million.

The Oak Harbor mayor would like to drop the engineering company hired to help build a sewage treatment plant, citing concerns about the quality and cost of their work.

Mayor Scott Dudley noted that city staff members had preliminarily scheduled at a City Council meeting in December the approval of a new contract with the firm, Carollo Engineering, for design work on the treatment plant. But instead of just handing the multi-million dollar contract to the company, Dudley said he plans to ask council members to advertise for new firms. Dudley explained that’s he’s looking for every possible way to lower the estimated $93.5 million cost of the sewer treatment plant and changing the engineering company may help. Dudley said he’s very frustrated with the process by which firms are chosen to do design and other preliminary work on construction projects. Under law, the city can only consider qualifications, but cannot negotiate or even discuss with the company how much the work will cost.

Cort said, however, that the city staff could do homework and compare how much the firms they are considering have charged other jurisdictions for similar work in the past.

The facilities plan that Carollo is working on has cost the city $1.2 million so far. The purpose of the plan was to choose the site for the treatment plant and the type of sewage treatment technology.

Dudley said he will recommend to the council in December that the city issue a new request for qualifications to find the best and most economical choice in a firm, but ultimately it will be up to the council members. They could choose to continue with Carollo.

Expansion and upgrades to the Alberta government’s Evan-Thomas Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment Facility will ensure plentiful water and enhanced fire protection services in the Kananaskis area.

After a rigorous evaluation process, EPCOR was named the successful public-private partnership (P3) partner with the lowest price of $59.6 million for the design, build, finance and operation of the plant for 10 years after construction completion. This project is the first facility of this type to be delivered by this method in Canada. Construction on the plant is expected to begin in November and be completed in mid 2014.

The Evan-Thomas Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment Facility was originally built in the early 1980s and will now be replaced with a technologically advanced larger plant. Upgrades to the water and wastewater treatment plant include construction of a new clear well and potable water reservoirs, and a new treatment building.

The EPCOR team comprises EPCOR Utilities Inc., Stantec and Lockerbie Stanley Inc. who have 15 years of experience working together.

The Alberta government will continue to own the water and wastewater facility and be responsible for its services. Construction and upgrades of the Evan-Thomas Water Treatment and Wastewater Treatment facility are expected to be complete in mid 2014.

In-Pipe Technology^® Company, Inc. announced it is nearing completion of the first phase of its contract with the city of Spring Valley, IL to reduce lagoon sludge and frequency of dredging events.

In-Pipe is on track to exceed the performance criteria of 25 percent total sludge volume reduction over a six month period effectively reducing the amount of material that must be dredged, dewatered, and hauled away. This contract was a result of EPA sanctions to reduce the sludge inventory and improve effluent quality. Contract oversight has been provided by McClure Engineering for Spring Valley.

"After 40 years in operation, the lagoon capacity was maximized. Sludge accumulation caused effluent violations and we needed an efficient and cost effective alternative to reduce the total sludge volume." said Rob Baracani, Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator for Spring Valley. "In only 3 months, In-Pipe was already near their performance goal."

In-Pipe Technology’s patented services greatly enhance the wastewater treatment process within lagoons through the continuous addition of a highly concentrated formulation of facultative bacteria, which are more robust and sustainable than indigenous wastewater bacteria. In-Pipe microbes can accelerate the treatment process under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. By significantly reducing accumulated sludge volumes up to 85 percent, In-Pipe Technology extends the intervals between dredging events. Additional benefits are seen in improved BNR, a significant reduction of odors and collection system degradation.

In-Pipe’s traditional lagoon service was complimented with the addition of a low-energy recirculation pump. The low-energy mixer facilitated the distribution of In-Pipe microbes to the lower, compacted portions of the lagoon which resulted in enhanced reduction of the organics.

GE announced that its advanced wastewater treatment technology is now in use at the largest membrane bioreactor (MBR) facility in the state of Utah, providing reliable treatment of wastewater that exceeds current regulatory effluent discharge requirements. The Jordan Basin Water Reclamation Facility (JBWRF), a state-of-the-art MBR wastewater treatment facility in the South Valley Sewer District, recently was commissioned and is operating using GE’s ZeeWeed* 500 ultrafiltration membranes in its process building.

As part of the wastewater treatment process, GE’s membrane filtration system separates the clean water from the solids in the wastewater. There are various pumping systems also located in the process building that are associated with the treatment and filtration processes as well as high-speed turbo-blowers that provide the air required to operate the membrane filtration system.

Using MBR technology from GE, the JBWRF was able to significantly reduce its site footprint, compared to conventional wastewater treatment technologies, by eliminating the need for secondary clarifiers. Additionally, the ZeeWeed membranes from GE will help the facility meet future nutrient removal and water reuse standards.

The JBWRF, owned and operated by the South Valley Sewer District, has a current treatment capacity of 15 MGD and is designed to be expanded in the future to an ultimate capacity of 30 MGD in order to meet the community’s growth demands.

GE’s ZeeWeed 500 reinforced, hollow-fiber membranes have been proven over more than two decades of wastewater treatment and water reuse applications. ZeeWeed 500 technology is an advanced filtration technology that separates particles, bacteria and viruses from water or wastewater. Nearly 1,000 plants worldwide use this technology to produce superior quality drinking water and to meet or exceed stringent wastewater treatment and water reuse standards.

Ultrafiltration uses a semi-permeable membrane barrier to reject suspended solids, bacteria, viruses, endotoxins and other pathogens in water to produce treated water known as permeate with very high purity and low silt density. It serves as a pretreatment for surface water, seawater and biologically treated municipal effluent before reverse osmosis and other membrane water treatment systems. Ultrafiltration also is used in industry to separate suspended solids from solution. GE’s ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes offer a combination of ultrafiltration performance, energy efficiency, durability, fast installation, ease of operation and reliability.

The Dannon Company in West Jordan, UT has a new multimillion-dollar wastewater pretreatment facility. It pretreats the plant’s wastewater prior to discharge to the local municipality’s system and enables yogurt production to double. An accelerated design-build project delivery method allowed Dannon to use its new facility after only six months of design and construction.

The $23 million Corona del Mar Water Treatment Plant upgrade is another example of a successful design-build project. The project for the Goleta Water District in California required a detailed and sequential plan because the work could not disrupt the ongoing delivery of high-quality, potable water. Critical treatment-process facilities were modified during low-demand periods when the district could shutdown 50 percent of the plant.

A third example of the design-build system was used in the city of Santa Fe, NM. A joint venture team completed the Buckman Direct Diversion Project three months early. The $195 million design-build project diverts, treats and distributes water from the Rio Grande. Value-engineering studies and an integrated team approach to design saved approximately $2 million.

An award-winning ABB medium voltage drive has reduced the energy consumption of the aeration blowers at the city of Beloit’s Water Pollution Control Facility by more than 1 million kilowatt-hours a year - a reduction of more than 30 percent that saves the city utility $75,000 annually.

The ACS 2000 medium voltage variable speed drive was installed in July 2011 and has achieved some remarkable results within its first year of operation.

The facility treats an average of 5.5 MGD (20.8 million liters) of wastewater from the city’s 37,000 inhabitants, as well as industrial waste from local businesses and biological waste from food processing plants.

Beloit uses a conventional activated sludge process for treating the wastewater. At the heart of this process are the aeration basins in which microorganisms break down the organic matter in the wastewater. These bacteria require oxygen to survive, which is provided by huge aeration blowers that blow air through diffusers at the bottom of the basin.

Aeration blowers typically account for 50 percent or more of the electricity consumed by a wastewater treatment plant. Prior to the installation of the ACS 2000, the aeration blower system at Beloit WPCF was controlled by an inlet throttling valve – a common solution for blower control that operates at fixed speed and does not offer the same operating and cost benefits as variable speed drives.

For Beloit WPCF these benefits are wide-ranging and include soft start capability, ease of installation, direct-to line (transformerless) connection to the power supply network, minimal harmonic distortion, non-requirement of medium voltage power factor correction, compact and lightweight footprint, short payback time and low total cost of ownership.

These benefits are enhanced by an ABB DriveMonitor^™ intelligent diagnostic system that performs remote and real-time monitoring and diagnostics of the drive via a wall-mounted PC connected to the telephone line.

Once the ACS 2000, was installed the power consumption of the aeration blower system dropped by more than 30 percent and total plant energy consumption by 15 percent, which is more than 1 million kilowatt-hours a year. At an average composite rate of $0.62/kWh, the annual savings for the City of Beloit amount to $75,000.

Arcadis NV, the biggest Dutch designer of bridges and dikes, won two orders to help bring back on line water treatment facilities in New York knocked out by superstorm Sandy, its chief executive said.

The company, which helped improve New Orleans levees after Hurricane Katrina, is well-positioned to enter talks with U.S. authorities to help on flood protection in the New York area, CEO Neil McArthur commented recently after Amsterdam-based Arcadis reported a third-quarter profit of €23.1 million ($29.9 million), topping analysts’ estimates.

You can track all the water chemical bids in the new database in the report at:

https://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/TofC.htm

Here are the titles added since the last update.

High Point, NC

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2115

Bismarck, ND

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2117

Seguin, TX

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2119

Sandusky, OH

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2122

Erie County, OH

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2123

Huron, OH

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2124

Pembroke, ONT, CANADA

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2116

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