The city of Unalaska has agreed to settle a lawsuit with the EPA over thousands of Clean Water Act violations by the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

The Council voted to sign a $340,000 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. That’s much less than the $150 million fine the EPA had originally sought.

In addition to the fine, the settlement requires the city to construct a new wastewater treatment plant and a storage tank for landfill runoff. Those projects, which are expected to cost $18 million, should bring the city up to national water quality standards.

Currently, the city’s wastewater treatment plant struggles to control discharge of sewage and heavy metals. The way the existing system is set up, runoff from the landfill, which contains heavy metals, flows into the wastewater treatment plant and coats the UV lights that are supposed to kill harmful bacteria in the sewage. The new system will use chemical treatments, including chlorine, to remove the heavy metals and kill the bacteria.

The city's new wastewater plant will go online in 2016.

At the regularly scheduled meeting of the Greenbrier City Council, a representative from Tyler Surveying and Geologic Mapping gave a preliminary engineering report on the new wastewater project now underway. Much has already been done to upgrade the twenty year old system; but the city is under mandate from the Arkansas Department of Quality Control (ADEQ) to have a new wastewater treatment plant and be in compliance by May 31, 2013—all except for electrical and work on ammonia levels is progressing well.

The Willows City Council gave the Public Works Director Greg Tyhurst the green light to contract for engineering services to begin meeting new compliance standards for discharging treated wastewater for irrigation purposes.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board has issued orders that the city's new $10.5 million state-of-the-art facility establish a time schedule to accomplish meeting the new discharge standards.

The requirement will place another huge burden on the ratepayers of small cities like Willows, Biggs, Colusa, Live Oak and Davis, Tyhurst said.

All have invested millions of dollars on wastewater treatment plants that meet clean water standards, and all were given designations under state and federal requirements that considered the discharge of near "drinking-water-quality" effluent into agriculture drains to be a beneficial use of treated wastewater. That designation has since expired.

Under the plants new operating permit - issued in October - Willows must establish the criteria and methodology necessary to reduce even more salts and pollutants in the waste stream before it can enter into the receiving waters allowed under the previous permit.

The preliminary studies and reports will be done by Nexgen Utility Management, a Sacramento engineering firm, and must accompany a work plan to accomplish the long-term goal of meeting the new permit's compliance standards. The cost to begin the engineering studies is about $40,000.

The cost to implement the improvements is estimated at $3 million, and will require an eventual increase to the sewer rates.

The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District is preparing two reports that will examine the costs of removing chloride from the Santa Clarita Valley’s wastewater.

Preparation to begin the reports is the first step in a yearlong process to come up with solutions to high chloride levels in the Santa Clarita Valley’s wastewater. Although the levels of chloride have dropped — thanks in part to the removal of more than 7,300 salt-discharging water softeners in the Santa Clarita Valley — the detected amounts of the naturally occurring salt are still over the limit of 100 milligrams per liter of water, according to Sanitation District officials.

During a recent public meeting sanitation officials explained that if the district does not come up with a solution to the chloride limits, they will be forced to pay steep fines enforced by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Average amounts of about 65 milligrams of chloride per liter of water are found in both imported water and in water from local groundwater wells. Santa Clarita Valley tap water is about a 50/50 mix of imported water and groundwater. To the 65 milligrams per liter, an average amount of about 45 milligrams per liter is added from normal activity in homes and businesses before the water is discharged into the sewer system. About 10 milligrams per liter is added in the treatment process before the wastewater is dumped into the Santa Clara River.

With all of the additional salt from human activity and wastewater treatment, the average amount of chloride in Santa Clarita Valley wastewater is about 120 milligrams per liter. That amount can reach as high as 140 milligrams per liter in times of drought.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board has given the Sanitation District until Dec. 31, 2012 to prepare and submit plans to decrease the amount of chloride in discharged wastewater.

A number of methods to treat wastewater have been suggested, including building an advanced wastewater treatment plant and using ultraviolet light to treat microorganisms in wastewater instead of adding chlorine to the water. Some of the methods would be used at both the Saugus and Valencia treatment plants while others would be used at only one plant.

Each of the following methods will be examined for both the financial costs and the potential environmental effects in a facilities plan and an environmental impact report, both of which should be out in draft form in July, said Chuck Boehmke, assistant department head for the Sanitation District’s facilities planning department.

• Ultraviolet light disinfection: This process would be used at both the Valencia and Saugus plants but this option by itself would be insufficient to reduce the chloride levels to the acceptable limit.

• Reuse of recycled water: The Castaic Lake Water Agency is projecting an increasing need for recycled water in the Santa Clarita Valley. If enough recycled wastewater is used to irrigate landscaping and used for other purposes, there’s a chance that the need for drinking water would drop and the discharge of treated wastewater to the Santa Clara River would also drop, which could impact wildlife in the river.

• Advanced wastewater treatment facility: Although the wastewater from both the Valencia and Saugus plants is filtered through a three-step process, none of the filtration methods are effective at reducing chloride. The Sanitation District is proposing a salt-removing system that includes microfiltration for pretreatment, which would then be followed by reverse osmosis. The reverse osmosis plant would be sized only large enough to meet the chloride limit. This facility would be located at the Valencia treatment plant. If reverse osmosis is used, additional methods would have to be used in addition to the advanced wastewater treatment plant to pump treated water to Saugus and dispose of brine.

• Reverse osmosis product water pipeline: A portion of the reverse osmosis-treated water would be piped from the Valencia plant to the Saugus plant through a new 3.5 mile pipeline. This water would be blended with water treated through the normal three-step process before being discharged into the Santa Clara River.

• Deep well injection for brine disposal: One of the options of disposing of the brine byproduct is injecting it about one mile deep into geologic formations that already contain highly salty water.

• Brine pipeline to existing ocean discharge: A second option of disposing of the brine is by building a 37-mile pipeline to a sewer about four miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The brine would then be flushed to the ocean.

It has been five years since Adelanto embarked on a much-needed $14 million expansion of its wastewater plant that has yet to come to fruition.

After a series of technical and communication issues, plans for an innovative new system ultimately flopped, and last year city officials found themselves scrambling to block a ban on new sewer connections threatened by the regional water board.

By partnering with a new company to build and run its plant, the city finally seems to be on track. But all the delays have come with a price tag: The final project and its related costs look to be about $6.5 million more than originally planned.

Recently, the City Council finalized a $7 million contract for Costa Mesa-based PERC Water to complete the wastewater plant’s expansion, plus another $500,000 annually to operate the plant. PERC has already begun design work and plans to finish the project within 18 months, for a completion date in fall 2013.

PERC will build off the work of MicroMedia Filtration, which was first hired in 2007 to do the plant expansion. MMF planned to double the capacity to treat sewage at half the cost of more traditional methods by using less energy. But the effort ran into several obstacles, with the city "separating amicably" from MMF a few months ago after paying only $2.6 million of its $7 million contract.

Meanwhile, the city continues to struggle with insufficient sewage capacity. Adelanto has had to divert up to 800,000 gallons of raw sewage into Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority’s facility since May 2010.

The final expansion process will cost about $4 million more than initially estimated due to the delays and should be completed no later than 2014 to avoid another threat of a sewer connection ban by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Plainfield officials plan to spend $5 million over the next five years to upgrade the town’s aging wastewater treatment plants and are searching for an engineering firm to advise them.

The town recently sent out a request for proposals for engineering services. The town is looking for a firm to examine the two plants, the smaller village plant in Plainfield and the larger North plant in Central Village, and recommend what chemical treatments can be used and what new technology should be purchased to lower the levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in the discharge waters.

Jeff Young, superintendent of the water pollution control plants, said the state has set more stringent levels for discharge waters in recent years. To meet the higher standards, the plants, which were built in 1972, need some upgrades.

Town officials had hoped to complete a $33 million upgrade to the wastewater treatment system this year and had been planning for the work since 2007. The town was going to use up to $16 million in federal stimulus money to close the Village plant and perform major upgrades to the North plant. But in 2010 the town was notified the funds would no longer be available and have been working on much smaller plans since.

Young said a chemical treatment will be the town’s first effort to lower the levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in the discharge water. Young and First Selectman Paul Sweet know they also will need new equipment at the plants and plan to follow an alternative process to acquire it. Sweet said the typical process would be to send the entire concept out to bid and have an engineering firm design how the new equipment would be installed. Instead, the town is searching for an engineering firm to recommend what new equipment is needed, and the town will pick up the process from there. Young said skipping design by a firm could save $5 million. Young and his crew instead will search for and view the recommended equipment from a vendor, purchase it themselves and then put the installation of the equipment out to bid.

How much the upgrades will cost will depend on the engineers’ recommendations, but Sweet and Young estimate it could be $5 million in the next five years.

The town of Century has approved $374,500 in miscellaneous improvements to the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

The construction contract was awarded to Martin Construction of Crestview. The next lowest bidder was Vision Construction at $400,000. Bids were also received from: J & P Construction for 450,000, and North Florida Construction for $422,131.

The Richmond Hill City Council voted recently to allow their attorney to commence with procedures to negotiate an early termination of the contract the city has with H&K Engineering Group for upgrading and expansion of the Sterling Creek Wastewater Treatment facility.

"First we have to get out of the contract with H&K," Mayor Harold Fowler said. "That is just a matter of figuring out what they have done, paying them for the work they have done and going forward from there." Going forward from there, the mayor said, will be to open the engineering of the project for proposals to other engineering firms.

"My thinking is that as soon as we get out of this contract with H&K, within a matter of days we set up a workshop for the engineering firms to come in and make their proposals. As soon as we get through with that we will have a regular or called (city council) meeting and select a firm for it," Fowler said.

The need for the change, according to the mayor, comes in part as a result of Georgia EPD not being happy with designs proposed by H&K.

The 30 month deadline EDD gave the city for the completion of the project in September 2010 has passed. Fowler said he has been told by an official with the EPD they would do all they could do to help the city get an extension of that time frame.

A new wastewater treatment plant has become necessary for essentially two reasons. The existing Sterling Creek Plant has been operating at or near capacity, for sometime, thus hindering significant future growth of the city. Additionally, beginning in 2008, the city has incurred several fines from the EPD due, largely to, greater than permitted ammonia levels emanating from the facility.

Now, officials are hoping to build a plant that will not only supply the current needs of the city but one that can be expanded to meet future growth.

While the actual cost of the project has yet to be determined, it will be the greatest capital expenditure to date by the city of Richmond Hill. In December 2009 estimates had it at $13 million by September 2010 the number was between $15 and $18 million. The latest projected cost of the project, as it was being designed by H&K, was more than $27 million. "We are hoping for is that the figures come in much lower than $27 million. That’s the hope," Scholar said.

The city of Porterdale Council voted recently to move ahead with a plan to refinance $1.28 million in debt on the city's sewer system and borrow another $1.68 million to make much-needed improvements to the system.

Marty Boyd, the city’s contracted engineer recommended that the city use the loan funds to make improvements to approximately 18,350 linear feet of old clay pipe, much of which is original to development of the village. Porterdale Public Works Director Robert Witcher said that 60 to 70 percent of the city's sewer system is as old as 85 years. The system continues to function, he said, but it does have problems due to age and outdated technology.

Boyd estimated that the total upgrade project could cost $1.68 million, including $300,000 for engineering, legal fees and other expenses. It might be necessary for the city to obtain interim financing to get the work started, Boyd said, but those expenditures would ultimately be covered by the USDA loan.

Community leaders in Hansen and Kimberly will soon find out whether construction of a joint wastewater treatment plant would be a smart move.

Forsgren Associates Inc. of Boise is conducting a feasibility study. A company representative told Kimberly City Council members that the study will be completed in three to four months and urged the council to consider a joint treatment plant with Hansen.

Hansen is exploring the possibility of replacing its aging wastewater treatment plant and Kimberly does not have a system of its own; its wastewater is piped to Twin Falls for treatment. The cost of that service could increase when Kimberly’s contract with Twin Falls is renewed in the next few months, so city officials are looking at other alternatives.

Faced with spending $11.7 million to connect to the Rock River Water Reclamation District sewage treatment or shelling out millions more for a new treatment plant it also would pay to own, operate and maintain, Winnebago decided to connect to the Rock River plant, 13 miles away.

Next year, South Beloit will face its own decision on how to treat sewage. First, it will spend $1.2 million to fix sewers that were installed in the 1920s.

Both Winnebago County communities are among hundreds nationwide where growth plans have collided with the costly prospect of aging sewers and treatment plants.

"We are at the peak of our capacity," said Frank Eubank, Winnebago’s village president. "That’s why we either have to build a new one or connect. In the next 12 months or so, there could be new businesses in Winnebago, and we need the capacity for those businesses to come here."

Winnebago’s treatment plant, built in 1954 and last upgraded in 1992, is designed to treat about 400,000 gallons of water. But at peak times more than 1 million gallons flow through the system.

South Beloit also has pricey sewer and wastewater problems to work through in coming years. It has 15 months to comply with an Illinois EPA order to fix sewers that have been used since the 1920s.

When the sewers are laid, South Beloit voters are likely to be asked to decide whether to build a new treatment system — which will cost $17 million to $27 million — repair the facility or hook into the Rock River Water Reclamation District or the city of Beloit Water Pollution Control Facility, South Beloit Mayor Mike Duffy said.

The Rock River Reclamation District treatment plant pumps 30 MGD and has a capacity of 45 MGD. The extra capacity is likely to be a competitive advantage for the Rockford area as it looks to rebuild and strengthen its economy.

The Pekin City Council has awarded the bid for Phase 2-B of the construction of the addition to the Pekin Wastewater Treatment Plant to Williams Brothers Construction.

The council approved the company’s low bid of $14.85 million, which is $2 million less than that of River City Construction of East Peoria at $16.2 million.

Streator will expand the chlorine contact tank at their wastewater treatment plant.

The city awarded a bid to Einfeldt Construction, Inc. in Bourbonnais for $213,000. City Engineer Jeremy Palm said the project should begin in a month and take 90 days. It is expected to be operational by May 1.

"The design capacity is 3.1 MGD,"Palm said. "On an average day we use 90 to 95 percent of that capacity and are on critical review status with the state. We needed to do something to bring the level down to 80 percent."

The new capacity is 4 MGD and allows for the expansion with the addition of Reading Township flow to the city.

The Marengo City Council has approved rebidding the multimillion-dollar wastewater treatment plant expansion project.

City officials had put the project out for bid in August after receiving approval for a $12 million loan from the Illinois EPA, but the council authorized the city staff to rebid after a setback last fall delayed the project from moving forward. City leaders and engineers decided they had no choice but to reduce the scale of the project’s estimated $12 million design after the first bids were opened last fall. All the bidders that responded in August exceeded the budgeted figure for the project, with base bids ranging from $15.5 million to $17.9 million.

The project manager with McMahon Associates, the engineering firm hired by the city to manage the project, summarized the updated, and downsized, design of the wastewater plant project. Several adjustments to the original design were made to lower bid costs, including forgoing some demolitions, using shallower underground designs and fewer equipment, and less aesthetically pleasing landscaping.

McMahon advised the council to further push back the bid opening to the end of May because another similar project in the region is slated to have bids opened in early April and the same "seven or eight contractors" likely will be bidding for the same projects.

The IEPA requires a window of 45 days to pass from the time the bid is posted and when it is unsealed. Thus, construction on the Marengo project may not happen until mid-June at the earliest.

The city officials have said they were caught off-guard by the earlier bids. Engineers from the contracting firms told Marengo leaders that environmental and safety issues related to the plant’s close proximity to the Kishwaukee River drove up costs. Had the submitted bid figures fallen within the city’s budget, the project could have already broken ground.

The purpose of the large-scale project is to modernize the wastewater treatment plant operation and enhance water pumping capacity from 900,000 gallons of water a day to 2.25 MGD. State and local officials say the expansion is essential for future development and would extend the plant’s life by at least another 20 years. The plant, more than 30 years old, is running at its maximum capacity.

State officials will conduct a public hearing in Huntertown after determining the town’s application to build an $11.2 million wastewater treatment plant is complete.

Huntertown hopes to proceed with building its own sewage plant and break ties with Fort Wayne City Utilities, which has provided the town with sewer service since 1988.

The town’s proposal was submitted to IDEM on Dec. 9.

The plant would discharge treated water into Geller Ditch and Eel River, located in the Wabash River drainage basin and would be capable of treating an average flow of 1.5 MGD with a peak flow of 4.5 MGD, according to the application.

The city of Osceola is facing a major improvement project for their wastewater treatment plant that could be equal to or more than the annual budget of $12.5 million.

The project is required to meet regulations from the DNR and Environmental Protection Agency. An assessment by the DNR recommends reclassifying Whitebreast Creek, and as a result the reclassification would require substantial changes in the treatment requirements the city will need to meet.

These changes, when enacted, will result in much more stringent ammonia-nitrogen limitations and will also require the effluent to be disinfected prior to discharge (into Whitebreast Creek).

The current plant and technology does not have the necessary capability to meet the new treatment standards. Veenstra and Kimm engineers for the project have met with city officials and told them they will likely need to look at some sort of activated-sludge technology as opposed to the trickle-filter treatment the city is currently using.

The current estimate for installing activated-sludge technology is $10 million to $12 million.

When the city’s next National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit is reissued by the DNR, which engineers estimate could be within the next 12 months, the permit will be for five years.

"We will have the responsibility of, within that five-year period, making those improvements, doing that construction and having that plant up and running with the ability to meet those new treatment standards," said Bill Kelly, city administrator.

Years of neglect and a misguided attempt at odor control have left Osawatomie’s Wastewater Treatment Plant with problems.

The plant’s headworks facility is failing, B.G. Consultants engineer Brian Kingsley informed City Council members recently, and something needs to be done sooner rather than later.

The problem lies with the auger-like spiral screen responsible for sifting and lifting solid materials from the wastewater as it is processed through the treatment plant. The screen is worn and broken in a number of areas, and subsequent quick fixes have only helped the facility limp along so far.

A number of years ago the city made the decision to cover the equipment in question after area residents complained of the stench emanating from the facility. What was a short-term fix, though, has turned into a long-term headache, as chemicals rising from the processing pits remain trapped beneath the covering, damaging the enclosed equipment.

To rectify the situation, the city is looking to enlist the services of B.G.Consultants and others with his firm to help form a plan of action to address the necessary repairs, which could cost anywhere from $400,000 to $600,000.

While the spiral screen method isn’t the best option available, Cawby said, it would take a massive overhaul to install a new system at the city’s headworks facility, and the cost of doing so would be prohibitively expensive. At this point, plans are far from finalized. While officials hope proper cost management and financing will help minimize the impact felt by community members, Kingsley said there was a possibility the city may need to raise sewer rates in the future to accommodate the needed repairs.

The Girard City Council met in special session recently to open bids for improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment facilities.

Bids were sought for two sections of the project. The first section involves replacement of thousands of feet of city sewer lines, along with other updates and replacement of some manholes. The second section of the project is the cleaning out of wastewater treatment lagoons.

Chris Erisman and John Riggs of Allgeier, Martin and Associates, Joplin consulting engineering firm, opened the bid envelopes.

"It appears that Rosetta Construction, Springfield, MO, has the apparent low bid of $3, 391,919.83 for the first section, and Tws, Inc., Lebo, has the apparent low bid of $111,000 for the second section," Erisman said.

The engineering estimates for the project were $3,589,000 for the first section and $260,000 for the second section.

City Administrator Beth Linn updated the Council on discussions with the City of Gardner regarding the possibility of adding capacity at the proposed wastewater treatment facility to accommodate Gardner's needs. Any expansion beyond the current 250,000 gallons would need to meet the following conditions:

• The plant must be operational when the intermodal opens (there is no time to delay while Gardner or any other group debates participation in the project).
• Any additional costs associated with an expanded capacity will be borne by the City of Gardner.
• Control of the project and its operation will remain with the City of Edgerton, (the City of Gardner would be a customer of the utility).

Edgerton is currently working on a design that will have a daily capacity of 250,000. The proposed design would have the ability to expand in 250,000 gallon increments. An agreement with the City of Gardner may not lead to immediate flow from Gardner to Edgerton, but there are equipment size, pipe size, land acquisition and other decisions that must be made up front and any economies of scale would be permanently lost.

Dave Greene, Public Works Director for the city of Gardner said that an expansion of the existing Kill Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant would be necessary later this decade once growth resumes. He said, "Growth within the potential service area for the new Edgerton Plant would impact the timing of the next expansion of the Kill Creek Plant. However, participating with Edgerton could delay the next expansion of Gardner's Bull Creek Lift Station approximately 40 percent of the service area for that lift station would be treated by the Edgerton Plant. Long term, participating with Edgerton would reduce the scope (and cost) of the ultimate expansion for both the Kill Creek Wastewater Plant and the Bull Creek Lift Station."

The ultimate capacity being considered by the city of Gardner is approximately 1.5 MGD. They would not build that capacity immediately, but certain components of the facility would need to be resized to accommodate the eventual capacity. A new treatment facility or major renovation of the existing plant would be required even if there were no intermodal facility. The $300,000 in renovations that will be made to the existing plant are minor and are approved by the State of Kansas only because the City has solid plans to construct a new facility that meets the environmental requirements of the State. The 250,000 gallons per day capacity is sufficient to meet the demands of the intermodal, existing residential community and allow for economic development.

The Council decided that they want a full-time inspector to represent them on the construction of the new wastewater treatment plant. Ms. Linn will post a request for proposals to secure a firm for the 18 or so months that the plant will be under construction.

Leavenworth city commissioners approved a bid for the sale of $4.16 million in bonds to pay for a wastewater treatment plant project.

The bid was awarded to Morgan Keegan & Co., Memphis, TN.

The bonds are being issued to pay for the construction of a disinfection system at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The system will use ultraviolet light to remove bacteria such as E. coli before water is discharged from the treatment plant into the Missouri River. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is requiring that the project be done by the end of the year.

Commissioners also voted to spend up to $151,888 for sanitary sewer flow monitoring and analysis. This project will not be paid for with the money from the bonds.

City Manager, Scott Miller said the city treats a lot of ground water that ends up in the sewer lines. "We have to do something about it. He said the first step is identify problem areas."

According to Mike McDonald, public works director, addressing the problem will reduce the cost of the treatment operation and impact the size of future plant improvements. He said, Northeast Leavenworth seems to be the worst area for the problem of inflow and infiltration into the wastewater system."

Commissioners approved a contract with GBA for the monitoring and analysis.

The Grand Haven-Spring Lake Sewer Authority is conducting two studies it hopes will help clear the air.

One is looking into ways to reduce odor, Sewer Authority Superintendent John Stuparits said. The other is to investigate the costs of using ultraviolet light to disinfect wastewater before returning it to nature.

"The study, which will cost about $20,000, is looking at the sources of odor and how they might be addressed, Stuparits said. Disinfecting the water is the last step before releasing it. The sewer authority currently uses chlorine gas and sulfur dioxide gas to kill germs, Stuparits said. Both of those materials are hazardous gases," he said. "Ultraviolet light seems to be the method of choice now."

UV light has fewer potential hazards, but the cost of retrofitting equipment for it may be too high for the project to proceed, Stuparits said. The study to determine if UV light would be a good option for Grand Haven and Spring Lake cost about $8,000, he said.

Tetra Tech, a California-based engineering and technology company with four Michigan offices, is performing the studies. Results should be available by May.

KIMBERLY • The Kimberly City Council recently authorized a new wastewater study at a cost of $73,300.

The report by J-U-B Engineers will evaluate the city’s wastewater collection system and flow data. The information is expected to serve as a guide for city officials as they make some major decisions in the coming months.

Kimberly is scheduled to negotiate a new wastewater contract with the city of Twin Falls, which handles all of its wastewater treatment. The updated data will be useful in those negotiations, City Engineer Tracy Ahrens told council members. "It would give us all the answers about what we have and what would be the best option for the city of Kimberly," Ahrens said.

The new study is expected to take about four months to complete.

Kimberly is also awaiting the results of a study regarding constructing a regional wastewater treatment plant with the city of Hansen.

The Hannibal Board of Public Works (BPW) is trying to make their wastewater treatment plant last longer. However, the facility is in very poor condition.

During a recent meeting of the BPW Board general manager, Bob Stevenson, expressed concern that the city is living on borrowed time in regard to the sewage plant.

"We’re right on the edge of a catastrophe if we don’t get on this," he said. The city’s wastewater facility went into service in 1981 and most of the equipment is original."

While the plant continues to treat sewage "well in excess of its advertised design limits," in 2011 there was a dramatic increase in equipment failures and maintenance costs. The problems were attributed to "long-term wear, fatigue, and corrosion due to the atmospheric conditions within the plant buildings."

A high concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas has taken a toll on copper wiring, structural steel, duct work and vent fans.

A representative of Barnes, Henry, Meisenheimer & Gende, Inc., ran down a lengthy list of ills the consulting engineers found at the sewage facility. The price tag is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $4.7 million for renovations that would not increase capacity, but would extend the plant’s life for at least another decade.

A new sewer facility would cost the city around $40 million. The federal government footed 90 percent of the bill when the current plant was built. Stevenson, however, does not anticipate any help from Washington, D.C., when the next plant is built because the BPW’s current rate structure is far lower than is recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The city of Maryville took another step toward upgrading the wastewater treatment facility during a recent council meeting.

The estimated total cost for the upgrade is $13.7 million, according to HDR Engineering, the Kansas City firm the city has contracted to supervise construction of the project.

For the upgraded facility, three options for treatment methods were presented to the council for consideration and the city chose the conventional activated sludge option, which presented less overhead cost than the alternatives.

The upgrades are necessary to conform with new standards established by federal authorities and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and will also increase the capacity of the city's treatment facility. Overall, implementing the activated sludge method will be the most economical of the three options. The conventional activated sludge treatment method is the most highly rated of the three processes, and the council saw it as the best option for the city when considering it was also the most economical to implement.

Approval of the combination of water and sewer system bonds was also passed unanimously, a necessity to finance the upgrades, according to the council.

Maryville voters will be asked to approve the sale of the necessary revenue bonds during the April 3 city election.

The board of trustees for the Village of Sunrise Beach has authorized $7,500 to do a study for the City of Laurie to review the feasibility of the village piping wastewater from its proposed sewer system to the neighboring city's treatment plant.

Instead of building its own costly treatment facility upfront, Sunrise Beach trustees are investigating the idea of sending sewage to Laurie as a lower cost alternative for the first phase of a sewer system.

With increased enforcement by the state on wastewater regulations as well as interest in expansion of commerce, the village's business community has long pushed for Sunrise Beach to construct a system.

Sunrise Beach trustees recently selected Schultz & Summers Engineering firm to design the system.

The currently proposed system is estimated to cost around $4 million with a capacity of 60,000-80,000 gallons per day from approximately 80 commercial users.

Laurie's plant has a maximum capacity of 250,000 gallons per day. It has a flow of approximately 90,000 gallons per day from city customers, according to Laurie public works director Ed Young.

Laurie aldermen indicated they would be favorable towards an agreement with Sunrise Beach but wanted its sewer system's engineering firm, Bartlett & West, to do a feasibility study to know what kind of fee would be needed to cover the city's short term costs to treat the wastewater as well as the long term cost of increased usage of equipment.

Bids are due March 16, 2012 for engineering services related to design and construction management of lift station No. 2 and sewer force main.

For more information go to: http://www.h2bid.com/procurement-notice-153685.html

The Grand Island City Council has voted against privatizing Grand Island's wastewater management.

"What it means immediately is that we will start ramping up our efforts there for monitoring and automation and we will be hiring in a couple of experts so we can get that high level of expertise needed to make major adjustments to the plant," John Collins, Public Works Director for Grand Island said.

Those adjustments come with a price tag of $500,000 for the first few years. That money will go towards maintenance and replacement.

The goal is productivity and cost reduction.

In April, Merrimack will ask voters to consider the approval of $4.2 million for the second phase of upgrades to the town's aging wastewater treatment facility.

Public Works Assistant Director Jim Taylor, who runs the Merrimack Wastewater Treatment Facility, said it's extremely important for voters to note that the upgrades proposed have no impact on the tax rate as the money to pay for the upgrades will come from user fees paid by town sewer customers.

Taylor said it is imperative that a plan to upgrade this facility is accepted as soon as possible. "Most of the equipment has been in continuing service for more than 40 years."

Pumps and pipes that run the system and have been in nonstop use since 1970 have survived this long – a good 10-20 years beyond their life expectancy – due to impeccable maintenance by the department, Taylor said, but it's always a risk running a system such as this on equipment that could fail.

In addition to replacing the equipment, the upgrades are necessary for the town to remain compliant with its EPA discharge permit, which is up for its five-year renewal this year.

Phase I of the project was completed back in 2006

With yet another phase of this project to complete, and an eventual need for upgrades to satellite pumping stations around town, Taylor said the sooner this project is approved and being paid off the better.

More information about the project can be found on the town website under the Public Works Department, or in the town's Capital Improvements Plan.

The Catskill Watershed Corporation Board of Directors has authorized the expenditure of nearly $2 million to begin design of a wastewater treatment system for the hamlet of Phoenicia.

The Board voted to authorize a $1,980,789 contract with Lamont Engineers to enter the pre-construction phase of the project. The Shandaken Town Board voted to proceed with the project and now must establish a sewer district for Phoenicia.

The project is being developed with a block grant of $17.2 million from New York City. At the town’s request, the Catskill Watershed Corporation agreed in July 2010 to help review several proposals that had been made for wastewater treatment solutions and to come up with a preferred project.

Lamont Engineers, coordinator of the Catskill Watershed Corporation’s Community Wastewater Management Program, conducted the review and proposed a 130,000-gallon-per-day membrane bioreactor treatment plant to serve the hamlet, which is at the intersection of the Stony Clove and Esopus Creeks upstream from New York City’s Ashokan Reservoir.

The Catskill Watershed Corporation is a nonprofit Local Development Corporation based in Margaretville committed to protecting water resources, encouraging environmentally friendly economic development and supporting watershed education.

The Town of Columbus has approved a new contract for its wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation that includes new additions and a lower overall budget.

Columbus Town Council met and approved a revised $597,250 engineering contract with W.K. Dickson Community Infrastructure Consultants, which is an increase from the previous engineering costs of $571,750. The engineering contract increased in order for engineers to design a new laboratory, a new second chlorine contact chamber and a new water supply well. Other changes include changing the type and size of the sludge storage facilities.

Dickson’s estimate on the rehabilitation in January was for those additions to increase the total cost of the project to $2,836,750, but with adjustments his estimate is now $2,747,250, which is under the original $2,750,000 estimate.

Columbus received a letter in December 2011 from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) indicating that the town’s engineering report was approved.

Columbus has been approved for a state loan of an estimated $2,750,000 at no interest in order to rehabilitate its wastewater treatment plant, which is approximately 40 years old.

The town is scheduled to submit its final plans and specifications to the state on June 1, to advertise, receive and submit bids in December and to execute the construction contract in January 2013.

The Shelby wastewater treatment plant will need a major overhaul, costing an estimated $8 to $10 million, to meet more stringent permit regulations and the implementation of Shelby’s Phase II Storm water permit will begin.

Even without the permit regulations, Shelby City staff and officials said that the plant is in need of both upgrades and renovations.

Brad Cornwell, public utilities director, said parts of the plant are more than 40 years old, and in order to comply with the most recent N.C. EPA permit, the city will have to make changes to the existing plant by Aug. 1, 2016.

The last upgrades were done in the 1990s to eliminate a sludge incinerator and put a compost facility in its place. Aeration basins were also added.

The state has allowed the city six years to complete the necessary upgrades and meet the more stringent permit requirements.

City officials said it is a multi-year project that will take a year for analysis and design, six to 10 months for the plan to be reviewed and approved by the state, and then an additional year or two for the bidding process and construction.

The Phase II Storm water permit mandates that cities cut down on pollutants in water sources that come from storm water runoff. As per federal mandate, Shelby will be starting a storm water utility over the next few years.

The city has submitted its permit for review, and if it is approved, will begin plans to improve the city’s drainage system as well as educate residents to prevent oil and other pollutants from being dumped down drains.

Burgess & Niple of Akron will serve as the engineering firm for the Phase I improvements to Salem’s wastewater treatment plant. The cost will be considerably less than what was originally estimated.

The original estimate for engineering was set at 20 percent of the estimated construction cost of $2,319,000, or $472,600. Utilities Superintendent Don Weingart said that equates to a savings of at least $200,000 from the original budget. The company's first offer was 11.9 percent, but it was negotiated down to 11.5 percent.

The department followed Ohio Revised Code and sent out 41 requests for engineering statement of qualifications from potential engineering firms and received nine statements of qualifications. Personnel from the department ranked the nine firms, with the five firms receiving the highest ranking asked to submit a cost bid based on design engineering services, construction engineering services and project finalization services.

Burgess & Niple was one of two companies that completed studies on what upgrades were needed at the plant, ultimately to reduce the amount of phosphorus discharge as required by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The Ohio EPA issued the following news release: The village of Attica has agreed to reduce levels of disinfection byproducts in its drinking water and construct improvements to its wastewater treatment plant. The work will bring both systems into compliance with state regulations and permit requirements.

For the wastewater treatment plant, the village has six months to submit a plan for plant improvements. The settlement includes a five-year schedule for the village to obtain a permit to construct and operate the wastewater plant improvements, then begin and complete construction. Until construction is complete, Attica must maintain and operate the plant in compliance with its permit conditions.

The village has 90 days to submit an evaluation of its sludge treatment and disposal methods and 120 days to submit a report on a plan to reduce infiltration and inflow of storm water into the sanitary sewer system. The village also agreed to pay a $1,081 civil penalty for violations involving the wastewater treatment system.

Violations addressed in the settlement occurred between 2006 and 2011.

A contract for construction of a portion of the Bascom wastewater treatment plant was approved by the Seneca County Commissioners. Another contract was rejected by the board and will be rebid.

On construction of the distribution and collection pipes for the sewage treatment plant, the commissioners approved the low bid of Helms & Sons Excavating, Findlay, at $2.32 million. The project was estimated at $2.47 million by K.E. McCartney and Associates, Mansfield. Bids were opened Jan. 31.

But the commissioners rejected the bids for construction of the treatment plant and two pump stations. Kelstin Inc., Shelby had the low bid of $1.52 million, but the engineering company's estimate was $1.25 million. By state law, the county cannot accept a bid if it is 10 percent above the estimate.

Bids for the treatment plant and two pump stations will be opened again at 10:30 a.m. March 8 in the commissioners' office.

Bascom will be part of a Seneca County Sewer District with New Riegel, so the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development will provide a loan and grant for the construction.

Bascom residents have been paying for more than five years to help finance the project.

The Lake County commissioners have approved a resolution that will expand and upgrade the wastewater treatment plant in Madison.

Bids are being advertised and will be opened at 11 a.m. on March 28. The project will cost an estimated $21 million.

The improvements will increase the plant’s capacity from three MGD to five MGD." said Albert Saari, sanitary engineer with the Lake County Utilities Department. "We’ve been right on our discharge limits with the plant. We haven’t violated it, but we’re at that point that if we do not upgrade or expand that possibly could happen" he said.

The project will be completed in January 2014.

Bids are due June 12, 2012 for the Winston-Green Regional WWTF Phase 2 upgrade.

For more information go to: http://www.theskanner.com/article/Sub-Bids-Requested-Wastewater-System-Treatment-Facility-Phase-II-Upgrade-2012-02-29

Emerick Construction is requesting subcontractor bids for the Columbia Blvd Wastewater Treatment Plant Support Facility Project in Portland.

For more information go to: http://djcoregon.com/files/2012/02/Emerick-Columbia-BLVD.png

Bids are due March 13, 2012 for Holiday Park Sewage Treatment Plant headworks modification.

For more information go to: http://www.h2bid.com/procurement-notice-153709.html

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) has announced that PennFuture and the Brodhead Watershed Association (BWA) have reached a settlement with the Mount Pocono Municipal Authority to resolve the federal lawsuit that the environmental groups filed in late 2010 against the authority for more than 600 permit violations. The consent decree, lodged with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, binds the authority to a specific timeline to improve its discharge of treated sewage to Forest Hills Run. This stream was once clean enough to earn the state’s high quality designation, but was added to the state’s impaired streams list in 2002.

Under the terms of the consent decree, the authority will reduce the volume of its discharge to Forest Hills Run by applying increasing amounts of the discharge to a large parcel of open land, where vegetation and soils will filter out additional pollutants.

The consent decree allows the authority to increase its treatment capacity as soon as the stream is restored. The Borough of Mount Pocono needs the increased capacity in order to grow.

A detailed construction timetable has been unveiled for the timely completion of the Arklow Sewage Treatment Plant at Seabank.

A recent presentation given to Arklow Town Council and Chamber of Commerce by Wicklow County Council officials and independent consultants has outlined a deadline of mid 2016 which will see the plant operational following the completion of four phases over the next four years.

A specific timescale for works has been set out with the first section to be completed by the first quarter of 2013 including site investigation works and licensing which include the acquisition of foreshore licenses and Wastewater Discharge Authorization from the EPA.

The tender for the construction contract will be awarded by the second quarter of 2014 and the plant at Seabank is expected to be built in early 2015. The remainder of work includes completion of interceptor sewers and pumping stations so that the wastewater treatment plant can become operational by the middle of 2016.

With half the design completed, the Chambersburg area Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion and upgrade could cost more than 50 percent less than expected.

The plant is being upgraded to meet projected 20-year flow increases as well as nutrient removal requirements in the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy.

When work began almost three years ago, it was expected to cost more than $82 million. Today, through various strategies and negotiations, officials expect the project to cost about $37 million, a savings of 55.3 percent.

Some of this cost savings comes from a study of the current sewer lines and a proposed nutrient credit system.

Initially, planners believed the sewer lines would need to be replaced to meet the 20-year flow growth and cost an estimated $27.5 million. However, it was determined the interceptors are large enough to carry the projected flow and only the ones closest to the plant will need to be fixed for an estimated $2 million.

Additionally, to meet new standards under the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, the plant will need to remove more nitrogen and phosphorous from the water being distributed back into watersheds.

The strategy outlines the nutrient removal requirements, which limit the total amount of nitrogen and phosphorous that a wastewater facility is permitted to discharge over the period of a year.

The municipalities had anticipated buying credits at $9 per phosphorous credit and $5 per nitrogen for about three years for a total of $2.7 million, Salzmann said.

The total project cost of $37 million will be shared among the four municipalities that use the plant - Chambersburg Borough as well as Greene, Guilford and Hamilton townships. Chambersburg will contribute $5.7 million to the project with the surrounding townships contributing $15.4 million, $5.3 million and $10.5 million respectively.

The three townships surrounding the borough do not have their own treatment plants. When the borough's treatment plant was upgraded in the 1980s, the townships connected to it when they upgraded to a public sewer system, said John Hollaway, manager of the Guilford Township Municipal Authority. Thus, it was important for all the townships and the borough to work closely in developing a plan for the upgrades, Hollaway said.

In Hamilton Township, they are processing about 760,000 gallons per day at the treatment plant and have requested an allocation of two MGD in 20 years, said Sharon Purnell, manager of the Hamilton Township Municipal Authority.

Once the design is competed and approved, the project will be advertised for bidding in September 2012 with construction completed in summer 2014.

Bids are due April 10, 2012 for an upgrade project for the Tiadaghton Valley Municipal Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant.

For more information go to:

http://pa.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=2683254

The city of Gatlinburg has hired an engineering firm to design a new equalization basin at its wastewater treatment plant to replace one that collapsed last year and killed two workers.

An agreement approved by city commissioners shows the city will pay McGill Associates $100,400 for the project — $91,900 for the tank's design and $8,500 for the bid process which includes helping them find a builder to construct the basin at the Gatlinburg Wastewater Treatment Plant in Sevier County.

The new million-gallon concrete tank, according to the contract, will be built adjacent to an existing Biosolids Dewatering Building. The maintenance building will be demolished during construction of the new tank, so the project also includes design and construction of a new maintenance/operation building.

No construction start date was noted in the contract.

Demolition of the remaining parts of the tank that failed started last month after the city awarded a $96,100 contract to NEO Corp, of Canton, NC on Dec. 6.

The city plans to spend $3.2 million for odor control at the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment Plant.

A second $198,606 contract is to study how to reduce the city's water bill at the sewage treatment plant and make better use of sewage effluent.

Jerry Stewart, plant manager, said the contract with Haren Construction Company will use a biological scrubbing process to clean portions of the plant and hold down bad smells. He said it will also help with corrosion control and make the plant safer for employees.

A more pressing problem is that of odors problems downtown which are mainly caused by the city's aging combined sewers, a survey was taken of smell complaints and most were about downtown problems.

Mr. Stewart said it would cost at least $400 million to separate all the city's combined sewage lines. He said one step being taken by the city is that when a road is under construction crews take the opportunity to install trap basins that help dampen odors. But he said just about five percent of lines have the device, which costs between

$3,000-$5,000. Another method being studied is to carry out periodic jet cleaning of the combined lines.

The city's water bill with Tennessee-American Water is $235,000 a year. The treatment plant uses eight million-10 million gallons of water a month. The study will look at whether the city could make better use of the effluent.

The city of Iola has entered into a finance agreement with the Texas Water Development Board for the planning section of the wastewater treatment plant. The city is anticipating receiving the first funding this month, which has been awarded specifically to finance the planning portion of the project.

Big Spring needs a new water and wastewater treatment plant. Recently the city and the Economic Development Corporation came to a compromise over how to pay for the project.

The agreement is subject to voter approval.

The city of Blaine will spend about $42,000 more for work on a project that has encountered a number of delays since late 2011.

The wastewater conveyance project, which will eventually connect the aging Semiahmoo treatment plant with the larger treatment facility at the west end of Marine Drive, has been plagued by material delays and a broken sewer line that added $119,647 to the project’s cost. Recently the city council approved two additional contract amendments totaling $42,292.

Bill Bullock, Blaine’s acting public works director, said the two contract amendments were needed for the additional time construction management firm Wilson Engineering, based in Bellingham, and Seattle-based engineering design firm Tetra Tech, Inc., have spent working on the project. The city will pay an additional $25,700 to Tetra Tech, bumping the firm’s total contract amount to $892,240, and $16,592 to Wilson Engineering, increasing their contract to $241,491.

According to the amendments, Tetra Tech’s contract has been amended nine times since March 26, 2009, while Wilson Engineering’s contract has been changed on four occasions. Bullock said the project was supposed to be completed at the end of 2011, but delays in acquiring materials pushed the project into winter, which effectively halted progress.

The project is expected to be completed by May.

The city of Snohomish is near the top of the list for a loan needed to design a pipeline from its wastewater treatment plant to Everett.

The Department of Ecology is proposing to lend the city $2.2 million so Snohomish can design the pipeline. This project is one of 58 projects the department is proposing to fund next year.

In total, the department would give $89 million from state and federal sources to projects from all over the state.

The pipeline design is part of Snohomish's $40 million project to build a five-mile underground pipeline.

The city is working on different projects aimed at reducing pollution that flows into the Snohomish River. The city's wastewater treatment plant has had problems complying with national standards for several years. As a solution, the pipeline would transfer all the city sewage to Everett.

The city of Superior is looking to eliminate nearly 11 tons of chlorine from its wastewater treatment process.

Recently, the Superior City Council approved $3.6 million in bonding for the project. The project has been in planning stages for more than two years.

Currently, the city’s Wastewater Treatment Facility uses elemental chlorine to disinfect treated wastewater. While chlorine is an effective method for disinfection, it also poses a risk to the public.

Chlorine is detectable at 1 part per million, can cause vomiting and coughing at 30 ppm, lung damage at 60 ppm and death at 1,000 ppm, creating a risk for workers and citizens. It also releases chlorine into the Lake Superior watershed.

Instead, ultraviolet radiation would disable the bacteria in the treatment process so it would no longer be a threat.

Construction on the project could begin as early as March, said Steve Roberts, engineering manager with the Division of Environmental Services and is expected to be complete by November."

You can track all the water/wastewater chemical bids in our 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.

California, MD

https://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=1983

New Haven, CT

https://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=1981

Rockaway, NJ

https://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=1980

San Antonio, TX

https://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=1982

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