Uniontown has received $4.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help it repair and expand its wastewater treatment system. About $2.3 million will come from a USDA grant, and $2.5 million will be a USDA general obligation loan to be repaid over the next 30 years.

The money will go toward a $4.4 million renovation of the wastewater treatment plant, which will include sewer line repairs, upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant and the purchase of 40 acres to serve as a second spray field for treated wastewater. Construction is expected to take about a year to complete and will likely start this fall, said a representative from Sentell Engineering, which designed the project.

The wastewater facility’s spray field just can’t handle the current load, reports said.

The Cottonwood Council Utility Division has terminated the contract of the lead builder for the proposed Riverfront Park Wastewater Treatment system.

The city believes a succeeding builder can build the plant for the budgeted $8.5 million, not a figure "almost double" that. Development Services Manager Dan Lueder says the higher figure came "as a shock," that the PCL Constructors did not think the 300,000-gallon plant could be built cheaper than that.

Lueder says, Cottonwood will move from a "design-build delivery" to a CMAR, Construction Manager at Risk, using the same architect, Wood/Patel, that has been in place since the project's inception. The design is now about 70 percent complete, as the work moves from design to construction.

The city has looked at other "similar" projects in New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada and indicates those projects show that a similar plant can be built for a cost less than PCL estimators cited. The city is looking at a cost of $18/per gallon, before the cost of solar collectors, which are expected to add another $2.5 to $3 million. Some plants are being constructed for less than that, according to Lueder. But PCL has quoted in the range of $40/gallon.

The city ordered work to be stopped after the June 27 meeting in which PCL unveiled estimator's numbers.

Recently, the council took three actions. It terminated its relationship with PCL. It authorized Wood/Patel and subcontractors to complete the design of the wastewater facility under the existing contract and the city for its utility engineering service. Finally it authorized staff to issue a Request for Qualifications for a Construction Manager at Risk to work with Wood/Patel to finish the design and construct the facility.

The city has already successfully used the CMAR delivery method to build another project.

The Clarkdale Town Council will discuss and might approve a Guaranteed Maximum Price #3 (GMP) for the final construction phase of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Felix Construction Company is requesting the GMP for $3,391,145.

Town staff recommends that the council approve the GMP for that amount.

In a report prepared for the council, Utilities Director Wayne Debrosky explains that the GMP #3 "covers the civil site earthwork, the headworks and influent pump station, erecting the existing tankage, blower building, belt filter press, and related equipment, masonry, electrical, mechanical, and painting/coating. This represents the remaining work required to finish the project.

Debrosky also stated that the cost for dewatering and disposal of the sludge was originally estimated to cost $200,000. But this has been revised upwards to $500,000 and would cover sludge removal from both lagoons.

Bids are due September 21, 2012 for a grit belt conveyor installation at the San Mateo Wastewater Treatment Plant.

For more information go to: http://www.cityofsanmateo.org/bids.aspx?bidID=200

Bids are due August 30, 2012 for the Clear Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant rehabilitation and expansion project.

For more information go to:

http://www.constructionbidsource.com/dbe-ad-detail.php?recordID=9495

A groundbreaking ceremony July 27 launched the Nipomo Community Services District’s (NCSD) $13 million project to upgrade the Southland Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The first phase, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2014, will "vastly improve (the) treatment level and quality of plant discharge," said Michael LeBrun, NCSD general manager.

Improvements also will prepare the plant for future expansion and more advanced treatment that would allow the effluent to be used for irrigation.

Plant upgrades were prompted by a notice of water discharge quality violations issued in February 2006 by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for several instances in 2005. Because a groundwater barrier 60 to 140 feet beneath the surface was hindering treated wastewater from percolating into the deep aquifer, a build-up of effluent was threatening the quality of Nipomo Creek water.

In response, the district completed a master plan to upgrade the Southland plant in June 2010.

The first phase of the work will improve the quality of the treated effluent but will not expand the plant’s current capacity of 900,000 gallons per day. However, a future second phase will expand the capacity to 1.28 MGD, and a third phase will result in a capacity of 1.8 MGD and additional disposal sites within five miles of the plant, according to the project description. Currently, the plant’s average flow is about 570,000 gallons per day, with a maximum recorded flow of about 613,000 per day.

The timing of the second and third phases will depend on the rate of growth within the plant’s service area.

In the first phase, the influent lift station will be replaced, the headworks will be upgraded to improve effluent screening and grit removal and two of four existing treatment ponds will be reconstructed, with extended aeration capabilities.

Three secondary clarifiers will be built with a pumping system to circulate sludge, a sludge thickening system will be installed and two unlined sludge drying beds will be replaced with concrete-lined beds. Equipment, support buildings and facilities, piping, electrical and instrumentation improvements also will be made throughout the facility.

Designed by AECOM, the initial $10.2 million of improvements are being constructed by Cushman Contractors of Goleta. MNS Engineers is providing construction management.

Paso Robles must improve its wastewater treatment plant. The existing wastewater treatment plant is antiquated and overloaded and is putting too much waste into the Salinas River. The state of California has ordered the city to complete a major upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant by 2015 or face severe consequences.

Design of the upgrade is complete and construction will begin in early 2013. The city is financing the project with a low-interest state loan. Sewer rates must increase to cover the loan payments and fund other necessary improvements to the sewer system.

Western Riverside County will gain access to more near-drinking-quality water under plans to expand the West Riverside Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Permits are now being obtained for the plant, and construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2013, said Jeff Sims, deputy general manager of Western Municipal Water District. The district operates the plant.

Sewage capacity at the plant will be increased from 8 MGD to 13.25 MGD by the $44 million expansion.

As much of that sewage as allowed will be treated to tertiary standards, which is just below drinking quality, Western said. Some of the agencies gaining that water have said they'd like to use it for recharging groundwater basins, along with captured storm water. When needed, the water would be taken out of storage and purified to drinking water standards, then put into the water supply.

The expansion was made feasible by the city of Corona to join a local public consortium that supplies sewage to the plant. The Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority, a joint powers authority, voted to accept Corona as a member in March. Corona will supply about 2 MGD of wastewater.

During May, June and July, each of the members of the wastewater authority approved the expansion agreement. The members are: Norco, Jurupa Community Services District, Home Gardens Sanitary District, Western and now Corona.

The Delta Diablo Sanitation District will repair a main sewer pipeline, grit chamber and primary clarifier structure — key equipment in the early stages of treating incoming sewage. The system is in need of maintenance after being in continuous use since 1981, said a district spokeswoman.

Work is expected to be completed by October. Delta Diablo does not expect service interruptions for its 200,000 residential customers and businesses in Pittsburg, Antioch and Bay Point.

Rather than dig out the old piping, the district is insulating about 140 feet of older pipeline in the middle of the plant with cured-in-place liner.

"What you're left with is basically a new plastic pipe that is corrosion resistant and can last 40 to 50 years," said Dean Eckerson, Delta Diablo's principal engineer. "That area in the plant is so congested, we had to go with a technology like this." Eckerson explains that a resin-filled "sock" will be put in the pipe and heated under high pressure, which will cause it to expand and harden. The end result is the resin will fit snugly to the inside of the pipe, he said. Other structures that filter out material from the water and later separate out the raw sludge will receive concrete repairs and other coating to prevent chemical corrosion. While the main water line is taken out of commission for the repairs, the water flow will be diverted to an aboveground system.

The plant processes nearly 14 MGD. The project costs about $1.5 million, including about $872,000 for the construction. It is being funded by ratepayer fees, which have gone up incrementally the past few years in part to cover improvements.

The coalition of municipalities opposing new phosphorus limits have said that meeting the new directives will cost them millions of dollars in wastewater treatment plant upgrades. The group has been negotiating with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in an effort to get the agency to ease its requirements.

All the while, members of the coalition — which includes the top executives in Meriden, Wallingford and Southington — have been watching a court case in Massachusetts where similar phosphorus limits were being opposed.

The Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District’s case against the U.S. EPA 1st Circuit Court of Appeals did not rule in favor of Millbury, MA, and its sewage plant. The court upheld the Environmental Appeals Board’s decision that the plant that serves 11 communities along the Blackstone River will need to reduce the phosphorus in its discharge, despite the fact that the cost of compliance will be about $200 million, and will add $5 million to annual operational costs.

Despite expressing some disappointment about the court’s decision regarding the Massachusetts plant, local members of the coalition said they are not discouraged in their fight.

Coalition members are awaiting scientific guidance documents from the DEEP. The documents will help clear up how the department determined its phosphorous limits. The state has indicated that the phosphorus limits will be set at 0.2 parts phosphorus per million.

Those opposing new limitations feel the DEEP has not clearly defined the expected improvement in water quality that would be achieved as a result of its proposed significant reductions in phosphorous discharge. And they feel the new limits of 0.7 parts per million outlined in 2008 by the DEEP are much more financially realistic.

Cheshire dropped out of the coalition four months ago because it received $6.9 million in grant money from the Clean Water Fund to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant — a $31.3 million project.

Southington, Meriden, Cheshire and Wallingford have all said they would have to spend an average of $56 million in capital improvements and more than $2 million in annual operating costs to reach the new phosphorous limits. Danbury is also involved in the coalition.

Artesian is planning to build a wastewater treatment facility with spray irrigation northwest of Milton to serve customers in Georgetown and many planned developments surrounding the Milton area.

Following a June permit hearing where residents opposed the plan to build the plant north of Milton, Artesian held a public informational session on July 31. The goal was to ease the concerns of Miltonians and neighboring residents as the company's permit awaits a decision by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

The Artesian Northern Sussex Regional Wastewater Recharge Facility would include a treatment plant and the distribution of treated wastewater through spray irrigation on 700 acres of farmland.

Customers for the proposed plant are expected to come from Georgetown, and many projects already approved by the county surrounding Milton. Artesian would also control the wastewater of any homes built in the Elizabethtown development should any be built. The project has preliminary approval through Jan. 1, 2013.

Waste would be pumped to the facility through an underground pipeline, and no trucks would be used to haul material to the site. Once treated, Artesian could spray a maximum of one inch per acre per week.

Artesian's permit application is currently in the hands of the DNREC and a final decision will be made within a year.

Recently, Senator Tom Carper, Senator Chris Coons, and Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Collin O'Mara joined USDA Rural Development State Director Jack Tarburton and other officials announced funding for improvements to Millsboro's wastewater system. The improvements will provide significant clean water benefits for Delaware's Inland Bays.

With the support of USDA and State funding, Millsboro is on track to help Delaware achieve the goal of the Inland Bays Pollution Control Strategy of eliminating point source discharges from wastewater treatment plants into the Bays.

Approximately 3,400 homes and businesses are served by the Millsboro Wastewater Treatment Facility. Originally constructed in 1964, the facility was upgraded in 2009 with a state-of-the-art nutrient removal system that makes the discharged effluent near drinking water quality and ready for land-based application.

The next phase of the project will secure land approximately 5 miles west of Town for the construction of an aquifer recharge site to be completed by December 2013. The location is a sod farm that is currently irrigated with well water and the aquifer recharge will consist of a combination of spray irrigation and a Rapid Infiltration Basin System.

Including the wastewater treatment upgrade that was completed in 2009, USDA's total investment to the town of Millsboro to improve the disposal of treated wastewater effluent is in the form of a grant in the amount of $4,287,959 and a low-interest loan in the amount of $14.5 million.

Additional information on rural programs is available at www.rurdev.usda.gov/de

Dade City's decision to abandon a plan to expand its wastewater treatment operation in the Mickens-Harper neighborhood will cost $65,942 in fees. The money covers revision plans drafted by the project's engineering firm, Baskerville-Donovan.

After an outcry from Mickens-Harper residents in October, commissioners reversed their decision to install a 2 million gallon recycled water system in the middle of the residential neighborhood. The new plan calls for the improvements, including future irrigation tanks, to be constructed on the city's 50-acre property south of town.

The project is estimated to cost $5.6 million, which includes $2.4 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

City Manager Billy Poe and city engineer Gordon Onderdonk will begin accepting bids September 5 for the first phase of the rehabilitation, but construction will not begin for several months.

A request to advertise for bids to rehabilitate the Navarre Beach Wastewater Treatment Facility clarifier was approved at an Aug. 9 Santa Rosa County Commissioners board meeting.

County Engineer Roger Blaylock said that the treatment plant was severely damaged during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and both clarifiers were damaged. The county rebuilt the larger one and had the secondary, the smaller one, put into the design plan, but before repairs could be made, funding ran out.

At its first meeting of the month, the Jessup City Council voted unanimously to increase sewer and water rates by 56 percent to pay for the first phase of work to build a new wastewater treatment plant.

City Engineer Bill Shuman presented the commissioners with a review of what has been done toward building and financing the wastewater facility. The new plant is expected to be completed in the summer of 2014 and will replace the present plant which is 25 years old and in need of constant and costly repairs.

The bid to build the plant by BRW Construction of Savannah was $11.4 million. Shuman said it would be prudent to add a contingency fund of 5 percent to that cost for a total estimated expense of $11.9 million.

The city signed a promissory note with the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority on April 17 for $7.5 million to begin construction of the project. The contract with BRW was signed, so that after an Aug. 27 pre-construction meeting, actual work is expected to begin on the new plant within the next several weeks.

Upgrades to Quincy's wastewater and water treatment facilities could provide the most energy savings if the city wants to cut utility costs, according to a St. Louis energy services company.

CTS Group representatives told the Quincy Finance Committee that the city could see energy savings of between $50,000 and $375,000 annually if the city completed infrastructure projects costing between $700,000 and $9.5 million. This would include upgrading the aeration system, replacing 40-year-old motors, and using biogas to heat the wastewater treatment plant.

The city will decide in about two weeks whether it wants to explore hiring one of three firms for the project.

Officials from two rural wastewater districts said recently they are considering building a $22 million sewage treatment plant to avoid rate increases imposed by the Muncie Sanitary District.

Representatives of the Delaware County Regional Wastewater District and Liberty

Regional Wastewater District, which serve 1,789 and 1,630 households, respectively, in areas north and east of Muncie, attended a meeting of the Delaware County commissioners and asked for the county’s blessing and possible financial support.

The estimated $22 million cost of a new treatment plant, ideally located along White River southeast of Muncie, would ultimately be a less expensive alternative for households in the two districts.

Customers for the district are seeing cost increases because their wastewater is sent through buried lines for treatment by the Muncie Sanitary District. A new sewage treatment plant would handle that wastewater instead. The plant would be built, lines would be extended to it and sewage would be rerouted.

The Muncie Sanitary District board voted in March to increase sewage rates and stormwater fees — the latter by 600 percent — to fund a 20-year, $160 million project to separate storm and sanitary sewers. The project, which will cover the district's remaining combined sewers — about 25 percent of the total — is the result of a federal mandate to comply with the decades-old Clean Water Act.

The new plant could potentially handle wastewater not only from the Royerton and Selma areas but towns like Cowan in southern Delaware County. The Cowan area has been cited by officials as an area with failing private septic systems.

The two districts have asked GRW, an Indianapolis consulting firm, to begin work on a study, which should be complete within six months at a cost of $38,000.

The city of Joice will receive funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help make improvements to its wastewater treatment plant, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced.

A USDA spokesman said the community was awarded $939,000 as a direct loan and $972,000 as a grant through USDA Rural Development’s Water and Environmental Program. Total project cost is estimated at $2.1 million. Another $200,000 is being funded by I-JOBS, Iowa’s Infrastructure Investment Initiative.

The project will involve installation of a centralized gravity collection system with a centralized controlled discharge lagoon and will replace the community’s individual septic systems.

Sewer service fees for Leavenworth residents are likely to increase by 25 percent at the end of this year.

Officials say the increase is needed to pay for a $4.1 million project at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. A disinfection system that uses ultraviolet light is being added at the plant to comply with federal regulation.

Public Works Director Mike McDonald said the disinfection system is intended to destroy E. coli before treated water from the plant is discharged into the Missouri River.

The regulation requiring the disinfection system is being enforced by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment but originated at the federal level through the Environmental Protection Agency.

The city is supposed to have the disinfection system completed by the end of the year and the project is on schedule.

Monticello City Council members recently approved the second reading of the bond ordinance, authorizing approximately $4.9 million in bonds for the wastewater treatment project. They also approved a resolution for interim financing for the project until the bond sale is completed.

The council approved the bid on the bonds by USDA. The bid came in at 2.5 percent for 40 years.

Following the special meeting, a preconstruction meeting was held with Smith Contracting, who was awarded the bid for the project. Officials said the start date for the project is September 4.

Officials from St. Agatha and Frenchville gathered recently to celebrate their partnership in combining wastewater treatment operations at one facility, eliminating discharges to the St. John River and Long Lake.

The $3.2 million project is expected to be completed in late summer 2013 when St. Agatha will officially begin sending its wastewater to Frenchville for treatment.

Funding is made possible by three different federal and state agencies. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development has provided a loan/grant commitment of just over $1.1 million to the project to assist with the conversation of the treatment plant to a pumping facility. The Maine Department of Environmental Projection has awarded the project just over $1.6 million in grant funding and principal loan forgiveness through its Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund. The DEP funds will be used to update the treatment facility as well as a section of force main and a two pump station improvements in Frenchville. The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development has awarded St. Agatha a $500,000 grant from its Community Development Block Grant program. These funds will be used to repair about one mile of service line and connections on Main Street in St. Agatha.

"By moving from two separated, aged wastewater treatment systems to a shared, state-of-the-art facility, the towns of St. Agatha and Frenchville are ensuring a safer and more sustainable future for their communities," said Nick Archer, DEP’s Northern Maine regional director, in the press release.

Bids are due September 12, 2012 for a centrifuge overhaul on one Westfalia Model CA-635 centrifuge.

For more information go to:

http://ma.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=2873896

Bids are due September 5, 2012 for solids handling upgrade project.

For more information go to: http://ma.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=2868471

Bids are due September 12, 2012 for the Wharf Street Wastewater Pump Station Rehabilitation.

For more information go to:

http://ma.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=2879464

Bids are due September 21, 2012 for work at the Springvale No. 1 Water Station. The project includes removal of existing pump and motor, rehabilitation of pump station building, underground piping, pitless adaptor and submersible turbine pump and motor, security and miscellaneous work in other buildings.

For more information go to:

http://ma.mypublicnotices.com/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=2877690

Federal environmental regulators have fined the city of Fitchburg $141,000 for violations including discharging untreated sewer water into the Nashua River.

The U.S. EPA alleged that the city violated federal law by bypassing wastewater flows around a secondary treatment system, violated many limits on the amount of discharge on ‘‘hundreds of occasions,’’ and discharged untreated water from the collection system without permits.

The city was also ordered to make at least $100,000 in improvements to its wastewater treatment system, including an operations and maintenance plan to overcome ‘‘systemic neglect’’ in the system.

The Sherborn Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to authorize a smart-sewer study to give officials an idea of what such a project would entail in Sherborn.

Selectmen responded with enthusiasm to a "smart sewer" presentation by the Metro Boston Consortium for Sustainable Communities, in which representatives described "small, localized sewering" that would keep water local and provide an opportunity for the town to generate revenue.

"Smart sewering is a program we’ve been working on for about 12 years. There were a lot of problems with wastewater in suburban and urban areas, a lot [of which] has to do with moving water long distances," said Bob Zimmerman, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association. "We don’t want to throw it away — this is about figuring out how best to keep water local. Smart sewering is a wedding of the concepts of smart grown and water infrastructure," he said. Small towns are too small for conventional sewer systems, which require expensive wastewater treatment plants, Zimmerman said. "Sherborn is unlikely to have 2 to 3 million gallons of wastewater run through a plant anytime soon, so building a wastewater plant — Sherborn’s out," he said.

Zimmerman explained how the council created a scenario for the town of Littleton, in which the town would not have to pay additional taxes for a new treatment plant. The plant, he said, would be funded "solely on the back of residents of the affected districts." The plan involved phasing the system, increasing capacity as need grows, Zimmerman said. The shell of the plant would be built at the onset, but the real cost of the project — the anaerobic digesters, which convert wastewater to potable water — could be added over time, he said.

The new plant could also turn waste into methane, 99 percent natural gas, and use it to make electricity and offset the cost of the plant, Zimmerman said. Food waste from supermarkets could be hauled in and treated at the plant, versus being dumped in a landfill, and the town would collect a tipping fee, he said. The additional revenues could generate $200,000 to $300,000 annually, and pay a significant portion of the plant’s bond, Zimmerman said.

The town would be creating a wastewater district, and defining where the boundaries would be. The entire plant would be contained in a building on town-owned land, Zimmerman said. A few acres would be needed for the building, and about five acres for the constructed wetlands, he said.

The Saginaw City Council has approved the sale of up to $2.9 million in bonds to pay for a new screening system at the city's sewer plant.

Saginaw Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Jeanette Best said the new system will eliminate a threat to worker safety. Best said the screen is composed of a series of metal bars, each three inches apart, meant to catch large items. "It's part of the original structure of the plant, which is 60 years old," she said.

The project will cost about $2.7 million, though city council was asked to approve the sale of $2.9 in bonds.

The Port Huron City Council will be voting on an agreement with Tetra Tech for professional engineering to allow excess water to flow into a secondary water treatment plant instead of overflowing back into the system.

Bob Clegg, city engineer, said the overflow comes from footing drains that are still connected to the sewer during periods of extreme wet weather. Storm water drains, which collect the vast majority of wet weather precipitation, flow directly out into the river without treatment.

The system modification will not impact the combined sewer overflow incidents which are periodically reported by the city. Clegg said they are specifically related to overflow points in the collection system and have nothing to do with the water at the wastewater treatment plant.

Tetra Tech will be paid $93,880 for engineering during the design phase of the project, with an additional $50,955 coming during construction. The total project cost is about $1.2 million. The money will complete a $5.8 million bond the city authorized for improvements at the wastewater treatment plant in 2010.

Minnesota 2020 has created an extensive state wide report called "Wasting Away". The group is calling on lawmakers to step up to help maintain the state's infrastructure before it turns into a health and environmental crisis.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has identified 350 wastewater projects statewide in greatest need of upgrading. More than a dozen multi-million dollar projects are in towns stretching from Ely to Grand Rapids.

In Duluth, more than 50 percent of the wastewater pipes are more than 50 years old, some are as old as 120 years.

"The infrastructure is failing, you're seeing seepage, leakage coming out of faulty piping, you're seeing equipment and plants fail and it's causing environmental impact," Kerry Ellquist, WLSSD Treatment Plant Operator said.

Replacing these systems is extremely, financially challenging for small rural communities already hit hard by state budget cuts. That's why Minnesota 2020 is calling on state lawmakers to restore local government funds to finance some of the state's most critical wastewater problems.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency estimates it will cost $23 million to upgrade the Central Iron Range Sanitary District in Hibbing alone.

Kevin Graves of WHKS recently updated the Wykoff City Council on wastewater treatment plant plans submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development. The plans showed the design of the new wastewater treatment plant. Graves shared the plant's timeline, noting that the city originally wanted to start construction as soon as possible.

"The timeframe is up to Rural Development. I'm almost sure there will be comments back with the plans that we'll address, and then the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has to sign off on the project. We plan to create a new building, set it in place, get the plant up and running and make sure the water meets limits, then we'll cut ties to the old plant."

Another public hearing is required, because changes to laws regarding Rural Development processes have affected what is acceptable. The hearing will be held before the regular meeting on Sept. 10.

Recently the Saltillo Board of Alderman approved an agreement to help Guntown dispose of wastewater.

The Department of Environmental Quality has threatened to fine Guntown if they do not get the system into compliance so city officials turned to Saltillo for help. If all goes as planned, Saltillo will be processing wastewater from Guntown; a move many say just makes good sense. A three and a half mile pipeline would be used to direct wastewater to the Saltillo Water Treatment Plant. Guntown is expected to pay Saltillo an estimated $60,000 a year.

This move will be a temporary one. Ultimately Guntown, Saltillo and Baldwyn are expected to combine forces and share one plant.

Recently, the Independence City Council approved an emergency ordinance for the borrowing of $37,035,000. It was the first step to finance improvements to the city’s sanitary sewer system.

Facing environmental regulations from the federal government, the city is required to make certain improvements.

John Powell, the city’s director of public works, said the first improvements – scheduled for the Rock Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant – are ready to go now. Built in the 1970s, the plant would receive improvements to its controls, as well as storage capacity built into the system for wet-weather flows "that we, historically, have not been able to treat in the past," Powell said.

The city of Hebron’s wastewater treatment facility is old and in need of improvements. In 2010 the system experienced problems when the comminutor broke down, and in August 2010, an inspection by Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) identified the facility as operating outside of compliance requirements due to the inoperable comminutor. A notice of violation was issued to the city stating the comminutor needed replacing at the headworks.

City officials immediately turned to new mechanical screening as an option, at a cost of $370,500.

BG Consultants, Inc., of Manhattan, KS, was hired to survey the entire system and let the city know exactly what was needed and possibly help with finding financial assistance in the way of special grants or low interest loans.

According to a recent report from the consulting firm, Hebron’s sanitary sewer collection system is estimated to be at least 60 years old. It is primarily composed of 52,000 feet of clay tile sanitary sewer main and approximately 150 brick manholes. The system includes three sewer lift stations, each of which is in need of a comprehensive mechanical evaluation.

The survey also states that the "sewer mains and manholes are broken and cracked to such an extent they allow significant root penetration which has caused blockages in the sewer mains and redirected gravity flow back into household basements." The firm says in consulting with city staff, it is estimated that approximately three days each week is spent on operation and maintenance of the collection system. The lift stations are "continually being plugged by rags and debris which requires city staff to clean out the stations every day. "All three of the pump stations are reaching a point where their useful mechanical life will be satisfied and a replacement/rehabilitation plan, based on a thorough mechanical evaluation, should be implemented," stated the report.

Cost estimates for the wastewater needs according to the consulting firms report including the main lift station screen improvement project, the wastewater treatment facility assessment and the collection system infrastructure total approximately $535,500.

Currently the city leaders, through BG Consulting, have applied for grants and are waiting to see if the project qualifies.

In an effort to protect the environment, the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) has unveiled a four-point plan to fix the region’s ailing wastewater systems and polluted waterways.

At a recent press conference, members of the league, Long Beach City Council members, State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and local environmentalists called on county, state and federal officials to develop a comprehensive financing strategy.

Titled Wastewater Infrastructure Investment: An Action Agenda for Long Island, the NYLCV report is aimed at guiding the region’s elected leaders to take action.

"Sewage contamination of our waterways and drinking-water sources is one of the biggest challenges facing Long Island," said NYLCV Chairman Michael Posillico. "Our infrastructure has been underfunded for far too long, and the health of Long Island residents and the environment is at serious risk. Our elected leaders … must work together … to resolve this critical problem."

The report was based on a meeting held in June with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and business and environmental groups to establish a "productive" dialogue about Long Island’s wastewater concerns and map out potential remedies.

The plan addresses Mangano’s proposal to create a public-private partnership for Nassau County’s wastewater management system, and suggests that the county immediately undertake an independent analysis of the costs associated with the plan.

The report also calls for the creation of a Suffolk County Wastewater Management District to lessen the cost burden on communities that need urgent wastewater upgrades; an increase in state funding through the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation; and an increase in federal support for infrastructure investment.

Additionally, the plan calls on Long Island’s congressional delegation to advocate for more reliable and consistent funding for municipalities, saying that federal support for wastewater infrastructure has declined significantly in recent years.

Organizers said that they held the press conference in Long Beach because of its recent history of environmental issues. In 2010, the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, which serves roughly 40 percent of Nassau County and discharges approximately 70 MGD of wastewater into Reynolds Channel, was cited for numerous violations by the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) after officials discovered that the plant had for months been releasing partially treated sewage in greater concentrations than allowed by environmental law. County officials attributed the problem to malfunctioning equipment, and last year the County Legislature earmarked $3 million for new equipment and upgrades at the facility.

DEC officials said the plant has taken steps to limit the discharge of partially treated solids, and the recent discharge has been below or very close to legal limits. Still residents report the water in the channel is still brown.

In an effort to eliminate 25 percent of the county’s $3 billion debt, Mangano announced a proposal to sell or lease three of the county’s sewage treatment plants to a private company in February. The plan calls for the sale of the Glen Cove Sewage Plant, the Cedar Creek Sewage Plant in Wantagh and the Bay Park Sewage Plant in East Rockaway for roughly $1 billion.

In July, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) rejected Mangano’s proposed contract with Morgan Stanley to broker a deal for the public-private partnership. Before NIFA’s ruling, Mangano’s plan included selecting United Water of Harrington Park, NJ, as a potential operator of the county’s sewage treatment system.

Despite NIFA’s rejection, Mangano is pressing forward with his plan. It requires approval by the County Legislature, and would help stabilize the county’s Sewer Authority, which faces bankruptcy in 2014, by saving $22 million annually. Mangano said that without a public-private partnership, the county would need to invest $300 million to $400 million into the plants over the next three years.

The village of Lyndonville, Orleans County, has received federal funding of $250,000 to complete a multi-year upgrade of its wastewater treatment system.

The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s water and waste disposal program, through the USDA’s Rural Development office, Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement.

"Completing water-quality projects in Lyndonville will boost public health and bring infrastructure jobs to the region, which will spur local economic development," he said.

At its regular meeting, the Statesville City Council will likely approve a plan to allow city staff to apply for $4.8 million in low– or no–interest loans through a state program for repairs and upgrades at the city’s Fourth Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The city’s wastewater treatment facility consultants, McGill & Associates, have been working on an application for the funds through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Loan Program.

Richmond County will be receiving $459,400 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program to expand its wastewater treatment plant.

The project will include the construction of a three-story addition to the existing control building, two new sedimentation basins, three flocculation basins, filters with media, clarifier, flash mixer, air scour in all plant filters, air condition filter system, various new electrical and mechanical controls, piping, yard lighting, and necessary appurtenances. It is part of an overall project totaling more than $5.8 million, paid for by a mix of grants and a loan.

Officials have broken ground on a wastewater treatment and reclamation plant in Dickinson that officials say will help keep up with the population growth being caused by the western North Dakota oil boom.

The $30 million facility is designed to handle wastewater flows from a projected population of 35,000 people and could be expanded to handle up to 68,000 people.

Once treated, the wastewater will go to municipal and industrial uses such as irrigation and oil field fracking.

The plant is being paid for in part through more than $12 million in state energy-impact grants. It is scheduled to be completed by October 2014.

Odor problems that have plagued the neighborhood surrounding Marietta's wastewater treatment plant should be permanently solved by the second phase of the treatment plant upgrade expected to begin later this year, a city official said.

City engineer Joe Tucker said a new centrifugal sludge treatment system that will be part of the $6.3 million second phase of the upgrade project will provide better odor control and more efficient handling of sludge than the current belt filter press system.

Bids for Phase 2 are due September 25. The first phase is making good progress and should be completed by the end of the year," Tucker told city council's water, sewer and sanitation committee. He noted that odor control issues began at the plant in January 2010 after a portion of the sludge-processing system failed due to a broken line from an anaerobic digestion tank.

The current belt filter press sludge handling system has been used for several years and there have been problems with the system requiring extra maintenance that eats up treatment plant dollars, he said.

Littlestown Borough Council agreed last week to seek $4.5 million in loans to begin improvements to its wastewater treatment plant.

The money is to be used on a "draw-down" basis and would be repaid once the borough begins receiving funds through the state's Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVEST) program. Littlestown is applying for $8.5 million in grants and low-interest financing through PennVEST that would be repaid over a 10-year period through sewer-rate charges.

Borough Engineer Joshua Fox said having the authority own the property is appropriate since it is set aside for future expansion of the plant. The currently planned improvements will not increase the facility's capacity.

The planned $7.5 million treatment plant upgrade is necessary in order to meet the Department of Environmental Protection's "Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy," designed to drastically reduce the amount of nutrients and sediment discharged into local waterways. The current sewage treatment facility was built in the 1940s and upgraded periodically over the years. The borough is required to have those upgrades substantially completed by October 2013.

The Scranton Sewer Authority (SSA) will hold a public hearing on a $140 million, 25-year plan to control and reduce sewer-overflow pollution into the Lackawanna River and its tributaries that eventually feed into Chesapeake Bay.

The plan is a response to federal Clean Water Act mandates under the U.S. EPA and state Department of Environmental Protection, as part of a multistate effort to reduce nutrient discharges and sewer overflows into waterways that feed the polluted Chesapeake Bay.

The authority's 25 MGD wastewater treatment plant serves some 87,000 people in Scranton and Dunmore. Its 275 miles of sewer lines in a 10,000-acre service area flow into a treatment plant that discharges effluent into the Lackawanna River, which feeds into the Susquehanna River. Like many older cities in the nation, Scranton's sewer system is composed of both combined sewers, which carry both wastewater and runoff from storms, and separate sanitary sewers that carry only sewage. The combined sewers serve about two-thirds of the SSA's service area, mostly in older developed sections of Scranton and Dunmore.

The long-term plan, which has been in the works for years, aims to significantly reduce untreated Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), from some 85 outlets into the Lackawanna and its tributaries, according to the authority.

The plan marks a distinct change from a previous $400 million plan that EPA had been urging in 2006, the authority said. After going back to the drawing board, the authority came up with its new plan involving construction of a series of large detention storage tanks along the sewer route to capture combined sewer overflows in times of heavy rain. When storms are over, the overflow then would gradually be released to the treatment plant for processing.

The plan calls for in-line and off-line box culvert storage, precast storage tanks, sewer separation, CSO regulator replacement and continued implementation of certain CSO-related operational and maintenance controls. Because it is estimated that this overflow capture method will reduce CSOs by 90 percent, which is more than the more-expensive plan would have captured, this latest plan is "cheaper and better," said authority Executive Director Gene Barrett.

The long-term plan, which will be divided into five phases, aims to spread costs out over the life of the project to make it more affordable. It also calls for implementing in the first 10 years $5 million worth of "green infrastructure" initiatives to reduce stormflows.

Ellsworth Air Force Base and Box Elder are one step closer to retiring their aging wastewater treatment facilities and switching to a regional wastewater system.

The South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources approved a $16 million low-interest loan to the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority, which it will use to construct the plant.

"This will allow us to move forward and bid the project out and award the project this fall," said Scott Landguth, executive director for the state authority. The authority also received $1 million in grant funds from the state board to contract for the design of the facility. Landguth said the authority will also seek funding to connect the base to the facility; the city will be able to use its existing infrastructure.

Ellsworth and Box Elder's existing treatment facilities need to be upgraded to comply with surface-water discharge standards. A feasibility study showed that building separate systems would cost about $8 million more than the regional center. The project involves constructing a wastewater treatment plant immediately northwest of Box Elder's lagoons. The plant will be sized to provide for future growth in the area. The loan will cover the total estimated cost of the treatment facility.

The South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority was created by the 2009 Legislature to protect and promote the economic impact of Ellsworth Air Force Base and associated industry, and to promote the health and safety of those living or working near the base.

The city of Chattanooga is requesting "expressions of interest" for professional development of a plan to consolidate area water, wastewater and water quality facilities and services.

The document says those services are too fragmented and the area would be better served to have a unified agency in charge.

Officials of the Tennessee American Water Company (TAW) have repeatedly said the local water company is not for sale, and TAW fought off a takeover attempt under the administration of Mayor Jon Kinsey. There are a number of smaller water providers, including the Eastside and Hixson utility districts.

In addition to the city's sewer system that includes the huge Moccasin Bend Treatment Plant, the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority covers a wide area. And a small treatment operation is at the Windstone development near the Georgia line.

The document cites the need for "modern, efficient and responsive state-of-the-art utilities."

The proposals are due Sept. 12 and are to be reviewed by a city professional services committee. A review committee consisting of individuals selected by the City will receive and review all REI s submitted. The City, in its sole judgment, will decide if a REI is viable.

To review the documents go to:

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2012/8/23/232818/City-Requesting-Proposals-On-Plan-To.aspx

Bids are due September 13, 2012 for rehab of an influent lift station for the Fallbrook Utility District.

For more information go to:

http://www.civcastusa.com/projectdetails.aspx?projectid=2242

The city of Bastrop Sewer Plant is making attempts to improve their facility with the help of new equipment offered by M2 Renewables that is performing tests at the plant.

"We’re testing equipment that could potentially replace some of the aging equipment in the yard," said Sewer Department Project Manager Joseph Fontienot. "This equipment could replace four big tanks in the yard and improve the odor drastically."

M2R specializes in the treatment of domestic wastewater and conversion of captured organic solids into usable forms of energy.

Fontienot said the mobile machine currently testing at the plant has water running through it to "see how much sludge the machine would be removing from the water during normal operation." Fontienot said when the old machines are working properly, the plant can handle the average daily intake of 750,000 gallons of sewage.

The city has been considering buying the new equipment to replace the older machines, because the equipment is so old, finding available parts to repair it is a big problem.

The city is looking into different government agencies for funding to pay for the equipment. The cost of the equipment and installation could be up to $1 million.

Prompted by a state mandate to reduce nitrate levels to no higher than 10 milligrams per liter, the Cedar City Council heard a capital facilities plan to deal with the issue.

A representative with Carollo Engineers, the firm contracted to create the required plan, told the council that the best option would be to build an additional tank at the plant with a two-stage treatment plan. This would reduce the amount of nitrates produced and it also would slightly reduce the capacity of the plant and increase the amount of solid waste produced.

The project could be split into two phases. The first phase would cost about $6.8 million with the second phase costing an additional $3.6 million. Mayor Joe Burgess said the city has budgeted about $6 million for the project but said he believes the actual bids, due to be open in June 2013, would be less than has been estimated.

The city has a Sept. 1 deadline to approve a capital facility plan and will vote on it as part of its consent agenda. The next deadline the city has to meet is to have a complete design by May 2013.

Bids are due August 29, 2012 for the Totopotomoy Wastewater Treatment Plant Clarifier No. 2 improvement project.

For more information go to:

http://www.co.hanover.va.us/purchasing/2281TP-solicitation.pdf

Upgrades to Front Royal's wastewater treatment plant lie years in the future but town council is reviewing the work ahead.

A GHD Consulting representative said the town faces several steps in the process to upgrading the facility before it can break ground.

The project is estimated to cost $45.61 million. But the town may receive an estimated $28.03 million from the state if it is found eligible for a water quality improvement fund grant. The eligible amount remains an estimate from the contractor based upon guidelines with the grant program. When the town applies for the funding the state will determine the eligible costs and determine how much money would be provided.

The project takes a two-pronged approach: Upgrading the facility so it meets enhanced regulations for removing nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous; and to expand the capacity of how much water it treats.

The current wastewater facility is rated to treat 4 MGD. The project seeks to increase that plant's capacity to 5.3 MGD. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality then caps the loading of nitrogen at 48,729 pounds per year. As such, the plant must reduce its release of nitrogen into the water to 3 milligrams per liter.

Phosphorous will be capped at 3,655 pounds per year and the nutrient's concentration must drop as the treatment plant expands. The plant currently is not designed to remove phosphorous or nitrogen at the levels required.

The project comes in two phases, with the first phase addressing phosphorous and nitrogen releases as well as average daily capacity of the facility. The second phase addresses the peak hydraulic capacity of the plant, the cost of which relies on the success of the first.

A project schedule indicates the town would submit the preliminary design of the upgrades on Dec. 3. The town and the consulting firm in March 2013 would look at "value engineering" to bring down the costs of the project. GHD expects to submit the designs at different percentages of completion beginning July 12, 2013 and completing in late January 2014.

GHD expects to receive a certificate to construct the upgrades from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality on March 3, 2014, and the town could advertise for bids from contractors a week later. Bids would be due May 14, 2014 and the town could select a contractor in August 2014.

The board of the Roanoke Water, Sewage, Gas and Filter Plant awarded the $6.5-million bid to Crowder Construction Company for construction of the wastewater treatment plant on Aug. 2.

This is an all-inclusive bid but some items may be dropped such as the kitchen equipment, filters and the equipment shed to get the bid to between $5.4 million to $5.9 million or less. Greg Thompson, project engineer with AME Engineers, said company officials have already found about $420,000 in things they can eliminate.

His goal is $5.3 million if possible. If there is money left at the end he would like to put the filters back in, he said, although they could be added in a phase 2.

The goal is to have the project completed in eight months but realistically it would be nine, Thompson said. He will serve as the inspector on the project.

The city of University Place will get $2.25 million as advance payment for permits and other work that is required to expand the county’s Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to a county-city agreement.

The money will pay for the city to do inspections, review plans and issue permits for the $353 million expansion of the sewage treatment facility inside city limits.

The expansion will increase capacity and meet treatment regulations that are expected to become stricter. Major construction on the nearly four-year project is expected to begin in November.

Deputy Utility Manager Joe Scorcio said the single-fee approach is necessary because of the large size of the project and to make sure permits are processed "in a very timely manner." The project is also unusual because it is large and has many components. Scorcio called it "a very, very large plumbing project" with a handful of buildings. The expansion will require dozens of building, mechanical and plumbing permits to be issued by the city.

Oak Harbor’s $93.5-million wastewater treatment facility will be built downtown, in the vicinity of Windjammer Park.

The odor-free plant will use one of the most advanced treatment processes available, which means clean and clear water will be discharged into the bay. The antiquated and malodorous sewage treatment plant in the middle of the waterfront park will likely be demolished.

The city’s consulting firm, Carollo Engineers, estimated that the plant would cost $93.5 million, if a membrane bioreactor system is installed. The cheapest option would be to build an activated sludge system, which would bring the cost down to $89 million. But the system does not clean the water as well and may have to be updated in the future to comply with more stringent state water quality regulations.

The target date for building the wastewater treatment plant is 2017.

Recently, the Reedsburg Common Council approved a $3.2 million upgrade to the Reedsburg wastewater treatment plant.

Construction on the project is expected to start next spring and will take about a year to complete.

There are two problem areas at the plant. They include the centrifuge and the lime stabilization system.

The centrifuge is limiting the ability of the plant. The total capacity of the plant is restrained.

An engineering consultant from Town and Country Engineering told the Common Council the other problem was the lime stabilization system, also restricted by the volume of sludge being processed. The current centrifuge handles 60 gallons of sludge per minute. The new one will be able to handle 240 gallons per minute.

The last major upgrade to the plant was constructed during 2004 and 2005, doubling the plant’s capacity.

The Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, and Chief John Elliott of the Stz'uminus First Nation have announced funding for a new water and wastewater infrastructure project in Stz'uminus First Nation.

The First Nation has plans to develop 25 hectares of designated mixed-use commercial and retail buildings on one of their reserves. There are also opportunities for future First Nation initiatives to benefit from the new infrastructure investment. Situated near the TransCanada highway on Vancouver Island, the Stz'uminus First Nation's reserve is ideally located to facilitate economic development in the region.

"Connecting the Stz'uminus First Nation's reserve to the town of Ladysmith's water and wastewater system will unlock economic development potential on-reserve," added Minister Duncan.

The Government of Canada has invested close to $1.485 million in this project through the Community Economic Opportunities Program, which helps First Nations facilitate economic and employment opportunities like community-owned businesses and land development. The Stz'uminus First Nation contributed an additional $250,000 and will secure funding towards the remaining costs of the project.

Engineers at Oregon State University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater, opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell excess electricity.

The new technology developed at OSU can now produce 10 to 50 more times the electricity, per volume, than most other approaches using microbial fuel cells, and 100 times more electricity than some.

Researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used "activated sludge" process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach would produce significant amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater.

The findings have just been published in Energy and Environmental Science, a professional journal, in work funded by the National Science Foundation.

Experts estimate that about 3 percent of the electrical energy consumed in the United States and other developed countries are used to treat wastewater, and a majority of that electricity is produced by fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. But the biodegradable characteristics of wastewater, if tapped to their full potential, could theoretically provide many times the energy that is now being used to process them, with no additional greenhouse emissions.

OSU researchers reported several years ago on the promise of this technology, but at that time the systems in use produced far less electrical power. With new concepts – reduced anode-cathode spacing, evolved microbes and new separator materials – the technology can now produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of liquid reactor volume. This amount of power density far exceeds anything else done with microbial fuel cells.

The system also works better than an alternative approach to creating electricity from wastewater, based on anaerobic digestion that produces methane. It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn’t have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of unwanted hydrogen sulfide or possible release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

"The OSU system has now been proven at a substantial scale in the laboratory, Hong Liu, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering said, and the next step would be a pilot study. Funding is now being sought for such a test. A good candidate, she said, might initially be a food processing plant, which is a contained system that produces a steady supply of certain types of wastewater that would provide significant amounts of electricity."

Continued research should also find even more optimal use of necessary microbes, reduced material costs and improved function of the technology at commercial scales, OSU scientists said.

Once advances are made to reduce high initial costs, researchers estimate that the capital construction costs of this new technology should be comparable to that of the activated sludge systems now in widespread use today – and even less expensive when future sales of excess electricity are factored in.

This technology cleans sewage by a very different approach than the aerobic bacteria used in the past. Bacteria oxidize the organic matter and, in the process, produce electrons that run from the anode to the cathode within the fuel cell, creating an electrical current. Almost any type of organic waste material can be used to produce electricity – not only wastewater, but also grass straw, animal waste, and byproducts from such operations as the wine, beer or dairy industries.

The approach may also have special value in developing nations, where access to electricity is limited and sewage treatment at remote sites is difficult or impossible as a result.

The ability of microbes to produce electricity has been known for decades, but only recently have technological advances made their production of electricity high enough to be of commercial use.

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.

Ardmore, OK

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2068

Frederick County, MD

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2074

Greenville, TX (Bid Request)

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2047

Greenville, TX (Bid Review)

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2071

Lake Charles, LA

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Water_Chemical/Subscriber/uwcDB/totentry.asp?ref=2076