|
The American Council of Engineering
Companies of Wisconsin has selected the City of Two Rivers
(Wisconsin) and Donohue & Associates for an Honor Award
in the Engineering Excellence Awards competition.
The Award
recognizes the evaluation, design, and construction-related
services of ultraviolet disinfection facilities and an
aeration basin conversion at the Two Rivers’ wastewater
treatment plant.
The City of Two Rivers’ wastewater
treatment plant serves over 13,400 residents and 350 businesses.
It is
located close to downtown businesses and Lake Michigan.
The plant is constructed on an extremely “tight” site,
with little available green space to expand. Facing the
need for additional capacity and stricter regulations regarding
the use of chlorine, the City worked with Donohue to develop
engineering solutions to meet these challenges. These solutions
saved significant construction dollars and valuable green
space at the treatment plant.
Prior to this project, the
City used gaseous chlorine to disinfect its wastewater.
The storage and use of chlorine
posed safety concerns and required additional measures
to meet new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
The City eliminated the use of chlorine gas and installed
an environmentally safety ultraviolet (UV) disinfection
system. This system uses a state-of-the-art design and
is one of the first in the nation to feature this technology.
Available
space on the plant site for new UV facilities was severely
limited. The City and Donohue developed a
solution whereby the existing chlorine storage room was
converted to the UV facilities. The City did not have to
construct a new building and it gave new life for a space
that would have otherwise gone unused.
Another challenge
at the plant was the limited capacity for the aeration
process, a vital stage in the wastewater
train. The limited capacity was adversely affecting plant
performance. By converting the unneeded chlorine contact
tanks to aeration basins, aeration capacity expanded by
60 percent without constructing new facilities. Piping
changes were also completed that allow maintenance on the
aeration basin to be done without severely impacting plant
performance, as had previously occurred.
Engineering Excellence
judge Daniel Scudder remarked, “This
was a good example of excellence in consulting engineering.
They re-engineered to use existing facilities in new ways,
and that’s good service to the client.”
|
