Deluge of Challenges Impact Water Infrastructure Systems:

The Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) estimates that the U.S. needs to spend nearly $300 billion over the next 20 years to build and repair wastewater treatment plants, sewer pipes and drinking-water treatment facilities. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reports that America faces an investment gap of more than $20 billion a year between what is currently being spent and what needs to be spent on water and wastewater systems.

With meaningful legislation still stalled in Congress, the issues and challenges continue to grow. Earlier this year William Schatz, general counsel for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, presented testimony before the Congressional Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. In commenting on the funding dilemma, he said, “Municipal wastewater treatment systems are critical components of the nation’s infrastructure and, as such, need efficient and effective financing mechanisms to meet current and future clean water mandates. Today, the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund provides financing for less than 10% of core wastewater infrastructure projects. Accordingly, it is time we begin the process of identifying a long-term, sustainable source of federal funding to meet the needs of future generations.”

Discussions are under way among lobbying organizations to push for a dedicated trust fund that would provide consistent federal funding for water resource projects and would not be dependent on subjective annual appropriation decisions. However, the associations do not yet concur on the appropriateness or timing for such a push, and more work needs to be done at the grassroots level to clarify the issues and values that a trust fund would bring to the table.

Congressional support for water-related funding is evidenced by the development of the House Water Infrastructure Caucus (WIC), an internal House organization started in the spring of 2000. Established by Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), and Robert Borski (D-PA), the caucus’s goal is to develop legislation and support to address the nation's water infrastructure challenge. The WIC currently includes over 80 members.

Balancing Priorities

“We believe utilities should be self-financing through their rates,” states Tom Curtis, deputy executive director of government affairs for the American Water Works Association. “But we also know that some utilities need assistance, especially where there are stranded assets, population declines in the service area, and expensive mandates on the wastewater utility that make it hard to raise water rates. To us, a big part of balancing those imperatives is making the federal assistance available as loans, with some grants available for real hardship situations. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund provides a model of how that can work. With some modifications, it would be even more effective.”

Waiting on the Money

Without adequate financial support to fund all the needed water system projects, utility owners are looking for cost-conscious ways to do more with less. “Faced with stringent regulatory requirements and intensive capital investment needs, our water and wastewater clients are increasingly interested in technologies that inexpensively enhance performance without requiring additional infrastructure,” says Dr. Richard Kuchenrither, senior vice president at Black & Veatch.

Rehab Growing

“Addressing aging infrastructure is a pressing issue in the water/wastewater industry,” says Chuck Heintz, Godwin Pumps’ northeast regional manager. “Sewer rehabilitation projects, particularly in urban areas, are ever increasing. Today, municipal owners and consulting engineers have become more comfortable with bypass pumping for larger and larger sewer rehabilitation, so we’re working with contractors around the country on a multitude of bypass projects.” Innovations are also fueling the market. “As membrane filtration and UV disinfection continue to increase in popularity, trends include scaling up and effectively integrating new and conventional treatment technologies,” states Kuchenrither.

Don Smith, president of MWH Americas, concurs: “Proven technologies such as UV disinfection, membranes, and process automation remain powerful, providing innovative opportunities for owners, operators and consultants.”

Delivering the Project

Completing projects quickly and smartly remains a vital issue that can have a positive impact on cost containment. Ed Kampbell, P.E., vice president and general manager of Inliner Technologies, LLC, says that “the single biggest challenge facing the wastewater industry is the ability to get the infrastructure rehabilitation work done in a timely fashion, within a budget that we can afford. Alternate methods of project delivery, such as design-build, will be crucial to helping us solve our wastewater infrastructure problems.”

As design-build continues to prove its value, the delivery alternative is becoming the norm in many cases. “Clearly,” says Smith, “municipalities are embracing the speed and cost-saving benefits of program management, asset management, and the design-build approach, particularly during these times of budget austerity.”

Yet design-build may not be enough by itself to provide the kinds of cost containment that are essential in the changing economic climate. “Some of our customers with large or complex wastewater and water improvement programs are moving toward both design-build and construction management-at-risk approaches,” comments Tom Rooney, president & CEO of Insituform Technologies, Inc. “With these alternative delivery systems, we can get involved in projects in their earliest stages, helping minimize and manage the unknown risks that often accompany underground projects.”

When the City of Allentown, PA, replaced a 36-in. plug valve at their 50-mgd wastewater treatment plant, a bypass kept the plant in service throughout the upgrade process.

“The bypass required taking 10 automatic, self-priming pumps, each 10 ft long and 5 ft wide, and placing them in an area equivalent to the width of four cars,” states Dave Groner, sales engineer for Bridgeport, NJ-based Godwin Pumps. “Add the complexity of 10 discharge lines, then drop the whole system 12 ft below grade and you have a challenge.”

To fit the pumps in the tight area, Godwin placed the 7,000-lb pumps in a V-formation, using a 10-ton crane to lower each below ground.

One thousand ft of 18-in. high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe connected the bypass pumps to the 48-in. force main conveying flow throughout the plant. “On site,” says Groner, “conditions change and the HDPE pipe gave us flexibility to make bends that conformed to the geography and provided 100% leak-proof protection.”

A further challenge was a channel running through the pump station, providing only one foot of free board before the sewage would overflow the channel. “You can’t even have a pump burb or you’re in trouble,” says Groner, “but we made it happen.”

With the award of a $336-million DBO contract by the city of Phoenix, AZ, to American Water Services (AWS) in August, the joint-venture team of Black & Veatch and McCarthy launched design-build delivery of the 80-mgd Lake Pleasant Water Treatment Plant and associated facilities. Advanced and emerging treatment technology plays a prominent part in North America’s largest DBO project, which will supply safe drinking water to 400,000 households in northern Phoenix.

The Lake Pleasant WTP will incorporate the latest in water treatment technology and automation, including an innovative ballasted flocculation process for high-rate sedimentation, ozonation, deep-bed monomedia filters, post-filtration GAC contactors, and UV disinfection. These processes will control taste and odor and will eliminate harmful bacteria and other substances. The D-B contract also encompasses a raw water intake and pump station, 1.5 miles of large-diameter pipeline and on-site storage and pumping of finished water.
Design and permitting will take 12 to 15 months. Once construction begins in mid-2004, the Black & Veatch/McCarthy team will perform all aspects of construction for the 225-acre plant site. AWS is under contract to manage and operate the plant for 15 years, with start-up and delivery scheduled for February 2007.

Regardless of where one stands on the federal water infrastructure legislation debate, recent reports from EPA and the Congressional Budget Office suggest that utilities must be prepared to commit more of their own resources to fund system expansions and upgrades. As a result, many utilities will need to raise rates to pay for compliance with new regulations, security needs, and repair and replacement of aging infrastructure. EPA officials have expressed the opinion that water utilities should raise their rates an average of 3% per year to eliminate the funding gap.

The American Water Works Association’s Water Utility Council is developing a project to help utilities communicate the funding dilemma to their constituents. The council is developing generic messages, strategies, communication tools, and graphics as templates that utilities can tailor to their own local circumstances. AWWA believes these will effectively communicate the need for investment in water infrastructure to local elected officials and the public consumer. “Aligning utility communications programs with community goals helps build support for rate increases that ultimately benefit every community,” says Tom Curtis, AWWA’s deputy executive director of government affairs, “and we want to do all we can to support those efforts.”

Orleans, IN-based Reynolds Inc., a licensee of Inliner Technologies, recently reached the halfway point for the nation’s first performance-based sewer rehabilitation contract.

The design-build project involves a find-and-fix approach to reduce inflow/infiltration (I/I) by 20% in the city’s 20,000-acre Whites Creek drainage basin. Under terms of the innovative contract, Reynolds will be reimbursed up to $7 million for labor and materials and awarded a bonus if I/I reduction reaches 30%. Completion is scheduled for October 2005.

The find-and-fix approach allows the contractor to more easily adjust to field conditions, with rapid turnaround between identifying problems and making repairs. Reynolds is using a variety of rehabilitation techniques, including the Inliner Technologies’ method of cured-in-place pipe. Renewal options are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and include joint repair, excavation and replacement, part lining, and various manhole renewal alternatives.

“While the project is still in the initial stages of construction, it’s clear that this is one the industry will be keeping an eye on,” says Ed Kampbell, vice president and general manager of Inliner Technologies. “The unique combination of a design-build contract, with specified performance requirements, may solve many challenges the sewer rehabilitation industry has faced thus far.”

It took 15 years, 14 permits, and a complicated bonding process, but soon, a $28-million groundwater reclamation project will allow the City of San Juan Capistrano, CA, to achieve independence from distant water sources and allay the risk of water supply shortages.

The city currently depends primarily on water from a single pipeline that snakes into Southern California from the Colorado River. However, an underground aquifer in the San Juan Basin will soon provide a quality water supply and sufficient reserves to meet the city’s needs.

“This design-build project is one of the first public-private partnerships that allows a city to participate in the Metropolitan Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment Program,” says Tim Healy, vice president with construction contractor ARB Inc. of Lake Forest, CA. The project involves design and construction of eight wells, each approximately 160 ft deep, and a groundwater recovery and treatment plant.

Since the underground water supply contains high levels of trace minerals and salts, the brackish water will be treated through reverse osmosis. Project completion is slated for December, 2004. Southwest Water Co. of Los Angeles, CA, will operate the new facility under a 20-year contract with the city.

Insituform Technologies Inc., of Chesterfield, MO, is involved in a variety of sewer rehabilitation projects in the Phoenix valley that require large-scale bypass pumping operations. These projects range in diameter from 51 to 96 in. with working temperatures ranging from 100-118°. Special precautions must be taken to prevent premature initiation of the thermosetting resin, causing the cured-in-place piping (CIPP) to harden before it is inserted into the host pipe. “By utilizing massive quantities of air conditioning, chillers, and ice during construction, these projects are proving that CIPP can be used in extreme environments to successfully and cost-effectively seal host pipes,” says Mike York with Insituform’s Phoenix operations. One of these projects, the Salt River Outfall (SRO), conveys an average of 60-80 mgd and was named Trenchless Technology’s project of the year.

To restore damaged pipes, Insituform’s resin-impregnated tubing is installed inside a damaged sewer. This process creates a seamless, jointless pipe-within-a-pipe, providing a smooth, continuous inner surface that generally increases overall flow capacity.

For decades, storage tanks have been the primary resource to store municipal water and wastewater. Yet today’s technology is making them tougher. “The use of post-tensioning in water storage and water treatment tanks has increased significantly over the past several years,” says Dan Harger of VSL’s Denver office. “Post-tensioned tanks have superior corrosion protection on the prestressing steel. And all cast-in-place concrete members are post-tensioned bi-axially to assure water tightness without joints in the floor or roof slabs.” A case in point is the Foothills Water Treatment Plant in Denver where a circular, post-tensioned, potable water storage tank holds 25,000,000 gallons. Due to the circular shape, the load is evenly distributed around the tank. In many cases, tendon tanks are partially or fully buried to limit visibility and access. Since there are no coatings, joints, or liners required for water tightness, post-tensioned tanks are relatively maintenance-free and eliminate construction and maintenance costs associated with construction joints. “Since the prestressed steel strands are in tension and the concrete in compression,” says Harger, “each material is in its ideal state.”

Located on the north side of the city on Lake Houston, the nearly $150-million Northeast Water Purification System (NEWPS) is one of the largest design/build/operate (DBO) projects in the country. Initiated in 2001 by the City of Houston, TX, this project involves the development of a new 40-mgd water treatment facility with the latest in ultraviolet (UV) disinfection treatment.

The project was developed by the Houston Area Water Corporation (HAWC), a local governmental corporation created by the city to take advantage of the large capital savings (estimated at $80M) offered by utilizing the DBO approach. HAWC selected MWH, a global engineering and construction firm, to execute the design and construction, as well as the subsequent operation of the facility for up to 20 years.

The project entails the construction of the 40-mgd-capacity water treatment plant with nearly 10 miles of 42-in. and 84-in. water transmission lines. When completed, NEWPS will be one of the largest UV disinfection treatment facilities in the country.

UV offers Houston a number of benefits because of its ease of installation, relatively low cost of deployment and operation and adaptability to new technologies. Once operational, it is key to ensuring the plant meets all current and future regulatory requirements, especially the treatment of contaminants such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

By mid-2004, NEWPS will provide high-quality treated water to residents and businesses in the northern and western portions of Houston and Harris County.

MFG Water Treatment Products Co. engineers fiberglass parts for use in water and wastewater treatment plants. Corrosion resistant and lightweight, fiberglass parts are used in clarifiers, troughs, flumes, gates, launder covers and engineered structures.

West Cummings Park, an office complex in Woburn, MA, is recharging its groundwater, thanks to a FEMA funding program. The stormwater management system uses a subsurface chamber system manufactured by Cultec Inc. of Brookfield, CT. The Recharger® chambers’ open bottom and perforated sidewalls enhance water infiltration capability. The project includes two beds and 176 chambers (11,440 CF of volume) installed under the complex’s parking lot. A unique aspect of the Cultec chambers is the repeating, fully formed end wall design, requiring no additional parts. According to Mike Pascavage, president of Cummings Properties, ease of installation allowed construction completion in just two days.

A new generation of data collection and management software, Granite XP, was recently introduced to provide expanded capabilities for mapping and asset management systems used by municipalities and private contractors.

Developed, by Cues Inc., an Orlando-based firm that develops pipeline CCTV inspection and rehabilitation hardware and software, Granite XP captures, creates, manages, and distributes inspection data and video images that can be exported into GIS systems.

Operations, engineering, and maintenance personnel were instrumental in the design of this software, leading to innovations in graphical interfaces, flexible report options, and advanced code generators.

Municipalities face the high costs of supplemental chemicals, such as carbon, when implementing nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment. An innovation that can potentially reduce these costs is the conversion of waste sludge to produce volatile fatty acids. A study conducted by the Metcalf & Eddy Research Center for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection concluded that the acid phase of this process can generate a soluble Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) source that facilitates denitrification rates similar to that of acetate. The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) recognized this study with its 2003 Research and Technology Award.

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has teamed with MWH Americas Inc. (MWH), to help federal, municipal, and private sector clients ensure the security of vital infrastructure. Working together, SAIC and MWH have completed more than 30 vulnerability assessments across the United States. In a recent project conducted for the Columbus Division of Water system, the team analyzed such issues as design basis threats, facility prioritization, consequence determination, system effectiveness, and risk reduction/mitigation. Project findings will be incorporated into the Columbus Emergency Response Plan.

The City of Newark, NJ, has invested millions of dollars in its infrastructure over the past year. Part of that investment has gone underground in relining their network of water and sewer mains, most of which are over 100 years old. Spiniello Construction Companies of Morristown, NJ, was chosen to install the cured-in-place piping, with diameters up to 108 in. “We believe the project is one of the largest CIPP projects recently completed in the U.S.,” says Doug Sanders, division manager at Spiniello. CIPP was chosen because each rehabilitation project could be completed in days, whereas replacement of pipes would take months and could potentially require street closings and service interruptions to residents.

The N-Pump line of submersible pumps by ITT Flygt deliver sustained high efficiency while greatly reducing energy consumption. The pumps feature a unique self-cleaning, clog-resistant impeller design that ensures peak performance over long operating periods, even in fluids with high solids and fibrous content. For a free brochure, please phone (203) 380-4700.

The Pelham Wastewater Treatment Plant, located between Spartanburg and Greenville, SC, serves over 600,000 residents throughout portions of both counties. Plant upgrades are currently under way, including installation of a $1.2-million, TAK-55 UV disinfection system, manufactured by Wedeco UV Technologies, Inc. The TAK-55 system will combine 575 low-pressure, high-intensity UV lamps with an automatic wiping and control system. The project’s engineering consultant, Black & Veatch, conducted a technical evaluation of UV vendors and pre-selected Wedeco. Delivery and installation of the new disinfection system will be completed in early 2005.

California’s East Bay Municipal Utility District is upsizing and upgrading their 35-year-old Walnut Creek Treatment Plant. Upon completion, plant capacity will increase from 60 mgd to 90 mgd.

The plant’s 8-mg clearwell will be replaced with a buried 4-mg prestressed concrete chlorine contact chamber and a buried 16-mg prestressed concrete clearwell. Located in a seismically active region, these tanks were designed to accommodate anticipated seismic accelerations of 0.73g. El Cajon, CA-based DYK Incorporated will circumferentially prestress the tanks with galvanized strand using a fully automated and electronically controlled system to ensure quality control.