Thermal drying for cost and risk control
Brown and Caldwell receives funding grant for PFAS incineration study
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Brown and Caldwell has been granted funding from The Water Research Foundation (WRF) to study the fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through sewage sludge incineration.
PFAS is a group of human-made chemicals found in a range of consumer and industrial products. Many PFAS are resistant to grease, oil, water, and heat and used in many applications, including stain- and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams. The widespread use of PFAS and their ability to remain intact in the environment over time can result in environmental contamination.
PFAS – deemed as “forever chemicals” – are present in discharges to wastewater systems, and because of their characteristics, undergo virtually no degradation before environmental discharge. Thermal treatment of PFAS-laden wastewater solids through sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) offers a potential PFAS control strategy; however, with few published research studies available, the ability of SSIs to fully mineralize PFAS is unknown.
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- PFAS Output Options (click to enlarge)
To this end, a research team led by co-principal investigators Lloyd Winchell (Brown and Caldwell) and Dr. Detlef Knappe (North Carolina State University) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from WRF through its Tailored Collaboration Program to support utility-specific/regional issues. The study aims to explain the fate of PFAS compounds through SSIs and provide utilities with an indication of the extent to which SSIs can eliminate or reduce PFAS emissions. The team includes chemists, PFAS specialists, and thermal processing experts from 10 utility partners and one trade organization. One supporting partner is The City of Cedar Rapids, mindful of its role in understanding PFAS at its Water Pollution Control Facility:
“The City is excited to support this opportunity to further our commitment to environmental stewardship and the protection of human health. With this research in hand, we and other utilities can responsibly progress with facility designs that account for PFAS entering our systems.”
Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz
Aspects of the study include identifying municipal water resource recovery test sites with different technologies to combust solids captured from the treatment process. Once collected, samples will be analyzed, and a research report prepared to help utilities inform their assessment of appropriate PFAS handling strategies.
The recently commenced study is scheduled for completion within 18 months. Collection and sample analyses are expected by the end of 2021. The report will be finalized within six months of receiving test data.
St. Paul selects design-build firm in water treatment reliability milestone
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) has reached a major milestone in maintaining and enhancing its water system for future generations. Following a procurement strategy developed by the owner advisor team of Brown and Caldwell/Stantec, SPRWS has selected Jacobs (NYSE:J) to design and build improvements at the city’s McCarrons Water Treatment Plant.
Its oldest portions dating back to the mid-1910s, the plant continues to perform well, producing 40 million gallons of high-quality drinking water per day for 450,000 people in Saint Paul and the surrounding communities.
Like many Midwest water utilities, SPRWS is addressing aging infrastructure to maintain reliable service to customers, enhance water quality, improve operation and maintenance, and provide sustainable and efficient facilities. The planned upgrades are considered vital in maintaining a dependable, viable water utility for future generations.
“This project represents the largest capital undertaking in the history of SPRWS. As we look to enhance the livability of our city, we take pride in providing communities with high-quality, safe, affordable drinking water. Upgrading our water infrastructure reaffirms our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of public health.”
SPRWS General Manager Steve Schneider
Delivered by Jacobs via a phased, progressive design-build approach, the proposed improvements include new facilities for lime softening, recarbonation, and ozone. Replacing the existing lime softening and recarbonation facilities will increase reliability while improving water quality, solids handling, and process efficiency. The addition of ozone will further protect public health while also improving the drinking water aesthetics through enhanced removal of unwanted color, taste, and odor.
“We congratulate Saint Paul Regional Water Services on this important milestone and for their foresight and commitment to the communities they serve,” said Brown and Caldwell Project Manager Harold Voth.
A global leader in water, Jacobs has 20 years in the water design-build space and has delivered more than 500 projects and programs. The Jacobs design-build team includes PCL Construction and Magney Construction, each having combined design and construction experience at the McCarrons facility and throughout the United States.
“For more than a century, the McCarrons Water Treatment Plant has served the St. Paul area well, producing safe, high-quality drinking water. With more stringent regulations and the challenge of meeting the needs of a growing community, the Jacobs design-build partnership will make the improvements in infrastructure and technology that are necessary to continue SPRWS’ legacy of protecting public health today and well into the future,” said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Executive Vice President Ken Gilmartin.
Working alongside Brown and Caldwell and Jacobs is major sub-consultant Stantec, who is providing technical support and management throughout the project. The multidisciplinary team comprises local minority-owned, women-owned, and small business enterprise firms supporting the city’s commitment to equity and inclusion, including, Sambatek, Buildings Consulting Group, and Pro-Ops, Inc.
Design, construction, startup, and commissioning of the improved McCarrons Water Treatment Plant is scheduled for completion by summer 2025.
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About Brown and Caldwell
Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Brown and Caldwell is a full-service environmental engineering and construction firm with 52 offices and 1,700 professionals across North America and the Pacific. For more than 70 years, our creative solutions have helped municipalities, private industry, and government agencies successfully overcome their most challenging water and environmental obstacles. As an employee-owned company, Brown and Caldwell is passionate about exceeding our clients’ expectations and making a difference for our employees, our communities, and our environment. For more information, visit www.brownandcaldwell.com
About Jacobs
At Jacobs, we’re challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world’s most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $14 billion in revenue and a talent force of approximately 55,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Environmental, social and governance (ESG): leadership in the water industry with Rich D’Amato
Brown and Caldwell enters partnership to transform water sector data analytics
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Leading environmental engineering and construction firm Brown and Caldwell has entered into unique partnership agreement with advanced analytics solutions provider Seeq® to bring significant advancements in operational analytics to the water industry.
Founded in 2013, Seeq publishes software applications for manufacturing organizations to rapidly find and share data insights to improve production outcomes, including yield, margins, quality, and safety.
Utilities collect vast amounts of indiscernible data via supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and highly instrumented facilities. Bringing Seeq’s solutions to the water sector, Brown and Caldwell will help utilities better leverage SCADA data, lab analyses, asset databases, and metering data in real-time to accelerate digital transformation and positively impact the bottom line. The partnership will harness diagnostic and predictive analytics, enabling greater efficiency and deeper understanding across departments, allowing utilities to:
- Implement analytics to optimize existing systems and processes;
- Detect small changes in data trends that signify larger issues before they become problems;
- Predict performance to enable staff to be proactive rather than reactive.
“Data science is transforming how the water industry designs, operates, and maintains vital infrastructure,” said Brown and Caldwell National Analytics Engineering Lead Jamie Lefkowitz. “Through the use of Seeq’s highly effective analytics engine, we can help utility operators make real-time, data-driven decisions leading to improved outcomes and significant time and cost savings.”
“Brown and Caldwell is advancing the water and wastewater industry by delivering solutions that help organizations increase efficiency, reduce costs, and leverage existing resources,” adds Seeq Head of Worldwide Partners Will Knight. “Their thought leadership and industry expertise provide significant value to our customers as they gain insights, improve outcomes, and reduce environmental impact.”
Early adopters, Utah’s Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility (CVWRF), discovered through diagnostic analytics it was dosing disinfectant for secondary effluent pathogen concentrations year-round at a level more suitable for higher temperatures. To better analyze the correlation between seasonal temperature trends and dosing, Brown and Caldwell helped CVWRF utilize Seeq’s advanced analytics platform to identify an opportunity to optimize the treatment processes using real-time ultraviolet (UV) transmittance and intensity sensors.
The solution reduces UV power consumption by dynamically dosing to seasonal water quality fluctuations. CVWRF estimates it will save up to $185,000 annually in disinfection costs after implementing the solution enabled by Seeq.
CVWRF has adopted Seeq as part of its smart utility platform, and it is providing multiple benefits to the facility.
“The data is becoming easier to access and organize. I’m finding it’s easier to pull insights from the data in real-time as well as present those insights more readily and clearly to others. Integrity and quality control of our data will be enhanced substantially.”
CVWRF Chief Engineer Bryan Mansell
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About Seeq Corporation
Founded in 2013, Seeq publishes software applications for manufacturing organizations to rapidly find and share data insights. Oil & gas, pharmaceutical, specialty chemical, utility, renewable energy and numerous other vertical industries rely on Seeq to improve production outcomes, including yield, margins, quality, and safety. Headquartered in Seattle, Seeq is a privately held virtual company with employees across the United States and sales representation in Asia, Canada, Europe, and South America.
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How PFAS may affect your utility
Podcast: The rising potential of peracetic acid in disinfection
Construction begins on new membrane filtration reverse osmosis treatment facility
ESCONDIDO, Calif. — Construction of Escondido’s $65 million Membrane Filtration Reverse Osmosis Facility for Agriculture (MFRO Facility) commenced recently, marking a milestone in the City’s goal of providing agriculture growers a high-quality irrigation supply and easing the burden on its wastewater infrastructure.
The MFRO Facility will treat a portion of the City’s existing Title 22 recycled water supply from the Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility through membrane filtration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies. The MFRO product water will then blend with recycled water untreated by the MFRO process to produce up to four million gallons per day (MGD) of water with a salt concentration appropriate for agricultural irrigation.
A newly-built recycled water conveyance and distribution system will pipe the blended water to outlying parts of the City for beneficial use by Escondido’s local growers, mainly avocado orchards. The increased use of recycled water will in turn reduce secondary treated effluent discharges to the Pacific Ocean and ease the burden on Escondido’s outfall which is reaching capacity, saving an estimated $1 billion to upsize.
“This is an important milestone for Escondido’s recycled water system. The MFRO Facility will provide a reliable, affordable, and high-quality water supply to our agricultural community for generations to come, while beneficially reusing wastewater and reducing our reliance on imported water.”
The City of Escondido’s Deputy Director of Utilities Angela Morrow
Since summer 2019, a joint venture of Filanc and Brown and Caldwell has been providing engineering design, construction, and operational phase services for all aspects of the MFRO Facility, the first design-build project in the city’s history.
“We applaud the City of Escondido on successfully reaching this landmark milestone,” said Filanc Design-Build Project Manager Gary Silverman. “The JV is honored to collaborate with the City and their owner’s agent, Black & Veatch, through this historic progressive design-build recycled water project.”
Construction, startup, and commissioning of the MFRO Facility is scheduled for substantial completion by early 2023.
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About Brown and Caldwell
Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Brown and Caldwell is a full-service environmental engineering and construction firm with 52 offices and 1,700 professionals across North America and the Pacific. For more than 70 years, our creative solutions have helped municipalities, private industry, and government agencies successfully overcome their most challenging water and environmental obstacles. As an employee-owned company, Brown and Caldwell is passionate about exceeding our clients’ expectations and making a difference for our employees, our communities, and our environment. For more information, visit www.brownandcaldwell.com
About Filanc
J.R. Filanc Construction Company is an award-winning Design-Builder of water and wastewater treatment, storage, and conveyance infrastructure. Headquartered in Escondido, Filanc also maintains regional offices in Phoenix and Denver. This year we will celebrate our 69th anniversary as a California general engineering contractor and Design-Builder providing services in the water infrastructure business sector. Engineering News-Record consistently ranks Filanc among the top performing water and wastewater infrastructure contractors. For more information, visit www.filanc.com.
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ASCE’s 2021 report card marks the nation’s infrastructure progress
Brown and Caldwell accelerates research and development, promotes Dr. da Silva to deputy director
DENVER, Colo. — Brown and Caldwell announces the promotion of Dr. Allegra da Silva to research and development deputy director as the firm continues to advance technical innovation in the water and environment sector.
With an impressive career spanning more than 20 years, da Silva’s extensive research background includes working at the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of a team managing a $30 million/year portfolio of research and innovation competitions to spur improvements in food security and equitable access to clean water and sanitation.
Following her government sector experience, da Silva has blazed a trail in environmental engineering consulting to focus on pioneering research and development projects in the water and wastewater sector. She co-led the launch of Brown and Caldwell’s PFAS initiative, helping utilities navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape with a common goal of protecting public health and the environment. Her diverse experience includes serving as technical lead and researcher on projects encompassing water resources and reuse, advanced treatment technology, emerging contaminants, environmental permitting, and feasibility studies. Passionate about working at the interface of science and policy, she was a technical author for the 2012 U.S. EPA Guidelines for Water Reuse, the 2017 U.S. EPA Potable Reuse Compendium, and the 2017 Water Environment Federation (WEF) Water Reuse Roadmap.
“Allegra’s skillset, technical acumen, and visionary leadership further enhance our research and development program, putting us at the forefront of innovation in exploring new solutions with academic and technology partners to create breakthroughs for clients.”
Dr. Kati Bell, Brown and Caldwell’s director of water strategy, which incorporates research and development
In her new role, da Silva will align Brown and Caldwell’s research and development strategy with the firm’s growth objectives while providing expert counsel to clients, connecting complex water-related and environmental challenges with innovative and cost-effective solutions.
A past president of WateReuse Colorado, da Silva is vice-chair of WEF’s newly formed blue-ribbon panel, a group of wastewater and public health experts established to evaluate biological hazards at wastewater facilities and safety precautions for operators during COVID-19 and beyond.
Da Silva has a doctorate and master’s degree in environmental engineering from Yale University and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. A licensed professional engineer, she is based in Brown and Caldwell’s Denver, Colorado, office.
Merrimack River preservation discussed on virtual panel
AMT, Brown and Caldwell team selected for Virginia water quality project
RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has engaged a team of A. Morton Thomas and Associates, Inc. (AMT) supported by team partner Brown and Caldwell to assist in implementing its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) program.
Encompassing more than 50,000 miles of roadways, over 1,000 stormwater management facilities, and over 15,000 regulated outfalls, VDOT’s MS4 is authorized to collect and safely discharge excess stormwater into bodies of water within urbanized areas of the Commonwealth in adherence with Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permit limits. VDOT’s MS4 program addresses control measures and special conditions to monitor and reduce pollutants discharging from its sewers, ensuring permitted total maximum daily load requirements are met to protect the water quality of streams, rivers, wetlands, and bays. VDOT’s storm sewer system is unique in that it is integrated with municipal systems across the Commonwealth; the AMT/Brown and Caldwell team will assist VDOT in working with these municipalities to address issues related to interconnectivity statewide.
The team will work alongside VDOT’s MS4 and stormwater management leadership to review and enhance stormwater management guidelines, policies, standards and specifications, and manuals to ensure ongoing VPDES permit compliance. Additionally, the team will provide inventory, inspection, and data management solutions to identify, catalog, assess, and monitor assets through enhanced data analytics and establish as-needed maintenance strategies. A thorough training curriculum associated with MS4 program requirements including design, construction, maintenance, and pollution prevention will also be developed.
“We are honored to be selected, and our vastly experienced local team is committed to helping Virginia continue to meet its water quality regulatory requirements.”
AMT Project Manager Ginny Snead, PE, CFM
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About AMT
AMT is a 100% employee-owned firm that provides multidisciplinary services including engineering, environmental, landscape architecture, surveying, and construction administration and inspection on a regional basis to a variety of public and private clients. AMT has provided design and inspection services for more than $5 billion in construction value over the last five years. Over 400 strong, our firm maintains our standard of excellence by teaming with our employees, clients, and communities to deliver high-quality and impactful projects.