The Wave | Spring 2018

IN THIS ISSUE

Unsurpassed Solutions in the Water Environment

Flagstaff, AZ Receives Energy Efficiency Studies page 3

The

T&H Employees Participate in the Marshmallow Challenge page 5

Lydon, VT Odor Control Treatment Update page 7

Wave A quarterly news publication

Spring 2018

www.tataandhoward.com

Long Pond Water Filtration Facility Provides Water Quality Improvement

Residents of the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts are benefiting from improved water quality as a result of the new 8.4 million gallons per day Long Pond Water Filtration Facility. Long Pond is the Town’s largest drinking water source, providing up to 60% of the annual supply to consumers.

Tata & Howard was the lead engineering firm for the design and construction administration of the new Water Filtration Facility, which became fully operational on October 18, 2017.

The new water treatment processes

Turbidity 1.40 1.30 1.20 1.10 1.00 0.90 Turbidity (NTU)

For many years, the Long Pond Water Filtration Facility has been a high-profile project for the Town, which would address a pressing need for source water treatment. Although generally acceptable, source water quality from Long Pond was subject to seasonal surface water issues which would manifest at the customer’s tap as a result of the lack of filtration at the former Long Pond Pump Station.

Color, taste, and odor complaints from customers were a regular occurrence, resulting from elevated algae counts in warm weather and elevated turbidity and organics from seasonal pond turnover.

0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 10/12/2017

11/1/2017

11/21/2017

12/11/2017

12/31/2017

1/20/2018

2/9/2018

Date Raw Water

Finished Water

Graph displays measurements of raw and finished water turbidity since the new facility began pumping water into the distribution system. Raw water turbidity has ranged between 0.55 and 1.3 NTU during this time. (continued on page 2)

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(continued from page 1)

Employee News New Team Members

B. Dexter Lefavour, P.E., Senior Project Engineer, St. Johnsbury, VT Dexter is a 40-year veteran in consulting engineering and his depth of experience has given him the skills required to complete complex civil engineering projects. His career has focused on municipal and land development projects in the areas of wastewater treatment, water supply, water resources, and solid waste management. Dexter holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Tufts University, Professional Engineer licenses in VT and NH and also holds his OSHA 40-hour Hazardous Site Worker Certification.

Christine R. Komenda Marketing Communications Manager, Marlborough, MA Chris is a seasoned marketing professional with extensive experience working with a variety of industries—from commer�cial printing, financial services, and broadcast satellite communications—to retail marketing, and most recently in high-end residential construction. Chris holds a BFA in Graphic Design/Art History and a MSPC in Marketing from Clark University.

Recent Promotions Justine M. Carroll, P.E. - Associate Jon W. Gregory, P.E. - Associate Ryan P. Newland, P.E. - Associate Patrick O’Neale, P.E. - Sr. Vice President Micheal Kaczowka - Assistant Project Engineer Christine Beliveau - Marketing Coodinator

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The graph (shown on page 1) displays measurements of raw and finished water turbidity since the new facility began pumping water into the distribution system.

Raw water turbidity has ranged between 0.55 and 1.3 NTU during this time. Prior to construction of the new facility, these raw water turbidity measurements would have been representative of the water produced by Aerial view of the Long Pond Water Filtration Facility. the former Long Pond Pum Station, which did not have filtration processes. Finished water turbidity from the new facility has consistently been at or below 0.1 NTU, meeting the current regulatory limit of 0.3 NTU. Chlorine demand in the distribution system has also been reduced significantly since the activation of the new Water Filtration Facility.

Chlorine was previously dosed to obtain a residual of 2.0 mg/L leaving the former Long Pond Pump Station in order to maintain a residual of approximately 1.0 mg/L at the extents of the distribution system.

As a result of the high quality finished water from the new facility reducing chlorine demand in the distribution system, the chlorine residual in the finished water leaving the Water Filtration Facility has been lowered to approximately 1.3 mg/L while maintaining the same 1.0 mg/L residual at the extents of the system. While only one round of quarterly DBP sampling has taken place since the activation of the new facility, the quarterly results were significantly lower than in prior years. The running annual averages for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5s) are expected to continue to drop well below the maximum contaminant levels as future quarterly DBP sampling is conducted.

These treatment processes provide the Town with the ability to meet current regulatory requirements of the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule; reduce DBPs and comply with the Stage 2 Disinfection By-Product Rule; remove pathogens, taste, odor, and algae/algal toxins; reduce organics; produce stable water quality; and provide flexibility to meet future regulatory and water quality challenges. Further monitoring and testing will continue at the Water Filtration Facility.

Photo courtesy of Metheun Construction

Tata & Howard

include the use of pre-oxidation, coagulation, dissolved air flotation (DAF), ozone, deep bed granular activated carbon filtration, disinfection and corrosion control. DAF is used for algae, organics, and particulate removal; ozone is used to address taste and odor issues; and filtration is used to remove particulate and microbial matter from the water. The removal of organic matter through the treatment process significantly reduces the formation of disinfection-by-products (DBPs).

Photo courtesy ofthe City of Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona Energy Efficiency Project Tata & Howard conducted energy efficiency studies for the City of Flagstaff, Arizona on their water and wastewater systems. Initial testing showed that modifications to these systems had the potential to save the City approximately $350,000 in annual electrical costs and $445,000 in Arizona Public Power System (APS) rebates if systems were modified with newer technology and upgraded.

Pumping systems had efficiencies as low as 5.2% and the wastewater blowers as low as 19.5% where efficiencies of greater than 65% are attainable. Energy The Rio de Flag Water Reclamation Plant. usage on the wastewater treatment side per million gallons treated showed 2,170 KWH/MG with cogeneration and 2,804 KWH/MG at the Rio plant. The national average usage is 1,750 KWH/MG. Much of the equipment was oversized to meet peak and future demands but was not efficient at low flows or off-peak flows.

From this study and evaluation, the City retained Tata & Howard to provide design and construction administration services for replacing the existing aeration blowers at the Rio De Flag Reclaimed Water Reclamation Plant. Design services included the layout of the new screw compressors in the existing aeration room, as well as associated electrical, air intake and new piping to the existing aeration basins. The project was completed in December 2017; APS provided a rebate of $83,000 and preliminary annual power savings of roughly $73,200.

On the water system, the review included most of the wells, pressure reducing valves, boosters, and zone splits for energy savings. To date, eight (8) facilities have been upgraded, resulting in $256,000 in APS rebates and two of the facilities resulting in $109,000 of annual power costs. The other facilities have not been calculated. The total for both the water and wastewater systems has resulted in $490,000 in APS rebates and power costs savings of greater than $198,000 with additional projects available to extend these numbers. In addition to the power savings and rebates; operations, and reliability of the facilities have improved, and staff has an increased knowledge and awareness of power costs.

Tata & Howard

Philanthropy Super Bowl Challenge!

Super Bowl squares are a popular way to bet on the big game and Tata & Howard employees are passionate football fans who love this annual friendly office competition.

This year’s outcome had a little twist however, and the big winners were not only the Philadelphia Eagles but the Dana Farber Cancer Institute!

Molly McCoughlin, Assistant Project Engineer, who is running in her second Boston Marathon this spring with team Dana Farber, challenged employees to donate half of this year’s Super Bowl pool’s prize to the DFCI. Dana Farber will received a donation of $1,000 to help fund DFCI’s ongoing cancer research and efforts to provide the best patient care treatment available.

The Arizona Water Association nominated this work for Project of the Year in recognition of its outstanding engineering excellence and achievement.

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Brinsmade Pumping Station and Todd Road Control Valve Improvements

The Brinsmade Tank serves the City of Shelton Furano Water Level which operates at a Hydraulic Grade Line (HGL) of 312 feet. The Furano Water Level has an average daily demand of approximately 1 million gallons per day (MGD) and is currently supplied by the Trap Falls Water Treatment Plant through the Todd Road Control Valve, the Anderson Regulator Water Level (HGL 480) through the Coram Road Regulator, and the Brinsmade Tank. To allow the Brinsmade Tank to be removed from service, the supply to the water level must be increased to meet peak demands and automatic controls installed to control excessive pressures and surges. Tata & Howard is designing improvements to the Brinsmade Pumping Station and the Todd Road Control Valve to meet the demands of the Furano Water Level with the Brinsmade Tank out of service.

Improvements to the Brinsmade Pumping Station would

include the installation of an 8-inch pressure reducing valve that would flow water into the Furano Water Level (HGL 312) from the adjacent Tashua Tank Water Level (HGL 627).

In addition, a new valve chamber with two motorized valves and SCADA controls will replace the existing buried manually operated Todd Trap Falls, Shelton, Connecticut Road Control Valve to improve flow control and provide operators with the ability to remotely adjust set points.

The proposed motorized valves are 16-inch and 6-inch butterfly valves that will operate to maintain a downstream pressure set point.

With the Brinsmade Tank off line, the Furano Water Level becomes a closed pressure system and the two proposed improvements are needed to meet the service area peak demands and improve supply source controls.

Long Pond Water Filtration Facility Receives Multiple Honors Tata & Howard was recently awarded a 2018 Engineering Excellence Silver Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of MA (ACEC/MA) for the Long Pond Water Filtration Facility in Falmouth, MA. The award was presented at ACEC/MA ceremony and gala held on March 14th at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge, MA. ACEC/MA’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards recognizes engineering firms for projects that demonstrate a high degree of achievement, value and ingenuity. Projects are reviewed by an independent panel of judges from the architectural community, construction industry, academia, the media, and the public sector on the basis of uniqueness and originality; complexity; social, economic and sustainable development considerations; and successful fulfillment of the client’s need, including schedule and budget.

In addition, Engineering-News Record (ENR) New England announced in December 2017 their Regional Best Projects Winners. Methuen Construction, the contractor for the construction of this facility, was awarded two Best Projects awards: Water / Environment - Best Project and Excellence in Safety - Best Project (highest honors). Projects were evaluated on the ability of the project team to overcome challenges, contribution to the industry and community, safety and construction, and design quality.

In November 2017, Methuen Construction was also awarded an Eagle Award from the Massachusetts Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, the highest level awarded for Excellence in Construction.

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Photo courtesy of City-Data.com

Tata & Howard is in the process of assisting the Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut with design of improvements to the Brinsmade Pumping Station and the Todd Road Control Valve facilities that would allow the 4 million-gallon (MG) Brinsmade Tank to be taken out of service for planned repainting and upgrades.

The Marshmallow Challenge In celebration of Fun at Work Day 2018, Tata & Howard employees took a break at lunchtime to compete in The Marshmallow Challenge!

Made popular by TED Talks’ Tom Wujec, The Marshmallow Challenge is simple—teams compete to build the tallest freestanding structure in 18 minutes using only 20 sticks of spaghetti, a yard of tape, a yard of string, and one marshmallow.

The marshmallow needs to sit on top of the freestanding structure.

Did we mention the challenge is simple? Well…interestingly, the challenge is not as simple as it seems—the marshmallow is surprisingly heavy and time ticks away very quickly!

We also learned some valuable lessons. In less than an hour, this fun activity was a great way to foster innovation and teamwork.

Key lessons learned: 1. Testing—Working out theories and testing materials early in the challenge helped formulate the overall design. However, taking too long in the planning impacted the construction time.

2. Time Management—As we learned from the testing phase, time management turned out to be an equally important lesson. Teams needed to manage and plan enough time to build the structure.

3. Teamwork—Every team member needed to contribute and work well together in order to be efficient and effective.

4. Innovation—Creativity and originality was really the fun part of this challenge. All teams approached this challenge differently and every structure was extremely unique!

Under

Construction A few samples of projects currently under construction:

Home Farm Water Treatment Plant Shrewsbury, MA

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Construction began at the Home Farm WTP, a 7 million gallon per day (mgd) Water Treatment Facility. Work is scheduled to continue throughout 2018.

Wastewater Treatment Facility Sudbury, MA

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Construction of the 90,000 gpd MBR Wastewater Treatment Facility is underway.

The plant is due to start up in late spring and will serve a mix used development including retail, apartments, condominiums, and an assisted living community.

Water Storage Tank Auburn Water District

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Construction of two 600,000-gallon, glass fused to steel water storage tanks is underway replacing the existing 1.0 million-gallon capacity welded steel Leicester Street Tank.

Sludge Handling Facility Milford, MA

Using all their materials, (l to r) Meagan Heslin, Jenna O’Connell and Katie Carreira, built the tallest structure at 16 1/2”. It was very stable, and even with vigorous table shaking the tower stood tall!

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The construction of new sludge handling facilities will soon be underway for the Milford Wastewater Treatment Facility. The project includes construction of new sludge dewatering building, sludge pumps, gravity thickener improvements, and odor control systems. It is expected to be operational in early 2019.

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Wastewater Treatment Odor Control, Lyndon, VT Project Review

Recently Awarded

Contracts A few samples of recently awarded contracts:

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Whitinsville, MA Unidirectional Flushing Plan and Water Main Replacements on East Street, Willow Street, Johnston Avenue, Brook Street, and Briggs Street

Middlebury, VT Wastewater Treatment Plant Evaluation

In 2003, the Town of Lyndon constructed a unique sludge treatment process that produced a Class A sludge, which also included an odor control system to address the odors from the system. Class A means that the EPA no longer considers the sludge harmful to people or the environment. The treated sludge, which also is dewatered to a 25% dried cake, can be used as fertilizer anywhere.

Although an odor control system was in place in 2003, it was difficult for the operations staff to operate and therefore, was not consistent in treating odors. Numerous complaints from residents and business owners were the result and the cost of operations was high.

New Application Innovation In 2015, Tata & Howard was tasked with the development of options that would provide simple operation and maintenance requirements, provide consistent acceptable air quality, meet the Life Safety codes, lower chemical costs, and reduce operator time.

The original control system utilized three different chemicals and took a considerable amount of operational time to monitor. There were very few sludge treatment processes in use in 2003, like the one constructed at Lyndon, and even fewer odor control technologies (continued on page 7) with Class A sludge treatment.

Maple Grove Farms, VT Civil Engineering services including retaining wall and stairway site improvements

Aquarion Water Company Pipe Condition Assessment for up to 50 pipe samples and design services for replacing the Bargh Diversion Pipeline’s existing 100-year old cast iron main

Private Client, CT Fire suppression system water loss investigation for a private industry

Saxtons River, VT Construction Administration and Resident Observation services for the Saxtons River Wastewater Treatment Facility upgrades

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A 2,000-gallon HDPE wash down / cooling tank (background right) cools the foul air prior to being ducted to the existing biofilter beds by the fans shown (one fan is on standby). The fan directs foul air through the 12-inch PVC exhaust duct to the below grade plenum area of the exterior biofilter beds.

3-foot high walls and a media support system. The media support system was constructed with a manufactured polyethylene molded plastic supports and base. This was all manufactured from recycled materials which resulted in reducing carbon footprint. Asphalt paving was installed around the biofilter for simple cleanup.

Overall Results

The completed biofilter bed covered with 5-ft of coarse root wood above the plenum area where foul air is directed via the fan. Below grade floor drains direct water (dripped within the root wood bed via irrigation hoses) to the headworks of the wastewater treatment facility. The odor control equipment is located in the sludge building at left.

Tata & Howard researched and discovered technologies that were successfully working with this specific Class A sludge treatment process and ultimately selected a root wood biofilter system. This system would meet the goals of the client with ease of operation, lower cost operations, reduction of chemical usage, and consistently good air quality.

This project has resulted in lower operational costs which converts to maintaining user rates and a more sustainable facility. The root wood media does not have to be replaced for at least five years and is an all-natural forest product with no treatment. This replacement can be accomplished within a two-day period and is a simple operation. All components of the biofilter are virtually maintenance free. The equipment and materials were selected to reduce both annual and future replacement costs. To keep the root wood media moist, a simple soaker hose system was designed with water supply from plant effluent.

Air Quality Solutions The air from the original sludge treatment reactor vessels was high in temperature, ammonia, sulfides and methyl mercaptans which was difficult to treat effectively. The first step of the process was to reduce the temperature of the air from 140 degrees down to 70 degrees. This was accomplished with the use of cold water from the WWTF effluent-thereby not using municipal water at a cost.

The effluent was filtered and used as a water wash in a large poly tank inside the existing sludge treatment building. This was a complete recycle and reuse of plant effluent. The air from the top of the sludge treatment vessels is drawn off with large fans through the water wash and out through piping to the root wood biofilter system located outside of the building. The fans are equipped with VFD’s (variable frequency drives) to save energy and allow for complete adjustment of the volume of air.

The incorporation of reuse of plant effluent for cooling was a savings and locating within the existing building eliminated the cost of another structure. There was limited space available on the plant site due to wetlands.

The biofilter located outside and adjacent to the sludge treatment building was constructed of a concrete base with

The plenum area of the biofilter bed located below grade is where the foul air enters. Recycled plastic supports and grating are shown here during installation.

They support the coarse root wood media and allow air to distribute to all reaches of 320-sf of each filter bed.

The operation is simple and safe for operators and Town staff responsible for maintaining the facility and equipment. The flexibility provided to the operators with the design has resulted in an excellent solution for this community. After ten months in operation, there have been no odor complaints from residents or businesses. The project was funded through a 100% grant from USDA Rural Development.

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PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID WORCESTER, MA PERMIT NO. 143

67 Forest Street Marlborough, MA 01752 T: 508-303-9400 F: 508-449-9400

www.tataandhoward.com

The Turner Falls Water Department will soon be able to assess their water inventory infrastructure after receiving a $40,000 grant from the Water Infrastructure and Planning Grant program administered through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). Turner Falls is one of ten communities in Massachusetts to receive a portion of $400,000 in grant monies from the State to assess the District’s drinking water system.

Tata & Howard will assist the Water Department in completing an Asset Management Plan (AMP) and hydraulic study, which will include above and below ground infrastructure assessments for the Water District in Turner Falls. Working with Mike Brown, Superintendent for the Aerial view of Turners Falls.

Water District, the study will include an inventory of water mains, tanks and pump stations, as well as age of components and estimated remaining useful life.

Work began in February and the report is scheduled to be completed by May. From the information gathered and analyzed, Tata & Howard will make recommendations to the District for water infrastructure improvements and replacements.

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Photo courtesy of the Greenfield Recorder

Turner Falls to receive AMP and Hydraulic Study