PC Construction to Build Two Wastewater Treatment Plants

PC Construction has been awarded two projects to bring advanced wastewater treatment technologies to the Washington, D.C. and Atlanta metropolitan areas.

PC Construction is constructing a $60 million filtrate treatment facility at the DC Water Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C. One of the highlights of the project is the implementation of the DEMON process, a method used to eliminate nitrogen from wastewater. Upon completion, the DC Water Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant will be the largest DEMON facility in the world.

DEMON, which is an acronym for deammonification, employs specialized natural ammonia-oxidizing bacteria to metabolize and remove nitrogen from the recycle stream coming off the plant’s sludge dewatering facilities.

Construction at the new treatment plant follows an extensive pilot program to ensure environmental and cost benefits of implementing the process on this scale. Savings include reductions in energy demand by more than 70% and the elimination of costly supplemental chemicals used in the conventional approach.

“We are excited to be part of this innovative project and to continue to work with DC Water to help protect the Chesapeake Bay,” said Jeff Garner, senior vice president of PC Construction. “Once implemented, the DEMON process will significantly reduce oxygen input and require no chemical use, making it a cost-effective technology that allows for substantial saving on operating costs.”

Commissioned by the Forsyth County Water and Sewer Department, construction of the Shakerag Water Reclamation Facility in Suwanee, Ga., helps the department meet its growing need for increased sewer capacity in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.

Construction of the $28-million project includes a 1.25-million-gal-per-day membrane filtration facility with packaged headworks facility, biological basins and membrane tanks, operations and membrane equipment building, chemical facility, dewatering building, finished water facility and plant drain pump station.

A key feature of the Shakerag Facility will be the advanced membrane bioreactor (MBR), designed to increase treatment performance while reducing chemical use. Similar to the technology use to purify drinking water, the MBR process puts better quality water back into the environment.

“The membrane process is still a relatively new water treatment process and, while more expensive to construct than conventional methods, it produces a cleaner effluent,” said Mike Joseph, project manager for PC Construction. “We are pleased to help implement this leading-edge technology to meet Forsyth County’s population growth while helping to preserve the environment.”

In the past 15 years, PC Construction has completed over $750 million worth of work in Metro Atlanta and numerous membrane systems throughout the United States, making it one of the top membrane contractors in the country. Construction of the Shakerag Water Reclamation Facility is expected to be compl

Source: PC Construction