Two Bridges Sewerage Authority UV Disinfection Facilities Project

Cost: $8.9 million
Location: Lincoln Park, NJ
Year: 2012-12-04
Size: 25 mgd
Owner: Two Bridges Sewerage Authority
Designers: Hatch Mott MacDonald
Contractor: Stone Hill Contracting Co. Inc.

The Pequannock, Lincoln Park and Fairfield Sewerage Authority in Lincoln Park, N.J., better known as the Two Bridges Sewerage Authority (TBSA), serves a 56-sq-mile area of approximately 40,000 residents. 

In 2011, the TBSA took advantage of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and began planning the construction of new ultraviolet (UV) disinfection facilities to comply with the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System limitation for chlorine-producing oxidants.

Located within the Pompton River floodplain, the new facilities were built in an area that minimized temporary construction and any permanent impacts on the surrounding environment. The team worked with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to quickly obtain permits to avoid affecting the existing treatment process. 

A temporary arrangement, including a 42-in. pipe extension and doghouse chamber installed over the existing 54-in. outfall, diverted the flow around the existing post-aeration tanks. This allowed the existing process to operate while the new system was installed.

With some help from Chris Burde of GA Fleet Associates Inc., the team installed a UV system, manufactured by Trojan Technologies, with two parallel treatment channels and a peak flow capacity of 25 million gal per day. The system also includes low-pressure, self-cleaning amalgam lamps housed within a new pile-supported masonry building. 

Vertical turbines, which are only required when the Pompton River—the receiving stream—is above flood stage, were installed within the existing post-aeration tanks. 

Shortly after the June 2011 startup date, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee struck, producing flood conditions in the area.

“We were able to stay in compliance and keep the plant running at all times during construction,” said Ernie DeGraw, TBSA plant superintendent. “The plant actually survived two major flooding events and it all went well.”