Wastewater Treatment

Grand Forks Regional WTP | 2020 WWD Top Projects

Dec. 14, 2020

Grand Forks Regional Water Treatment Plant is a capstone project for the city, which serves not only the inhabitants of the city but also the Grand Forks Airforce Base and the Grand Forks Airport.

Grand Forks Regional Water Treatment Plant is a capstone project for the city, which serves not only the inhabitants of the city but also the Grand Forks Airforce Base and the Grand Forks Airport. Covering more than 20 years of work, the construction of this treatment plant is the outcome of a master plan that was developed after a devastating flood in 1997. The 20 million gallons per day plant runs two treatment trains in parallel, the first of which uses reverse osmosis and the second of which uses conventional deeb beds for filtration.

Todd Feland, Grand Fork city administrator, and Melanie Parvey, Grand Forks Regional WTP director, discuss why the city used construction manager at risk (CMAR) for the project and the purpose behind the two distinct treatment trains. Wayne Gerszewski, AE2S project manager, and Jason Whitesock, AE2S information and controls manager, highlight the challenges they overcame in the design and engineering side of the project’s development. And John Goetz talks about the value he and his team were able to provide throughout the projects design, development and construction to ensure smooth operation when it went live.

Introduction: (0:00)
Grand Forks Regional WTP background & history: (1:04)
Why did you choose CMAR for this project?: (5:30)
Parallel treatment train structure and purpose: (9:58)
How modeling tools aided in the project design and construction: (14:26)
Future use of modeling tools for projects like these?: (17:25)
Importance of integrating operators for design and planning: (19:07)
How did operators feel having such an influence?: (20:38)
Importance of trust for CMAR and with public: (22:05)
Outro: (23:06)

All Top Projects will be featured in the December 2020 issue of Water & Wastes Digest, so subscribe today to get access to their individual write-ups using the links below!

Watch last week’s video about Main Street Sewer Reconstruction: https://www.wwdmag.com/videos/main-street-sewer-reconstruction-2020-wwd-top-projects

Nominate a 2021 WWD Top Project: https://www.wwdmag.com/top-projects-nomination