Lynn R. Morgan Water Treatment Facility Expansion
Location: Erie, Colo.
Client: Town of Erie
Completion Date: 2005
Burns & McDonnell provided design-build and construction management services for the expansion of the Lynn R. Morgan Water Treatment Facility in Erie, Colo. The project included the addition of a new 1.7 million-gallon baffle wall clearwell, new 10-million-gallons-per-day (MGD) pretreatment building, and expansion of the treatment building, providing an additional 6.75 MGD of filtrate using US Filter CMF-S submerged microfiltration membranes. The expansion utilized advanced membrane processes to increase the firm capacity of the plant from 4.5 MGD to 9.9 MGD, with a peak capacity of 12.15 MGD.
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- Design-build
- Advanced membrane treatment
- Pretreatment
- Microfiltration
- 8-MGD plant expansion
- New concrete clearwell
The original microfiltration plant was constructed in 1999 using polypropylene hollow fiber membranes. These pressure-type membranes operated at higher pressures, compared with submerged membranes, but were not tolerant to oxidants, so organic foulants could not be removed using chlorine. To maximize filtrate production and minimize the space used in the expanded facility, polyvinylideneflouride submerged hollow fiber membranes were used. This new membrane operated under a vacuum condition thus lowering operating pressures compared with pressure membrane systems. Infrastructure and three additional trains were provided, each supplying 2.25 MGD of net filtrate.
Utilizing the submerged membrane system provided a capacity of 13.5 MGD in the same footprint as the 5.4 MGD pressure system. The expansion provided flexibility to meet peak day water demands, provided better water quality, and provided the necessary plant capacity to accommodate projected future water demands. The Lynn R. Morgan Water Treatment Plant is the only plant in the country to use both pressure and submerged membrane systems.
Evaluation and design of the project began in April 2004. Our in-house engineers were responsible for all aspects of the project including pre-design evaluations, process and ancillary equipment design, preparation of bid documents, construction oversight, and coordination with local building and fire departments and State Health Department. Using a design-build approach, an overall schedule of 16 months was achieved allowing the expanded plant to provide clean water by fall 2005. This approach allowed the project team to meet an aggressive schedule mandated by rapid growth in Erie and reduce overall project costs.
