PROJECT

Broomfield Water Treatment Plant Expansion

We provided planning, design and construction phase services to expand capacity, replace aging equipment and improve regulatory compliance at the Broomfield Water Treatment Plant in Colorado. After two decades of operation, the facility equipment was near the end of its useful life and the community population had more than doubled, requiring additional capacity. The facility is the only water treatment plant for the city and county, which meant the upgrades had to be put in place with minimal operational disruption.

After completing a preliminary design report, our team developed design plans to expand capacity from 20 million gallons per day (MGD) to 26 MGD, with the possibility of future expansion to 32 MGD.

Facility improvements included repairing the chlorine contact chamber, expanding the raw water metering and chemical injection vault, replacing rapid mix equipment, replacing vertical flocculators, adding a third stage of flocculation, replacing PVC tube settlers with SST lamella plate settlers, adding three filter cells, and improving solids handling and chemical storage/feed facilities.

The upgrades in solids handling included minor piping and equipment improvements to an existing circular system for collecting solids, eliminating a significant maintenance issue without having to make costly basin modifications or additions.

Client

City and County of Broomfield

Location

Broomfield, Colorado

Region

Southwest

Services

Municipal Water & Wastewater

Advanced Water & Wastewater Treatment

Industry

Water

The chemical system improvements relocated existing pretreatment chemicals to a new building nearer the point of application, provided a permanent home for new powdered activated carbon (PAC) feed equipment, and provided space for future chemical selections. A new soda ash storage and feed building was added nearer the injection point, reducing the maintenance required for a long run of feed piping. The existing aqua ammonia storage and feed system was also replaced by one for liquid ammonium sulfate, reducing safety concerns for facility staff. The chemical systems that remain in the facility were repartitioned and the feed equipment separated to further positively enhance working conditions for staff.

The project also included a remodel of the administration building and certified laboratory facility, a new 1,750-kW standby generator, and associated civil, structural, architectural, mechanical and electrical systems. At the 30% design milestone, our team assisted the city and county in evaluating potential contractors for a collaborative delivery project approach.

We prioritized development of an early equipment procurement package and the filter building foundation to allow the selected contractor to start work early, supporting the requirement for spring completion. The existing facility could only be taken offline for a few days at a time and only during low-demand season, which made coordination of design and construction activities critical to project success.