Our team along with Garney Construction provided design-build services to update a 4.8 million-gallon-per-day (MGD) wastewater treatment facility to reduce total dissolved solids (TDS) in the effluent that flows into rapid infiltration basins (RIBs) before seeping into the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Alluvial Aquifer southeast of Colorado Springs. The plant serves nearly 40,000 customers in the community.
The original facility, constructed in 2010, was designed to meet drinking water standards for nitrates due to the ground water discharge. Three months before the plant opened, regulations were put in place to address TDS. The facility operated under a compliance period to allow for the modifications needed to implement improvements necessary to remain compliant with its discharge limits.
The progressive design-build process facilitated a collaborative environment for the design and construction team to work together to find value engineering opportunities to create the best value solution for the project. The team took a broad look at the facility and the underlying process issues.
At the time of project completion, the facility became a first-of-its-kind municipal membrane bioreactor (MBR) and high recovery reverse osmosis (HRRO) treatment plant, as well as Colorado’s largest municipal MBR.
Through a design approach focused on updating and expanding upon the existing infrastructure, project costs were reduced by $6 million.
The efficiency of this design allows wastewater to be treated using only two of the four existing process trains and safely disposes of the reverse osmosis brine waste through evaporation ponds on the surface, rather than deep well injection.