APWA Recognizes Peoria Butler Drive Facility
The Peoria Butler Drive Water Reclamation Facility project was recently named a Public Works Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association (APWA).
The city of Peoria, Ariz., managing agency, along with primary contractor Sundt Construction, Inc. and primary consultant Black & Veatch Corporation, will be presented the award during the association’s International Public Works Congress & Exposition in September at Columbus, Ohio.
Projects of the Year awards are presented annually to promote management and administration excellence of public works projects. This year, APWA selected 19 projects in five categories: Disaster or Emergency Construction/Repair, Environment, Historical Restoration/Preservation, Structures and Transportation. The Peoria Butler Drive Water Reclamation Facility project received the award in the Environment category, more than $75 million range.
The facility project is the largest capital project in the city of Peoria’s history. It became the largest membrane bioreactor (MBR) facility in North America when it was commissioned in 2008. MBR treatment allows the city to provide high-quality, reliable effluent recharge in a small footprint. MBR’s low-profile, compact structures are architecturally compatible with the facility’s surroundings. The city also has started design work for a public park on adjacent property, which will be irrigated with reclaimed water from the facility.
The project stands out not only because the facility serves the city’s need for sustainable water planning, it also retains water credits necessary to sustain the city’s economic development. The plant features state-of-the-art odor control technologies including covers for all major process units. Much of the plant is below grade. The plant air is scrubbed and deodorized before being released into the atmosphere.
The 10 million gallons per day (mgd) facility is expandable to 13 mgd. Flows are delivered via a 25-mgd peak capacity remote pump station that has rough screening capabilities. The new plant features fine screens, nitrogen control, and UV disinfection. Solids are dewatered with three 275 gallons per minute centrifuges. A screw conveyor system conveys dewatered solids to truck containers that haul the waste to a landfill. The dewatering process layout was sited to allow for a future addition of high-level solids treatment to achieve a Class A biosolids suitable for reuse.
In its first phase, the facility has the ability to treat 10 mgd of wastewater, producing reclaimed water suitable for artificial aquifer recharge or reuse. By recharging the aquifer, the city earns water credits, which means that Peoria can extract the equivalent amount of water from the aquifer to meet future water needs. With the simple installation of several additional membrane cassettes, the facility will ultimately treat 13 mgd.
The Influent Pump Station (IPS) is located offsite in a prime commercial area that was undergoing concurrent development of high-end retail shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. The adjacent intersection had suffered odor problems in the past, and one of the primary considerations for the operation of the IPS was that it prevent inherent odors from impacting the adjacent development, as well as to structurally blend aesthetically with the neighborhood. The solution to this problem was to construct the facility with a focus on architectural continuity and the inclusion of a low-profile odor control system.
The American Public Works Association (www.apwa.net) is a not-for-profit, international organization of more than 29,500 members involved in the field of public works.