Paric Corp. has begun work for the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District to upgrade a wastewater treatment plant in Fenton, Mo. The $3.6 million project is Paric's 20th wastewater treatment project and will end a freeze on new development in the Williams Creek watershed district by nearly doubling the treatment plant's capacity.
Development in the Williams Creek district was frozen six years ago because the treatment plant was processing a near capacity 3.5 million gallons of sewage daily. The Williams Creek watershed drains a region that has seen a dramatic increase in development, including a 300-acre shopping center and a 40-acre business park.
The upgraded treatment plant will have the ability to process 6.75 million gallons of sewage daily when Paric completes an accelerated project schedule this fall.
The company will add two clarifiers, upgrade the aeration system and install additional piping and instruments to expand the plant's capacity. It will also add a biofilter and other equipment to control odor. The upgrade will add 10 years to the plant's lifespan. It will eventually be closed when sewage treated there is transferred to the new Lower Meramec River Wastewater treatment plant currently under construction in Oakville, MO.
The project is part of MSD's overall $647 million capital improvement and replacement program.
Paric is currently engaged in about $100 million in water and wastewater projects throughout the Midwest. The firm has upgraded and built new facilities for St. Charles, MO; the cities of Godfrey, Mt. Vernon and Lincoln in IL; and Evansville, Vincennes, Chandler, and Seymour in IN.
Associations Release Utility Management Integration Guide
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) of Alexandria, VA, and the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) of Washington, DC, have released a new management guide for wastewater utilities.
"Continual Improvement in Utility Management: A Framework for Integration" was developed under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It addresses the need to improve utility performance through more effective application and integration of management tools.
"This publication represents an important step forward and addresses a need that our members and other utility managers have identified", said WEF Executive Director Bill Bertera. "It is unique in that it provides utility managers with information not previously available and complements other guidance covering individual management initiatives."
Development of the guide was recommended by a workgroup of utility managers and expert advisors during an initial phase of the project. Workgroup members identified integration of utility management initiatives under a continual improvement management system framework as a proven and sustainable approach. They also concluded that utility managers need clear information on the interrelationship between initiatives and a "roadmap" to help them integrate these initiatives under a common management systems framework.
AMSA Executive Director Ken Kirk noted that, "In many ways the guide's strength lies in the fact that almost 50 professionals, the majority utility managers or senior staff, volunteered their expertise and experience to create it. We are very pleased to have jointly sponsored its development with WEF and EPA."
For more information and to obtain a copy of the guide, visit the WEF website at www.wef.org, or the AMSA site at www.amsa-cleanwater.org.
EPA Publishes Water Treatment Guides
EPA has published three "Quick Reference Guides" for the Surface Water Treatment Rule. The guides provide a basic overview of the rule and its requirements for unfiltered systems, systems using slow sand, diatomaceous earth or alternative filtration, and systems using conventional or direct filtration.
The guides, which are 3-4 pages each, are available to download from the Agency's website in PDF format. They provide basic information on monitoring and reporting requirements for turbidity and disinfection, along with disinfection profiling and benchmarking requirements.
EPA Names Acting Director For Enforcement, Compliance
On February 5, The Environmental Protection Agency announced that Phyllis Harris, an attorney with 18 years' experience at EPA, would serve as acting assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance following the departure of John Peter Suarez, who left EPA Jan. 30.
Harris has been deputy assistant administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance since 2002. A permanent replacement for assistant administrator must be confirmed by the Senate.
