Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion
A treatment plant expanded to 90 MGD with new clarifiers, aeration basins and nutrient removal, built inside a facility that never stopped treating.
- Owner
- Confidential
- Location
- U.S.
- Our role
- Progressive design-builder
- Delivery
- Progressive design-build
- Scale
- 90 MGD
- Completed
- 2026
A plant expanded to 90 MGD with new clarifiers, aeration basins and nutrient removal, built inside a working facility that treated every gallon throughout construction.
Growth and new discharge limits forced the utility to expand capacity and add nutrient removal at the same time. All new work had to connect to a plant that was treating flow every hour, with storm events able to arrive without warning. Blowers, mixers and electrical gear had long lead times, and the permit compliance date was fixed by regulators.
The approach.
- 01
Open-book design-build
The utility reviewed open-book estimates at each design stage before committing to a price, with risk and allowances shown line by line.
- 02
Equipment bought during design
Blowers, mixers and switchgear were procured early and tracked through fabrication, so deliveries matched the installation sequence.
- 03
Tie-ins planned around weather
Each process tie-in had a dry-weather window, bypass pumping on standby and a decision point if a storm was forecast.
- 04
Startup with operators
Plant operators trained on new equipment during startup, and each process was proven before the next one came online.
The outcome.
“We could not ask the rain to wait. Every tie-in had a weather call and a way back.”
Construction manager, Jacob Wiseman
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