Southwest Water Reclamation Facility Biosolids Waste-to-Energy Project and Capacity Upgrades (FL)

Challenge

The project serves and is located in the southwestern portion of the City of St. Petersburg, FL. The purpose of the project was to consolidate the city’s biosolids operations at one facility and generate enough biogas to fuel their trash truck fleet. However, the plant is in close proximity to a college and residential neighborhoods and has long been plagued by odor control issues and biosolids handling challenges.

Approach

Haskell competed with a broad range of construction managers, ultimately being selected based on qualifications, interview, and CMAR fee. The City selected CMAR as their delivery method due to the highly complex nature of the project, proximity to the adjacent college, and the absolute necessity of keeping the current facility active throughout construction. Haskell’s Water Division was awarded a CMAR contract for the City of St. Petersburg’s Biosolids Waste to Energy Project, valued at $64,868,267, with a construction schedule of 38 months. Once completed, the facility has the potential to save the City $3.7 million in operational costs each year through the production of Class AA biosolids and biogas, and by consolidating the city’s biosolids processing to the Southwest Water Reclamation Facility (SWWRF). The project is dually funded through SRF and City funds. Using value engineering and constructability, the Haskell team was able to work with the City to cut costs to make this project a reality. As the CMAR, Haskell managed four design teams—Brown and Caldwell, AECOM, Black & Veatch, and Carollo Engineers.

Result

The project will improve the facility’s ability to produce Class AA biosolids utilizing a temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) process. Class AA biosolids meet the US EPA guidelines to use as fertilizer, which the City can sell for additional revenue.

The facility will produce enough biogas to fill the City’s fleet of sanitation trucks and run the SWWRF during peak periods of electric usage.

Pipes will run sludge from the city’s two other biosolids processing plants to the SWWRF, saving the City a considerable amount in operational costs. Upon completion, the City will also be able to accept fats, oils and grease waste from the community, which enhances biogas production.

The new facility will have specialized odor control systems assuring that it will remain a good neighbor. The new facility will utilize anaerobic digesters to produce a class AA biosolid and renewable biogas which will power the City’s trash trucks.

As design progressed the projected construction costs surpassed the available funding of the City. After selection the Haskell team was able to identify value engineering alternatives to bring the project within the available budget.