Challenge
Built in the early 1930s with subsequent upgrades in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1990s, the Woonsocket WWTF is burdened with aging equipment and faces increasingly stringent regulatory requirements from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. In August 2012, the City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, selected Jacobs to assume operations of the existing facility, perform design‐build upgrades, followed by long‐term operations of the improved wastewater treatment facility.
Key Features
- Operate/design‐build‐operate (O/DBO) of a $84.1‐million facility upgrade (capital: $36.9 million, 20‐year O&M: $47.3 million) to expand capacity from 10 to 16 mgd.
- Advanced process technology will improve the City’s water quality and environment by reducing phosphorus and nitrogen discharged to the Blackstone River.
- Workshop approach to decision‐making that involves the client, regulating authority, operating company, and the DBO team
Jacobs assumed operations of the existing wastewater treatment facility October 2012. Its scope of work included:
- Design and construction of an innovative treatment process by upgrading the existing aeration basins and adding second‐stage activated sludge system and chemically enhanced primary treatment
- Upgrade the existing electrical system to support newly installed equipment
- Design and install a new SCADA system to integrate new and existing equipment
- Jacobs will operate the plant through construction for a 20-year term.
Upon completion in 2016, Woonsocket’s upgraded facility significantly improved the City’s wastewater treatment capabilities, while improving water quality and the environment by reducing phosphorus and nitrogen discharge to the Blackstone River.
