In Winter of 2014, NJ American Water Operations and Engineering identified a combination of planning trends that indicated a possible occurrence of peak demands for a series of 2-4 days, during the system’s Summer operating season, in excess of the system’s firm capacity.
H2M was brought in to evaluate the various source treatment and property assets of NJAW in the Coastal North service area. After reporting on the logistical constraints and engaging in risk management reviews with NJAW, H2M acted as design engineer, permitting agent, and construction manager/inspector during the implementation and pilot-scale testing of two 1.15 MGD mobile ultrafiltration membrane treatment units at NJAW’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant.
After the success of the summer 2014 pilot program, NJAW decided to move forward with the implementation of membrane technology at a larger scale to supplement SRWTP capacity for all historic high-demand months of 2015. H2M provided services in detailed engineering design, permitting coordination, membrane technology and vendor selection assistance, bid phase services, full time construction administration, and observation services, as well as on-site commissioning and startup assistance.
To fully support this implementation several facility process upgrades were necessary, such as the installation of new raw water feed piping, and construction of additional waste stream handling piping and related yard infrastructure. After the site improvements, major electrical upgrades and controls integration with existing plant SCADA were also required. Finally, with the new available supplementary treatment capacity, NJAW was able to meet its peak seasonal demand and provide greater operational flexibility and redundancy to the Coastal North Service area.
