Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade

Larson Design Group (LDG) provided complete design services for the Pine Creek Municipal Authority (PCMA) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) upgrade. Services included a treatment feasibility analysis; Act 537 sewage facilities planning; preliminary design and permit acquisition; final design; bidding; construction administration and inspection; and treatment plant start-up. To help finance the project, LDG also prepared the H2O PA grant and PENNVEST low interest loan applications. The WWTP upgrade included increasing the average daily design flow from 1.3 to 1.6 MGD, removing both nitrogen and phosphorous for compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Initiative, and UV disinfection.

The WWTP treatment processes included a mechanically-cleaned screen; aerated grit removal; a Fluidyne ISAM sequencing batch reactor (SBR) consisting of a constant level anaerobic influent conditioning basin, a surge basin (influent equalization basin), and SBR; post-equalization; cloth media filter; and UV disinfection. Other facilities incorporated into the upgrade included sludge conditioning, a belt filter press, and a septic receiving station.

Following the construction of the WWTP upgrade, LDG helped PCMA obtain approvals from the both the Susquehanna River Basin and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to sell the treated effluent for use in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells. LDG designed the conversion of the original activated sludge treatment tanks to a treated effluent storage and tank truck loading facility.