NTMWD Selects LAN to Design Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements

By Jay Srinivasan

The North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) selected planning, engineering and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) to design aeration basin improvements for its Wilson Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (RWWTP).

NTMWD provides wholesale wastewater services to 24 communities and 1.3 million residents of North Texas. Its wastewater system consists of more than 250 miles of large-diameter pipelines, 25 lift stations, and 13 wastewater treatment plants. One of its wastewater treatment plants, the Wilson Creek RWWTP, was constructed 36 years ago. While the wastewater treatment plant has been expanded several times and various elements of the plant have been improved over the years, some components of its diffused aeration systems and buried air header are original and have surpassed its design life. As such, these components need to be replaced.

As part of the improvements, LAN will design a new fine bubble diffused aeration system for the eight aeration basins at Plant 1 of the Wilson Creek RWTTP (Wilson Creek RWTTP has two plants – Plant 1 and 2), which provides half of the capacity of the treatment facility. A new above grade air header for the two blower buildings at Plant 1 will also be designed. Specifically, the improvements will include:

• Air distribution piping including droplegs, manifolds, valves, and laterals
• Air diffuser assembly including membrane diffuser elements, baseplate, diffuser holder, retainer ring and airflow control orifice
• New air header from the blower building to the air distribution piping

“NTMWD is implementing a number of projects to manage, operate and maintain its wastewater system efficiently,” said Justin Reeves, P.E., LAN’s vice president. “The improvements to the Wilson Creek wastewater treatment plant is another step in that direction and will help NTMWD provide continued long-term service to North Texas residents.”

The design phase will be completed in 2020. Construction on the $9 million project is expected to begin in summer 2021 and will be constructed in two phases, finishing in summer 2022.