UV Disinfection System Recognized With Prestigious Aaees Grand Prize

Carollo Engineers, CDM Smith, and Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) were recently awarded a grand prize by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) for their work on a state-of-the-art ultraviolet (UV) system at GCWW’s Richard Miller Treatment Plant (RMTP).

The AAEES Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Competition serves to identify and reward the best of today’s environmental engineering and science endeavors. The RMTP UV disinfection system was awarded the Grand Prize in the Operations/Management category.

Carollo Engineers, CDM Smith, and GCWW completed the design and construction of the $30 million, 240 million gallon per day (mgd) RMTP facility, which began operation in September of 2013. Carollo Engineers and CDM Smith provided engineering consulting services for the RMTP UV Disinfection Project, including multi-discipline engineering services through all project phases. Carollo Engineers provided specialized UV process analysis, UV system design support, structural design, and startup services.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized for our innovative work at the Richard Miller Treatment Plant,” said Harold Wright, Chief UV Technologist for Carollo. “The entire team was focused on creating an advanced, efficient solution, while simultaneously keeping the public’s safety top of mind. At the forefront, we knew that utilizing UV treatment was criticalto ensuring a successful future at RMTP. ”

Recognizing that the plant’s Ohio River water source is impacted by municipal wastewater, agricultural storm water runoff, and other potential sources of contaminants, GCWW made the decision to add UV treatment. This decision helped GCWW to improve public health protection for millions of customers and to position themselves to better address changing source water conditions, emerging pathogens, and regulatory requirements in the future.

To best use UV disinfection at the RMTP, The Project Team took a proactive approach that started during UV system pre-design, to identify and implement a strategy that would provide efficient UV system operation at the RMTP. This approach utilized Carollo’s advanced UV system simulation software, the USEPA risk model, and CFD-based UV dose models to defineUV system operation, including regulated and emerging pathogen inactivation and micropollutant destruction. The Project Team worked to define how the UV dose monitoring and control algorithm would be programmed into the UV system PLC, and conducted a well-defined series of factory and field startup tests that confirmed and optimized the algorithm.

For more information, visit aaees.org.

About Carollo Engineers
For 80 years, Carollo Engineers has provided a full range of innovative planning, design and construction management services to meet the water and wastewater needs of municipalities, public agencies, private developers and industrial firms. For more information, visit www.carollo.com.