F.H. Paschen And GLWA Reach Major Milestone In Modernizing Springwells Water Treatment Facility

Replacement of aging flocculators at largest freshwater treatment facility in America reaches 50% completion milestone

F.H. Paschen, a trusted leader in construction in Michigan has announced today the 50% completion milestone of its $25M flocculator replacement project at the Great Lakes Water Authority’s (GLWA) Springwells Water Treatment Facility.

Built in 1931, the Springwells facility, located in Dearborn, is the second-oldest in GLWA’s system and is recognized as the largest freshwater treatment facility in North America. The GLWA treats up to 540 million gallons of water daily and services 981 square miles across four counties in Southeast Michigan, including Detroit, Northern and Western Wayne County, Eastern Washtenaw County, Oakland County, and Southeastern Macomb County.

The project involves the replacement of twenty (20) aging flocculators across four massive basins. Some of the flocculators being replaced have been in service for almost thirty years.

With two of the four basins and ten channels now fully renovated, the project has officially reached its halfway mark.

“These upgrades are essential to maintaining the region’s access to clean and safe drinking water,” said Ken Swartz, Vice President at F.H. Paschen. “We’re proud to be modernizing infrastructure that has provided uninterrupted potable water for over 90 years.”

Each flocculator features a shaft run that is approximately 105 feet long. Each flocculator shaft is being assembled with sixteen (16) shafts of various sizes from two feet to ten-and-a-half feet. A precision job, these sixteen (16) segments were required to be aligned so that no one part of the shaft could be out of alignment by more than one ten thousandths of an inch.

“The precision of aligning these shafts required on this job was one of the challenges”, said Swartz. “When you’re talking about lining-up 105 feet of shaft with an alignment tolerance that is equal to the thickness of a sheet of paper, it increases the complexity.”

The project began with full demolition of the existing flocculation systems, followed by installation of new direct-drive, variable-speed paddle wheel systems. This work is being conducted while maintaining uninterrupted facility operations, requiring close coordination with GLWA to meet stringent performance and safety standards.

"Replacing this critical system without disrupting service has been our north star," said Tom Tobin, Project Manager. "We’ve built a strong partnership with GLWA that has been vital to navigating the complexities of this project."

F.H. Paschen is concurrently managing ten (10) other active water and wastewater infrastructure projects across Michigan, including a recently awarded $60M design-build project with GLWA focused on final effluent screening, and the successful completion of a two-year, 2-million-gallon water storage tank project in East Lansing.

"This is about safeguarding the region’s water future," said Mike Mancik, Project Executive. "We're investing in reliability, resiliency, and public health."

F.H. Paschen has a local office in Downtown Detroit and a team that has executed construction projects in the Detroit Metro area for over 30 years.