Sherwin-Williams Announces 2017 Water & Wastewater Impact Award Winners

Top honors go to Carolina Management Team and the town of St. Pauls, North Carolina, for wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation project featuring Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings

The 2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award recognizing outstanding water and wastewater projects goes to an infrastructure rehabilitation contractor with a big heart and a rural community in desperate need of infrastructure repairs. For the winning project, Carolina Management Team (CMT) rehabilitated the chlorine contact chamber at the St. Pauls, North Carolina, wastewater treatment plant at no cost – a donation topping $46,000 in estimated value. This benevolent project secured this year’s Sherwin-Williams Impact Award, which recognizes notable projects featuring coating and lining materials from Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings. The company announced the winners at the Water Environment Federation’s Annual WEFTEC Conference on October 3, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois.

“The Sherwin-Williams Impact Award honors demanding water and wastewater projects and recognizes those professionals committed to enhancing infrastructure to improve public health and safety,” said Kevin Morris, Market Segment Director, Water & Wastewater, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings. “Award submissions included many standout projects, from wastewater treatment plants to water towers, that demonstrated excellence in the use of high-performance protective coatings to combat corrosion and extend asset lives.”

The award-winning project arose out of the town of St. Pauls’ lack of sufficient funds to address its deteriorating wastewater treatment plant. The town turned to Asheville, North Carolina-based CMT and the company’s charitable “CMT Gives Back” program, which is a statewide program that delivers the gift of a complete asset rehabilitation, including labor and materials, annually to a municipality in need of water or wastewater infrastructure rehabilitation services.

St. Pauls’ more than 50-year-old chlorine contact chamber was severely deteriorated due to the highly corrosive process of chlorine wastewater disinfection. To complete the rehabilitation, CMT’s crew rebuilt the surface profile of deteriorated concrete within the chamber and then applied SherwinWilliams FasTop MVT Moisture Control System to address moisture penetrating the chamber’s floor. Finally, the crew applied a primer coat of Dura-Plate 235 Multi-Purpose Epoxy followed by one coat of SherFlex Elastomeric Polyurethane to the walls and floor of the structure. Additionally, the crew used Macropoxy 646 Fast-Cure Epoxy and Acrolon 218 HS Acrylic Polyurethane to restore valve stands and influent piping, as well as Sher-Crete Flexible Concrete Waterproofer to protect the exterior of the contact chamber.

“The tremendous benevolence that Carolina Management Team offers each year to local municipalities via its CMT Gives Back program is a testament to the care and compassion that water and wastewater professionals have for their communities. Water is the elixir of life, and without concerted efforts like CMT’s to restore infrastructure for those in need, more and more communities would be facing the worries of losing access to this vital asset,” said Morris.

Among the numerous award entries, two water tank restoration projects stood out as runners-up for the 2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award. First, UCL Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Dixon Engineering, Inc. (Lake Odessa, Michigan) teamed up to recoat a multi-leg elevated water tower for the City of Findlay, Ohio. The 2-million-gallon tower’s new patriotic design features a red, white, and blue design resembling an American flag, complete with stars and lettering stating, “Findlay Salutes Veterans.” For the project, UCL applied a primer coat of Macropoxy 646 PW, followed by two coats of Acrolon Ultra for the white coloring and Fluorokem HS for the red and blue coloring.

The other runner-up project was a 4.5-million-gallon potable/fire water storage tank restoration performed for the Mukilteo Water and Wastewater District in Mukilteo, Washington. HCI Industrial & Marine Coatings Inc. (Brush Prairie, Washington) restored the tower under challenging conditions, including a short, mandatory project window and close proximity to parking areas. HCI relined the interior of the 80-foot diameter by 120-foot tall tank in 47 days, from draining to refilling, using SherwinWilliams SherPlate PW Epoxy, an edge-retentive, ultra-high solids coating engineered for immersion service. To recoat the tank’s exterior, the company applied Acrolon Ultra HS. Gray & Osborne Inc. (Seattle, Washington) served as the consulting engineering firm for the project.

In addition to its award-winning project, CMT also secured honorable mention status for a difficult pipe recoating project for the Kerr Lake Regional Water System located in the City of Henderson, North Carolina. The filter pipe gallery at the Kerr Lake Regional Water Treatment Plant was deteriorating, showing flaking paint and visible corrosion. To recoat the filter pipe gallery assets, CMT used Euronavy ES301 and Corothane I HS from Sherwin-Williams. The two moisture-tolerant systems were required because the pipes were condensing during the project due to the need to keep the gallery in operation during the restoration.

The Sherwin-Williams Impact Award program recognizes application contractors, specifiers, and owners for excellence on North American water and wastewater projects that have a compelling effect on the industry with regard to public safety, asset protection, and infrastructure life cycle improvement. Eligible projects included any water-related structure that was new, restored, and/or rehabilitated in 2016 and was completed using coating and lining materials from Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings.

An independent panel of water industry experts rated entries based on the difficulty of the project, how the contractor overcame challenges, what solutions the contractor provided to the owner, the owner’s satisfaction of the outcome, and the overall uniqueness of the project.

2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award Winner: Carolina Management Team And The Town Of St. Pauls, North Carolina – Chlorine Contact Chamber Rehabilitation In St. Pauls, North Carolina
Carolina Management Team (CMT) and the town of St. Pauls, North Carolina, won the 2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award for a project that solved a community’s desperate infrastructure needs via a benevolent program. Faced with a lack of funds to repair its deteriorating wastewater treatment plant, the town of St. Pauls turned to CMT’s charitable “CMT Gives Back” program. As part of its 2016 program, the Asheville, North Carolina-based infrastructure rehabilitation contractor donated materials and services to rehabilitate the chlorine contact chamber at St. Pauls’ wastewater treatment plant at no cost – a donation topping $46,000 in estimated value.

St. Pauls’ chlorine contact chamber was in urgent need of repair following more than 50 years of deterioration from the highly corrosive process of using chlorine to disinfect wastewater. The chambers’ baffled basins, which temporarily detain wastewater while chlorine disinfection occurs, were thinning and risked crumbling if repairs were not performed soon. The town first applied for grant funding to make the necessary repairs and then applied to the CMT Gives Back program after being turned down for a grant.

Now in its sixth year, the CMT Gives Back program is a statewide program in North Carolina that identifies municipalities in need of water or wastewater infrastructure rehabilitation services. CMT picks one deserving project annually and donates the time, talent, and materials to complete the project as a gift to the municipality.

For the St. Pauls project, CMT’s crew first removed contaminants from the contact chamber’s severely deteriorated concrete substrate and then applied mortar to rebuild the surface profile. To address moisture penetrating the chamber’s floor, the crew next applied FasTop MVT Moisture Control System. Finally, the crew applied a primer coat of Dura-Plate 235 Multi-Purpose Epoxy followed by one coat of SherFlex Elastomeric Polyurethane to the walls and floor of the structure. Additionally, the crew used Macropoxy 646 Fast-Cure Epoxy and Acrolon 218 HS Acrylic Polyurethane to restore valve stands and influent piping, as well as Sher-Crete Flexible Concrete Waterproofer to protect the exterior of the contact chamber.

CMT’s rehabilitation efforts restored the chamber, which was built in 1964, to like-new condition, preparing it for many years of continued service. In addition, the donated materials and services saved significant funds that St. Pauls can now use for other critical infrastructure projects.

2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award Runner-Up: Ucl Inc., Dixon Engineering, Inc., And The City Of Findlay, Ohio – 2-Million-Gallon Elevated Water Tower In Findlay, Ohio
A patriotic-themed water storage tank recoating project shares the distinction of being named a co-runner-up for the 2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award. Cincinnati, Ohio-based UCL Inc. and Lake Odessa, Michigan-based Dixon Engineering, Inc. teamed up to recoat a multi-leg elevated water tower for the City of Findlay, Ohio. Findlay’s 2-million-gallon north tower, which is visible from Interstate 75, needed recoating, and the community wanted to honor its veterans by presenting a large thank you for their sacrifices on this airborne canvas. The newly coated tower features a patriotic red, white, and blue design resembling an American flag. Its tank portion is coated in blue and features white stars and lettering stating, “Findlay Salutes Veterans.” The tower’s base is white, and its 14 legs alternate between red and white.

To recoat the tower, applicators first pressure washed and prepared the steel substrate to the SSPC-SP1 Solvent Cleaning standard. Next, they applied a primer coat of Macropoxy 646 PW, a high-solids, highbuild polyamide epoxy that ensures adequate protection of sharp edges, corners, and welds. Finally, they applied two coats of Acrolon Ultra for the white coloring and Fluorokem HS for the red and blue coloring. Both products were chosen for their long-term aesthetics on high-visibility structures, including their attractive gloss appearance and long-term color and gloss retention. The products will help the City of Findlay significantly extend its maintenance and recoat cycle for the tower.

The tower’s honoring of those who have served the country was especially moving for the project team members. The City of Findlay’s water treatment manager extended his retirement to see the project through to completion. In addition, the tower’s salute to veterans hit home for the local SherwinWilliams sales representative, who is a veteran himself.

2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award Runner-Up: Hci Industrial & Marine Coatings Inc., Gray & Osborne Inc., And Mukilteo Water And Wastewater District – 4.5-Million-Gallon Water Reservoir Coating And Relining In Mukilteo, Washington
Another water storage tank restoration shared the distinction of co-runner-up for the 2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award. This project involved the interior relining and exterior recoating of a 4.5-million-gallon potable/fire water reservoir for the Mukilteo Water and Wastewater District in Mukilteo, Washington. HCI Industrial & Marine Coatings Inc., based in Brush Prairie, Washington, restored the tower under challenging conditions, including a short project window and close proximity to parking areas. Seattle, Washington-based Gray & Osborne Inc. served as the consulting engineering firm for the project.

The 80-foot diameter by 120-foot tall tank is located at Paine Field (also known as Snohomish County Airport), adjacent to an airplane manufacturing facility, and serves as a public water supply for Mukilteo residents, as well as a reservoir for the airplane facility’s fire suppression systems. Per a municipal agreement, the tank can only be taken out of service for about eight weeks every three years. HCI was therefore bound by a contract to reline the tank’s 50,000-square-foot interior and return the tank to service within 50 days – from drawing down the tank to refilling it to 800,000 gallons.

After emptying and cleaning the tank interior, HCI crew members first abrasive blasted the steel to SSPC-SP10 and then applied 25 to 35 mils of SherPlate PW Epoxy, an edge-retentive, ultra-high solids coating engineered for immersion service. To manage environmental conditions inside the tank, HCI set up compressors, air driers, a dehumidifier, and heat banks. HCI completed the interior lining and returned the tank to service in 47 days, three days ahead of schedule.

When recoating the tank’s exterior, the HCI crew encountered no mandatory time restrictions. However, crewmembers had to be especially careful of overspray, as a road, parking area, and airplane assembly areas border the tank. Containment systems set up around the scaffolding protected the surrounding area to meet the airport’s foreign object debris (FOD) requirements.

Due to the 50-day return-to-service window, HCI had to topcoat the tank’s exterior when it was partially full, which is not ideal due to the potential for condensation and uneven temperatures across the substrate. However, HCI’s selection of Acrolon Ultra HS alleviated any concerns, as the highperformance coating has outstanding application characteristics.

2017 Sherwin-Williams Impact Award Honorable Mention: Carolina Management Team And City Of Henderson Kerr Lake Regional Water System – Kerr Lake Regional Water Treatment Plant Filter Pipe Gallery In Henderson, North Carolina
In addition to its award-winning project, Carolina Management Team (CMT) also secured honorable mention status for a difficult pipe recoating project for the Kerr Lake Regional Water System (KLRWS) located in the City of Henderson, North Carolina. The filter pipe gallery at the Kerr Lake Regional Water Treatment Plant (WTP) was deteriorating, with flaking paint and visible corrosion indicating that rehabilitation would be necessary to extend the life of this important system. The system is so critical to operations that it could not be taken out of service for maintenance, forcing CMT to conduct surface preparations inside a working water treatment plant and coat pipes that were sweating due to condensation.

With the filter pipe gallery still in service, CMT was unable to sandblast the assets, as this surface prep method is not practical inside an operational water treatment plant. Instead, the crew devised a twostep surface preparation process. First, the team soda blasted surfaces per SSPC-SP1 Solvent Cleaning guidelines, removing a significant amount of rust and the existing coating, while lightly abrading the remaining coating. Next, the crew used hand and power tools to clean the many pipes, nuts, bolts, and flanges, removing all remaining loose mill scale, rust, and coatings, as well as tightly abrading and profiling any remaining coatings to leave an SSPC-SP2/SP3 surface.

Next, CMT crewmembers had to contend with priming and coating the filter gallery assets, some of which had damp exteriors due to condensation. For the primer coat, CMT selected Euronavy ES301, a surface- and humidity-tolerant epoxy technology that can be applied with no dew point restrictions over damp steel surfaces and over flash-rust. The company specified the product not only due to its ability to be used on damp substrates, but also for its high edge-retention properties, which helped to coat the sharp edges of the numerous nuts, bolts, and flanges found throughout the filter pipe gallery. For the intermediate coat and topcoat, CMT applied two coats of Corothane I HS, a moisture-cured polyurethane designed for high-humidity applications such as the treatment plant’s condensing pipes. The crew applied the Euronavy ES301 coat at 4-8 DFT and the Corothane I HS coats at 3-5 mils DFT per coat.

Using the two humidity-tolerant technologies enabled CMT to restore the filter pipes and surrounding components with minimal disruptions to the Kerr Lake Regional WTP’s operations.

About The Sherwin-Williams Company
Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is the global leader in paints and coatings. Offering a world-class brand portfolio, premier technology and innovation platforms, and an extensive global footprint, the company’s protective and marine coatings division delivers smarter asset protection and unmatched service and specification support to its customers from over 4,100 locations worldwide. From alkyds to zincs, Sherwin-Williams offers a complete line of time-tested, high-performance coatings and systems to combat corrosion, supported by the largest group of NACE-certified coatings inspectors in the industry. With more than 150 years in business and a culture of product innovation, Sherwin-Williams today is the single source of supply for coatings solutions made to your specifications and delivered on time, every time. For more information, visit http://protective.sherwin-williams.com.