2012 WateReuse Awards Recognize CH2M HILL Projects Gippsland Water Factory And Empire Generating Power Plant

The WateReuse Association recognizes projects that advance alternative sources of water supply or offer a novel approach to meeting local water needs

CH2M HILL (www.ch2mhill.com), a global full-service consulting, design, construction, and operations firm, is pleased to announce that both the Gippsland Water Factory in Victoria, Australia, and the Empire Generating Power Plant in Rensselaer, New York, have earned 2012 WateReuse Awards from the WateReuse Association. The Gippsland Water Factory received the International Award and the Empire Generating Power Plant received the Industrial Project of the Year Award. CH2M HILL helped to design and construct both of these facilities, which were honored at the 27th WateReuse Annual Symposium in Hollywood, Fla., on September 10.

The WateReuse Awards honor projects and people across the United States and abroad that have made significant contributions to water reuse. The awards typically recognize projects that advance alternative sources of water supply or offer a novel approach to meeting local water needs.

“Having two of CH2M HILL’s projects recognized with WateReuse Awards is a great honor and demonstrates our leadership in and dedication to developing sustainable, innovative solutions to the world’s water issues,” comments Larry Schimmoller, CH2M HILL Water Reuse Global Technology Lead. “The fact that both of these winning projects have industrial components – whether it is the Gippsland Water Factory providing purified water to Australian Paper’s mill or the Empire Generating Power Plant utilizing high-quality effluent from the wastewater treatment plant across the river for cooling processes – illustrates how important it is to develop industrial and power projects with holistic, sustainable water management in mind so that the long-term needs of the facility can be met while protecting local freshwater resources.”

Gippsland Water Factory
The Gippsland Water Factory is an innovative water purification and recycling system in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. CH2M HILL was a member of the alliance, along with Gippsland Water, Transfield Services and Parsons Brinkerhoff, that provided project management, design, construction and operations services of the Gippsland Water Factory. The Gippsland Water Factory uses state-of-the-art technology, including biological treatment, membrane filtration, and reverse osmosis, to treat nearly 9.3 mgd (35 ML/d) of domestic and industrial wastewater. The facility produces 2 to 3 mgd (8 to 12 ML/d) of high-quality recycled water for use by local industry. Green engineering principles and design were incorporated throughout the project, including co-generation of energy from the biogas generated by anaerobic treatment (330 kW) and also a MicroHydro station (340 kW) that captures energy from a large clean water stream that feeds into the clean water reservoir. The electricity powers operations and minimizes environmental impacts.

In addition, CH2M HILL, New Media Magic, LLC, Pico Chicago and Melbourne, and DesignInc were the collaborating partners with Gippsland Water for the creative design and delivery of the visitor experience at the Vortex Centre, an innovative community educational facility. Featuring interactive displays, touch-screens and powerful videos, the Vortex focuses on water conservation and sustainable water management; highlighting water as a precious resource at a local, state, national and global level. The inspiring building, hands-on activities, engaging programs, and distinctive location combine to promote behavioral change and increased awareness of the need to use water responsibly.

Empire Generating Power Plant
The Empire Generating Power Plant, engineered, procured, and constructed by CH2M HILL, is an environmentally friendly power plant that uses reclaimed water for cooling/process and natural gas to fire the combined-cycle turbines to 535 megawatt base load or 635 megawatt at peaking power—representing the largest beneficial use of treatment plant effluent in New York State. As a result of the ultra-filtration, demineralization water treatment process, the facility reduces its need for fresh water by up to 4,800 gallons per minute (summer peak rate). The project also included the construction of a low noise and plume-abated cooling tower, a 28-inch diameter grey water pipeline under the Hudson River for non-contaminating effluent flow, and a submerged effluent outflow structure for the reuse of treated water. Beginning operations in 2010, the Empire Generating Power Plant is one of the nation’s cleanest and most efficient combined-cycle plants in the country.

Besides earning the prestigious reuse awards, CH2M HILL is a silver sponsor of the annual Symposium. Several staff is participating in the conference, sharing their expertise and best in water reuse projects around the globe. Learn more about CH2M HILL’s participation in the Symposium at http://ch2mhillblogs.com/water/2012/09/12/watereuse-symposium-ch2mhill/.

About CH2M HILL
Headquartered near Denver, Colorado, USA, employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of water, transportation, environmental, energy, facilities and resources. With US$6.4B in revenue and 30,000 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record and named a leader in sustainable engineering by Verdantix. The firm has been named a FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For five times and was named Water Company of the Year at the 2012 Global Water Awards. For more information, visit www.ch2mhill.com.