The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) has selected Veolia Water North America – Central LLC (Veolia Water) to manage a regional wastewater system serving the greater Milwaukee area under a 10-year contract valued at approximately $400 million.
Approved by MMSD commissioners, the public-private partnership represents the nation’s largest wastewater contract. It is expected to save approximately $35 million over the contract term, compared to MMSD’s estimate to manage the system through public operations. Veolia Water’s proposal includes comprehensive programs to enhance operations and maintenance of the system. MMSD officials considered multiple factors in the competitive procurement, including technical approaches, experience, corporate resources, transition plans, employee relations, community involvement and activities to bolster small/women/minority business enterprise activity.
Veolia Water plans to introduce asset management programs based on the EPA’s Asset Management Process, collaborative process control and work plans aimed at controlling potential wet-weather overflows, and enhanced odor monitoring and control technologies.
MMSD is a state-chartered, governmental agency providing wastewater services for 28 municipalities with a population of 1.1 million. As one of the nation’s largest and most sophisticated wastewater systems, MMSD operations include a 411 sq mile service area with a 3,000-mile system of collection sewers and a 310-mile system of interceptor and main sewers. These systems convey wastewater to two treatment facilities that typically treat more than 200 million gal of wastewater each day, with a combined peak capacity of 630 million gal. The contract also includes operation of a 26.5-mile long deep tunnel system to help control wet-weather overflows and production management of Milorganite, the district’s nationally branded and marketed biosolids fertilizer product created at MMSD’s Jones Island wastewater facility.
Transition activities will commence immediately; Veolia Water assumes operations management responsibility on March 1, 2008.
Source: Veolia Water
