Cost: $80 million
Location: Lake Ariel, Pa.
Year: 2015-12-09
Size: 4,040 stations
Owner: Roamingwood Sewer & Water Authority
Designers: Cardno BCM Engineers, a Div. of ATC Group Services Inc.
Contractor: Leeward Construction Inc., Urban Electric, Rooney Electric
Lake Ariel, Pa., was in need of an efficient, cost-effective sewer system to eliminate some or all of the 26 duplex pumping stations around the city. The existing gravity-based sewer system was failing, resulting in raw sewage in city streets and yards, as well as a local lake.
The stations utilized several brands of pumps that consumed a high amount of electricity and required continuous maintenance. The stations ranged in service life from less than five years old to more than 18 years old. The city needed a solution that would eliminate these stations and minimize infiltration and inflow entry points, and would not disrupt the environment.
In 2010, the city began construction on a low-pressure sewer design that would eliminate the lift stations and has a projected annual savings of $80,000 in electrical costs alone. The new design includes a Barnes EcoTRAN packaged system fitted with an Omni Grind grinder pump to be installed at each home site. The station is hidden under a tank cover disguised as a landscape garden rock. The new system utilizes smaller pipe than the gravity-based system and eliminates the need for 40-ft open cuts through a neighborhood. The only entry points to the system from home sites to the treatment facility are the homes themselves.
This project, which is the largest upgrade of a failed gravity system in the U.S., is more than 50% complete, with 1,600 homes connected to the new system. The project is on track to be 75% complete by the end of summer 2016, with full completion by the end of 2018.
“Our project is important for many reasons, but, first and foremost, is to protect our environment and the lakes that surround us,” said Jack Lennox, executive director of the Roamingwood Sewer & Water Authority. “This project will also eliminate a long-time fear we have every holiday weekend, of losing water pressure to the community. With the current volume of water loss, use during peak times is always precarious. Our entire staff is looking forward to stressful holiday weekends being a thing of the past.”
Project Year: 2015-12-09Contractor: Leeward Construction Inc., Urban Electric, Rooney ElectricDesigners: Cardno BCM Engineers, a Div. of ATC Group Services Inc.Owner: Roamingwood Sewer & Water AuthorityLocation: Lake Ariel, Pa.Cost: $80 millionSize: 4,040 stations
