Home to the nation's first municipal slow sand filtration system that greatly helped control the spread of typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases, the city of Lawrence selected CDM to design, permit, and build a new 16-million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant, as well as oversee improvements to the city's water distribution program. The new facility, which replaces a facility put into operation in 1938, provides a secure and reliable water supply to support anticipated growth within the city during the next 20 years, comply with more stringent water quality regulations, and modernize an aging infrastructure that, in many cases, was constructed in the early 1900s.
Construction and startup of the new plant without disruption to the existing water service was paramount. Using a design-build approach, CDM's design engineers and construction experts worked as an integrated designer-builder team. This approach streamlined the permitting, design, and construction stages, while providing the city ample input throughout the project. In addition to providing a single point of contact, the design-build process allowed the city to meet an aggressive schedule that was mandated by a regulatory consent order carrying potential financial penalties for the city.
The plant has been sized to meet the city's maximum daily water requirements during the summer months—its peak demand season—and will use a combination of proven treatment technologies to meet both current and future drinking water limits. The treatment process includes chemical addition and mixing, flocculation to condition the river water for treatment, sedimentation to remove larger particulate matter, and high-rate filtration to remove the remaining finest suspended matter. The filters will contain granular activated carbon media, which is highly effective in removing taste, odor, and color-producing compounds, and the water will be disinfected using ultraviolet light and chlorine.
Construction occurred on the same site as the existing plant, and daily communication between CDM site personnel and plant operators was essential to avoid interruption to the city's water supply. Equally important to uninterrupted service was building an aesthetically pleasing new facility within the existing plant site. Lawrence is a mature, built-out community and efficient land use is extremely important. In designing the new facility, great care was given to architectural compatibility with existing buildings, refurbishing older buildings on site, and preserving riverfront access for future community use. The site layout and design-build approach kept the community in mind, in terms of site aesthetics and possibilities for a future park or recreational area.