Civil Engineering Capstone Project

Overview

Recognizing the steadily increasing population in State College, the State College Borough Water Authority (SCBWA) has decided to construct a new drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) to mitigate the total amount of risk they are facing. This decision was not required, but as the service population grows, the number of people affected by a failure in the service process grows, which decreases the acceptable level of risk. Building a new DWTP decreases risk by adding system redundancy to the SCBWA’s distribution system so that customers can continue to receive clean water in the event that a problem arises at the new or existing DWTP. The new DWTP is to be located at 3062 Ernest Lane in Ferguson Township, and use the Nixon and Kocher well fields for its source water. This location poses a challenge to the SCBWA, as the FEMA flood map shows that a floodplain runs through the middle of this site. As a result, further Hydrology & Hydraulic modeling is required to obtain a more detailed map of the flood zone to ensure that all major infrastructure is located outside of the flood zone. Some of the main treatment objectives of the plant include removing protozoa found in animal waste such as cryptosporidium, as well as emerging contaminants such as personal pharmaceutical care products (PPCPs). Additionally, the new DWTP must be a zero-waste discharge facility, as the SCBWA does not have an NPDES discharge permit. To meet these treatment objectives, a DWTP has been designed to treat the water with microfiltration membranes, granular activated carbon tanks, ultraviolet light disinfection, and chlorine disinfection. The selection of these treatment technologies was assisted by the implementation of decision matrices that were specific to the facility’s needs for each technology. To ensure major infrastructure would be located outside of the flood zone on site, a HEC-HMS model was created using land use and soil information and observed storm data. This model was then calibrated to create a 100-year hydrograph. This hydrograph was used in addition with digital elevation model data to create a HEC-RAS model, which resulted in the 100-year flood inundation zone. A proposed site layout was created and placed on a map showing the flood inundation zone to ensure that the only infrastructure that would be within the flood zone would be an access road.

Objectives

– Remove emerging contaminants

– zero waste facility

– Protozoa inactivation

Approach

– Complete Site Assessment

– Complete Feasibility Report

– Complete Preliminary Design

Outcomes

– Created a design for a drinking water treatment plant

– Proposed site layout

– Determined that site was not in floodplain