Finding Solutions and Savings in Tight Building Locations

Budget constraints, limited buildable space and multiple sub-surface conflicts confronted the team tackling the addition of Return Activated Sludge (RAS) pumping at the Trinity River Authority’s Central Regional Wastewater System (CRWS) Treatment Plant.

The CRWS plant treats more flow in a single facility than any other wastewater treatment plant in Texas, providing treatment to one quarter of the total population of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

After the design team researched an opportunity to reduce costs, they recommended a trench type wetwell design with a VTSH pump, which fit neatly into the site while avoiding infrastructure conflicts. The design was bid and awarded for construction in Summer 2007 for $8.5 million, saving the client more than $2.9 million.

The pump station developed by this team is the first self-cleaning trench type wetwell in Texas and the largest Vertical Turbine Solids Handling (VTSH) RAS pumping application in the United States.

The Self-Cleaning Trench-Type Wetwell Design Project was designed by Freese & Nichols

based in Fort Worth, Texas.   This project was a gold medal winner in the 2010

ACEC Texas Engineering Excellence Awards Competition.