A city in South Florida identified the need to develop a Water Treatment Master Plan to plot the course of its water treatment plant (WTP) for the next decade including PFAS. The City selected McKim & Creed to provide professional engineering consulting services to develop the Master Plan.
McKim & Creed coordinated with the City to evaluate and develop recommendations for capital projects to include raw water quality, pending and potential future drinking water regulations (PFAS and other emerging contaminants), development of water treatment plant conditional assessments, the effectiveness of existing processes, requirements to meet pending and future regulations, and evaluations of up to three (3) treatment process alternatives. The alternative evaluations included capital and operational costs, effectiveness, ease of operations and maintenance, implementation schedules, and training requirements.
Three (3) alternative water treatment processes were evaluated to address future demand and emerging contaminants. These alternative technologies included:
- Ion Exchange
- Granular Activated Carbon
- Nanofiltration
A decision matrix was developed that included weighted criteria to assess which technology would best meet the City’s needs.
In addition, McKim & Creed created a five-year plan for the existing WTP which includes recommended projects to be addressed in the coming years prior to the major technological treatment improvements.
McKim & Creed applied for program funding through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund under the Emerging Contaminants appropriation on behalf of the City. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) approved the amount of $7.74 million with 100 percent Principal Forgiveness for planning and design of a facility that can remove PFAS from the water supply.