Water quality impacts the lives of every human being, whether that be their health, the environment, or even the economy. Effective infrastructure is essential to ensuring high water quality in today’s world. This infrastructure addresses the presence of pollutants, and also regulates pH levels, temperature, and dissolved oxygen concentration to ensure that water is safe for drinking, recreation, agriculture, and industrial processes. PMA has played an important role in eliminating and reducing degrading factors before they negatively impact people and their surroundings. We help implement effective water management practices, pollution control, and ongoing monitoring that are crucial in safeguarding water quality for current and future generations.
PMA is actively involved in the Poplar Street Pump Station project which will improve the quality of the Somerville watershed in Massachusetts. This project will fundamentally change stormwater drainage management for approximately 60% of the city by modernizing the city’s stormwater management infrastructure and enhancing preparedness for extreme weather events. The 4-million-gallon storage tank will hold stormwater from major rain events before it is discharged into the MBTA drainage system and ultimately into the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, the regional treatment plant for Boston. The goal is to lighten the burden on the plant which is frequently overloaded with combined sewer overflows during large storm events.
Further improving the water quality of the surrounding area, the Poplar Street project includes other green infrastructure stormwater interventions such as soil cells, which are tree pits modified to thoroughly filter stormwater runoff before discharging into the drainage system. Sediment and erosion controls are implemented on site in the construction phase, including edge protection to keep sediment from the area’s drainage system, as well as a frac tank, where water contaminated with sediment is allowed to settle before being discharged to the city’s system.
While all areas of the world need to consider the cleanliness of the water they provide, some regions need to consider their unique needs when building their facilities. In Oakland, CA, the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s Upper San Leandro Water Treatment Plant project focused on water resiliency and dependency. The district had to meet the challenges of effectively treating water and maintaining supply to the community during natural disasters such as drought and earthquakes. To accomplish this goal, features were upgraded, and redundancy provided so that if one system fails in the case of an earthquake, or even if they need to do maintenance in one area, the other system can take over.
During the improvement process, continuity of the water supply—a scare resource—was a prime consideration. Additionally, since it was in a residential area, only a limited timeframe was available for delivery and equipment loads on the roads. With careful scheduling and communication with the community, PMA assisted in providing quality water without interruption.
By contrast, due to its location in Michigan, the Ann Arbor Wastewater Treatment Plant is challenged with handling an abundant water environment. When PMA was assigned to work on this project, a third of the plant had reached critical age, making it difficult to manage anything above normal load. The plant also received green initiative funding to build more energy-efficient aeration equipment. Through these upgrades, Ann Arbor ensured higher water quality for its citizens by ensuring that if their load was increased, no wastewater would be discharged into the Huron River, a popular recreational waterway.
Water quality is also a significant factor in manufacturing and industrial buildings. For example, the Molson Coors G150 Modernization project, an upgrade to a brewery site, needed to consider the water used in production. At the end of this project, the facility will reduce its water usage by 10% in the fermentation/maturation/filtration processes. Additionally, as with any construction project with dirt work, PMA had to ensure that if stormwater entered the nearby creek, it would not bring extra sediment.
Water Quality Month reminds us of the critical role that clean water plays in our daily lives. Effective water management and infrastructure projects highlight the ongoing efforts needed to preserve this resource. Protecting water quality requires a wide range of solutions depending on the environment and community needs and is vital for the sustained existence of our entire world. As we prioritize water quality and the infrastructure to enhance it, we pave the way for healthier, more resilient communities.