CONTACT:
Chris Carbone
ccarbone@kci.com
410.891.1754
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HUNT VALLEY, MD, February 26, 2007—At an awards banquet on Friday, February 23, Baltimore Engineers’ Week Council presented Hunt-Valley based consulting engineer KCI Technologies and joint venture partner Johnson Mirmiran and Thompson (JMT) with the Engineering Achievement of the Year award for the Enhanced Nutrient Removal (ENR) Project at the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment (WWTP). Vice President Tim Wolfe, PE, and Mid-Atlantic Environmental Group Manager Tom Sprehe, PE, accepted the award for KCI and gave a brief presentation. The project is part of Maryland’s ENR program, which set new discharge goals for upgraded WWTPs by the Year 2010, and will contribute to the health of the Chesapeake Bay by treating wastewater discharges into bodies of water that lead to the bay.
Completed in 2005, the project involved concept design development, detailed process modeling, bench scale testing, a one-year pilot testing program, and detailed cost evaluations to identify the best treatment option for the Patapsco plant. The joint venture team conducted an alternatives evaluation and prepared preliminary designs for the recommended facilities, which involve a biological aeration filter (BAF) process. Relatively rare in the U.S., BAFs are used throughout Europe and Asia. Only one other U.S. plant of Patapsco’s size has implemented this type of advanced nutrient removal system. The Patapsco plant is the most complex WWTP design configuration to attempt this technology in the U.S.
The design team developed several cost saving options, which will potentially save $75 million for Baltimore and the counties. The team’s design recommendations eliminated the need for design and construction of an influent pretreatment plant. The proposed design attenuates nitrification inhibition and incorporates wet weather flow diversion around new ENR facilities. According to George L. Winfield, Baltimore’s director of public works, “The ingenuity and innovation exhibited by the JV in the execution of the project saved the city millions of dollars and resulted in a design of a very dependable and operator-friendly facility.”
The ENR project is expected to help Patapsco WWTP eliminate 31 percent of the nitrogen slated for removal by 2010 by all 66 plants involved in the ENR program. The final construction cost for ENR projects will be offset by the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, which was created through landmark legislation that was signed by Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on May 26, 2004.###
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KCI Technologies Inc. With sales of $104.7 million in 2005, KCI Technologies is ranked 85 on the Engineering News-Record’s list of the top 500 engineering firms in the country. KCI employs over 900 people operating out of 22 offices in 10 states—Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia—and the District of Columbia. It is the largest employee-owned engineering firm based in Maryland. For more information, visit www.kci.com.
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