Program Management Projects

On-Call Wastewater Engineering Program Management Services
Client: Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), El Granada, CA

SRT has been providing engineering support and program management services to the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), completing over 50 assignments and design projects since 2006 focused on hydraulic work for sewer system replacement, evaluation of the WWTP process treatment units and structures, and implementation of repair and improvement, Specific projects include: WWTP Concrete Repair Project, Recycled Water Feasibility Study, WWTP Recycled Water Readiness Analysis, WWTP Process Unit and Mechanical Component Review , and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Development Support (2010, 2011, 2012).

SRT provides comprehensive services for SAM CIP projects, including planning, permitting, feasibility studies, coordination with regulatory, permitting, and governmental entities, conceptual engineering, detailed design, bidding and construction contract award support, engineering services during construction, project commissioning, and closeout.

The primary challenge providing effective program management services for a wastewater utility is being nimble and responsive enough to address all specialties at a moments notice. SRT utilized our extensive network of trusted subconsultant teams as well as our responsive engineering staff to meet any specialized needs quickly and efficiently.
SSRT provided value to SAM by being responsive to their changing needs, as well as providing detailed design and rehabilitation expertise to secure significant cost savings across a multitude of projects.

As-Needed Wastewater Engineering Services
Client: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Wastewater Enterprise, San Francisco, CA

Serving as a joint venture partner together with Brown and Caldwell (BC) since 2013, SRT has been providing engineering services to the SFPUC Wastewater Enterprise, for their WWTPs and other sewer facilities, including wastewater treatment plant and collection system reliability assessments, condition assessments, and other on-call engineering support. In addition, SRT has provided assistance to SFPUC with unit reliability and integration of a grease recycling and biodiesel generation at SFPUC WWTPs.
Working with a large utility requires a small firm to have extensive knowledge of large utility organizational structures and industry best practices.
Senior SRT staff has worked extensively in management at large utilities in California, and through this experience we understand agency organizational structures and have developed a skill set to effectively streamline our services to meet the needs of SFPUC, or other large utilities.

Planning and Feasibility Projects

Wet Weather Retention Feasibility Study
Client: Santa Cruz County Sanitation District (SCCSD)

SRT was retained by the Santa Cruz County Sanitation District (SCCSD) to conduct a feasibility study for construction of a wet weather retention structure at the D. A. Porath Facility. The D. A. Porath Facility is one of the SCCSD’s largest regional wastewater pumping stations, and during heavy rain the facility was unable to pump the amount of wastewater conveyed to it, resulting in sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). SCCSD negotiated a reduced SSO fine in exchange for designing and constructing a means of capturing unusually high storm-related wastewater flows to be fed to the pump station at an equalized rate.
Challenges associated with the feasibility study, and ultimately the design of the project, were largely regulatory, where unique environmental considerations had to be taken into account.
SRT provided regulatory expertise from our staff’s extensive experience with County and California coastal regulatory agencies, helping to streamline the permitting process and effectively determine the feasibility of the project.

Southeast Plant Biosolids Digest Facilities – Phase 1: Planning and Preliminary Engineering
Client: Brown and Caldwell and SFPUC

The biosolids digester facilities project will implement modern technologies for sludge digestion, thickening, and dewatering at the 250-MGD Southeast Treatment Plant, San Francisco’s largest wastewater facility. The upgraded facility will be capable of producing class A biosolids that can be used for beneficial purpose.
The plant is located in the midst of a dense mixed-use area with very limited real estate available to site the new facilities.
SRT provided responsive conceptual design engineering support to the design team. SRT was more specifically involved with the new ferric chloride storage facility and the W2 plant water treatment.

4 MGD Wastewater Treatment Plant Reliability Study
Client: Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), Half Moon Bay, CA

SRT helped the Authority prioritize its future capital investment by identifying critical assets at the treatment plant. Criticality assessment for each process unit and equipment included failure probability and expected consequence of failure. About 400 equipment units were evaluated.
The study was performed within a very limited budget and timeframe.
SRT came up with a methodology accommodating both the Authority’s ambitious goals and aggressive schedule.

Comprehensive Wastewater System Evaluation
Client: St. Helena Hospital (SHH), Napa County, CA

On behalf of the Saint Helena Hospital (Hospital) in Napa County, SRT performed a comprehensive system-wide evaluation of the Hospital’s wastewater conveyance, treatment, and disposal system. The evaluation focused on the hydraulic processes of the 60,000-gallon per day (gpd) facility and made recommendations for improvements including upgrades to the pretreatment processes and replacement of the WWTP’s 100-year-old concrete septic tanks. The evaluation results also identified issues with electrical power distribution, controls, and instrumentation.
Cost-effective rehabilitation of an aging small wastewater system requires in-depth knowledge of process engineering, design, regulatory compliance, and wastewater system operations and maintenance.
SRT has expert knowledge of small water and wastewater systems in California, and we were able to leverage this knowledge to offer cost-effective creative solutions for the Hospital’s aging wastewater system.

Recycled Water Facilities Planning Study
Client: Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), El Granada, CA

Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM) contracted SRT Consultants to develop a Recycled Water Facilities Planning Report under the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Water Recycling Facilities Planning Grant Program agreement. Study and Report development included a refined marketing analysis, development of project alternatives, evaluation of treatment options, conceptual engineering calculations and projections, and evaluation of legal, regulatory, and permitting feasibility for potential customers and alternatives.
Recycled water projects for wastewater utilities are particularly challenging in regards to stakeholder management, as it is necessary to include the local water purveyor in all negotiations and ensure that the tertiary treatment plant will produce water that meets the needs of the potential customers.
SRT was able work the SAM and local stakeholders in developing a Study that was acceptable by all parties as a planning level document and met the requirements of a grant funding agreement with the State of California.

Portola Pump Station Evaluation
Client: Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), El Granada, CA

SRT performed a feasibility study for the replacement of pumps at Portola Pump Station. The pump station operated three (3) large‐capacity centrifugal pump and one (1) small‐capacity centrifugal pump, which SRT proposed to replace with three (3) three large non‐clog centrifugal pumps driven by a submersible motor and one (1) chopper pump.
Condition assessments often leave need for multi-disciplinary action and recommendations for capital improvements that need to be approved by several utility departments.
SRT provided several recommendations for pump station improvement, giving our client a comprehensive understanding of the benefits and consequences of various approaches.

Design and Construction Projects

Wet Weather Flow Management Project
Client: Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), El Granada, CA

SRT was contracted to provide conceptual engineering, permitting, design, and construction management for the Wet Weather Flow Management Project (WWFMP), which consisted of constructing six (6) 160-foot-long 72-inch diameter reinforced concrete storage pipes to temporarily store approximately 0.2 MG of excess wet weather sewage. The system was designed as a passive storage system, requiring no additional pumping, valves, or instrumentation controls.

Services provided included, but were not limited to: conducting a site survey, topographic mapping, Record of Survey, the Coastal Development Permit (CDP), detailed design and coordination, and engineering services during the bid period.

The WWFMP was constructed in the coastal zone of California, no more than 300 feet from the Pacific Ocean, which presents a significant challenge in permitting and keeping the project on schedule.
SRT has a long history of design and construction work in coastal California and has important institutional knowledge of the California Coastal Commission process, ensuring that the WWFMP stayed on schedule and was operational for the next wet season.

Wet Weather Retention Structure Design
Client: Santa Cruz County Sanitation District (SCCSD), Santa Cruz, CA

SCCSD retained SRT to provide design services, develop construction plans, specifications, and construction cost estimates for a 100,000-gallon capacity wet weather retention basin. The retention structure is completely buried and operated by gravity, allowing flows in excess of what the pump station can handle to be temporarily stored until the storm has subsided and the pump station wet well level is lowered to its normal operating elevation.
Challenges associated with this project mostly pertained to environmental considerations with respect to eucalyptus trees that could not be removed or disturbed and minimizing disturbance to the mating and foraging grounds of the monarch butterfly.
SRT completed the custom design of the cast-in-place concrete structure ahead of schedule and within budget.

Digester Upgrade Project
Client: East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD), Oakland, CA

As part of a consultant team with Brown and Caldwell (B&C), SRT provided engineering expertise for EBMUD’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) solids handling facilities. The evaluation resulted in recommended improvements for the system, as well as solids facility design services, and engineering services during construction. SRT further provided support to the District by developing standard operating procedures and an online operations and maintenance manual.

Operations and Maintenance Projects

Wet Weather Systems O&M Manual Migration
Client: East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), Oakland, CA

EBMUD retained SRT to do an analysis of operations and maintenance procedures content and migration of existing and updated operations content into a new online operations manual (OLM) program. Operations content was developed for various system components, including the influent pump station, secondary treatment, pre-chlorination, dewatering, and de-chlorination facilities.
Effectively performing technology upgrades for operations procedures requires in-depth knowledge of O&M best practices and end-user interaction.
Offering staff with extensive operations and SOP development experience, SRT was able to provide unique value related to end user interaction.

Biofuel Program SOP Development
Client: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), San Francisco, CA

SFPUC retained SRT on behalf of SFGreasecycle to provide detailed review of site activities for the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant (SEP) grease-recycling program and develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), Codes of Safe Practice (CSP’s), and training manuals to standardize on-site activities and comply with required regulatory statutes.
SFGreasecycle is a unique wastewater utility program and presents the challenge of understanding the processes associated with the collection and refinement of grease and biofuel generation.
SRT successfully served the SFPUC by developing over 25 SOPs that are used as the primary training tools for SFGreasecycle employees. SRT also incorporated visual aids to streamline training, increasing the manuals ease-of-use for the end user.

Digester System Online O&M Manual
Client: East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), Oakland, CA

SRT provided development of online operations manual (OLM) content and incorporated new and updated O&M content on the OLM program. Operations content was developed for numerous facilities, including: the FOG receiving facilities, blend tanks, digester blended-sludge feed loop, first-stage digesters, second-stage digesters, digester sludge transfer and withdrawal system, overflow pumping station, and digested sludge pumping system.
Data collection for an SOP development effort of this size presents a significant challenge in the coordination of multiple parties that maintain information about all of the operation of facilities (ie. program managers, operations supervisors, operations staff).
SRT provided customized new and updated O&M content specific to EBMUD’s facilities based on the information collected from various parties within the utility.