Groundwater remediation in the city of Atwater
At a glance
The City of Atwater commenced one of the largest and most ambitious public works projects in the municipality’s history: the large-scale mitigation of 1,2,3- TCP contamination in seven out of eight of the City’s drinking water supply wells, an effort driven by urgent public health concerns.
The challenge
A jury in California Superior Court in Merced awarded the City of Atwater $63 million in damages, fully funding the project without raising costs for the served community. City Council approved a progressive design/build project delivery method due to the challenge of meeting the State’s regulatory compliance schedule.
Our response
The City selected the team of W.M. Lyles Co. (WML) and Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group (P&P) to prepare full design documents—all within six (6) months of Notice to Proceed (NTP). The City brought us onto the team to lead construction management as Advisor, serve as Owner’s Representative, and provide construction inspection services.
With key contractor and subconsultant support, the team led design and construction for what essentially amounted to six engineering projects (five treatment plants and connecting pipelines). The team completed the project in less time than it would typically take to complete a single treatment plant project—all during the pandemic.
The State Water Resources Control Board – Division of Drinking Water designated granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption as the best available technology (BAT) to remove the TCP from the contaminated well sites. It also happens to be a green technology—minimizing waste while recycling raw materials—supported fully by P&P and GHD, who come from deep backgrounds with facilities employing GAC.
The most prominent early project obstacles were the need to locate the treatment plants remotely due to the lack of sufficient space at the City’s designated well sites. Three of the seven contaminated wells are now treated at one centralized location, while the remaining four wells required individual treatment plants.
GAC systems are now online, providing active treatment of groundwater. We provide constant and consistent communication between the City, P&P, and the project contractor through final project completion, all while managing comments or concerns from the public (which have been minimal), questions from the contractor, inspection and testing services and change orders (also minimal).
The impact
Accomplishing this complex remediation project within such a short time was not only a necessity, but a representation of the true purpose of a public consultant: service for those in need. The residents and businesses of Atwater were able to witness their City and local consultants come together to serve the community’s best interests.
Water quality has increased dramatically, as the GAC process removes more than just the 1,2,3-TCP from the drinking water. The City’s Public Works and Community Development Director Greg Thompson has commented, “The City appreciates all efforts of ingenuity in confronting project challenges, from schedule-driven to site-based, and the ability that the team had to quickly cohere for the benefit of a community in need.”
The City appreciates all efforts of ingenuity in confronting project challenges, from schedule-driven to site-based, and the ability that the team had to quickly cohere for the benefit of a community in need.”