2005 Winning Projects                                                                              

 Integrated Planning for Station 6 Groundwater Management
South Jamaica, Queens, New York

  GRAND PRIZE — PLANNING

ENTRANT: Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.
ENGINEER IN CHARGE: Thomas J. Lane, P.E., DEE

Initially conceived by the NYCDEP and Malcolm Pirnie as a working full-scale project to demonstrate that a consistent supply of high-quality drinking water can be produced from New York City’s Groundwater System -- while at the same time controlling neighborhood groundwater flooding problems – this project is part of a larger program: developing an overall Groundwater Management Plan for water resources in the heavily urbanized boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

Community Outreach
This project directly impacts an area that historically had a poor relationship with its private water supplier and government agencies, including the DEP. Recognizing that this experience could doom the project’s future, Malcolm Pirnie and the DEP began a proactive Community Outreach program to foster information sharing and collaboration with officials, residents and other interested constituencies, at public meetings, through mailings, and project websites.

A Citizens Advisory Committee and an independent Scientific Review Panel were formed to help the community understand environmental issues and guide them in decisionmaking.  When community perceptions of poor quality groundwater threatened the project, community feedback identified concerns about cleaning up and controlling a local hazardous waste site to avoid adverse project impacts. The DEP and the NYSDEC worked together to facilitate remediation activities and plan an aggressive wellhead protection program.

Pilot Studies
Raw water quality presented unprecedented challenges:

• Removing high levels of naturally occurring iron and manganese
• Reducing natural hardness to make the supply fully compatible with the City’s soft upstate supply
•  Removing volatile organic contaminants which entered the aquifers through spills in the highly urbanized recharge area.

An extensive pilot testing program was designed to determine the best process train and help gain public acceptance that high-quality water could be produced.   A 100 gpm pilot plant, operated for 12 months, evaluated alternative processes (aeration, potassium permanganate and ozone) for oxidation of iron and manganese, three different ultrafiltration systems for solids removal, and nanofiltration and reverse osmosis systems for softening. The main treatment steps selected were ozonation, ultrafiltration, air stripping, and reverse osmosis.

Pilot plant activities were incorporated into the Community Outreach program by conducting facility tours and sharing information gathered with the CAC. The process train was thoroughly reviewed and approved by community groups and their independent scientific review panel.

Conceptual Design
Conceptual design for Station 6, a new 10 mgd water treatment plant in Jamaica, Queens, was the last project element. Treating water from six wells unused since the 1980s because of water quality issues, this plant will produce water that equals or exceeds the renowned high quality of the City’s upstate water sources, with no difference in taste, color or water quality.
Besides increasing yield and reliability, this facility will:

• Eliminate neighborhood basement flooding problems caused by high groundwater table.
• Convert an abandoned community “eyesore” into an attractive community facility.
•  Integrate with NYSDEC efforts to remediate nearby contaminated sites
• Incorporate needed sewer system improvements, another great  community concern

Environmental Stewardship
A key factor in process selection was managing contaminants removed in a safe, environmentally sound manner.  Iron and manganese will be discharged to the City’s sanitary sewer system, treated and ultimately incorporated into biosolids produced for beneficial reuse. To maximize groundwater use and minimize sewer capacity impacts, a second stage ultrafiltration step will limit water carrying solids to 3% of plant production. To resolve sewer back-up problems, sewer capacity was evaluated; a new relief sewer will transport water treatment plant wastes and increase local sewer capacity.

VOCs removed by the air stripping system will be adsorbed in granular activated carbon (GAC) vessels before air is discharged; GAC will be regenerated for reuse, as opposed to landfill disposal, a fully sustainable process producing virtually no secondary environmental impacts.

Comprehensive, Integrated Approach
By fully integrating engineering issues between water supply and hazardous waste remediation, this project uses the best of both disciplines for synergies that improve both.  The pilot research has uncovered relationships among multiple contaminants not previously understood, specifically, on mechanisms involved in manganese oxidation  by ozone and the degree of VOC rejection by RO and nanofiltration membranes. 

Quality/User Satisfaction
Process selection and pilot testing work resulted in an innovative, economical process that will reliably produce high-quality drinking water, while groundwater pumping will provide relief for community flooding problems.  The outreach initiative has become the DEP model for early inclusion of community concerns in project planning. This project’s high level of success and acceptance has increased DEP’s respect and credibility on other current projects.

Originality/Innovation
This combination of unit processes selected to address the multiple water quality challenges has never been used before in the United States municipal water industry.  Integrating environmental/ waste disposal needs into process selection will result in an environmentally “complete” project. This multi-purpose water supply project will help solve neighborhood flooding problems and accelerate groundwater cleanup projects.

Social/Economic Advancement
A major asset to the local area, this project now receives full community support despite its initially controversial nature.  Tours of the pilot facility by school children, residents and elected officials help educate the community on water supply and environmental issues.  A new environmental laboratory is being established at a local school, with plans for an education center in the full-scale facility. Community outreach has identified many local drainage, sewer system, and roadway issues. Residents’ strong support of infrastructure improvements will help facilitate economic revitalization locally.

Complexity
This complex project involved coordinating with specialists in 15 different Malcolm Pirnie offices, consultants, vendors, contractors, City agencies, regulatory agencies, local elected officials, and community groups. The project team also responded to fiscal concerns, as treated groundwater is now “competing” with other options for developing new future water supplies. Since cost-efficient implementation of the Station 6 project will heavily influence City plans to develop similar projects in Queens and Brooklyn, cost-saving measures have included: 

• using City sewer systems for waste disposal to eliminate on-site waste handling
• minimizing chemical pH adjustment in the ozonation and  air stripping processes
• membrane processes instead of conventional filtration to achieve smaller building footprint and reduced O&M needs.