Confidential Construction Equipment Manufacturer

Design-Build, O&M, and Six Sigma Consulting Services (1996 – Ongoing)

In 1996, this MACTEC client realized its aging industrial wastewater treatment plant was no longer capable of handling the increasingly complex and difficult-to-treat waste streams coming from its nearby facilities. In addition, the client’s senior management had established the immediate goal of zero excursions from the plant’s NPDES permit limits.

To help our client meet this goal, MACTEC recommended improvements to the treatment process and implemented multiple design-build upgrades to the wastewater treatment facility, which included conceptual process development and layout, preliminary engineering, final design, permitting coordination, assistance with capital budgeting, equipment procurement, and work scheduling and sequencing. Also, subsequent to construction, MACTEC provided system startup assistance.

The conceptual development involved identifying and developing the concept of treating a high-strength waste stream that had previously been shipped to an offsite, third-party treatment center at a considerable expense of over $750,000 per year. MACTEC identified, conceptualized, assessed and developed an onsite treatment process, allowing our client to capture nearly all of this $750,000 per year in savings.

MACTEC guided design-build improvements included a new pumping center and clarifiers, as well as extensive improvements to the aeration systems. Also added were an advanced automated control system consisting of an Allen-Bradley PLC-5 (programmable logic controller) and a personal computer with Wonderware human-machine interface software. The control system used proportional, integrative and derivative control technology to blend industrial and sanitary waste streams and to control air supply to the activated sludge system based on dissolved oxygen demand. Existing single-loop controllers with feedforward and feedback control were integrated into the new PLC, and the entire system was connected to an existing facility-wide intranet to enable remote monitoring.

Other design-build services included installing an ultraviolet disinfection system and constructing an air scrubber system to “scrub” the off-gases associated with treating the high-strength wastewater. We also constructed a three-million-gallon equalization tank, along with miscellaneous tankage, piping, pumps, and associated components and systems.

MACTEC’s comprehensive approach included operations and maintenance (O&M) improvements such as developing a user charge system to allocate charges among the client’s facilities that discharge waste to the treatment facility. To develop the system, we analyzed current O&M costs, established facility replacement costs, and set up monthly billing statements for each of the client’s business units.

While the initial construction phase of this program lasted from 1996 to 2001, our long-term O&M services began in 1999 and are ongoing. We also continue to manage the client’s industrial solid waste handling program, which includes reclamation, recycling and solid waste management.

The initial design-build improvements we recommended in 1996 were instrumental in our later Six Sigma¹ services for this program. Subsequent to the system improvements, MACTEC identified a waste stream from another of the client’s facilities that also was being treated at an outside contractor’s facility. Through a Six Sigma process, onsite waste treatment was arranged at an additional savings of approximately $200,000 per year. Recently, to help our client prepare and sell substantial quantities of recyclable oil to recycling companies, we improved the quality of the recyclable oil and located recyclers that would give our client the highest prices for the oil. These efforts have resulted in an increase of about $77,000 per year for our client, which could grow as oil prices continue to rise.

This client also recycles hundreds of tons of metal shavings and chips each year. To help cut the costs associated with transporting the materials to recycling centers, we researched various transportation companies to find the best values in transport. This resulted in savings of about $92,000 per year. Added to the oil recycling, onsite treatment and other savings identified and implemented by MACTEC, over $1.1 million in savings are realized each year by our client. Also, their treatment facility has received ISO 14001 certification and, in 2001, was named the top industrial wastewater treatment facility in the state.

We at MACTEC are pleased to be involved in such a positive program that not only helps our client achieve their financial and regulatory goals, but also helps make the planet a little cleaner through large-scale, ongoing recycling efforts.

¹Six Sigma is a statistically-based quality improvement methodology with six levels of quality measurement. The sixth level, which allows for no more than 3.4 errors per million parts or opportunities, is considered the highest level feasible. The main goals of Six Sigma are to save money and to enhance client loyalty.