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CPWQA Plant Tour at the Borough of Spring Grove’s WWTP

Last Friday, ARRO assisted in coordinating the Central Pennsylvania Water Quality Association (CPWQA) Tour/Meeting at the Borough of Spring Grove’s recently upgraded wastewater treatment plant. ARRO’s David Schlott Jr., P.E. collaborated with CPWQA and the Borough to put the event together, and presented the project to attendees.

The Borough of Spring Grove currently owns, operates, and maintains a collection system and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that treats raw sewage from the Borough and portions of Jackson Township in York County, Pennsylvania. The construction of the original WWTP was completed in 1954, with upgrades to the facility during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and mid-2000’s. And most recently, ARRO provided the professional services for an upgrade in 2013, with final completion concluding in August 2017.

ARRO was responsible for the planning, engineering design, permitting, and construction services associated with the latest WWTP upgrade and expansion, which began in 2013. The project included obtaining preliminary effluent criteria, as well as a new NPDES Permit with nutrient loading limits for a stream discharge of treated effluent into the Codorus Creek, from PA DEP. The WWTP is designed to provide treatment with an annual average capacity of 0.33 MGD and monthly maximum capacity of 0.57 MGD.

The project included the following:

  • Improvements to the buildings
  • Raw sewage pumps and controls
  • New grit removal facilities
  • New two-tank sequencing batch reactor system (SBR) with integral blower room, post equalization tank
  • Ultraviolet disinfection
  • New post-aeration tank
  • New chemical feed system for phosphorus removal
  • New solids handling building with volute dewatering press for dewatering of bio-solids
  • Retrofitting two existing clarifiers to serve as aerobic digesters
  • New three-bay garage
  • Cured-in-place lining rehabilitation of approximately 1,000 L.F. of effluent sewer pipe
  • Replacement of 350 L.F. of effluent sewer piping and stream outfall structure
  • Electrical, structural, and HVAC systems and upgrades.

Attendees were interested to see the volute dewatering press, which was in operation at the WWTP. During ARRO’s presentation, the WWTP’s performance was highlighted with effluent’s average results for CBOD of 3 mg/l, TSS of 4.4 mg/l, Total Nitrogen of 2.7mg/l and average Total Phosphorus of 0.38 mg/l. The Borough’s operations staff is truly optimizing performance of the upgraded WWTP.