Page 9 - Vol34No7 MarchApril2017

marina was selected due to its proximity
to the arterial waterline through the park,
its suitable access road, and its distance
from the Inn and cabins due to concerns
with security and noise. The balance of
the first week was spent obtaining both
engineering information and rental
agreements from the various equipment
suppliers.
The second week was dedicated to
engineering the hydraulics, chemical feed,
and site work associated for the treatment
system. A great deal of this was done
in Google Earth with a comprehensive
computer hydraulic model because of
the lack of record drawings of both the
site and the water distribution systems. A
number of assumptions had to be made
given the lack of information and the fact
that months of design work was being
compressed into a week. Most of the raw
water quality wasn’t even available from
the lab during this period, and only one
sample could be analyzed in the time
allotted.
Numerous conference calls were
held with TDEC to determine the
appropriate treatment. It was determined
that pretreatment prior to membrane
filtration would not be included. The
raw water test results indicated low
turbidity, low manganese, low alkalinity,
low hardness, and low conductivity. It
was unlikely that traditional coagulation
would even work for this water and
this was later proven at Murfreesboro’s
Stones River Water Treatment Plant lab.
Another concern with coagulation was
that the residual chemicals in the sludge
could cause issues for the small lagoon
wastewater treatment plant operated by
the Park. It was also decided to include
UV disinfection to provide an additional
barrier to pathogens because so little
source water data was available. Finally,
a system to add both hardness and
alkalinity was included in the treatment
scheme to prevent corrosion from the
extremely aggressive source water. All
of this information was summarized
in an Engineering Report that was sent
to TDEC for approval. That approval
took less than one day due to the close
coordination TDEC had with the project
team.
At the beginning of the third week,
coordination of construction began
onsite. The first hurdle was grading the
site for the mobile equipment since the
membrane train had to be relatively
View of the Emergency WTP from the Fall Creek Falls State Park Inn
level. Over the next nine days, the Park
staff continually stepped up with their
resourcefulness and willingness to help
make this plant a reality. Within 24
hours of being onsite, the Park staff had
constructed a retaining wall, coordinated
gravel and sand deliveries, and leveled
out the area needed for the mobile
equipment.
That grading work was completed
literally minutes before the first piece of
equipment, the plant clearwell, arrived on
the back of a TDOT lo-boy. That clearwell
was a 12,000 gallon HDPE coagulant
storage tank supplied by the City of
Alcoa. The City took it upon themselves
to utilize their TDOT connections to have
the tank delivered to the site within a few
days.
Shortly after the arrival of the clearwell, Tennessee via an emergency contract
the biggest hurdle of the process
was faced. Because of the number of
emergencies across the southeast related
to Hurricane Matthew, the original
pipefitter was not going to be able
to make it to the site that week. SSR
quickly prepared a rough inventory of
what would be required to connect the
equipment, and a rudimentary request
for proposals was sent out to local
contractors at 4:00 PM. Two proposals
were received that same evening, and by
9:00 AM the next morning, the Park’s
procurement department had Garney
Construction under contract.
Early the next morning, the Pall mobile
treatment unit arrived behind a tractor
trailer rig. Unfortunately, pipe wouldn’t
show up until the following morning so
the day was spent strategizing how to
make things go as quickly as possible
when the supplies showed up. This
strategy paid off, as Garney completed all
of the piping work in under three days.
By the end of the day on Sunday, Nov.
13, 2016, all systems had been installed
and disinfected and bacteria sampling
had been collected for TDEC’s approval.
Monday morning, all of the field service
representatives for the various equipment
showed up to test out the systems and
train the operators. TDEC representatives
also were onsite to provide guidance and
talk with the operators. The permitted
operation of the emergency water
treatment plant was established using
the existing operation permit held by
TDOC and the Taft plant. Operators for
the plant were assembled from numerous
other facilities across Middle and East
established by TDOC with Hailey
Management Services.
The final day of construction involved
getting the online instruments and lab
ready for duty. The boat ramp’s Men’s
Bathroom was repurposed to house
an online turbidimeter and chlorine
analyzer. The Bait Shop was adapted
to be a wet lab and operator office.
Hailey Management provided most of
the analyzers and equipment in the lab.
Columbia Power and Water Systems,
Hach Instruments and MR Systems also
pitched in equipment that the operators
would need.
I don’t believe I have ever seen a better
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