Wastewater Treatment Plant Emergency Replacement of Membrane Unit

Leoni Township officials were planning and designing multi-million-dollar improvements for critical needs at their wastewater treatment facility with F&V Companies, Inc. (FVCI). Funding was also being secured from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for upgrades on the 3.9 MGD Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) plant that was commissioned in 2010.

All five MBR trains (a collection of immersed stacks) at the Leoni Township Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) were rapidly losing hydraulic performance – exhibiting increased fouling and failure rates – and then disaster struck. The train #4 at the plant, which serves 13 communities in three counties, struggled to process flows and failed. Hydraulic capacity was lost at the plant and emergency measures were needed.

F&V was hired to provide design and construction engineering, financial assistance and construction services for the Progressive Design-Build (PDB) project, and was able expedite emergency replacement of the membrane cassettes in train #4 with new hollow fiber membrane cartridges, including two new ejectors, an air compressor and blower. Construction was completed in December and train #4 was up and running in March.

Also aiding the 10-week emergency repair work was that F&V Construction (FVC) was able to mobilize members of the F&V Operations and Resource Management (FVOP) team that was providing contracted operation services. FVOP staff assisted contractors in the repair process by removing the existing membranes, cleaning the tanks, and isolation air and permeate lines to train #4.

The emergency fix of train #4 allowed the Leoni Regional Utility Authority (LRUA) to provide uninterrupted wastewater treatment services not only to the Leoni Township residents and businesses, but also the Jackson County townships of Napoleon, Columbia, Norvell, Hanover, and Liberty, the Charter Townships of Blackman and Grass Lake, and the Villages of Grass Lake and Brooklyn, as well as Cambridge Township, in Lenawee County, and the Townships of Sylvan and Lyndon in Washtenaw County.

Leoni Township was able to secure CWSRF funds for the emergency repairs at a favorable interest rate and keep the plant operating fully.