For nearly 30 years, West Yost has acted as the City of Davis’ trusted advisor for its treatment planning, design, and construction needs. West Yost has completed the planning and design for a major expansion to the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). In support of the City, we have continued to provide additional services with alternative analysis and providing solutions on challenging problems, as described below:
Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) Facilities Planning and Design, Major Expansion and Upgrades
This wastewater facilities planning process incorporated Davis’ unique vision of combining natural treatment systems with conventional treatment processes to provide reliable effluent water quality while creating wetlands and other habitat features that have served as a showplace and resource for the region for almost 20 years.
Strategic Master Plan
As trusted advisor for Davis, West Yost contributed to the development of a Strategic Master Plan in 2005, which identified a number of major facility improvements needed to meet increasingly stringent effluent limitations for surface water discharge. These limitations included requirements for nitrification, denitrification, filtration and advanced disinfection of Davis’ wastewater.
Conaway Ranch Reuse Project Alternatives
West Yost identified and evaluated a year-round reuse alternative on the 17,000-acre Conaway Ranch site which led to a reduced-scale treatment facilities upgrade project in 2011.
Owner’s Advisory Services for $90M Design-Build Procurement for the Treatment Facilities Upgrade Project
These services involved an year-long planning effort where the vision for the treatment plant was reimagined at a reduced scale. These planning efforts included preparing a Procurement Guidance Document, a Preliminary Design Report, and a design-build procurement document. The revised vision for the treatment plant ultimately resulted in a Design-Build project that is less than half the cost of the project developed through the 2005 Master Planning effort. After assisting Davis with election of the preferred Design-Build team, West Yost provided continued support related to the design, construction and commissioning of the new treatment plant improvements. This support included evaluating the BioWIN models that were developed by the selected team to help secure the project’s successful completion. Our multifaceted approach to achieving success on this project includes providing a high-quality design-build contract to manage risk, allow for innovation, and provide the best value for Davis, resulting in a practical design that enabled Davis to meet discharge requirements by 2017 at the lowest life-cycle cost. This effort also included working with Davis to obtain the Envision Sustainability Silver rating for the upgrade project.
Recycled Water Master Plan
In parallel with the completion of the Treatment Facilities Upgrade project, West Yost was retained to develop a Recycled Water Master Plan for the use of new water supplies that are generated by the upgraded facilities. The analysis included assessing the available recycled water supply and projecting demand for both municipal landscape irrigation and agricultural irrigation applications, identifying potential reuse scenarios, comparing reuse scenarios and estimating costs for each reuse scenario.
Sampling Plan in Support of The City’s Comprehensive Plant Model
West Yost developed a sampling plan to help the City with a comprehensive plant model that could be used to assess the capacity of all the facilities.
Development of BioWIN Calibrated Model of New Nitrogen Removal Facilities
Calibration models were used to evaluate the performance of the secondary process facilities under design conditions specified in the design-build. The goal was to confirm that if the project met the secondary process facilities and if surplus secondary treatment capacity beyond the design capacity as defined by the design-build contract was available.
Struvite Study and Mitigation Measures Project
West Yost is currently completing a study to evaluate the cause and identify potential mitigation measures for struvite (a phosphate mineral) that has formed in several components of the solids treatment process system. The evaluation includes the development of a chemical equilibrium model to estimate the potential formation of struvite in the solids treatment process systems; use of the BioWin model to evaluate modifications to the MLE process to reduce phosphorus removal; and evaluation of alternatives for struvite mitigation.
Team Spotlight
Timothy Banyai, PE
Treatment Business Sector Leader
Timothy Banyai, PE
Treatment Business Sector Leader
“Projects that touch many parts of the treatment plant are exciting to manage because they involve different aspects of the liquid and solids treatment processes. I enjoy working closely with clients to find the best solutions to problems that need both local knowledge and technical expertise.
I am proud of a project we did for the City of Davis to analyze alternatives to prevent struvite buildup in their centrate piping. The project was exciting because it involved using modeling tools to complete the analysis and ultimately recommending a technology that was not yet widely used for this purpose. We used BioWIN modeling (a biological modeling software) and Visual Minteq Version 3.1, an EPA chemical equilibrium model to help determine the potential for struvite formation. The innovative solution we recommended was the Hydropath technology to induce an oscillating sine wave that keeps the struvite crystals in suspension so do not form hard scales on surfaces. After several months of operation, the City is having good success with it!”
Kathryn Gies, PE, ENV SP
Regulatory and Planning Practice Area Leader, Engineering Manager II
Kathryn Gies, PE, ENV SP
Regulatory and Planning Practice Area Leader, Engineering Manager II
“As a facilities planner, I help guide our clients through process of evaluating treatment alternatives and selecting the solutions that provide the most sustainable approach for their community. Helping communities select and implement effective solutions for achieving environmental protection and water reuse is so rewarding.
What I’m most proud of are the long term relationships I have with clients. I have been working with a large percentage of the clients that I work with today since I started at West Yost over 20 years ago. These long-term relationships not only make me feel like a valuable member of their team, but I also feel like a real member of their community.”
Dmitriy Shimberg, PE
Associate Engineer II
Dmitriy Shimberg, PE
Associate Engineer II
“What excites me about my work is knowing that with every project we do, with every client we help, I’m able to help make a difference in both my own and the surrounding communities.
One of the accomplishments that I’m most proud of is our work for the Port of Oakland on the Oakland Airport Sewer and Pump Station Rehabilitation Project. While the project has been successful, the accomplishment was in fostering a relationship with a new client. Within a year of working with the Port we earned their trust through workshops, phone calls, and high-quality deliverables, and they now call us with varying wastewater conveyance questions that pertain to both our projects and other projects they have. Being able to help our clients to be successful is the goal we as consultants strive for and West Yost has put together the right team to foster that level of success.”