Ed Torres, M.S., P.E., LEED AP

Transcription

1 Florida Stormwater Association EXCELLENCE AWARDS STORMWATER PROGRAMS & PROJECTS 2015 NOMINATION FORM I. Nomination Information Nomination Category (please check only one box): Program (Department/Division) Project Company Name: (Note: Nominee must be a member of FSA and only 1 submittal per organization per category) Title of Nomination: Altamonte Springs/FDOT Integrated Reuse and Stormwater Treatment (as you would like it to read on the award certificate- please be reasonable with the length of the title) II. Nominator Information Person Completing the Nomination Form: Phone: III. Program/Project Contact Information (Nominee) Contact FName: LName: Title: Company: City of Altamonte Springs Ed Torres, M.S., P.E., LEED AP etorres@altamonte.org Ed Torres Director, Public Works & Utilities City of Altamonte Springs 225 Newburyport Ave. Altamonte Springs FL etorres@altamonte.org Address: City: State: Zip: Telephone: III. Description Please provide a brief description (not to exceed 500 words) of the program or project being nominated. Descriptions exceeding 500 words will have points deducted from total score. The description must include the following information in this order: A. The population of the host jurisdiction (i.e. county, city, etc.) B. Personnel included in the Stormwater department, division, project, etc. C. Budget and funding sources for the stormwater department or project D. A statement of existing goals for the department or the objectives of the project IV. Supporting Information Supplemental, supporting information and photos demonstrating that the program or project has succeeded in achieving or surpassing stated goals or objectives may be attached to the nomination form. Supporting information must not exceed 5 pages. Supporting information that exceeds 5 pages will have points deducted from the total score. V. Submittal Include this form and all supporting information on a compact disc or flash drive and mail to FSA at the address below, or PDF your submittal and to annf@ksanet.net. Submittal deadline is Friday, February 27, FSA Excellence Award East Park Avenue - Tallahassee, FL Questions? Call

2 The City of Altamonte Springs A-FIRST Project An Integrated Approach to Reuse and Nutrient Reduction A. POPULATION The City of Altamonte Springs supports a residential population of 42,719. B. PERSONNEL INVOLVED WITH AFIRST Public Works and Utilities Department: Ed Torres, P.E., LEED AP Victoria Bogle Andrew Hauck Chris Rader, P.E. Dan Goodling Lauren Schulenburg Jo Ann Jackson, P.E. Trey Sisk Danielle Marshall, CFM Scott Causseaux Karen McCullen, P.E. Bob Green C. FUNDING SOURCES Funding for the A-FIRST project is detailed below: City of Altamonte Springs $3,000,000 Florida Department of Transportation $4,500,000 St. Johns River Water Management District $3,500,000 Florida Department of Environmental Protection $1,500,000 City of Apopka Storage construction D. GOALS OF A-FIRST The City of Altamonte Springs has long been a leader in the realms of alternative water supply and environmental stewardship. In 2013, the City was once again presented with an opportunity to pursue an innovative solution to a multi-faceted problem. The concept of stormwater reuse was revived and further developed by key staff in the Public Works and Utilities Department. The Altamonte Springs FDOT Integrated Reuse and Stormwater Treatment project (A-FIRST) is a first of its kind in the State of Florida and brings together elements of stormwater management, water supply and environmental protection to provide a truly unique integrated approach to flood protection, alternative water supply and nutrient loading reduction. During the preliminary design efforts for I-4 Ultimate, a project was conceived called APRICOT Renewed that would build on the extensive infrastructure of Project APRICOT, the City s reclaimed water network established in the 1980 s. City staff, as well as the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the St Johns River Water Management District, reengaged in discussions on the APRICOT Renewed concept which was modified, evaluated and technically considered by the City s team. Extensive discussions were held between all agencies and a funding strategy was developed, making A-FIRST a win for all four agencies.

3 The project showcases the opportunities that exist when organizations look across disciplines and beyond traditional ways of solving the same old problems. All elements of the A-FIRST infrastructure are in construction as of the writing of this article, and when completed will provide the following results: Reduction of up to 62,659lbs of Nitrogen loading and up to 28,043lbs of Phosphorus loading to the Little Wekiva River on an annual average basis. Cost savings to FDOT through the elimination of the need for a new stormwater pond (including maintenance) and conveyance for the Altamonte Springs I-4 Ultimate segment; Cost savings to FDOT by eliminating the need for new bridges for compensating storage; Delivery of up to 1.5MGD of annual average stormwater flow available for augmentation of the City s reclaimed water system; Delivery of up to 4.5MGD of annual average reclaimed water flow available as an alternative water supply and delivered to the City of Apopka for beneficial reuse; Elimination of up to 3.0MGD of wet weather peak flow discharge from the City s RWRF to the Little Wekiva River.

4 The City of Altamonte Springs A-FIRST Project An Integrated Approach to Reuse and Nutrient Reduction BACKGROUND The City of Altamonte Springs has long been a leader in the realms of alternative water supply and environmental stewardship. In the mid-1980s in response to ever tightening water quality regulations and a need for alternative effluent disposal, Mr. Don Newnham, PE, the Public Works Director at the time, conceived Project APRICOT (A Prototype Realistic Innovative Community of Today). APRICOT was one of the first widely accessible public access reuse systems in the country and provided the City the opportunity to turn its effluent into a valuable resource allowing less dependence on groundwater to serve the needs of the community. The regulatory framework at the time made it difficult to permit City-wide programs such as the City s; however, through persistence and diligence, City and FDEP staff were successful in developing new reuse regulations that paved the way for this commonplace use of reclaimed water in Florida and streamlined the ability to permit wet weather discharges. PROJECT LANDSCAPE Fast forward to 2013 and the City was once again presented with the opportunity to pursue an innovative solution, this time to a multi-faceted problem. The concept of stormwater reuse was revived and further developed by key staff in the Public Works and Utilities Department. The Altamonte Springs FDOT Integrated Reuse and Stormwater Treatment project (A-FIRST) will bring solutions for flood protection in a closed surface water basin, nutrient reduction to an impaired Central Florida water body and alternative water supply locally and to a neighboring community with very large water supply projection growths over the 30 year horizon. During the preliminary design efforts for I-4 Ultimate a project was conceived called APRICOT Renewed that would be able to build on and extend the infrastructure created by APRICOT. Though APRICOT Renewed was not added to the 60% plans for I-4 Ultimate, the project remained a viable alternative to traditional stormwater designs typically created by FDOT. In early 2013, the I-4 Ultimate public, private partnership for reconstructing 21 miles of Interstate 4 in Orlando was given the final green light with plans to move rapidly towards procurement and contract award within just over a year. Key staff at the City as well as the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the St Johns River Water Management District reengaged in discussions on the APRICOT Renewed concept which was modified, evaluated and considered technically by the City s team. Extensive discussions were held between all agencies and a funding strategy was developed which paved the way for the project to be a success for all four agencies. PROBLEMS TO SOLVE The Department of Transportation historically has a very cookie cutter approach to delivering stormwater management for highway projects including many featureless ponds constructed throughout an affected corridor. Immediately adjacent to I-4 in Altamonte Springs, the City operates a regional stormwater facility known as Cranes Roost. Cranes Roost provides storage, treatment and flood protection under a conceptual permit for the Central Business District (CBD) of Altamonte Springs, which is a closed stormwater basin. The City has utilized the water body as the centerpiece of Cranes Roost Park which is host to dozens of events annually and has become the heart of the City, providing recreational and entertainment value to the region. The current, and similar for the past 20 years, stormwater management plan for Cranes Roost flood protection includes a pumped outfall to the Little Wekiva River.

5 The operating protocol allows pumped flow only when the water level in Cranes Roost reaches 52.66ft NAVD. The 11.5MGD pumps then operate until the water level is drawn down to 50.63ft NAVD, at which time pumping operations cease and cannot be restarted until the high elevation is reached once again. This protocol helps to minimize discharges to the river. Cranes Roost provides a treatment volume for the CBD stormwater flows, but no additional treatment takes place prior to discharge into the Little Wekiva River resulting in some unwanted discharge or nutrient loading to the natural ecosystem. Project APRICOT is now approximately thirty years old and has led the region and the nation in delivering reclaimed water to the City s entire service area. As the system has matured, the system s ability to dispose of all effluent from the City s Reclaimed Water Reclamation Facility has become limited. Effluent has continued to increase, but demand has reached a plateau. The City also relies on a small portion of its groundwater allocation to provide reliability to the reclaimed water system ensuring peak demands can be met. To the west, the City of Apopka demonstrates an increase of up to 250% in public water supply demand in the 25 year planning horizon and is located in the portion of Central Florida most susceptible to aquifer impacts from groundwater pumping. The City s Regional Water Reclamation Facility (RWRF), the source of APRICOT reclaimed water for delivery to City reuse customers, is rated at 12.5MGD annual average daily flow. The RWRF currently treats and delivers approximately 6MGD and is expected to increase that flow based on future demand projections. As was previously stated, the APRICOT reuse system has reached a plateau in capacity and has limited ability to absorb future effluent flows from the RWRF and more importantly, current wet weather peak flows. The City s permitted backup disposal method is gravity discharge to the Little Wekiva River and though seldom required, does deliver an unwanted nutrient loading to the sensitive water body. THE SOLUTION The City of Altamonte is uniquely positioned to provide a solution to each of these challenges due to its existing facilities, geographic location and progressive technical staff. The City s existing CBD regional stormwater facility, reclaimed distribution system and the proximity of an existing decommissioned water supply facility made it possible to limit the investment required to beneficially reuse water from a segment of I-4 Ultimate through Altamonte Springs. The traditional solution to overcome was the construction of a new stormwater pond within Altamonte Springs that would serve as stormwater management for the I-4 Ultimate segment. The first hurdle for bringing the project to reality was the integrated modeling of surface and groundwater interaction in and around Cranes Roost using 20 years of historical data on surface water levels, groundwater levels, and rainfall. The City developed a revision to

6 its integrated model to include runoff from the I-4 Ultimate segment, compensating storage required for the elimination of new bridge structures planned at Cranes Roost and runoff from several off-system sites impacted by the I-4 Ultimate construction. A key premise to the success of the proposed solution was an addition to the operating protocol for the flood protection pumps at Cranes Roost. By adding pumps allowed to operate at a 3MGD flow rate between 48.00ft and 50.63ft NAVD, the City will be able to provide a base flow augmentation to its reclaimed system for beneficial use in Altamonte Springs and neighboring Apopka and provide an attenuation volume to accommodate the proposed runoff additions from the I-4 Ultimate project. With the successful modeling and permitting of the revised conceptual stormwater permit, efforts could be focused on designing and constructing the infrastructure required to operate the system. The A-FIRST system includes the following elements: Base flow pumping rate of 3MGD withdrawn from Cranes Roost at and above groundwater elevation 48ft NAVD Flood protection pumping at originally permitted water levels with pump on at 52.66ft NAVD and pump off at 50.63ft NAVD A new Reuse Augmentation Facility (RAF) for treatment of stormwater augmentation base flow from Cranes Roost to reclaimed water standards including high-level disinfection Connection between the new RAF and the City s reclaimed distribution system to allow for distribution of the augmentation water or storage and re-pumping of reclaimed quality effluent from the RWRF Automated flow splitting allowing base flow sent to a new RAF and flood protection flow discharged to the Little Wekiva River Construction of a 5 ½ mile pipeline to the City of Apopka s water reclamation facility from the edge of the Altamonte Springs reclaimed distribution system including automated flow control to maintain internal system pressure and optimize the delivery of reclaimed water to the City of Apopka Use of an existing 150acre storage pond and future construction of an additional similarly sized pond for storage of reclaimed water for use in the Apopka s reclaimed distribution system

7 Modifications to the City s Stormwater Pump Station (SWPS) providing flood protection for Cranes Roost and the CBD was the first operational improvement required for A-FIRST to function as permitted. The existing station will be substantially upgraded with new vertical turbine pumps rated to deliver both the base flow rate of 3MGD and flood protection flow rates for a combined total of 14.5MGD. This facility is designed to provide 100% mechanical redundancy at both pumping rates and will be constructed with onsite electrical generation capability to ensure power supply redundancy. Construction of an automated Flow Control Assembly (FCA) at the point of river discharge along the City s existing stormwater forcemain will be required, as well as construction of an additional 1,800 feet of forcemain to deliver the augmentation base flow to the RAF. The FCA will operate intelligently in conjunction with the RAF and the SWPS to ensure a flow rate of 3MGD is sent to the RAF while preventing discharges in excess of the permitted 11.5MGD to the Little Wekiva River. The RAF is being constructed on the site of a decommissioned water supply facility and is proximate to the City s reclaimed distribution system. The RAF will provide treatment of stormwater augmentation base flows through the use of fabric disk filters and chlorination for high-level disinfection, and the facility will provide 200,000 gallons of onsite storage. The ground storage tank will also provide the operational flexibility of allowing the RAF to be used as a storage and re-pump facility during periods excess reclaimed availability with no augmentation being provided from Cranes Roost. The final construction element of the A-FIRST project is construction of a 5 ½ mile, 24 pipeline through several complicated corridors for delivery of excess reclaimed water to the City of Apopka for beneficial reuse for storage and future reuse. The pipeline includes construction by numerous methods including a challenging 2,100 foot directional drill under a county right-of-way and sensitive wetland area. The pipeline construction also includes the construction of the Pressure Control Assembly (PCA) at the edge of the City s reclaimed distribution prior to entering the transmission line. The PCA ensures internal system pressure within the City s reclaimed distribution remain adequate for use by existing reuse customers while controlling and optimizing the release of excess reclaimed water for transmission to the City of Apopka. THE RESULTS All elements of the A-FIRST infrastructure are in construction as of the writing of this article. When completed the project, through the innovation of the City of Altamonte Springs and its cooperating agencies, will provide the following results: Cost savings to FDOT through the elimination of the need for a new stormwater pond (and maintenance) and conveyance for the Altamonte Springs I-4 Ultimate segment Cost savings to FDOT by eliminating the need for new bridges in the Altamonte Springs segment of I-4 Ultimate Delivery of up to 1.5MGD of annual average stormwater flow available for augmentation of the City s reclaimed water system Delivery of up to 4.5MGD of annual average reclaimed water flow available as an alternative water supply and delivered to the City of Apopka for beneficial reuse Elimination of up to 3.0MGD of wet weather peak flow discharge from the City s RWRF to the Little Wekiva River Reduction of up to 62,659lbs of Nitrogen loading to the Little Wekiva River on an annual average basis Reduction of up to 28,043lbs of Phosphorus loading to the Little Wekiva River on an annual average basis

8 RIGHT PEOPLE, RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME The A-FIRST project is a first of its kind in the State of Florida and brings together elements of stormwater management, water supply and environmental protection to provide a truly unique integrated approach to providing flood protection, alternative water supply and nutrient loading reduction. The project was conceived several years past, but as is often the case, all elements didn t align to move this great project forward. Fast forward to 2013 and the Right People were in the Right Place at the Right Time to make the project happen. In just over a year, the project went from concept alone to fully permitted and is now in construction with operational capability planned to support I-4 Ultimate by the summer of The project showcases the opportunities that exist when organizations look across disciplines and beyond traditional ways of solving the same old problems. CRANES ROOST PARK