Tuscumbia WTP project selected for induction into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame

One of Garver’s signature projects has earned one of its highest honors.

The Tuscumbia Water Treatment Plant and Supply Improvements project is being inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, joining less than 50 other projects in achieving the recognition since its inception in 1987. The plant, which in 2012 began treating the city's raw water supply from Big Spring, was the first in the state to use a blended series membrane process.

The project won the Grand Conceptor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama in 2013, was a finalist for a national award, and now is being recognized by the Hall of Fame for the significant impact it has made on the region’s technological and economic development. The induction ceremony will be held Feb. 24, 2018 in Huntsville, Alabama.

“This was a landmark project for both Garver and for the City of Tuscumbia,” said Garver Senior Project Manager Kevin Mullins. “When the local utility was having a hard-water condition, we worked together to correct it with the most advanced technologies, and it’s been benefiting its residents ever since.”

Dr. Steve Jones, Garver's Director of Water Services and its Membrane Technologist, said that the state-of-the-art, award-winning process train includes high-rate clarification pretreatment to handle seasonal suspended solids loadings, ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for turbidity and microbial control, slip-stream nanofiltration (NF) membranes to trim dissolved solids, and free chlorine disinfection for primary and secondary disinfection.

Garver provided project design, funding assistance, bond issue assistance, construction management, and operational support in replacing a 60-year-old plant that had outlived its usefulness. The new plant is almost double the size of what it replaced, and outfitted with raw-water pumping, pretreatment basins, membranes, disinfection, high-service pumping and a 500,000-gallon clearwell.

The filtration technology was the centerpiece of the 4 million gallons-per-day treatment plant, which purified and softened the city’s water that was high in alkalinity. The blended series membrane process meets all filtration requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and reduces the raw water’s hardness.

"The city knew improvements were needed to address aging equipment and to accommodate increased peak demands and future growth," said Garver Project Manager Kyle Kruger. "Our design approach not only utilized advanced treatment specific to their needs, but it also provided infrastructure for current demands, readily expandable to meet future capacity."

Learn more about Garver’s Water Team by visiting GarverUSA.com/Water.