Wastewater Plant Portfolio
Here at DESCCO Design and Construction, we’ve been in business for over four decades, and that means that we’ve learned a thing or two about our industry! Our knowledge and experience is one of the many things that makes us such a successful company today, and it should come as no surprise that our team at DESCCO is one of the most experienced in water and wastewater treatment plant construction and maintenance in the entire Berks County area.
We’ve spent years perfecting our craft and helping plant managers and owners just like you to build and maintain their treatment facilities. As such, we have an impressive portfolio to show for it! These are just a few of the wastewater treatment projects that we’ve taken on over the years.
Village of Refton
The Village of Refton, located in Strasburg Township, Lancaster County, PA, is a small community, mainly consisting of residential homes with one church, one fire company, and a few small commercial businesses. The village was the recipient of a brand new wastewater treatment plant, both designed and installed by DESCCO Design and Construction. Refton is an older community of the area, served by on-lot disposal systems (OLDS), many of which had failed or were approaching potential failure. The village had insufficient room for replacement systems.
A low pressure collection system was proposed for the village, with treatment to tertiary levels by a recirculating sand filter (RSF), a subsurface flow constructed wetland for denitrification, and a shallow placement at-grade disposal bed for final disposal. The design is capable of handling up to 18,000 gallons per day at peak flow.
Not all of our projects here at DESCCO are without their roadblocks, and the Village of Refton wastewater treatment plant was no exception. During the deep tank excavation, our crew found rocky soil conditions as well as hard granite rock, both of which presented a challenge to the project. Our project manager had larger excavators brought to the site to handle breaking through the granite, allowing the team to continue on schedule. Later, significant rainfall revealed a small sinkhole on the site while the crew was backfilling after the tanks had been set. Immediate action was required to deal with the problem, and the team mobilized a geotechnical engineer, vacuum excavator, concrete pump truck, and additional labor. With the quick work of the entire team, the sinkhole was able to be eliminated without any damage to the tanks, and Refton’s treatment facilities were completed and entered into normal operations, proudly serving the community.
Lil Wolf Mobile Home Park
It’s often a practical solution for mobile home parks to have dedicated wastewater treatment facilities to help them handle the volume of wastewater produced by campers and residents, especially at busy times of the year. This was the case for the Lil Wolf Mobile Home Park in Lehigh County, PA, but unfortunately for the team there, their treatment facilities were outdated and in need of a serious makeover.
DESCCO was the successful bidder on this project, and came in for a full upgrade of the Lil Wolf wastewater treatment facilities, including a complete replacement of their treatment system for a new 55,000 gallon per day system with UV disinfection and tertiary treatment. The new system combined aerobic, anoxic, upflow clarification, and recirculating sand filter treatments, exceeding all permit parameters.
The team performed specified tank modifications, including sandblasting and painting the interior and exterior of the existing surge tank and removing the interior baffle wall. The facility’s existing pumps were also modified to tie into the new force main. Our team also added a new equalization tank with a 6 inch PVC overflow line to the existing tank, plus heat tracing where the lines were exposed.
Lil Wolf’s new treatment plant features a tertiary advanced filter process for third stage cleaning, allowing their facilities to meet higher standards of discharge limits. The team enclosed the new tertiary filter in a sturdy structure after it was set to protect it and increase its longevity.
The new plant at Lil Wolf Mobile Home Park is expected to operate properly and treat the site’s wastewater for the next 30 years!
These projects are just a small sampling of our success stories here at DESCCO Design and Construction, but we’re always evolving, growing, and taking on new challenges, and you might be our next success story! If you’re interested in learning more, please be sure to contact our team today with any questions or to discuss your upcoming project. We’ll be happy to help you!