Bowling Green Municipal Utilities Water Treatment Plant Expansion

The Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU) Water Treatment Plant (WTP), originally constructed in the 1870s, is a cornerstone of the community. With significant historical growth in the Bowling Green community and surrounding Warren County, the treatment capacity of the existing facility required an increase from its existing 30 million gallons per day (MGD) to 45 MGD to accommodate increased water demand. The expansion provided additional capacity for raw water pumping, pretreatment, and filtration. With over 12 individual improvement and expansion projects completed in the facility’s 150-year history, the project team had to navigate the tie in of an extensive network of piping and limit disruption to operations to the existing facility. As design engineer we collaborated with a disciplined team of design and construction professionals to complete the expansion.  

Our multidisciplinary project team worked diligently to fully assess the needs of the growing area and existing facility, and developed a plan to address needs for both now and the immediate future. To balance the hydraulics of a 50% capacity expansion to the existing facility, we conducted detailed hydraulic calculations to determine how to delicately balance the flow between the existing facility and the new expansion without creating major impacts to plant operations and existing processes.  

The design introduced new technology to the 150-year-old water treatment plant, including efficient plate settling technology in the new sedimentation basins that allowed for higher quality level of pretreatment. The incorporation of a new lime slurry system also provided a more operator friendly process while also enhancing the pretreatment process quality. Enhanced instrumentation and controls provided higher level of oversight of critical plant process equipment that the operations staff did not previously have at the existing facility to better anticipate maintenance needs through more robust monitoring.  

With future growth in mind, our design provided accommodations that would limit impacts to operations and allow the facility to be easily expanded again in the future by another 15 MGD. The expansion also included the construction of a new backwash recovery facility which will one day allow the plant to potentially recycle the process wastewater back to the head of the plant and minimize additional water from the Barren River. The project incorporated significant erosion control enhancements to the site on the banks of the Barren River, minimizing runoff from the expanded plant and enhancing overall water quality. 

The WTP sits on a high-profile location along the main thoroughfares near downtown Bowling Green, Western Kentucky University, and the regional main hospital. It also serves as a visible testament to modern engineering. Unlike most water plants that are tucked away from the public eye, this plant acts as a billboard, drawing public attention to increase awareness of the role of water and engineering in everyday life. 

SSR is fortunate to have a longstanding relationship with BGMU through decades of successful projects together. Our team was a key player in the expansion of the water treatment plant, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the staff and operators we have come to know and respect in future projects that further benefit the Bowling Green and Warren County communities.