Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU) owned and operated a 30 MGD conventional water treatment plant. As both Bowling Green and Warren County grew, greater demand was expected placed on the existing infrastructure. Because of this growth and the aging plant’s reliability, BGMU looked at options for long term resiliency and reliability. BGMU hired SSR to guide them through this process and design an expansion of the water treatment plant. The project increased the capacity of the plant from 30 MGD to 45 MGD through the construction and installation of new raw water pump, pretreatment structures including flash mixing, flocculation, and sedimentation with plate settlers, and mixed media filtration.

The work at the raw water pump station consisted of the design of the new raw water pump to work alongside the other five pumps to allow BGMU to pump to 60 MGD. Extensive modeling was performed on the complex pumping system as there were no two like pumps in either raw water pump station and the two pump stations would be serving separate and isolated water treatment plants. Modifications to the existing raw water pump station included the relocation of an existing pump used for cleaning the traveling screen and modifications to the existing traveling screen discharge chute to improve discharge and maintenance for the BGMU staff.

During the design process, SSR worked closely with BGMU in redesigning a pump lubrication system for the deep shafted low service pumps to provide a more effective solution. Through a separate task order during the expansion design, SSR also provided design services for the replacement of one of the existing raw water pumps that had failed in the existing pump station that had been constructed in 1928. SSR analyzed the existing intake structure and provided recommendations to get the station up to HI Standards but it was ultimately decided against because it was not cost effective. In lieu of the structural modifications, SSR provided recommendations of using a vortex suppressor to be installed on the bottom of the pump suction to improve the hydraulics of the pump and minimize the risk of the cavitation. During the design of the project, SSR also assisted BGMU in the replacement of their existing traveling screen in their second raw water pump station. Once completed, the improvements to the raw water station provide BGMU and Warren County a reliable solution in providing clean drinking water for the continued population growth in the area.