Reclaim, Reuse, Recycle
UConn's Reclaimed Water Facility
Hear more about the RWF from UConn graduate and Woodard & Curran employee Jacob Fortin, Project Engineer, in this video produced and distributed by the university.
University of Connecticut (UConn), consistently ranked one of the greenest schools in the country, hired Woodard & Curran to operate and maintain its new reclaimed water facility (RWF) at the Storrs campus based on the firm’s expertise in operating innovative industrial and irrigation water reuse systems. While the university works to reduce water use and improve nearby Fenton and Willimantic river ecosystems, it must meet the demand of the Storrs campus, downtown Storrs Center, and more than 100 users in neighboring Mansfield.
In 2005, drought and elevated withdrawals during UConn’s peak seasonal demand left a portion of Fenton River dry. Despite employing conservation measures, streamflow monitoring, and withdrawal management protocols, the university wanted to establish a reliable alternative to meet its water demands. The solution was to build out a sustainable RWF to reduce draw on natural resources and provide a means of meeting increased future demand. The RWF allows UConn to reduce its potable water demand by up to 40 percent during peak season, while also reducing the amount of wastewater discharged to the Willimantic River.
Effluent from the university-operated water pollution control facility (WPCF) is sent to the RWF for a tertiary treatment process, including screening, microfiltration (MF), and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. Wastewater passes through self-cleaning strainers rated at 500 microns and filtered by one of three MF trains — each of which can treat up to 0.5 million gallons per day (MGD) — with membrane pore size at 0.1 microns. The strainers and MF trains automat¬ically backwash, with waste returned to the WPCF headworks, to prevent fouling. Filtered water continues to disinfection by UV light at 80 mJ/cm². The reclaimed water quality is targeted for total suspended solids of less than 5 mg/L with no detection of fecal coliform bacteria. Chlorine and ammonia are added to prevent pathogen growth in the treatment, storage, and distribution systems.
The resulting non-potable water is stored in a 1-MGD tank and pumped, as needed, through three miles of distribution pipe to Storrs Campus Central Utilities Plant/CoGen facility (CUP) for irrigation purposes. Woodard & Curran provides additional support to ensure environmental compliance while using reclaimed water for irrigating athletic and recreational fields. Furthermore, the CUP provides electricity, air conditioning, and heat to the campus and can use the reclaimed water for its cooling tower. The treated water is softened, demineralized through ion exchange and reverse osmosis filtration, and receives electrodialysis purification so it can then be used in high-pressure boilers and directed to steam attemperation.
CUP’s use of recycled water has eliminated its daily demand of 250,000 to 450,000 gallons of potable water. Even though some water is lost to evaporation at the CUP, as much as 60 percent returns to the WPCF because of the system’s semi-closed loop design. Operators monitor the levels of dissolved constituents since it may be more concentrated in the blowdown or waste stream returned to the WPCF. Additional challenges with the semi-closed loop system include corrosion and scaling control for the cooling towers and pipelines that require specific mitigation strategies, depending on compound concentrations in the reclaimed water. Occasionally, potable water is added to balance the concentration of dissolved constituents in the reclaimed water.
As operators of the RWF, Woodard & Curran utilizes system data to effectively reduce chemical use, manage power resources, and perform preventive maintenance and mechanical improvements. These measures reduce operating costs and enhance sustainability. Woodard & Curran also provided a comprehensive evaluation of the WPCF, which included an assessment of compliance vulnerabilities and implementation of improvements to stabilize transition of effluent flow. The firm provided chemical mixing enhancements, design of a new effluent flow meter structure, and additional engineering solutions at the RWF.
UConn’s RWF is one of only a few in New England and became the first industrial reuse facility in Connecticut. The project and its operations have helped shape regulatory guidelines for future reclamation projects in the region and provides practical learning opportunities for UConn students. As operators of the RWF, the facility provides hands on experience for our engineering staff to learn about sustainable water treatment technology and see it in action.
Hear more about the RWF from UConn graduate and Woodard & Curran employee Jacob Fortin, Project Engineer, in this video produced and distributed by the university.
