Waimea wastewater treatment plant project honored by American Society of Civil Engineers

The county Department of Public Works Division of Wastewater Management was recently honored for its work on an optimization project at one of the island’s wastewater treatment plants.

The division received the American Society of Civil Engineers Hawai‘i Section 2022 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for Best Small Project during an event Sept. 30 on O‘ahu. Representatives from Public Works and the division were in attendance to claim the award.

The winning project, the Waimea Wastewater Treatment Plant R-1 Process Optimization project, was a collaboration between the Division of Wastewater Management operations and maintenance staff and the county’s consultant on the project, Kennedy Jenks engineers.

“This achievement is a testament to the innovative work of our Division of Wastewater Management team,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said in a press release. “Not only does this project produce reliable recycled water for irrigation in Waimea town, but it also avoids expensive infrastructure costs, reduces energy use and preserves precious groundwater for our community.”

The project focused on adjustments to existing processes at the Waimea facility, including a 50% reduction in equalization tank volume and construction of a polymer system and a chlorine injection system. The result of the project is consistent recycled water for irrigation use in Waimea.

Funded by capital improvement dollars, the project began in 2019 and was completed in 2021. The overall cost was $200,000.