Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements

The Paddock Lake wastewater treatment plant was overloaded both in terms of hydraulic capacity and organic and solids loading. The facilities could not reliably meet effluent requirements, lacked redundancy, and could not support any further growth within the Village.

The facilities planning report was prepared to address not only the current and future needs at the wastewater treatment plant, but also significant inflow and infiltration throughout the collection system. To date, it is estimated that approximately 35% of the I/I has been removed from the system after the Phase I sewer rehabilitation efforts were completed.

The treatment plant improvements included de-rating of the existing treatment processes and replacement of old and worn equipment. The project also included new process units, including new influent pumps, a screen, a second oxidation ditch, two new secondary clarifiers, UV disinfection, effluent pumps, and aerobic digesters. Upgraded SCADA technology allowed the plant to be operated remotely.

Baxter & Woodman considered options for the sludge-handling process. The Village preferred the use of their existing sludge drying beds which ultimately reduced costs. Baxter & Woodman was able to reuse proven technology, reducing costs, easing operations, and meeting the needs of the Village. New sludge aeration blowers and pumps were installed.

The improved treatment plant has an average daily flow capacity of 0.8 MGD with the design developed to facilitate the future expansion of the facility to an average flow capacity of 1.4 MGD.

The collection system rehabilitation and treatment plant improvements were funded in whole from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Clean Water Fund Program. The high priority ranking assigned to this project by the WDNR allowed the Village to receive principal forgiveness in the amount of $824,000 for the project.