Project Description

Lower Howards Creek WWTP & Influent Pump Station – Winchester, Kentucky


Magna Engineers provided electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation engineering services for this new 2 MGD wastewater treatment plant and off-site 10 MGD influent pump station.  The pump station includes four submersible pumps, screening, and grit removal systems.  The treatment plant includes primary selector tanks, oxidation ditches, secondary clarifiers, UV disinfection, return and waste sludge pumping station, sludge holding and aeration, sludge thickening and dewatering, and non-potable water systems. HVAC design provides required ventilation for reduction of hazardous area requirements, and for operator safety.  The mechanical systems are closely coordinated with the odor control system design at both the influent pump station and the wastewater treatment plant, which consists of both carbon filter and biofilter systems.  Field instrumentation includes magnetic flowmeters, open channel flowmetering, non-contact radar level measurement, dissolved oxygen and ORP measurement, and other parameters as needed for monitoring and control.

The supervisory control and data acquisition system consists of ten PLC’s networked at the plant over fiber optic Ethernet, and two PLC’s at the influent pump station which communicate via radio.  In addition, the wastewater plant will share information with the existing Strodes Creek wastewater treatment plant across town, plus a monitoring station at the utility offices. The system includes dedicated historian, reporting, maintenance, and power monitoring softwares.  The plant SCADA system also incorporates intelligent motor control centers, which allows control and monitoring of all plant starters and variable frequency drives over a device level network.

The electrical system includes standby power generators at both the wastewater treatment plant and the influent pump station.  Variable frequency drives are utilized for most all equipment for energy optimization and maximum control.  As the plant site is near residential areas, site lighting was carefully chosen and designed to minimize lighting pollution and disturbance to adjacent properties.