City of Salisbury, MD

Developing and implementing a phased wastewater treatment plant upgrade/capacity program in the State of Maryland that would expand the City of Salisbury's 6.8 MGD trickling filter plant to 8.5 MGD, including biological nutrient removal (BNR), was the task at hand. O'Brien & Gere responded. Services rendered included NPDES Permit renewal assistance, technical review of the Lower Wicomico River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements, water quality/effluent toxicity studies related to the discharge permit limitations being imposed by the MDE, and a pilot program and full-scale process demonstration. The benefits were many. Implementation of the process demonstration brought substantial cost savings to the client, including $20M in avoided construction, and $2M in operation and maintenance costs. The upgrade was funded with a BNR grant of $13.4M from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and a special federal grant of $7.1M.