LVMWD Tapia WRF Process Air Improvements

Calabasas, CA

PACE has supported the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) water and wastewater infrastructure and treatment initiatives for over 13 years. As part of this effort, PACE provided LVMWD with design and support during construction of the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) process air improvements. The Tapia WRF used three 900-horsepower, 4,160-volt Roots centrifugal blowers to provide air to the biological treatment process and other ancillary processes. The District wanted to improve energy efficiency and reduce operational costs by implementing new blowers and aeration equipment. PACE evaluated the existing conditions, including the treatment process, blower performance, as-built drawings, etc., and spent time with the Operations Staff to better understand the challenges and identify solutions.

Based on the evaluation, PACE designed upgrades to the process air system, including installation of three new 400-horsepower, 480-volt Sulzer magnetic bearing blowers; installation of over 60 retrievable OTT fine bubble aeration grids; and electrical gear conversion from the 4,160-volt medium voltage system to a 480-volt low voltage system. The project utilized Performance-Based Specifications developed by PACE to reduce the equipment capital costs (i.e., cost of blowers and fine bubble diffusers) by more than 30%. An Operations and Maintenance (O&M) service contract was also included to help the District understand future O&M costs. After project completion, the client realized an average energy savings of over 25%.

Key Features:

• Upgrade of existing 12-million-gallon-per-day WRF
• Energy rebate analysis
• Maintained operations during construction
• Specialized Performance-Based Specifications process
• O&M manuals
• Secondary process evaluation with aeration blower equipment and aeration control upgrades