Lake Greenwood Water Treatment Facility recognized with two industry awards

The Laurens County Water and Sewer Commission’s (LCWSC) Lake Greenwood Water Treatment Facility was recently named one of Wastewater Digest’s 2022 Top Projects and received a 2022 Pinnacle Award for Best Utility Project from Carolinas Association General Contractors of America (CAGC).

These awards are given to projects that positively impact their communities and are judged by various criteria including, but not limited to, the complexity of work, unique aspects and challenges, project management, budget, size and more.

The new Lake Greenwood Water Treatment Facility and Raw Water Intake is one of the largest capital projects ever completed in Laurens County and was the largest single United States Department of Agriculture-funded project in history at the time it was awarded.

Prior to development of the project, LCWSC was purchasing water from three suppliers. The new treatment plant and intake provides a more long-term, sustainable source of water, while also giving the entity more ownership in controlling costs moving forward. This will lead to more stable rates for its customers, more water to support growth in the community and more consistent water quality throughout the LCWSC service area.

Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC) was retained by LCWSC to design the new water treatment plant and raw water intake on Lake Greenwood in two phases, with Harper General Contractors serving as the construction manager at risk.

Phase one consisted of population and flow projections, public involvement, permitting, hydraulic analysis and piloting treatment technologies. Piloting occurred at the future raw water intake site where raw water was treated with two sedimentation and two filtration technologies.  In addition to piloting, bench-scale tests of various advanced oxidation processes for taste and odor were conducted and evaluated. This effort led to a recommended treatment technology for the proposed water treatment plant.

GMC engineers then began design, consisting of ozone pre-treatment, upflow clarification, multimedia filtration, clearwells and a high service pump station. Treatment operations are conducted from a two-story administration building, with the first floor housing the chemical feed systems, and the second story consisting of a laboratory, training room, offices and a control room outfitted with SCADA to monitor and control plant operations. Because of its location on the bank of the lake, GMC architects designed the raw water pump station to blend with the surrounding lake homes.

“[GMC participated] in numerous stakeholder meetings, navigating the complex State and Federal permitting process, and working closely with staff to update our distribution model and evaluate various water treatment and intake design options,” Jeff Field, Executive Director for LCWSC, said. “Their commitment to providing personal service coupled with their high level of technical expertise makes GMC the perfect partner for a project of this significance.”

Learn more about the project in Wastewater Digest or the Carolinas AGC Pinnacle Awards.