Wastewater Marvel
A massive industrial park project
in Ohio utilizes precast concrete for an innovative
wastewater and stormwater management system.
By Don Procter
The development of a 36-acre
industrial park featuring a 63,000-square-foot
concrete sealant manufacturing facility was
made possible because of an innovative wastewater
and stormwater management system designed with
precast concrete. The design is likely the first
of its kind in Ohio, but if all goes well, it
won’t be the last. It is a design tailored
to rural development sites off the beaten path,
say its builders.
“The 36-acre site would
have been dead until central sanitary sewer
lines had come to the area, and there are no
plans to have central sanitary put into this
rural county,” points out Howard Wingert,
owner of Concrete Sealants Inc. (ConSeal) of
Tipp City, Ohio, and general contractor of the
new manufacturing facility which includes the
latest in sealant research and development.
The industrial park, which
so far also includes a 4,000-square-foot office,
is in sparsely populated Bethel Township, a
rural region in Miami County, Ohio. Its innovative
sanitary system consists of a 5,000-square-foot
sewage treatment center and a three-acre stormwater
detention system, which includes a precast concrete
separator system.
Wingert, who is high on the
use of the precast concrete in the sanitary
design, says it is a realistic and cost-effective
alternative to a central sanitary system. “Without
the economic infrastructure or even the service
of providing water lines and septic, the only
option for someone wanting to develop in rural
areas like this one is to seek annexation to
the city to allow for a central sanitary system.”
The engineering department
of Miami County will be monitoring ConSeal’s
system, with the idea in mind to possibly approve
similar designs in two other townships in the
county.
While the unusual design
is permitted in many other parts of the United
States, this is the first time it has been used
in Ohio. Simply put, the system manages wastewater
by reducing the amount of daily effluent discharged
into the ground by as much as 80 percent. The
system utilizes three stages of effluent treatment:
recirculating sand filter treatment, ozone injection
and chlorination of effluent for reuse in flushing
toilets. The system discharges waste via pressurized
drip line dispersion and septic tanks for solid
waste removal from sanitary facilities. Precast
concrete was used as the primary building material
for all critical pieces in the system. “It
was less expensive to use precast than cast-in-place,
and it was faster,” says Patrick Joyce,
director of engineering for Floyd Browne &
Associates, the firm contracted to design the
stormwater system and to oversee construction
of the wastewater system.
Soil analysis of the 36-acre
site found that the soil was marginal for a
traditional septic system, especially when on-site
treatment needs to support a manufacturing facility
with a projected workforce of 150 people. After
extensive planning, the comprehensive wastewater
treatment model was created.
The selection of precast concrete
seemed a natural for a company that has been
part of the industry for the past 33 years.
“We and our precast customers built the
system the way we thought it should be done,”
says Wingert. “We used as much concrete
as possible because it is more durable than
other materials.” Wingert adds that some
manufacturers of competing products suggest
that mid-seam concrete tanks are not appropriate
for use with wastewater treatment, claiming
that the tanks are susceptible to leakage. His
biggest concern is that these critics have been
misusing information related to isolated instances
of problems to negatively portray the precast
industry as a whole. “Precasters do more
than any other segment of the onsite industry
to prove the integrity of their products,”
says Wingert. Both Joyce and Wingert point out
that if a problem occurs, it is more likely
the result of poor installation practices than
the fault of precast concrete.
ConSeal used several precast
concrete manufacturers from the region to build
the wastewater and stormwater systems. Wingert
says the precasters were all regular customers
of ConSeal’s, so the company spread the
work among them. “It was a way of saying
‘thanks’ for being our customers
all these years.”
Among the 10 precast septic
tanks produced for the project were two 2,000-gallon
vessels using filters and pumps for collection
and separation of solids for the 63,000-square-foot
factory; and one 2,000-gallon tank for the office
building. Coate Concrete Products and O.C. Adams
Inc. produced the septic tanks.
Additional precast septic
tanks included three 2,000-gallon vessels that
supply effluent to a recirculating sand filter;
one 2,000-gallon tank that houses pumps for
the water reuse system, drip irrigation and
ozone treatment; one 1,500-gallon tank that
holds ozone-treated effluent; a tank that cleans
discharge at a central treatment center; and
another 1,500-gallon tank that catches drip
field return water. Robert Oldham Ltd. of Sidney,
Ohio, manufactured the precast walls and assembled
the 46- by 28-foot recirculating sand filter.
Hartford Concrete Products
Inc. of Hartford City, Ind., supplied a 1,500-gallon
reuse tank, a 2,000-gallon reuse tank and a
1,500-gallon two-compartment drip line tank.
“The precast work was pretty straightforward
with the exception of the 2,000-gallon reuse
tank that required seven top openings,”
says Greg Carter, Hartford’s marketing
manager. “The openings necessitated structural
reinforcement, which included additional rebar
and slab thickness to the vault.” The
seven openings allow access to the pumps and
filters used in the effluent treatment process.
The system’s precast
concrete tanks were water and vacuum tested
in accordance with the National Precast Concrete
Association’s Septic Tank Manufacturing
Best Practices Manual and ASTM-C1227. “We
performed all testing after the tanks were installed
to prove that the system was watertight,”
explains Wingert.
Floyd Browne & Associates
was retained during the construction phase of
the sanitary project after the original engineering
team’s initial cost projections of $80,000
to build the system skyrocketed to $170,000.
After hiring the new engineer to continue with
the design, ConSeal chose to build the system
itself to help cut costs. With 10 years of experience
testing and sealing precast tanks and an intimate
relationship with local precast manufacturers,
the concrete sealant manufacturer thought it
would try on the builder’s hat for the
project, explains Wingert.
It turned out to have been
a smart move because the final tab for the sanitary
system was less than $100,000. “It was
a tremendous cooperative effort between us as
a supplier and us working as a builder with
customers (precasters) that we’ve known
for years,” observes Wingert.
Engineer Joyce says that
in designing the three-acre stormwater system,
it was vital to limit the amount of rainfall
coming off the developed site to the levels
of run-off before the site was developed. “Our
feet were held to the fire to provide more (stormwater)
storage than you’d normally have to provide,”
says Joyce. “County engineers wanted to
make sure the stream stayed within its banks
and didn’t create any hardships for downstream
property owners.”
Numerous site meetings with
nearby property owners and investigations into
different drainage concepts preceded the final
design. As is typical of projects of this nature,
precast structures were specified for all drainage
work.
One of the precast subcontractors
on the job was E.C. Babbert Inc., which supplied
precast for the stormwater system, including
catch basins and manholes. “It was pretty
simple work for us,” says Chuck Babbert,
president of sales, noting that ConSeal was
able to select precast manufacturers that were
located closer to the site for bigger jobs.
E.C. Babbert’s plant is only 60 miles
away in Canal Winchester, Ohio.
ConSeal chose to add a precast
concrete stormwater treatment tank designed
to remove sediment, floating oil and debris
from surface runoff. Norwalk Concrete Industries,
Norwalk, Ohio, supplied the 7,000-gallon rectangular
treatment tank, which contains an aluminum grit
chamber for separation of solids. The treatment
system is designed to handle the stormwater
flow from approximately three acres of parking
lot and roof runoff. Wingert stated that the
addition of the treatment tank was important
for keeping the facility in compliance with
anticipated EPA stormwater monitoring requirements.
The stormwater treatment unit
surpasses current environmental standards. “ConSeal
knows that sooner or later somebody will want
them to treat their stormwater before they release
it,” explains Joyce, “so they wanted
to stay ahead of the game.” The unit was
added at the outfall line preceding the dry
detention area.
As wastewater systems like
that of Bethel Township gain greater acceptance
across the nation, Joyce sees the potential
for the development of custom-designed precast
systems. “In addition to this current
project, this type of a process would be ideal
for a (major highway) rest stop or park facility
where there isn’t much solid waste and
usage is most heavy on weekends,” says
Joyce. He sees systems for treating wastewater
effluent for reuse as an important development
for allowing builders and small communities
to comply with new EPA directives issued under
the Clean Water Act. Systems designed to treat
wastewater and stormwater before returning the
water to the environment are definitely the
way of the future. The precast concrete industry
is positioned to provide the watertight structures
needed to meet the new designs.
Project Profile
Owner/general contractor:
Concrete Sealants Inc., Tipp City, Ohio
Engineer: Floyd
Browne and Associates, Sidney, Ohio
Precast Manufacturers:
Coate Concrete Products Inc., West Milton, Ohio
E.C. Babbert Inc., Canal Winchester, Ohio *
Hartford Concrete Products Inc., Hartford City, Ind.
*
Norwalk Concrete Industries, Norwalk, Ohio *
O.C. Adams Inc., Fairfield, Ohio
Robert Oldham Ltd., Sidney, Ohio *
Spoerr Precast Concrete Inc., Sandusky, Ohio
* Certified plant under
NPCA’s Quality Assurance/Plant Certification
program.
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