The City of Waterbury, Connecticut, has selected construction firm Jacobs to operate and maintain its 38 million-gallon-per-day conventional surface water treatment plant, according to a company press release.
The city estimates the 10-year contract value at $25 million. Jacobs’ scope of work includes engineering services and support for improvements to the overall facility, sludge system, water quality lab and treatment process, according to the release.
That enhanced treatment will be achieved through upgrades to the chemical dosing system, water filtration and sludge handling facilities, said Greg Fischer, Jacobs vice president of operations, maintenance, facility services and design-build.
“Jacobs has spent decades building our reputation as a leader in water and our programmatic delivery model, inclusive of consulting, engineering, operations, maintenance and intelligent technology applications, provides a comprehensive service to clients,” said Fischer. “More importantly, it benefits consumers by allowing the city to provide enhanced water quality, more reliably and at less cost.”
The Dallas-based construction company will also improve the digital maintenance management through supervisory control, data acquisition and telemetry systems as part of the contract. Jacobs began full operations and maintenance of the plant in July 2023, according to the release.
Water construction ticks up in 2023
Water-related construction remained up 10% year-over-year as of July, according to the latest Associated Builders and Contractors analysis.
That strong level of activity, coupled with climate change risks, led Jacobs to recently identify water infrastructure as an area of opportunity earlier this summer, said Luce Bassetti, Americas coastal resilience director at Jacobs.
In the past, the Dallas-based contractor has supported projects like the Thames Tideway Tunnel, the largest water infrastructure project ever undertaken in the U.K., the Central Interceptor, New Zealand’s largest-ever wastewater project, Singapore’s Tuas Water Reclamation Plant and the Donald C. Tillman Advanced Water Purification Facility in Los Angeles.
Jacobs’ work in water-related construction earned the contractor the No. 1 spot in the 2023 ENR Top 500 ranking for wastewater treatment, while coming in at No. 2 for water construction and water treatment projects.