Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant Disinfection

The Challenge

The Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant is the regional wastewater treatment facility for the City of Chattanooga, much of Hamilton County, Tennessee, and parts of northern Georgia. Chattanooga had growing safety concerns using chlorine gas in the treatment plant’s disinfection system and sought to find long-term alternative solutions for disinfecting the wastewater using liquid sodium hypochlorite.

In 2009, Chattanooga experienced an accidental release of chlorine during a routine operation at the plant. While the plant’s safeguards operated as designed and prevented a potentially harmful event, it increased the City’s desire to stop the use of chlorine gas as a disinfectant, leading them to seek out long-term alternative solutions.

The Solution

Barge Design Solutions provided a comprehensive range of services, including preliminary design, surveying, detailed final design, preparation of construction documents, bidding phase services, construction phase services, resident project representation, permitting assistance, and startup support.

The team collaborated with the City of Chattanooga and the contractor to upgrade the system with variable speed pumps, backup pumps, storage tanks for future expansion, and a covered storage facility. They implemented monitoring and control systems to adjust sodium hypochlorite levels as needed at the plant. During construction, Barge coordinated closely with the contractor and plant staff to expedite efforts, successfully bringing the new hypochlorite disinfection system online ahead of schedule and before the Environmental Protection Agency's Consent Decree deadline.

The Result

The successful completion of this project by Barge showcases the team's expertise in water treatment plant design and implementation. By developing and implementing a safe and effective alternative to chlorine gas, they have significantly improved the safety and reliability of the Chattanooga Water Treatment Plant, ultimately benefiting the community.