Wawarsing Water District

The Town of Wawarsing was experiencing an increase in demand for public water supplies. The service area in question was previously supplied by individual wells that were impacted by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) water supply tunnel system. To meet the increase in demands, LaBella was tasked with the design of a new Water District to supply the service area.

This work includes the design and construction of a water distribution storage standpipe, a wellfield consisting of three production wells, a water treatment facility, and a distribution network consisting of approximately 45,000 linear feet of water main and 16,000 linear feet of water service piping on individual properties. Prior to starting a conceptual layout, a hydraulic model developed in Water CAD® was implemented to ensure that proper pipe sizing and location of storage was met.

The selected storage design for this project was based on a 0.5 MG glass-fused-to-steel bolted water storage tank. The wellfield design was based upon the installation of three eight-inch diameter wells with submersible pumps. The ultimate treatment capacity of the water plant was designed to deliver 250 GPM to the distribution and storage system.

The selected aquifer had a water quality issue with manganese not meeting maximum contaminant level (MCL) requirements; therefore, manganese reduction was designed utilizing a greensand filtration system to reduce the manganese to meet the MCL. The manganese-reduced production water was then injected with chlorine and introduced into a clearwell to achieve disinfection contact time prior to being delivered to the distribution system through booster pumps delivering 250 GPM at a TDH of 220 feet.

LaBella also provided aquatic resources and ecological services on the project, including an aquatic resources delineation and consultation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding the presence of rattlesnakes and whether an incidental take permit was required. Education and encounter training was provided to contractors and LaBella construction monitors, and a monitoring protocol was developed for the water supply site.

Project funding was provided by the NYC DEP. Construction was phased to meet project schedules. The project went to construction in 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, and was completed on time, with As Built drawings being finalized in 2023.