Resource International LTD, located just north of Richmond Virginia in Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia, Satellite office in Hampton Roads Virginia, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach. We Provide excellence in the following service areas Civil Engineering,Civil Engineers,Land Development,Land Surveying,Land Planning,Site Engineering,Environmental Scientists,Wetland Services,Stream Restoration,Solid Waste Engineering. We offer better service at a price that is competitive with other local engineering firms such as Timmons Group, Balzer & Associates, Kimley Horn, CDM, Draper Aden, HDR, Golder, ch2mhill, Mattern and Craig. Our experience is second to none. At Resource International, we challenge ourselves to rethink the traditional, to apply innovative and sustainable technology and to identify creative engineering and environmental solutions in order to earn our clients for life.

Wastewater Collection & Treatment Facilities

Resource provided the design of completely new 60,000 gallon per day sewage collection and treatment system for the Community of Callao. The community previously relied on individual septic tanks, which were failing due to poor soil conditions. A grinder pump and forcemain system was designed for the collection and a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) wastewater treatment plant for the treatment. Resource assisted the County in the permitting process. The plant is currently complete and awaiting startup in July, 2006.

Alternatives Review
Three potential collection system alternatives were reviewed: Gravity, vacuum, and grinder pumps/forcemain. Based on the topography and Town configuration, the grinder system was recommended. The community was too flat for efficient use of gravity lines, and too rolling for efficient use of a vacuum system.

During design review, the state enacted more strict limits on discharges to the Chesapeake Bay. The originally planned conventional Extended Air Package Plant was determined to be unable to readily meet the Virginia DEQ requirements. The design analysis for treatment then was expanded to include an alternatives analysis comparing the older technology with more modern systems such as the Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system. The MBR system was chosen because it used a smaller layout, and required less operator attention and met the DEQ requirements for nutrient removal. The plant utilizes alternating aerobic and anoxic zones to accomplish nutrient reduction, followed by membrane filtration and UV disinfection.

Design Considerations
The treatment facility was sited on a small available plot located on a former school property. Since the unit was located relatively close to residences, it was necessary to locate the unit behind a shield of forested land. The entrance road was designed to provide a route to the plant that would not allow a direct view of the plant from the public roadway. Special attention was paid to odors by utilizing an inlet of raw sewage directly into a recycled flow of partially treated and aerated liquid. Therefore any odorous materials entering the plant would be immediately diluted in a non-septic environment.

Effluent
The treatment system was designed to be well under the assigned discharge limits. The membranes will have approximately 9,000 square feet of surface area and a nominal pore size of 0.4 micron. Most waste, bacteria, viruses, cysts, and sludge will not pass through the pores. The discharge will be nearly clear, with any remaining harmful organisms killed by an ultraviolet light treatment unit. Occasionally, a small quantity of sludge will be drawn off the system for further treatment at the County's other plant. No effluent chlorination is done, so that chemicals used in the system are minimal. Space was allowed in the building in case future regulations require additional treatment equipment. The system is designed to allow remote computer monitoring to allow minimal operator attention on-site, and to allow on-line operational review by the system manufacturer.

The design of this system reflects the fact that Resource has the capability to design completely new wastewater systems, taking into account the latest DEQ requirements and modern treatment technology.

Closure
The project included the closure and demolition of an adjacent small treatment plant originally designed for the former school, and subsequently used for the building's conversion to apartments. The former plant consisted of a septic tank, trickling sand filter, polishing lagoon, and tablet chlorination system. The closure design provided for the demolition of all above-ground structures and the filling of the lagoon.

Resource provided the following services on this project:

  • Alternatives analysis for collection system
  • Alternatives analysis for treatment technologies
  • Surveying
  • Permitting
  • Collection system and Treatment System design
  • Construction administration
  • Operating Manual Preparation

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CivilMunicipalSurveyingTransportationSolid WasteIndustrialEnvironmentalPlanning