The Lake Mooney Water Treatment plant will get a second centrifuge and sludge thickener.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has approved a contract to have a new centrifuge constructed for the treatment plant based in the Hartwood District. This will be in addition to the single centrifuge that currently works at the plant.
In addition, the plant will also get a new sludge thickener. WGK Construction LLC will construct and install both, a Chantilly-based company specializing in the water and sewage industries.
WGK Construction was chosen after making the lowest bid offer for the work at $2,075,000. Three other companies were under consideration but made bids higher than WGK. Those companies included Clark Construction Group, Waco, Inc., and American Contracting and Environmental Services.
A significant portion of the funding for the project will come from the county’s utility fund. This will come to over $1.6 million. County leaders approved another $637,456 for items related to the contract, such as materials and Geotech testing, inspection services, and contingencies. That amount will come from an appropriation in the Capital Projects fund.
The second centrifuge was originally included in the Lake Mooney Water Treatment plant design in 2009 made by American international firm Jacobs Engineering Group. The redundancy was removed before the plant’s completion in 2014 due to budgetary constraints. According to county documents, the new equipment has become necessary due to aging components and increasing water demands.
According to Suezwaterhandbook.com, sludge thickeners are used in water treatment plants to remove as much water as possible from liquid sludge that has been collected through the water lines. A centrifuge to assist with sludge thickening is known as dynamic thickening.
The 520-acre, artificial Lake Mooney water reservoir in southern Stafford County opened in 2017. Originally, leaders called the water body Rocky Pen Reservoir, but they later changed the name to honor the late Stafford Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Mooney.
