Education Fast Track

A summer series dedicated to showcasing our top 2022 Annual Conference presentations!

This summer, NC One Water is rolling out our new Education Fast Track – a summer-long webinar series dedicated to giving even more people the opportunity to learn about the hottest topics from our 2022 Annual Conference and earn CEUs/PDHs! See the summer lineup below!

July 11, 9-10 a.m.

The Changing Landscape of Biosolids Management in North Carolina over the 21st Century and Century's First Two Decades

Robert Forbes, JACOBS

Approved for 1.0 credit hour for Water, Wastewater, and PE

The State of North Carolina, with its rich diversity, inviting climate, growing population, and substantial natural resources to protect, has been one of the fastest growing states in the Southeastern U.S. for the past decade. A byproduct of that growth is an increasing volume of residuals and biosolids that are produced, in addition to the other organic by-products of North Carolina economic activity such as food processing, forestry, farming, and other industries. The state produces large quantities of biosolids and residuals, with a growing proportion of biosolids treated to Class A levels suitable for distribution and marketing. Considering the increasing costs of energy, biosolids and other residuals are being reconsidered as carbon-rich energy sources, in addition to being traditional sources of nutrients and carbon for the soil. The paper and presentation will review North Carolina trends in biosolids management over the last two decades and touch on the emerging trends of energy and resource recovery, which are currently developing in many of the state's metropolitan areas such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville, and Hickory. Lesser known and smaller, but equally innovative projects and local initiatives in the state related to biosolids and organics management will also be discussed. The paper will summarize and compare data from the 1st (2004 data year) and 2nd (2018 data year) National Surveys of Biosolids Regulation, Quality, End Use and Disposal in the U.S. Information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC-DENR), and North Carolina State University (NCSU), among other sources, will also be used to provide an overview of biosolids management for protecting the state natural resources. A case will be made that biosolids and related organic by-products will become greater economic drivers in the future as traditional, fossil sources of fuels and fertilizers continue to increase in cost. The paper and presentation will provide further detail on the statistics provided for North Carolina in the National Biosolids Database, including probable reasons behind some of the data discrepancies found. Biosolids, Class A biosolids products, organic by-products, energy recovery, resource recovery.

July 13, 1-2 P.m.

Construction in Challenging Times: Lessons Learned From the Ongoing Progressive Design Build of Union County's Yadkin Water Supply Project

Jonathan Lapsley, CDM Smith

Approved for 1.0 credit hour for Water and PE

Union County and the Town of Norwood, NC, are working to ensure a long-term, sustainable water supply for current and future residents in the Yadkin River Basin. The infrastructure of the Yadkin Regional Water Supply project includes a new water intake and pump station on Lake Tillery in Norwood; a raw water supply pipeline to convey the supply to a new greenfield water treatment plant (WTP) in Union County; and a new finished water pipeline to convey treated drinking water to the residents of Union County. Union County selected the design-build delivery method to implement the WTP and finished water pipeline components of the project, working in collaboration with Union County Engineering and Operations staff, CDM Smith, and Program Manager, HDR. The County recognized the unique demands of the Yadkin Regional Water Supply Project and determined early in the project process that an integrated project delivery method would yield distinct advantages over a traditional design-bid-build approach. With the support of the County program manager, multiple delivery methods were evaluated including Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), fixed price design-build, and progressive design-build. Progressive design-build was selected as the project delivery method as it offered the greatest flexibility and least risk to the County to implement this $303.8M+ program of improvements to deliver sustainable water to the residents of Union County. The design-build project delivery approach has yielded the desired outcomes for the County. Design-build teams were selected based on qualifications, laying the foundation for success by engaging partners with extensive experience in the industry and project delivery method. The project has also realized an accelerated delivery schedule, cost certainty, and an innovative, collaborative, and value driven approach to the design. This presentation will highlight project developments over the last 12 months building on the presentation from the 2021 Annual Conference which concentrated on the design development and initial construction activities. This update will focus on the procurement and construction activities associated with the progressive design-build delivery method for the 12-mgd WTP and approximately 10 miles of finished water pipeline. Topics to be elaborated on during the presentation will include:

Supply chain and escalation management strategies including schedule adjustments
Construction restrictions and practices during COVID-19
Value engineering/cost reduction strategies during construction
Commissioning planning and coordination
Overall construction update and progress.

SEE THE FULL LINEUP HERE!