The most expensive part of a wastewater treatment plant is not the mechanical equipment — it’s the massive concrete tanks and other structures in which the treatment processes function. So says Kent Nichols, wastewater treatment practice manager with the Weston & Sampson environmental and infrastructure consulting firm based in Peabody, Mass.
Nichols observes that concrete structures in the nations’ treatment plants are aging — and meanwhile new and tighter permit requirements are forcing plants to revisit their treatment processes. For plant operations teams, that brings a variety of challenges, not the least of which is deciding whether existing buildings and tankage
