Civiltec was recently contracted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) located in Pasadena, California to design and build an Operable Unit 1 (OU-1) Source Area Treatment system to address groundwater beneath the facility. The system consists of three groundwater extraction wells (EWs), an off-site conservation treatment for removal of compounds, and a reinjection of treated groundwater.
The JPL managed by NASA in Pasadena has historically contained high concentrations of perchlorate and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as hexavalent chromium. With the compound concentrations in Monitoring Well 13 exceeding the state Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), a new extraction well was proposed to better remove these contaminants in the aquifer while capturing and treating groundwater near the well. The water will be treated at the existing OU-1.
The scope of work for this project includes installation of a variable frequency drive (VFD) on the existing EW, which would allow the flowrate of the EW pump to be adjusted based on the contamination concentration. Civiltec would also be responsible for developing designs for new EW pumping equipment and discharge as well as a new electrical system. Lastly, the team will round out the project with development of OU-1’s new ion exchange system and piping modification.
For this project, Bed Dawadi will lead Civiltec’s analysis and design efforts as Project Manager, while Shem Hawes will serve as Principal-in-Charge. They will be supported by additional team members such as Nick Brethorst as the project ramps up.
Civiltec kicked off this project at the beginning of March 2017, meeting with Tidewater staff and NASA to discuss current design parameters, site-specific conditions, project goals, and latest design developments. Final plans and specifications are scheduled to be completed in 16 weeks, by June 2017.
