The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is the largest estuary in North America and includes more than 150 rivers and streams that drain into the bay. Although the health of the Chesapeake Bay has improved since the 1970’s, the water quality in the bay and its tributaries continues to be adversely affected by excess sediment and nutrients.
Challenge
Wastewater treatment facilities throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed required upgrades using advanced technology to reduce the amount of nutrients that were discharged into the tributaries and ultimately help restore water quality and improve the bay’s ecosystem health.
Solution
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works selected WSP to support the expansion of Baltimore’s Back River wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) as part of the Chesapeake Bay Program, which aims to restore the watershed.
WSP is providing construction management and inspection services for:
- A $264 million Enhanced Nutrient Removal facility at the Back River WWTP to reduce levels of nitrogen and phosphorus.
- A comprehensive project addressing sludge digester renovations and the construction of new site utilities, including coordinating all construction-related activity.
- Rehabilitation of the WTTP’s primary settling tanks.
