MWH, in a joint venture with Brycon Construction, was awarded a $19.7 million design-build contract to expand The Pueblo of Santa Ana’s wastewater treatment capacity to accommodate short and long-term growth. This project will ultimately increase the capacity of the existing WWTP in 2 phases with an initial 0.40 mgd expandable to 0.80 mgd average daily flow to accommodate regional expansion for the next 20 years. We will utilize Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology, providing a high quality discharge for reuse that meets New Mexico Class 1A requirements.

This project won the 2018 AGC Build America Award and the 2017 Excellence in Construction Award from the ABC New Mexico Chapter.

  • Through the Design-Build delivery method, we provided the Pueblo with roughly $10 million in savings from the original concept.
  • We flipped the structure 180 degrees to take advantage of the natural landscaping and reduce excavation and backfill.
  • The original design called for 2 standby back-up generators. We were able to modify the design to provide a single source backup system. This saves on operation cost as maintenance is required for only one piece of equipment.
  • Completed a virtual reality walk through with headsets before construction began. This walk through gave the owner the ability to see things such as the location and height of pipes and valves before construction began—when it was still economical to change the locations if necessary. This also gave an idea of how operators would work in the plant, giving us the ability to incorporate safety through design by looking at hand clearances and maneuverability.