The Southwest Branch of the Michigan Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) awarded the Battle Creek WWTP Secondary Treatment System Upgrade project with the 2018 Public Works Project of the Year Award in the Environmental $5M - $25M category.

The overall goal of the project was to improve the secondary process treatment while reducing energy consumption and chemical use to become more efficient. This was accomplished with the design and implementation of improvements to multiple process systems including aeration blower replacement, automated valves and flowmeters for dissolved oxygen control, new chemical feed facilities which included advanced monitoring and control, scum pumping modifications, flow control and measurement to final clarifiers, complete PLC upgrades, and power distribution improvements.

As part of the design, Donohue worked with the City to secure a $9M Qualified Energy Conservation Bond (QECB) with a low interest rate that saves over $2.6M in bond debt costs. The City is receiving an energy rebate of over $200K through the local power utility. Energy efficiency improvements are providing a 22% reduction in energy, saving the facility $221,000 annually.