Many municipalities and similar governmental entities are faced with decisions on how to provide residents with cost-effective, environmentally sound methods to manage wastewater, protect the water environment, and use resources wisely. These challenges may require upgrades from individual or non-centralized systems to new regional mechanical facilities or upgrading their water resource recovery facility with new and higher capacity systems. Because these situations arise once every 20 to 30 years at small- to medium-sized facilities, most utility managers have little to no experience with the upgrade process. This manual serves as a guidance document to help utility managers and others, such as city engineers, public works directors, regulators, and contractors, navigate this process. It includes sections on how to procure an engineer, how do develop a scope of service for the facility plan, how to evaluate engineering proposals, how to make an informed decision on moving to more complex facilities, how to evaluate and select different project delivery methods, how to interact with the engineer during each phase, and a variety of other topics. It also covers what can be expected during construction and startup. In short, it will provide managers and engineers with the knowledge necessary to prepare for and ultimately survive this complex process.
