The sheer magnitude of the $23.4-million rehabilitation of the city of Garland’s wastewater treatment facilities meant work had to be thorough at every step—not only to do the job well, but also to ensure the safety of construction team members and plant workers.

The city treats wastewater for more than 230,000 residents at its two wastewater treatment plants, the Rowlett Creek and Duck Creek facilities. But aging equipment for handling solids and controlling odor needed replacement to continue to treat 13 million gallons of wastewater daily at the Rolwett Creek plant.

The Rowlett Creek facility treats all of the city’s biosolids, so the plant’s performance is critical to the Trinity River’s health as a drinking water source. During dry months, the river may be composed of up to 95% treated effluent.

The Rowlett Creek facility features many different structures with numerous safety concerns that were unique to the individual buildings. Posting generalized project safety signs might cause personnel to ignore certain warnings, so project leadership decided to break the site into six distinct areas. They placed signs prominently at each access point to identify specific cautions and protective equipment required. 

Because the Rowlett Creek facility is a fully functioning wastewater treatment plant, all employees carry the risk of encountering wastewater. In addition to standard precautions, the team went a step further to ensure safety by bringing in a mobile clinic to administer vaccinations. Although the vaccinations were voluntary, almost all project members took part.

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