Peirce Island Wastewater Treatment Facility

The upgraded facility, which involved work on six structures, needed to fit within the existing footprint, a fenced area of only 3.7 acres. Further compounding this was the challenge of getting construction materials and trucks on site through the 18^th century streets of South End Portsmouth. Close coordination was required among all the design disciplines to maintain existing service throughout construction.

Given the extreme space constraints, the City’s Master Plan recommended consideration of high-rate, small footprint treatment technologies. Because these high-rate technologies have fewer installations than conventional type treatment technologies, the project team recommended piloting three different technologies on site. The final technology selection was based on a prioritized ranking of criteria including treatment performance and other characteristics.

Ultimately, a two-stage Veolia Water Technologies BIOSTYR™ Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) was constructed and began operation in early 2020.

2021 Associated Builders and Contractors of NH and VT Project Excellence Award and Chairman’s Award

2021 Water Environment Federation Project Excellence Award