AWWA MTC61102

This slide presentation outlines information on the benefits received by the engineering design team and the selected membrane system supplier when 3-dimensional (3-D) design was used. Two projects where this technology was used include a new 4-million-gallon-per-day (MGD) ultrafiltration membrane water treatment plant (WTP) for the Hallsdale-Powell Utility District (HPUD) on Norris Lake and a new 6-MGD microfiltration membrane WTP for Sevierville Water Systems (SWS) on McCroskey Island. Two different membrane systems were designed (submerged membranes from Zenon for the HPUD project and pressure membranes from Pall for the SWS project) for these plants using 3-D computer aided drafting (CAD), which produced a computer model of the new treatment buildings. The 3-D design software provided for a more efficient design and allowed the owner to better visualize the end product. The 3-D software also improved coordination between the membrane system supplier and the engineer regarding the design of the membrane interconnecting piping by allowing interactive model walk-throughs to identify piping interferences that would have been hard to identify on 2-D drawings. The membrane system supplier and the engineer were also able to show/identify, in the model and on the drawings, exact points of supply or design scope change. The resulting design drawings provided a clearer definition of the required scope for the general contractors to base their bid for installation of the membrane systems and thus produced a more competitive bid.