Quebec-based H2O Innovation recently won a Water and Wastewater prize, shared with the project’s engineering and construction partners, at the 2016 National Awards of Merit by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA).
The prize was awarded for the company’s Clifton, Colorado Water District‘s ultrafiltration water purification system. This project is the first of its kind, using the FiberFlex open platform design.
The Clifton Water District design-build project involved several engineering and delivery challenges. The construction of the new system had to be scheduled within the operating facility to coincide with the winter months, as the water flows are lower at this time of year, while still meeting the project completion schedule of less than 14 months.
H2O Innovation teamed up with Carollo Engineers and PCL Construction to design, manufacture, construct, and commission the ultrafiltration system that can produces up to 12.0 MGD (45,400 m3/day) of potable water. The project utilizes an open platform design to enable the end user to change membrane suppliers or models. This new generation of membrane racks offers owners and engineers the option to choose from a wider variety of membrane products available in the present and future market.
“We are extremely proud to have won the Design-Build Award in the best Water Projects category,” said Guillaume Clairet, COO of H20 Innovation.
“In a DB project, customers, contractors, engineers, and equipment suppliers work as a team with aligned interests as compared to conventional design-bid-build projects where everyone sits on their side of the table with their own interests in mind. Ultimately, DB projects are delivered faster, with greater attention to quality and with no surprises in regards to the initial budget. This year, more than half of the 30 projects we delivered were under the Design Build delivery method and we certainly expect to see this trend continue in the coming years,” he said.
“By showcasing design-build best practices, teaming techniques, contracting methods, and ways to drive innovation, winners of National Design-Build Project/Team Awards provide examples to the rest of the industry on how to achieve Design-Build Done Right,” said Lisa Washington, the executive director and CEO of the Design-Build Institute of America.
