As ongoing development and extreme weather continue to drain local water supply, Harris & Associates helps agencies leverage water reuse to diversify their supply and deliver clean water for all.
With more than 40 years of experience working with municipal wastewater treatment, Harris understands the unique financial and logistical challenges facing today’s agency leaders. Since 2012 alone, we have managed more than 20 water, wastewater, and recycled water projects with a constructed value exceeding $500 million.
Harris' expertise includes the intricacies of plant construction, managing complex treatment projects while meeting permit discharge compliance during construction, and successfully managing start-up and testing procedures.
Master Planning, Funding, and Regulatory Compliance
California aims to increase the use of recycled water over 2002 levels by at least 1 million-acre feet per year by 2020, and by at least 2 million acre feet per year by 2030. Our strategic water consultants help agencies gain a clearer view of the big picture to plan projects for the greatest impact.
For example, we partnered with the City of Soledad on a Reclaimed Water Distribution Plan. We often help secure funding for reclamation work, particularly from the abundance of grants now devoted to water recycling.
Harris also helps agencies comply with stringent regulations around water reuse, including Title 22 of California's Water Recycling Criteria and Regional Water Quality Control Board requirements regarding bacteriological treatment, discharge, and reuse of reclaimed water, and more.
Smooth Project Delivery
Harris has a strong record of results with various delivery methods and construction management techniques, including design-build and CM-at-risk. Design-build especially requires expert management of contractual considerations. For example, because design-build contracts require speedy execution and prompt responses, we help owners carefully and completely delineate their specific program requirements very early in the development process.
Across all delivery methods, we coordinate water projects with ongoing plant operations, commissioning, direct operations support, startup, control, change orders, and claims avoidance. We focus on cost, schedule, and quality to deliver projects that meet or exceed client expectations.
The Right Treatment Technology
Clients rely on our team’s technical expertise in civil, electrical, and mechanical inspection, treatment plants and processes, automation, and controls to realize their goals. We bring to your project extensive knowledge of current recycled and water treatment facility technologies, such as ultrafiltration membrane systems, reverse osmosis systems, and dissolved air flotation (DAF) pretreatment systems. Harris is currently providing professional consulting and construction management services for a dissolved air flotation project for the City of Bellingham’s Water Treatment Plant Pretreatment project—keeping the existing plant fully functional for all 19 months of construction.
Related People
Ehab Gerges, PE
Chief Business Development Officer / Program + Construction Management Division President
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In 1979, Harris received the first ever third-party construction management assignment through the former EPA Construction Grants Program for a wastewater treatment plant.
