The comprehensive $11.3 million upgrade of the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Napoleon, Ohio, was completed in mid-2024. The project’s digester rehabilitation and new headworks facilities increases the plant’s efficiency and minimizes its environmental impact. PENETRON ADMIX SB, a crystalline concrete waterproofing admixture, was specified to optimize the service life of the new concrete structures thanks to its soluble packaging for easy-dosage and integral tracer for field confirmation.
Located 44 miles (71 km) southwest of Toledo in Northwestern Ohio, the city of Napoleon is the county seat of Henry County, and home to around 8,900 inhabitants. Named for French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the city boasts a historic center with notable architecture, expansive boating on the Maumee River, and hiking trails along the old Miami-Erie Canal.
The city of Napoleon was mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to construct an upgraded 2.5-million-gallon (MG) equalization basin to comply with environmental regulations. Enhancements included a 30 MGD screw pump facility, a 10 MGD UV-disinfection facility, a 15 MGD final effluent pumping facility, and an overflow weir and baffle specifically designed so the basin can provide primary equivalent treatment in case of an overflow. Sized to handle overflows, the integrated UV system allows treatment of the combined sewer overflow discharge rather than sending it into the river.
Key features of the upgrade were the new headworks facility equipped with screening and grit removal equipment, a primary flow splitting structure encompassing a 45-foot diameter primary sedimentation tank, a sludge disposal system with a primary digester, two secondary digesters, two belt filter presses and a 258,000-gallon sludge lagoon.
“Improving the corrosion resistance of concrete structures in wastewater treatment plants hinges on protecting the imbedded steel reinforcement,” explains Richard Farmer, Eastern Regional Sales Manager for Penetron USA. “Jones & Henry Engineers specified a robust waterproofing treatment solution to protect the plant’s concrete structures from corrosion, chemical attack, cracking, joint-failure, and the permanent exposure to the aggressive environment of the effluent.”
Palmer Brothers Concrete, the ready-mix concrete supplier, added PENETRON ADMIX SB to the concrete mix as the optimal concrete waterproofing solution.
“In addition to the simplified packaging dosing during the batching phase, and the integrated non-toxic and non-staining “green tracer” visible in the bleed water during placement and curing to aid as visual verification that PENETRON ADMIX SB was added to the concrete, PENETRON ADMIX SB was also the most cost-effective waterproofing solution available for the Napoleon project,” concludes Richard Farmer.
Concrete protected with Penetron: The city of Napoleon added an upgraded digester system and new headworks facilities to increase plant efficiency and minimize its environmental impact.
A robust waterproofing solution: PENETRON ADMIX SB was specified to protect the concrete structures from corrosion, chemical attack, cracking, joint-failure, and constant exposure to effluent.
