Owner Management of Design-Build Project Execution - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 233

Project: Charnock Well Field Restoration Project
Owner: City of Santa Monica, California
Design-Build (DB) Entity: Black & Veatch
Completion Date: December 2010
Description of Project
The City of Santa Monica (City), Calif., implemented the Charnock Well Field Resto-
ration Project (Project) through a progressive DB approach to restore local ground-
water supplies, reduce the City's reliance on imported water supplies from Northern
California and the Colorado River, and meet the City's sustainability objectives. The
primary treatment objective was to provide a treatment barrier to remove methyl
tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and tertiary-butyl alcohol (TBA) from three of Char-
nock's five active wells.
The facilities are located at two sites: one site is for wellhead treatment to remove
MTBE and TBA, and the other is for reverse osmosis (RO) treatment for hardness
and other contaminant removal. Equipment at the sites includes greensand filters,
granular activated carbon (GAC) contactors, RO units, and decarbonators. The facil-
ity treats 10 mgd (38 ML/d).
Why the Owner Chose Design-Build
The City had previous experience with DB for municipal parking structures and
knew that a flexible approach with an aggressive schedule was needed for this proj-
ect, which required more regulatory approval documentation and consultation than
most water treatment plant projects.
Lessons Learned
For this project, the City believes that selection of a design-builder was critical to the
project. For the project to progress on a rapid schedule, the design-builder had to
know and understand the City's processes, resources, and requirements of the proj-
ect. The design-builder provided a thorough proposal that depicted the knowledge
of the project and the “how-to-solve-the-problem” solution.
Another key element was the independent peer review process that was used.
The City had a contract agreement with an independent peer review team for:
(1) support for technical design, procurement, construction, testing, and operation
of treatment and distribution; (2) technical support for all regulatory permits that
ensure that the treated water would meet the requirements of the State of California
and comply with the Policy Memo 97-005; (3) pilot-testing technical support; and
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