Contract awarded for wastewater treatment plants

Contracts for the management of two wastewater plants in Wisconsin have been awarded to a national specialist company.

Woodward & Curran will take over control of the facilities, currently operated by Milk Speciality Global.

The deal means that Woodard & Curran will be responsible for operations and staffing at the two wastewater treatment plants in the US cities of Boscobel and Adell.

Among the services the firm will provide assistance with are environmental reporting, solids handling, safety and facility upgrades and maintenance.

The company will be required to ensure the plants meet regulatory requirements.

Jobs at the wastewater plants are being protected as part of the contract, while Woodard & Curran must recruit any additional staff needed to run the facilities safely.

Milk Speciality Global is primarily involved in producing "value-added dairy ingredients", including whey protein isolate, concentrate, and hydrolysate, as well as milk protein, micellar casein, and lactose.

Woodard & Curran, meanwhile, is an integrated engineering, science and operations company that serves clients throughout the country.

Recent cases in Northern Ireland have highlighted the need for proper treatment of wastewater, after a water company was fined for failing to maintain proper quality levels.

Northern Ireland Water was issued a £2,000 penalty after 150 eels died in a stretch of river in Co Down.

A court heard that a sewage pumping station leaked pollutants into the riverway which resulted in harm to the wildlife in May 2011.

In another court case, the company was fined £2,500 plus costs following the death of fish in a river near the Burren Sewage Pumping Station in Newcastle, Co Down.

The firm is responsible for providing clean water to 1.7 million people daily, as well as treating 134 milion m³ of wastewater annually.