The City of Longmont, Colorado, has been awarded the Water Environment Federation鈥檚 (WEF) 2021 WEF Project Excellence Award, a national distinction granted to projects executed with excellence and infrastructural innovation in the water sector.聽The City鈥檚 Public Works and Natural Resources department and its consultants CGRS Inc. and Carollo Engineers won for the Biogas Treatment and Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Fueling Station project, a groundbreaking resource recovery and reuse effort that treats and converts biogas produced at the City鈥檚 Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) into RNG for vehicle fuel. This project is the first of its kind along the Colorado Front Range.
Accompanied by Carollo鈥檚 Becky Luna, John Gage, a senior civil engineer with the City, accepted the award at the WEF鈥檚 Technical Exhibition and Conference, better known as WEFTEC. Held on Tuesday, October 19, the awards celebration was attended by water quality professionals from across the country.聽鈥淚t was an honor to receive this award on behalf of the City,鈥� said Gage, who served as project manager. 鈥淭his project is a prime example of how municipalities can take a holistic view of their resources and services to develop innovative solutions.鈥�
The Project Excellence Award recognizes the project for its ability to address common and complex issues within the water sector and deliver original, sustainable, and valued solutions that not only meet the owner agency鈥檚 expectations in terms of quality, cost, and schedule but also improve the well-being of local communities.
Biogas is an energy-rich by-product of a wastewater treatment plant鈥檚 anaerobic digestion process that, without proper infrastructure or a reuse plan that captures its benefits, utilities often waste. However, a proper treatment system can covert this valuable resource into RNG, which can then be compressed into compressed natural gas (CNG) that serves as a clean, local, and reliable source of low-cost renewable fuel.
To achieve this, the Biogas Treatment and RNG Fueling Station project is comprised of a new biogas-upgrading system at the WWTP, a new indoor vehicle-fueling station and administration building, and a pipeline to transport the RNG between the WWTP and fueling site. The produced RNG currently fuels the City鈥檚 Waste Services fleet whose diesel trucks were recently replaced with 11 quiet, odorless vehicles that run on CNG.
The project and the fleet replacement supported each department and division鈥檚 needs, allowing for robust collaboration that continues to benefit individual operations, the City, and its communities as a whole.聽鈥淭o incorporate both RNG and CNG systems into one successful project, it was critical that we understood both the WWTP and Waste Services fleet鈥檚 operations as well as the City鈥檚 end goals,鈥� said Cory Kahler, CGRS鈥檚 water and wastewater operations manager and CNG expert. 鈥淭he lessons we learned are ones we will draw on for all future RNG/CNG projects.鈥�
Since the biogas-upgrading system and vehicle-fueling station came online in March 2020, the City has offset nearly 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year, not only saving up to $300,000 annually in fuel costs but also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year鈥攖he equivalent of removing 200 cars from the road. And, because RNG can also be sold as valuable renewable identification numbers (RINs) or 鈥渃redits鈥� through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 Renewable Fuel Standard program, the City anticipates earning a revenue of close to $400,000 by the end of 2021.
Today, the biogas-upgrading system is operated almost continuously, making sustainable use of the WWTP鈥檚 biogas. The City plans to complete the transition of the remaining 10 Waste Services trucks to RNG by 2024.聽鈥淭he success of this project is due in large part to the WWTP and Waste Services and Fleet divisions鈥� tremendous interdepartmental coordination,鈥� said Luna, the project鈥檚 design manager. 鈥淲orking together, the team developed a win-win solution that reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the community and provides a source of revenue to the City. Carollo is extremely proud to be a part of this award-winning project.鈥�