Description of DCI Role: Design, Monitoring
Project Team Leader(s): Jerry Cole, Ron Duckworth, Joe Reitberger
Project Cost: Confidential
Time Period of Project Work: 1996 to present
Client: DuPont/Invista Victoria Texas Plant
Project Description
DCI personnel assisted the Invista (formerly DuPont) Victoria, Texas, facility in the design and construction of a 55-acre wetland to polish treated effluent water from an industrial biological wastewater treatment plant prior to its ultimate discharge to the Guadalupe River. Project design efforts included participating on a multidisciplinary advisory team that included members of the local community, academia, environmental groups, and state agencies. Specific duties included the design of a wetland plant nursery and wet meadow wildlife habitat area, oversight of construction and soil preparation for the planting of the constructed wetland, and development and implementation of the monitoring program. In conjunction with DuPont and other firms involved in project design, DCI was awarded the Industrial Water Quality Achievement Award from the Water Environment Federation.
DCI project managers Jerry Cole and Ron Duckworth designed a comprehensive baseline monitoring effort to assess the condition of water, sediment, vegetation, and fish within the wetland (and nearby reference areas) prior to the introduction of treated effluent water from the biological wastewater treatment plant. Ongoing monitoring events are conducted to determine and evaluate changes (if any) from baseline condition and assess wetland treatment efficiency.
Aerial photography and vegetation transects are used to delineate wetland plant communities by dominant species. Changes in plant community composition, vegetation density, and percent vegetative cover are documented. The GPS locations of sampling points and vegetation transects are recorded.
Periodic wetland assessment reports that document physical and chemical changes in the wetland and compare wetland analytical results to those reported for other wetland/natural systems and reference areas are submitted for review by Invista. Wetland treatment performance is compared to permit criteria, previous years, and treatment performance of other treatment wetlands.