Although Camp Upshur, a cluster of about 34 buildings in the northeast corner of Marine Corps Base Quantico, still looks a bit primitive, much of the camp has been renovated to bring cutting-edge simulation technology to its training facilities, and modern amenities and environmental savvy to its rows of Quonset huts.

The same cannot yet be said, however, for the camp’s sewage treatment plant, which has outlived its planned lifespan of half a century. Now, that plant, which was built in 1951, is about to be replaced.

Mark Ethridge, project manager for the Resident Officer in Charge of Construction, said Rockville, Md.-based contractor GW Management Services just broke ground on a new plant, which is scheduled to be completed by April of next year, at which point the existing plant is to be torn down.

Like the old plant, the new facility will only serve Camp Upshur and will be designed with a “three-tiered” capacity, able to be set to process up to 40,000, 70,000 or 140,000 gallons per day.

“Sometimes they have a lot of people out there, and sometimes they hardly have any,” Ethridge said of the camp that serves as a training ground for reservists and other units, noting that both the old and new plants are designed for a “sporadic population.”

Patricia Greek, water and wastewater manager for the base Public Works Branch, said she didn’t think the existing plant had ever operated over the 40,000-gallon level, but the tiered approach also will allow the camp to grow.

Greek said the biggest problem with the existing plant is that it’s located in a floodplain and is susceptible to flooding. The new facility will be in a different location, behind the tree line near the entrance to the camp. “We’re just moving the plant to a safer location,” she said.

The new plant will also use a more modern process for treating wastewater, Greek said. “The technology has changed a bit since ’51.”

While the existing plant uses a conventional, multi-tank process, the new one will use a sequencing batch reactor, which consolidates several treatment functions in a single tank. Greek said the process is more efficient in terms of both time and energy.

The contract for the new plant was awarded in September for just less than $10 million.

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com