Building Resilient Utilities in Vancouver, Washington

Jacobs has served the City of Vancouver, Washington, since the 1980s, delivering engineering, design and construction services. In addition to designing Vancouver’s Marine Park Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and updating its Westside WWTP, we helped the city with technical analyses of water and wastewater systems, feasibility studies, risk mitigation evaluations, permitting and capital-upgrade engineering and construction. Over our 30-plus year relationship, Jacobs has come to understand Vancouver’s needs and objectives for maintaining and upgrading wastewater and water utility systems. 

A shift toward integrated operations

In 2015, Vancouver’s City Council unanimously approved a 10-year contract with Jacobs for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the city’s two WWTPs, the Industrial Pretreatment Lagoon and eight pump stations. Jacobs was awarded the contract by demonstrating an integrated approach that combined operations, engineering and capital improvement for best-in-class wastewater utility services.

Smooth transition, stronger team

Jacobs oversaw a seamless transition from the previous contract operator with a focus on preserving institutional knowledge and introducing enhanced operational practices through staff retention and comprehensive planning.

A locally based management team supported by technical experts from throughout the company was placed in key roles to establish our operational culture and maintain consistent service delivery. In collaboration with the city, we developed and executed a transition timeline with key milestones. All transition activities were completed within the allotted timeframe, with 90% accomplished within the first 90 days. 

The successful approach led to uninterrupted operations, increased communication among key stakeholders and improved employee satisfaction.

More than an operator

Jacobs delivers fully integrated operations, program management, engineering and construction from one source rather than a consortium of multiple service providers. In Vancouver, engineers, maintenance experts, construction managers, safety managers, operators and administrators work as one team, sharing insights to optimize performance, repairs and maintenance. 

When the city sought a new contract operator, the outdated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system was a key vulnerability to plant operations. To address the risk associated with an increasingly likely system failure, the city included a requirement in the proposal to evaluate the existing SCADA system and recommend improvements.

With a strong SCADA project capability in the Pacific Northwest, Jacobs was perfectly suited to address this critical need. We began a business case evaluation with the city to assess system risks and recommend improvements that provided the best value for the city and Jacobs operations. The streamlined process allowed us to make critical improvements before design was finalized, eliminating delays and reducing the risk of system failure. Today, the multi-year $18-million upgrade delivers modernized hardware and software programming for improved treatment process controls and visibility for operators, reducing risk, increasing cost savings and managing power consumption.
 

Community stewardship for a thriving community

Jacobs’ commitment goes beyond facility walls. Each year, the team averages 70 volunteer hours supporting water quality and conservation awareness and a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).

We regularly collaborate with the City of Vancouver’s Water Resources Education Center (WREC), which provides free water, environmental and STEAM related events for kids. We previously worked together to bring Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s Design Zone traveling exhibit to Vancouver. Jacobs co-sponsored the exhibit and worked with the city to provide tours of the wastewater facility and educate the public on the wastewater treatment process with a working model of the plant. 

Jacobs and the WREC have since worked together on numerous larger events, plant tours and educational programming.

Preparing for a sustainable future

The project is a certified Clark County Green Business in Vancouver. We continuously evaluate our environmental practices to enhance sustainability and resource conservation programs, leading to honors like the Utility of the Future Today award and Large Green Business of the Year award.

Glove recycling initiative

The team implemented an innovative glove recycling program in conjunction with Kimberly-Clark RightCycle™ that has diverted over 2,000 pounds of gloves locally. The program now spans more than 50 projects, resulting in 19,000 pounds of annual landfill diversion across the network.

Cutting energy use with collaboration

Clark Public Utilities reached out to the city and Jacobs to establish a wastewater utility energy management cohort. Jacobs and city engineers began a multi-year collaboration with Clark Public Utilities and Energy Smart Industrial to find energy savings using behavioral, operational and capital improvement opportunities at the city’s facilities.

Together, we completed over 70 energy- and cost-saving projects, such as the installation of no-loss air drains on air compressors, balancing odor control fans, lighting upgrades, air diffuser repairs and more. These efforts earned the city over $1.3M in incentive rebates and 4,930,000 kilowatt-hours in energy savings, while improving plant performance, teamwork and compliance. Upon completion of the strategic energy management program, additional opportunities for capital improvements at both facilities were identified. 

Safety culture and performance

Since the start of the contract, the team has maintained a zero lost-time incident record. The team credits this achievement to ongoing safety training, regular safety initiatives, a commitment to BeyondZero and an engaged staff.