When American Foods Group wanted to develop a new beef processing facility near Wright City, Missouri, an aging, lagoon-based wastewater treatment system was holding back the project. The new facility would bring many jobs to the area, driving population growth and putting additional pressure on existing infrastructure. To address these needs, AFG partnered with the local utility, Public Water Supply #2, on an approach that would deliver an advanced treatment system to handle both the municipal and industrial flows and allow for future growth in the community. Woodard & Curran and Alberici Construction formed a joint venture to deliver the project under a design-build approach.
The new 3.5 million gallon per day treatment system transforms a legacy lagoon system into a state-of-the-art treatment facility. By integrating advanced biological nutrient removal (BNR), tertiary filtration, and UV disinfection, the facility achieves high effluent quality while supporting future growth.
Faced with one of the tightest nutrient limits in the state, the facility needed to be able to achieve exceptional biological nutrient removal while handing two distinct influent streams with dramatically differing flow rates, organic loading, and nutrient concentrations. The municipal flow includes domestic wastewater with relatively predictable characteristics. In contrast, the industrial flow from AFG introduces high-strength organic material and variable nutrient loads. Designing a treatment system capable of handling both streams simultaneously required advanced biological process modeling, flexible process control strategies, and robust biological treatment capacity.
The facility incorporates a four-stage Bardenpho BNR process, which enables efficient removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. This is critical for protecting the Peruque Creek watershed from nutrient pollution and meeting stringent effluent limits established. The BNR system is supported by side-stream reactors for enhanced biological phosphorus removal.
The project leveraged a creative, collaborative partnership between AFG and PWSD#2 to simplify contracting and procurement, accelerate the timeline, and meet the needs of both organizations. Through this public-private partnership, AFG was responsible for the design and construction of the facility and managing the project development. Throughout the process, the needs of PWSD#2 were kept at the forefront, and Woodard & Curran and Alberici helped balance the priorities of each and achieve a design and delivery that satisfied all partners.
Upon completion of the facility, PWSD#2 took ownership and responsibility for long-term operations and maintenance, delivered through a separate partnership with Woodard & Curran’s Operations & Management team. This arrangement made it possible to implement a design-build approach that streamlined implementation and saw the project completed much faster than would have been possible under a design-bid-build method.
Electrical resilience is built into the design with dual power services and backup generators capable of maintaining full compliance during outages. All infrastructure is located above the 100-year floodplain, protecting the facility from flood damage and providing uninterrupted operation.
By replacing aging infrastructure with a modern, scalable, and resilient system, the new facility delivers measurable benefits to the community. It improves public health, protects local waterways, supports economic development, and safeguards the environment.
This project is a model of how engineering can enable sustainable development, protect natural resources, and support community resilience. It is the result of multiple vested partnerships that created a unified, collective team all driving for the best possible outcome and its successful completion reflects the value of thoughtful design, collaboration, and technical innovation.