Dauphin Island Water and Sewer Authority (DIWSA) selected Constantine Engineering to plan, permit, design, and manage construction of its new 1.3 mgd reverse osmosis water treatment facility (RO WTF).  The new RO WTF replaced the existing Dauphin Island water treatment plant. Constantine worked with DIWSA from the early conceptual design of the RO WTF that includes the construction of the RO Water Treatment Facility, a new 1,200 gpm raw water well, a new 1 million gallon ground storage clear well, installation of 6,000 feet of 12 inch raw water main and 21,000 feet of 6 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch water distribution mains, emergency stand-by generators, and decommissioning & demolition of the existing water plant.

DIWSA financed construction of the facility through the Alabama State Revolving Loan funds as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Constantine assisted through the complete loan process and provided technical assistance that helped to secure financing that included $4.2 million in grant assistance and a $2.7 million low interest loan.

DIWSA was committed to provide a low energy treatment facility and chose to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the new RO WTF. The new water treatment plant is a unique LEED building, in that it is targeting increased efficiencies in process loads as well as in the base building envelope and systems.  With the energy modeling process complete, the DIWSA has a metric to benchmark their energy use, and project the return on their investment in energy efficiency and environmental upgrades.

The DIWSA RO WTF is the largest of its kind in the state of Alabama and the first LEED certified municipal water treatment facility in the southeast United States.  All materials and installed equipment used in the construction of the facility are American Made as defined by ARRA.