Croton Water Treatment Plant
Bronx, N.Y.
Award of Merit
Submitted by: Sherwood Design Engineers
Owner: New York City Dept. of Design & Construction
Lead Design Firm: Grimshaw
General Contractor: C&L Contracting
Structural, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Buro Happold
Civil Engineer: Sherwood Design Engineers
Landscape Architect: Ken Smith Workshop
Subcontractor: Great Ecology
Visitors to Van Cortlandt Park may not realize that nearly a third of New York City’s potable water supply is provided by a 290-million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant located approximately 300 ft below ground. Because excavation at this depth required continuous dewatering at rates of approximately 55 gallons per minute, the groundwater was transformed into a central component of the project’s environmental strategy, including a new 10-acre golf course that doubles as the city’s largest contiguous high-performance green roof.
Water is collected and conveyed through a perimeter of constructed wetland treatment cells, integrated with the park landscape, where natural ecological processes filter and cleanse the water before reuse.
The team managed complex hydrological dynamics above the underground facility while eliminating site discharge into New York City’s sewer system.
The team co-developed a green infrastructure system that captures stormwater runoff from the public driving range and parking lots along with bedrock groundwater seepage pumped from 12 stories below grade. This water is routed through a perimeter network of constructed wetland cells and bioswales.
The resulting system achieves a 100% reduction in onsite irrigation demand, eliminates discharge to the municipal combined sewer system, offsets 40% of the golf course’s potable water use and sustains the park’s surrounding wetland ecology.
Source: www.enr.com
