Water station project wins excellence award

The city of Vancouver and Kennedy Jenks Consultants won the 2010 Pacific Northwest Section of the American Water Works Association’s Excellence in Engineering Award for a project to improve the Ellsworth Water Station, the city said in a release.

The award was presented at the American Water Works Association’s annual conference in Tacoma.

The Ellsworth Pump Station Project, completed in 2009, was a collaboration between Vancouver and the Ellsworth Springs neighborhood to upgrade a significant city water station on a 30-acre, state-designated habitat conservation area, the city said.

The Ellsworth Springs facility includes 1,000-foot-deep wells and a booster pump station. In 2009, it supplied more than 17 percent of Vancouver’s water.

Vancouver’s 2007 Water System Comprehensive Plan identified the need for additional booster pumping capacity, emergency power and a new transmission main to serve the developing eastern portions of the water service boundary. Working with Kennedy Jenks Consultants, the city began the design of a pump station, 24-inch water transmission main, and stormwater treatment and infiltration facility, all within the heavily forested area.

The city said it worked to include neighbors’ views into the project. The 3,200-square-foot building was designed to blend into the environment, the city said.

Total construction cost for the project was $3.45 million.