Reviving Critical Infrastructure: Harford Township Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade

In rural municipalities across the country, aging infrastructure is a constant challenge—both technically and financially. For Harford Township in northeastern Pennsylvania, the tipping point came in 2016. Their wastewater treatment system, built decades prior, was facing operational issues that threatened the health and safety of the community. It was then that Harford Township supervisors turned to JHA Companies to guide them through the daunting process of rehabilitation, compliance, and long-term sustainability.

“In 2016, JHA Companies was retained by Harford Township supervisors to become the contract operator for the municipality’s wastewater treatment system,” recalls Travis Long, JHA V.P. and Director of Environmental Services. “Concurrently, the Harford supervisors were engaged with another design professional who was charged with doing the design, permitting, and construction of an entirely new wastewater treatment facility. There were some issues that arose that resulted in the supervisors needing to secure professional engineering services. JHA became that professional. We evaluated the facility as it currently was in operation, identified critical milestones and processes that needed to be implemented in a thirty-year-old facility.”

“The wastewater treatment plant had serious deficiencies, nonoperational equipment, issues in the collection system,” explains JHA Environmental Project Engineer Logan Mack, PE, SIT. “Parts of the treatment system as well that were non-operational, which really restricted the plant’s capacity.”

Before anything new could be upgraded, JHA’s team had to stabilize what was already in place. That meant making the system fully functional again. “Our first steps were getting the plant back up to operational standards to the point where it could continue to serve the needs of the community,” Mack says.

A key challenge was the plant’s unfortunate history of receiving nonbiological debris—refuse material that can damage delicate treatment mechanisms. “In addition to restoring and replacing existing treatment works, we included the design and installation of a new treatment process to remove any nonbiological materials that could cause damage to the plant,” Mack continues.

JHA also prioritized system resilience. “One of the other key roles was the addition of a power supply in the form of a backup generator,” Mack says. “This allows the plant to provide continuous operation during power outage events.”

Once permitting was completed, JHA guided Harford Township through the construction phases, overseeing implementation and ensuring quality control at every step. “We were on site multiple times for construction observation, answering any questions that the contractor had about the design process, helping to coordinate the implementation of the construction,” Mack says. “One of the critical challenges was being able to work on the existing equipment while still maintaining operation of the plant itself.”

In an environment where regulatory requirements are constantly evolving, especially around public health, navigating the legal and procedural maze is just as important as the technical solution. “We maintain a good rapport with the regulatory bodies to see what could be coming on the horizon,” Long explains. Today’s water and wastewater industries are constantly in flux with changes in regulations and more stringent requirements for public health and safety.”

JHA also provided strategic guidance to make the project financially viable for Harford Township. “Today’s capital improvement projects are very expensive,” Long points out. “The cost continues to escalate, and we’re very aware of that. We were able to provide the client with a more beneficial funding scenario that offered the lowest interest rates available. We specialize in helping our clients secure funding, grants, low interest loans, and other means to make this affordable for their customers.”

The Harford project stands out not only for its technical success, but also for how it deepened the relationship between JHA and the local government. “Building that personal relationship with the clients beyond just the project scope really helps us serve the community,” Mack says. “For example, with Harford, we helped with the wastewater treatment plant upgrade, and now we get calls from them for dirt and gravel road projects, culvert replacements, hydraulic design calculations needed for roads that are failing or have flood damage. We took one project, and we built it into a relationship with our client.”

It’s a model that reflects JHA Companies’ broader philosophy: solving today’s problems while creating lasting value. “JHA Companies is positioned to help a lot of clients out there, like Harford, that have a clear need to upgrade their aging infrastructure to obtain compliance, but are challenged with finances, with the cost, and with the regulatory process,” Long says. “We make sure that the client is clear on the scope, the requirements, the timelines, and then we work through each of those steps together.” And for Long, one ingredient above all makes the difference. “Communication is most definitely key—not only to our team, but to our clients. And I believe that’s what truly sets us apart and helps make all of our projects successful.”