Course Introduction
The Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project Planning Course is a specialized professional development programme designed to equip project managers, environmental engineers, wastewater treatment specialists, utility professionals, and infrastructure planners with the knowledge and practical skills required to plan and coordinate wastewater treatment facility upgrades. As populations grow, industrial activities expand, environmental standards evolve, and existing infrastructure ages, wastewater treatment plants increasingly require modernization to improve treatment efficiency, increase hydraulic and organic loading capacity, enhance operational reliability, and meet stricter discharge requirements. This course provides a structured approach to planning upgrade projects that balance technical performance, capital investment, regulatory compliance, construction constraints, and long-term operational sustainability.
Wastewater treatment plant upgrades can involve improvements to preliminary treatment, primary clarification, biological treatment, secondary clarification, nutrient removal, filtration, disinfection, sludge processing, odor control, and treated effluent management. Projects may also require upgrades to pumps, blowers, aeration systems, electrical distribution, instrumentation, control systems, laboratories, and supporting utilities. Participants will learn how to establish project requirements through condition assessments, process performance reviews, asset inspections, hydraulic evaluations, and treatment capacity studies. The programme emphasizes the importance of understanding existing plant configurations, identifying operational bottlenecks, and defining technically appropriate upgrade solutions that address current deficiencies while allowing for future changes in wastewater characteristics and demand.
Planning upgrades within operating wastewater treatment facilities presents significant challenges because construction and installation activities must often take place without interrupting essential treatment services. Project teams must coordinate temporary bypass arrangements, process isolation, equipment replacement, civil works, utility connections, contractor access, and commissioning while maintaining environmental protection and public health safeguards. This course examines phased implementation strategies, construction sequencing, shutdown planning, temporary treatment arrangements, and interface management for brownfield infrastructure projects. Participants will explore how to prepare integrated schedules, develop resource plans, manage procurement lead times, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, and establish contingency measures that reduce the likelihood of service disruptions, uncontrolled discharges, and costly project delays.
Successful wastewater treatment upgrades depend on sound engineering assessments, realistic cost estimates, effective risk management, and clearly defined performance requirements. Participants will examine the preparation of project scopes, work breakdown structures, design briefs, technical specifications, procurement packages, capital budgets, and project control systems. The course also addresses uncertainty arising from incomplete as-built drawings, concealed structural defects, aging equipment, changing influent characteristics, groundwater conditions, and unforeseen site constraints. Through structured planning approaches, participants will learn how to evaluate technical alternatives, prioritize investments, assess lifecycle costs, establish measurable acceptance criteria, and coordinate engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning activities in line with approved project objectives.
Environmental compliance, worker safety, and community protection are central considerations throughout wastewater treatment plant upgrade projects. Activities involving confined spaces, biological hazards, hazardous gases, chemical dosing, electrical installations, excavation, lifting operations, and work around operating process units require rigorous planning and supervision. The course explores project risk registers, occupational safety requirements, environmental management plans, permit-to-work systems, emergency response procedures, and contractor compliance monitoring. It also considers regulatory approvals, discharge permit conditions, sludge handling requirements, odor management, noise control, and the protection of nearby water bodies and communities. Participants will learn how to integrate environmental and safety obligations into project schedules, technical procurement, construction methodologies, and operational readiness reviews.
Emerging technologies are creating new opportunities to improve wastewater treatment performance, energy efficiency, resource recovery, and operational visibility. Modernization projects may incorporate advanced biological treatment, membrane technologies, enhanced nutrient removal, ultraviolet disinfection, energy-efficient aeration, digital instrumentation, supervisory control systems, predictive maintenance, and real-time process monitoring. This course examines how project teams can assess the suitability of such technologies while considering lifecycle costs, operator capabilities, chemical consumption, energy requirements, residuals management, cybersecurity, and compatibility with existing assets. Participants will also explore sustainability measures such as biogas utilization, beneficial biosolids management, water reuse, phosphorus recovery, and greenhouse gas reduction, where appropriate to the facility and regulatory context.
By the end of the programme, participants will be better equipped to develop comprehensive wastewater treatment plant upgrade plans that integrate process engineering, infrastructure rehabilitation, environmental protection, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operational handover. The course emphasizes practical decision-making, multidisciplinary coordination, schedule and cost control, performance verification, and long-term asset reliability. Participants will strengthen their ability to identify critical project dependencies, anticipate implementation challenges, evaluate technical alternatives, and communicate effectively with utilities, consultants, contractors, regulators, and plant operators. These competencies support better investment decisions, more reliable treatment performance, improved regulatory compliance, and sustainable delivery of essential wastewater infrastructure improvements.
Duration
5 days
Who Should Attend
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Project managers and project engineers responsible for planning wastewater treatment plant upgrades, rehabilitation works, capacity expansions, and process modernization initiatives.
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Environmental engineers involved in wastewater treatment design, effluent compliance, environmental impact assessment, pollution prevention, and discharge performance improvement.
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Civil and structural engineers responsible for treatment tanks, clarifiers, channels, foundations, buildings, retaining structures, and rehabilitation of aging concrete infrastructure.
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Mechanical engineers involved in pump selection, blower upgrades, aeration systems, sludge handling equipment, screens, mixers, valves, and mechanical installation planning.
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Electrical, instrumentation, and control engineers responsible for power distribution, motor control centers, process instrumentation, automation, telemetry, and supervisory control systems.
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Wastewater treatment plant managers and operators tasked with maintaining treatment performance, coordinating operational interfaces, evaluating equipment condition, and preparing for upgraded processes.
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Water utility and municipal infrastructure professionals responsible for capital investment planning, asset rehabilitation programmes, service reliability, and wastewater infrastructure development.
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Process engineers and treatment specialists involved in hydraulic assessments, biological process optimization, nutrient removal, disinfection, sludge processing, and technology selection.
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Construction managers, site engineers, and contractors coordinating civil works, equipment installation, temporary bypass arrangements, construction sequencing, and brownfield site activities.
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Environmental health and safety professionals responsible for biological hazard controls, confined-space safety, chemical handling, environmental management, and contractor compliance.
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Procurement officers and contract administrators managing technical tenders, equipment suppliers, engineering consultants, construction contracts, and commissioning service providers.
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Project planners, schedulers, and cost engineers responsible for work breakdown structures, critical-path schedules, resource allocation, budget forecasts, and project performance reporting.
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Quality assurance and quality control professionals overseeing inspection and test plans, equipment acceptance, construction quality, process validation, and commissioning documentation.
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Asset management and maintenance professionals responsible for condition assessments, preventive maintenance planning, equipment reliability, lifecycle cost evaluation, and replacement strategies.
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Consultants, infrastructure advisers, and development programme professionals supporting wastewater treatment investments, environmental improvement programmes, water reuse initiatives, and utility modernization projects.
Course Objectives
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Develop a comprehensive understanding of wastewater treatment plant upgrade planning, including feasibility assessment, condition evaluation, process selection, design coordination, procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover.
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Evaluate existing treatment plant performance, hydraulic capacity, organic loading, effluent quality, equipment condition, and operational constraints to identify deficiencies and establish measurable upgrade objectives.
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Prepare detailed project scopes, work breakdown structures, stakeholder responsibility matrices, technical deliverables, design criteria, and acceptance requirements aligned with utility and regulatory priorities.
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Develop integrated project schedules that coordinate engineering, approvals, procurement, construction, temporary treatment arrangements, process shutdowns, equipment installation, and commissioning activities.
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Apply cost estimation, lifecycle costing, procurement planning, and financial evaluation techniques to compare upgrade alternatives, manage capital expenditure, and assess long-term operating costs.
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Identify and manage technical, environmental, occupational safety, construction, operational, and regulatory risks that could affect treatment continuity, project delivery, or effluent compliance.
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Coordinate civil, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, process engineering, operations, and contractor interfaces to ensure that upgrade activities are integrated with existing treatment systems.
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Evaluate conventional and emerging wastewater treatment technologies based on treatment objectives, site conditions, energy consumption, chemical requirements, residuals management, maintainability, and operational capability.
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Establish quality assurance, inspection, testing, process validation, and commissioning procedures that demonstrate compliance with technical specifications, design performance criteria, and applicable discharge requirements.
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Develop effective handover and performance monitoring plans that strengthen operator readiness, asset reliability, environmental compliance, energy efficiency, and long-term benefits realization.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Fundamentals of Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Projects
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Understanding the principal drivers for wastewater treatment upgrades, including increased influent flows, population growth, industrial discharge changes, aging infrastructure, and evolving regulatory requirements.
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Reviewing wastewater treatment process configurations, including preliminary treatment, primary clarification, biological treatment, secondary clarification, tertiary treatment, disinfection, and sludge management.
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Defining project objectives, scope boundaries, design criteria, deliverables, stakeholder responsibilities, approval requirements, and performance acceptance standards for treatment infrastructure upgrades.
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Examining the differences between plant rehabilitation, process optimization, capacity expansion, equipment replacement, regulatory compliance upgrades, and comprehensive treatment technology modernization.
Module 2: Existing Plant Assessment and Upgrade Feasibility Studies
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Conducting condition assessments of civil structures, mechanical equipment, electrical installations, instrumentation, pipelines, channels, tanks, and supporting utilities to establish existing asset condition.
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Reviewing historical influent flows, organic loading, hydraulic peaks, nutrient concentrations, effluent results, energy consumption, chemical usage, and sludge production to identify performance deficiencies.
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Performing preliminary hydraulic and process capacity evaluations to identify bottlenecks, insufficient treatment volumes, equipment limitations, and constraints affecting current or projected plant performance.
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Comparing upgrade alternatives through technical feasibility studies, site investigations, environmental considerations, lifecycle cost analysis, constructability reviews, and assessment of future operating requirements.
Module 3: Project Scope Definition, Design Coordination, and Planning
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Preparing project charters, work breakdown structures, design briefs, responsibility assignment matrices, technical deliverable registers, and project governance arrangements for multidisciplinary upgrade programmes.
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Establishing process design criteria, hydraulic requirements, equipment specifications, performance guarantees, utility needs, and regulatory compliance objectives in collaboration with engineering specialists.
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Coordinating civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, process, environmental, and architectural design interfaces to minimize conflicts and incomplete scope definition.
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Applying design reviews, constructability assessments, value engineering, configuration management, and formal change control to improve technical coordination before construction begins.
Module 4: Treatment Technology Selection and Process Modernization
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Evaluating upgrade options for screening, grit removal, clarification, activated sludge systems, biological nutrient removal, filtration, membrane processes, and advanced disinfection according to treatment objectives.
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Assessing aeration system efficiency, blower performance, mixing arrangements, pump duty requirements, process redundancy, equipment turndown, and automation opportunities for improved treatment reliability.
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Examining nutrient removal, advanced oxidation where appropriate, membrane bioreactors, tertiary polishing, water reuse, and other advanced technologies against site-specific technical and economic criteria.
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Evaluating sludge thickening, dewatering, digestion, biogas recovery, biosolids management, odor treatment, and residuals disposal requirements as part of the overall upgrade strategy.
Module 5: Capital Budgeting, Procurement, and Contract Management
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Developing cost estimates covering investigations, engineering design, permits, civil works, process equipment, electrical systems, automation, temporary works, commissioning, and operational training.
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Comparing capital and lifecycle costs by considering energy use, chemical consumption, maintenance requirements, staffing, equipment replacement, residuals management, and expected treatment performance.
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Preparing procurement packages, technical specifications, equipment schedules, tender evaluation criteria, supplier qualification requirements, and long-lead item procurement plans.
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Managing engineering and construction contracts, variation orders, payment milestones, performance guarantees, claims, risk allocation, and supplier obligations throughout the project lifecycle.
Module 6: Brownfield Construction, Phasing, and Treatment Continuity
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Developing construction phasing strategies that allow essential wastewater treatment functions to continue while existing tanks, pumps, pipelines, electrical systems, and process units are upgraded.
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Planning temporary bypasses, diversion pumping, process isolation, temporary treatment arrangements, flow management, and emergency contingencies to reduce the risk of uncontrolled discharges.
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Coordinating excavation, structural rehabilitation, equipment installation, utility tie-ins, contractor access, lifting operations, and confined-space activities within operational plant boundaries.
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Integrating construction schedules with plant operating requirements, seasonal flow variations, weather conditions, access limitations, equipment delivery windows, and shutdown approvals.
Module 7: Project Risk Management, Environmental Compliance, and Safety
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Developing project risk registers that address uncertain asset conditions, process performance shortfalls, groundwater ingress, design changes, supplier delays, cost escalation, and construction interface risks.
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Implementing safety controls for confined spaces, biological exposure, hazardous gases, chemical storage, electrical isolation, excavation, lifting operations, and work around operating equipment.
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Establishing environmental management measures for effluent quality, temporary discharges, sludge handling, odor control, noise, waste disposal, spill prevention, and protection of receiving water bodies.
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Coordinating environmental permits, discharge approvals, statutory inspections, stakeholder consultations, emergency response plans, and contractor compliance with applicable legal and site requirements.
Module 8: Instrumentation, Automation, Digital Monitoring, and Energy Efficiency
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Planning instrumentation upgrades involving flow meters, level sensors, dissolved oxygen probes, pH measurement, turbidity monitoring, nutrient analyzers, and online effluent quality measurement.
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Coordinating programmable logic controllers, supervisory control and data acquisition systems, telemetry, alarms, historian platforms, and interfaces with existing plant control architecture.
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Assessing predictive maintenance, condition monitoring, digital asset registers, data analytics, and artificial intelligence applications for detecting equipment degradation and improving process stability.
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Evaluating energy-efficient aeration, high-efficiency motors, variable-frequency drives, renewable energy integration, biogas utilization, and operational optimization while considering cybersecurity and maintainability.
Module 9: Commissioning, Performance Testing, and Operational Readiness
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Preparing pre-commissioning checklists, inspection and test plans, mechanical completion records, electrical testing requirements, instrumentation calibration, and control-system verification procedures.
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Coordinating process startup, seeding where necessary, biological acclimatization, gradual loading, control tuning, equipment testing, and stabilization of upgraded treatment processes.
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Establishing performance verification protocols for hydraulic capacity, organic loading, nutrient removal, effluent quality, energy consumption, equipment availability, and applicable discharge permit conditions.
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Preparing operator training, standard operating procedures, preventive maintenance schedules, spare-parts inventories, emergency procedures, defect registers, and formal handover documentation.
Module 10: Project Controls, Sustainability, and Long-Term Asset Performance
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Monitoring schedule milestones, cost forecasts, procurement status, engineering progress, construction productivity, risk exposure, and commissioning readiness through structured project control systems.
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Applying progress measurement, critical-path analysis, change management, contingency monitoring, and corrective action planning to protect approved project objectives and completion dates.
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Integrating resource recovery, water reuse, beneficial biosolids management, greenhouse gas reduction, circular economy principles, and climate resilience into upgrade planning where technically appropriate.
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Measuring post-upgrade performance against baseline indicators, documenting lessons learned, evaluating asset reliability, and establishing continuous improvement priorities for future treatment infrastructure investments.
Training Approach
This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.
Tailor-Made Course
This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808
Training Venue
The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.
Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant
Certification
Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.
Airport Pickup and Accommodation
Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808
Terms of Payment:
Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.
