SMA assists many municipalities, private clients and other public entities (such as MDWCAs and water and sanitation districts) in securing and maintaining reliable sources of high-quality drinking water and in the proper disposal, treatment or reuse of liquid wastes. Many of these projects need to be phased to reduce the financial burden associated with the improvements. The initial phase includes a site investigation, resulting in a preliminary engineering report (PER) of the water or wastewater system. This report contains specific information regarding the age of the existing system, the adequacy of the equipment, the required system capacities and any ancillary data such as possible inflow/infiltration sources (for wastewater projects) or wellhead protection programs (for water projects). SMA then develops an estimated project cost and identifies possible funding sources.

Each year SMA manage and participate in numerous successful water and wastewater projects throughout the Mountain West region, ranging from treatment plant design to vacuum and gravity collection system design to lift station improvements and rehabilitation. SMA routinely works with agencies such as the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), and has completed Preliminary Engineering Reports (PER) and associated Environmental Information Documents (EID) using a variety of state and federal formats, including United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).

SMA has three decades of specialized design and technical experience on these tasks for projects involving water storage, distribution and treatment, and wastewater collection, treatment and reuse. Our staff’s expertise extends from project conception through operations, including planning, administration, analysis, design, bidding and construction phase services.