The Northwest Bakersfield Water Treatment Plant has been unable to achieve design capacity due to high turbidity water reaching the membrane filters which resulted in excessive backwashing and reduced plant output. W. M. Lyles Co. with Black & Veatch as a design sub consultant was selected to provide design-build services to increase plant capacity to 8 MGD (net) and 10.4 MGD (peak) by installing a pretreatment system ahead of the membrane filters. The project included the construction of a 0.42 MG gallon concrete Pretreatment Basin with four Flocculating Mixers, and two trains of Plate Settlers with Straight Line Residuals Sludge Collecting equipment. Mechanical piping sludge draw off from the basins to sewer occurs via a hydraulic head pressure siphon. A new onsite PACL chemical system was installed that included tank storage, chemical feed and flash mixing facilities. The existing earth retention basin was reconstructed and concrete lined to handle the treatment process backwash, system overflows and site storm water runoff. All work was constructed on a very congested site with limited available space for equipment laydown and construction operations.