About Bonneau Dickson
I am Bonneau Dickson, a licensed sanitary engineer based in Berkeley, California, specializing in water, wastewater, sewage, stormwater, and related infrastructure. My engineering career spans more than four decades, with experience ranging from the design and management of water and wastewater projects to forensic investigations and expert witness services.
Since 1993, I have worked independently on engineering and forensic matters involving public and private infrastructure. My work has included residential properties, commercial facilities, mobile home parks, municipal systems, wastewater treatment facilities, pump stations, water treatment facilities, and other complex infrastructure.
Engineering Experience Built Over Decades
My background includes more than 40 years of wastewater engineering experience and more than 25 years of forensic engineering and expert witness experience. I have been involved in more than 100 forensic and expert witness cases concerning water, wastewater, sewage, and stormwater systems.
This experience has exposed me to a wide range of engineering problems, including sewage overflows, septic system failures, sewer blockages, water system failures, pump station problems, stormwater flooding, contaminated water supplies, and infrastructure damage.
My engineering experience also includes project planning, design, project management, construction oversight, inspection, and system evaluation. This combination is particularly useful in forensic engineering because understanding how a system was designed and built can provide important context when investigating how and why it failed.
Forensic Engineering and Expert Witness Services
Forensic engineering involves examining technical evidence to understand the cause, circumstances, and contributing factors associated with an engineering problem or failure. My role is to investigate the available evidence and apply engineering principles to the specific conditions of each case.
I work with attorneys, property owners, insurance professionals, municipalities, utilities, and other clients who require technical analysis related to water and wastewater infrastructure.
My forensic work has involved sewage backups, sewer failures, septic system problems, flooding, water contamination, pump station failures, water main issues, and other infrastructure-related disputes. Depending on the case, an investigation may involve reviewing engineering plans, construction documents, maintenance records, photographs, inspection information, site conditions, and other technical evidence.
I prepare engineering reports and provide deposition and expert testimony when required.
Water and Wastewater Expertise
Water and wastewater systems contain many connected components, and a failure in one part can affect an entire property or service area. My experience covers these systems from design and construction through operation, maintenance, investigation, and failure analysis.
My wastewater experience includes sanitary sewers, wastewater treatment facilities, wastewater pump stations, force mains, septic systems, pressure collection systems, septage receiving facilities, and wastewater recycling systems. I have also worked on treatment plant upgrades, treatment process evaluations, and projects involving sewage collection and treatment.
My water engineering experience includes water piping systems, water pump stations, storage tanks, reservoirs, wells, water treatment facilities, and distribution systems. I have investigated water main failures, equipment problems, water supply concerns, and other conditions affecting water infrastructure.
Pump Station and Infrastructure Experience
Pump stations are an important part of many water and wastewater systems, and I have extensive experience with their design and evaluation. My work has involved more than 300 water and wastewater pump stations, including approximately 200 wastewater pump stations.
This experience includes pump station design, construction, inspection, failure investigation, and evaluation of operational problems. I have also examined issues involving pumps, wet wells, valves, force mains, controls, corrosion, maintenance, and installation.
My broader infrastructure experience includes sewer rehabilitation, infiltration and inflow investigations, sanitary sewer design, water distribution systems, stormwater facilities, detention systems, and drainage infrastructure.
Stormwater, Flooding, and Water Damage
Stormwater and flooding investigations often require an understanding of drainage capacity, system design, site conditions, maintenance, rainfall, and the performance of individual infrastructure components.
My experience includes investigations involving flooding, drainage failures, detention facilities, stormwater pump stations, and other drainage-related issues. I have worked on municipal stormwater projects as well as cases involving property damage and disputes over the source or cause of flooding.
Water damage investigations can also involve broken water mains, leaking systems, pump failures, storage facilities, and other infrastructure problems. My experience with both water system design and forensic investigation allows me to examine these issues from an engineering perspective.
Water Quality and Contamination Investigations
Some cases involve water quality rather than a physical infrastructure failure. My experience includes investigations concerning contamination of potable water supplies, sewage-related contamination, and PCE contamination associated with dry-cleaning operations and sewer systems.
These investigations can involve reviewing water and sewer infrastructure, pipe conditions, groundwater conditions, sampling information, system connections, historical operations, and other technical factors that may be relevant to the source and movement of contamination.
Practical Engineering Knowledge for Complex Cases
My engineering background is grounded in actual project experience. I have worked on systems ranging from individual septic installations to large municipal water and wastewater facilities.
That practical experience helps me evaluate forensic questions in the context of how water and wastewater systems are actually designed, constructed, operated, and maintained. Each investigation receives attention to the specific technical conditions, available evidence, and questions involved in the matter.
For attorneys and other professionals dealing with an engineering dispute, the objective is to provide clear technical analysis supported by engineering knowledge and project experience.
Contact Bonneau Dickson
With more than four decades of engineering experience and extensive forensic and expert witness work, I provide consulting and technical analysis for matters involving water, wastewater, sewage, stormwater, septic systems, pump stations, water treatment, and related infrastructure.
If you need an engineer to investigate a water or wastewater issue, evaluate an infrastructure failure, or provide expert engineering services for a legal matter, contact Bonneau Dickson to discuss the details of your case.