Ground broken for new wastewater plant in Manchester

Written by Byron Hensley | 01 March 2010

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Ground was broken last Friday for Manchester’s new Wastewater Treatment Facility, an upgrade and expansion of the facility to assure adequate wastewater treatment services for the City of Manchester through a planned operational life to 2030. The facility upgrade includes an increase in treatment capacity from 3.4 to 4.3 million gallons per day of flow, two new pumping stations, one new clarifier, new ultraviolet disinfection equipment, two new aerobic digesters and sludge pressing equipment, plus new automatic controls and remote monitoring.
Funding for this 18-month-long upgrade and expansion is being supplied by joint American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funding and loan funds from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation State Revolving Loan Fund (SRLF) program. The project is funded with $7.5 million in SRLF monies, and $5 million of ARRA Stimulus Funding loan forgiveness.
The upgrade was designed by Griggs & Maloney, Inc. of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and will be constructed by W & O Construction Co., Inc. of Livingston, Tennessee.
Engineer Bill Griggs noted that a water treatment facility has been on the site, located at the end of West High Street, since the 1950s, and his firm had done the design work when the plant was last upgraded 20 years ago.
The city has been planning on the facility for some time, but the planning process was expedited to meet a deadline early this year to apply for ARRA funding.
“We’ve been working on this for four years, but when the stimulus money became available, we had to have our plans ready,” he said. Griggs expressed a special thanks to staff of the State Revolving Loan Fund Program for “working after hours and on weekends” to help prepare for the funding application.
Manchester Water Department Brian Pennington expressed to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for their support. Pennington had alerted the board to the availability of stimulus funds for the project last April.
“Whether the stimulus money is there or not, this is something we’re going to have to do anyway,” he said at the time. “Unfortunately, when a plant gets as old as this, it’s something that’s got to get done.”
The plant is still meeting guidelines set by the state and federal government for the water it releases, but those standards are being raised, he said.
“We’re still putting out clean water,” he said. “But it’s getting tougher and tougher every day.” Parts of the plant are wearing out due to age, and as the city’s population grows, it’s capacity will have to be expanded, Pennington said.