Williamston, Mich. – The Williamston wastewater treatment plant needs repairs and renovations to keep the plant up to state regulations, city officials said during the Jan. 23 City Council meeting at Williamston City Hall.
“These improvements will be beneficial for our community, and will help ensure we are treating our waste water effectively and efficiently. While it may not be as visible a project as repaving a road and residents may not directly notice a difference, it is extremely important to their day to day lives. Keeping the system up to date and functioning is an important role of their city government” said Mayor Pro-Tem Brandon Lanyon.
City Engineer and Director of Public Works Scott DeVries said there are several factors limiting how much water can be treated per day.
“A wastewater treatment plant is a series of parts in a sequence to treat the water, and just one part can be a limiting factor,” said DeVries.
The main focuses of the renovations are modernizing the ultraviolet treatment designed to break down the cell structure of any biological organisms in the water and kill them. The plant also needs to expand its clarifiers, which separates and settles materials in the water. Additionally, structural work is needed as well as replacing outdated electrical equipment throughout the plant, DeVries said.
While the plant has had expansions and repairs in the past, parts of the plant have been in operation for more than 60 years. Tetra Tech, a consulting and engineering firm went into the plant to compile information and form a plan of action.
The next steps of the project are to refine the data collected, dig into the details of the Tetra Tech study, develop an engineering contract and work with the Williamston City Council to finance the project. Ground is expected to break on the wastewater treatment plant in 2025.
“There is no sense in trying to rush the process, making sure everything is appropriately planned and construction goes smoothly will save the city money in the long run” said DeVries.
The focus is to ensure the expansion is as affordable as possible for the residents of Williamston. The estimated cost of the project is between $6 million- $7 million.
“We’re working to ensure the renovations impact our residents’ taxes and water costs as little as possible by exploring and utilizing various funding avenues and sources. To the extent possible we’re looking to use grants and/or low interest loans that would allow us to accomplish the needed renovations with as little increase to resident costs as possible” said Lanyon.
Williamston City Manager John Hanifan has experience with this sort of project. At his formal position as the City Manager of Chelsea, they had to go through a similar expansion of their wastewater treatment plan.
“In Chelsea, similar to Williamston, there was an older plant that needed to be expanded. We secured CWSRF (Clean Water State Revolving Fund) bonds to help complete the project. It helps that I have gone through the process before, from project concept, to financing and construction” said Hanifan.