$95.5 million Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant breaks ground, aims for 2028 completion

City officials broke ground on its new wastewater treatment plant, taking the first steps on what has become the largest investment project in Columbia history.

The project totals approximately $95.5 million from the city and was recently approved to begin construction starting July 15. The city marked the occasion with a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday.

Wastewater Director Donnie Boshers said that this was very much a need, given the current facility was built in 1978 and has worn out its useful lifetime.

""The biggest reason we are building this plant is the age of the old facility," Boshers said. "Even if there wasn't a lot of growth, we would still have to do something."

City Manager Tony Massey agreed that, yes, this was a major need for the city given the old plant's age.

"We were talking about doing this project even before all of the growth became an issue with us," Massey said.

Timeline and transition

The new plant is expected to be fully operational by June of 2028, Boshers said, but customers won't expect any change to the service provided.

This is due to the need to transition the old plant to the new one, which could take more than a year after the new facility is complete. The first phase, which is to bring the new plant online, is anticipated to be complete in April of 2027. Phase two will involve the transition, and to do so without disrupting services.

"That will be about a 13-month project," Boshers said. "For 30 days after its time to bring the new plant on, we will shuffle between the new plant and the old plant until we get everything lined up. Everything has to run continuously as its being built."

Ward 5 Councilman Danny Coleman, who attended Monday's groundbreaking, said a big part of this new plant is the longevity it will sustain for future generations.

"This is going to be something that lasts 40-50 years into the future. It's getting ahead of problems when it comes to managing water, rather than waiting until we are crisis mode," Coleman said. "This is happening just in time, so we aren't jumping the gun by any means, but timing-wise we are doing a good thing for Columbia's future growth."

New plant features, green energy

The new plant will feature many upgrades and modern-day technology, which will not only provide a much greater daily average, while also remaining energy efficient.

The current facility, Boshers said, pumps an average of 5-6 million gallons per day, with a capacity to pump 14 million. The new plant is expected to up that average to about 25 million per day, which could elevate to about 35 million during periods of heavy rain.

The new plant will also provide state-of-the-art filtering equipment, which will make removing some of the tougher materials easier, and environment friendly.

"One thing that gets harder and harder to treat is the nitrogen and phosphorus out of the wastewater," Boshers said.

"This new process will do it all biologically and no external chemicals injected into the water. We do not use chemicals to treat at our existing facility, but as our limits continue to get tighter on nutrient removal, these oxidation ditches will get rid of all the phosphorus and nitrogen biologically. It will be much more energy efficient."

Massey added more about the new plant's benefits.

"This new plant will be much more environmentally friendly, especially if we are relying on biological processes to treat the waste sludge. And because of that we will be using less chemicals and less electricity," Massey said. "It's truly a 21st Century treatment plant and a much superior design than what we've got right now."

Will it affect sewer rates?

With a project of this magnitude, it will certainly come with its share of costs, ones that could affect customer sewer rates.

Earlier this year, Columbia City Council approved the rate increase, with the extra funds feeding directly into the new plant's cost. This was the first time the city adopted a rate increase in more than a decade.

However, the increase will likely be unnoticeable to most customers and will more likely affect new developers and companies with industrial use.

"The majority of the increase is going to go to industrial users, big users," Coleman said. "I can't quote on the exactness of the regular rate increase, but this rate will be heavily focused on developers. We're talking about cents of an increase for regular users."

Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com.