The city of Nicholasville held an official groundbreaking for the expansion of the Jessamine Creek Environmental Control Facility. The expansion of the wastewater treatment plant will double the size of the plant by mirroring the original facility.

Capacity for the current plant was reached in 2019, but that has not hindered the success of the facility and the teams who work there. The plant is currently able to treat the 4.3 million gallons of wastewater it receives daily and return it safely to the environment. This expansion will increase the average daily output permitted to 7.1 million gallons of water per day, an increase of 73 percent. This helps the city comply with the Clean Water Act by treating more wastewater during periods of heavy rainfall, improving the environment in and around Nicholasville.

The treatment system at the plant is also being updated to provide a cleaner discharge based on an added Chemical Feed System and New Oxidation Ditch Treatment System to improve the quality of the water returned to the environment. Overall, the system will go through technological updates to bring it up to today’s standards and improve efficiency.

Plans for this $20 million expansion began three years ago and will take about 24 months to complete. The expansion was designed by HMB Professional Engineers Inc. and will be constructed by Dugan & Meyers.