The city of Emporia is unveiling major changes to the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Wednesday.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 11 am, with on-site tours starting at 11:30 am.
The ceremonies come as the city reaches substantial completion of a multi-million-dollar renovation project to meet federal mandates on nutrient levels at the plant. The city worked with Burns & McDonnell out of Kansas City to design, build and retrofit the existing plant at 1 Gavin Road with the state’s first Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge, or IFAS, system. This was chosen because of its effectiveness in reducing biological nutrients and also because it eliminated the need for costly new infrastructure at the plant.
Work has been underway for over a year. Some recent work — the installation of new ultraviolet filters — had to be redone after flooding damaged that equipment last month.