RWRA seeks approval for $18.4 million sewer project in Owensboro, Ky.

According to Messenger-Inquirer, the Regional Water Resource Agency is asking city and county officials to approve a loan to replace a major sewer line in downtown Owensboro, Kentucky.

RWRA General Manager Joe Schepers said the agency has applied for an $18.4 million Kentucky Infrastructure Authority loan to replace the force main between Locust Street and the Max Rhoads treatment plant, a distance of about 2 miles. The Rate Review Board has to authorize the loan in order for the project to move forward.

A force main is a pressurized sewer pipe that uses valves or compressors to move wastewater to a treatment plant, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The project was included in a rate study agency officials conducted several years ago, and the work will have no affect on RWRA’s customer rates, Schepers told Messenger-Inquirer.

Owensboro's current force main was installed in 1955, making it one of the oldest in the city’s sewer system.

The project will replace the old pipe with a larger pipe, which will better contain wastewater and prevent overflow during large events. The Locust force main is part of the city’s combined sewer system.

The current pipe doesn’t have any redundancy built in, Schepers said. If the current pipe failed, the sewage would discharge into the river.

 

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