By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Footings are down and construction is underway on the rehabilitation project at Whiteville’s wastewater treatment plant.
City Manager Joshua Ray said Thursday that footings have been poured for the operations building, and work has started on the new treatment basin.

“They were pouring the walls today,” he said.

After work is finished on the operations building, clarifier and basin, Ray said, the older part of the facility will be taken offline so it, too, can be updated.

“This won’t give us any additional capacity,” Ray said, “but it will cut the amount of wear and tear on the current three million gallon system and increase the life of the whole plant.”

Whiteville’s wastewater plant is more than 30 years old, and has needed renovation for several years. City council approved contracts on the nearly $8 million project. The rehabilitation will also put the city in better shape if a later expansion is required.

“The old systems were hard to expand,” Ray said. “With the newer equipment and construction, it will be easier to increase our capacity later on if that’s needed.”

Ray said the city is looking into additional funding sources for the project.

“Even though it is underway,” he said, “we’re still looking. It doesn’t hurt, and we’d like to be able to spread the cost of this out with state and national sources. If we can reduce the financial impact on the city, we will.”