The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded the city of Cleveland an additional $1 million for upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
Cleveland’s Director of Economic Development and Planning, Tom O’Bryant, advised that the ARC funds will be used to improve service for the city’s 934 households and 333 industrial and commercial wastewater customers.
The work, according to O’Bryant, will also make the city more resilient to severe weather events, encourage existing industry expansion, and accommodate future business and industry growth.
The wastewater treatment plant upgrades will be done in two stages: first, an upgrade in the wastewater treatment method from a Lemna system to a more traditional tertiary treatment system that incorporates biological nutrient removal, and then an upgrade in wastewater treatment capacity from 0.75 million gallons per day (MGD) to 1.15 MGD.
The treatment method upgrade will allow Cleveland to meet the requirements under a new wastewater discharge permit issued in 2019. Until the upgrades are completed, the city is operating under a previous standard allowed by a consent order from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
In addition to ARC money, Cleveland will use $17.9 million in federal and $2.2 million in local funds, bringing the total project funding to $21,234,365.
