The Town of Smithfield will seek state grants and loans to help pay for the cost of expanding their Water Plant on Hospital Road.
Currently the facility can take 6.2 million gallons per day (MGD) out of the Neuse River to pump to the plant for treatment. An expansion would add an addition 2.1 MGD to the plant bringing the maximum amount to 8.3 MGD.
Ted Credle, Director of Public Utilities, said the expansion would cost at least $8 million and could easily increase to $10 or $12 million once all the costs are factored in.
The expansion includes adding a fourth column of 6-settling basins to the back side of the plant to help remove particles of organic matter from the water. There would be additional water filters, chemical injection, pumps, piping, and valves needed plus expanding the reservoir next to the Neuse River. Another big cost will be a second above ground storage tank.
The Town has a 1 million gallon storage tank next to the plant. Credle is proposing adding a second tank across the street in the curve on Hospital Road.
“All of this work including the necessary earthwork, piping and valves will likely cost in excess of $8 million but the exact figure is still to be set,” Credle told WTSB News. Another variable is engineer costs and construction materials.
The Town adopted a resolution in September to apply for a grant from the NC Department of Environmental Quality Department of Water Infrastructure. Credle said he is hopeful grants and loans will pay for 100 percent of the cost of the project, which will take several years to design, build and complete.
