$20M loan to help Oak Ridge pay for new water treatment plant

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers have announced that the city of Oak Ridge will receive a $20 million loan that a city official said will be used to help pay for the new water treatment plant construction.

Oak Ridge Public Works Director Patrick Berge said the loan will help pay for the $78.3 million membrane filtration water treatment plant, which is under construction on Pumphouse Road off of Scarboro Road. The plant is expected to be complete by July 2025, he told The Oak Ridger, and be up and running by the end of 2025.

Officials broke ground in October 2022 on what then-City Manager Mark Watson called the "largest public works project" in Oak Ridge's history. The current water treatment plant was built by the government in 1943.

The old water treatment plant was built by the government in 1943. DOE owned and operated the plant at its Y-12 facility and sold water to the city, according to information from the city. DOE gave it to the city in 2000.

In an October 2022 story, Watson said over a half century of erosion and ground shifting had damaged the plant's base, and it was determined that it would be cheaper to build a new plant than to fix the old one. The existing plant, which will continue to operate until the new plant is constructed and tested, is currently at capacity and beyond its useful life.

The new plant will allow the city to keep up with its growth and treat up to 12 million gallons of water per day while also meeting water demands for DOE facilities, including the future Uranium Processing Facility.

The loan comes from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program. The loan has a 30-year term at 3.33% interest, according to the news release.

"Through the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, communities, utility districts, and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than through private financing. These low interest rate loans can vary from zero percent to below market rate, based on each community’s economic health," the release stated.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

Support The Oak Ridger by subscribing. Offers available at https://subscribe.oakridger.com/offers.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: $20M loan to help Oak Ridge pay for new water treatment plant