LCWSC gets more funding for treatment plant

If all goes according to plan, the Laurens County Water and Sewer Commission will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Lake Greenwood water treatment plant sometime in October.

The LCWSC approved an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to accept more than $5.8 million in funding for the project during a special meeting Tuesday morning.

“This is huge. It’s a project we’ve been working on for what seems like forever,” said LCWSC Executive Director Jeff Field, noting that the $50 million total project began with preliminary plans in 2007.

The USDA committed $3.82 million in grant funding and another $1.756 million in loan funding to the project.

“This is the last piece of funding we needed,” Field said. “We have 10% grant funding, and that’s excellent.”

The additional funding will be used to offset cost overruns connected with the increased cost of construction and other fees associated with the project.

The water treatment plan will initially be able to treat 4,000,000 gallons of water per day, and it can be expanded immediately to 6,000,000 gallons and then increase exponentially from that capacity.

The project also includes 30 miles of water lines and a 500,000-gallon water tank on Highway 72.

Field said the easements and other details for the project were recently finalized.

“This will not just help with the development of the Laurens County side of Lake Greenwood,” he said. “This will help support development throughout the county for many, many years to come.”