The State College Borough Water Authority has been awarded a $24,950,000 million dollar PennVest loan to build a second plant at the Nixon/Kocher site. The new construction will consist of a membrane filtration system, granular activated carbon treatment and ultraviolet disinfection. The new filtration plant will have a three million gallon a day capacity and be a zero discharge plant. This new facility will enable the Water Authority to continue to meet current regulations as well as potential future regulations. It will help continue to provide our customers with a high quality water service. This will also serve as a backup for the Woodside plant and provide additional capacity in the event of an emergency or problems. The filtration plant will also be equipped with solar panels to offset electrical costs.
The Water Authority began planning to construct a treatment facility at the Nixon Well Field in 2015 with a pilot study to determine the best treatment technique. Upon completion of the pilot study the results were submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for review and approval. In late 2016 the Water Authority started working with Ferguson Township to obtain the necessary approvals to begin construction. Since early 2017 the Water Authority’s engineers have been working on the design of the facility. Currently the project is on track with a potential construction start in early 2020.
PennVest reported “Special Welcome to the State College Borough Water Authority! The low-interest loan they received when compared to private financing has an estimated grant equivalency of $5.8 million. This marks the first ever transaction between the Authority and PennVest. We look forward to building a strong partnership with the Authority as they undertake future critical infrastructure improvements.”
The State College Borough Water Authority would like to thank PennVest, Gwin Dobson and Foreman Engineers and Concord Public Finance for all of the work that went into securing the PennVest loan.