Robinson water authority board OKs plans for new treatment plant
Efforts to replace a plant that provides treated water to Robinson Township residents took another step forward earlier this month when the Municipal Authority of the Township of Robinson board of directors approved final design plans and authorized its engineers to bid for the new plant’s construction.
The board, at its Aug. 12 meeting, also approved a resolution that approves the issuance of bonds associated with that construction project.
Kevin O’Hare, the authority’s attorney, said that approval would cover up to $10 million in bonds. Authority officials earlier estimated the new plant would cost more than $30 million, and additional bond sales would have to be approved to make more funding available.
The authority, which provides water and sewage services to roughly 4,900 customers, including the Findlay Township Municipal Authority, plans to replace its existing treatment plant in Groveton with a new plant that would provide up to 6 million gallons of treated water per day.
Stan Celich, vice chair of the water authority board, said last month that the authority had considered upgrading the existing plant, which was built in 1965, rather than opt for new construction. But the authority decided to build a new plant because it would not have been able to provide water to its customers during an upgrade. That’s because portions of the plant would have to be taken offline.
The project, located at 901 Station St., includes a 23,630-square-foot treatment plant building, a 1,440-square-foot pump station building, a 75-foot diameter dome-covered clearwell tank and a driveway along Station street along with associated stormwater management facilities, according to a report prepared by Remington & Varnick Engineers for Robinson Township’s Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners.
Both boards already approved a site plan for the project, with the Board of Commissioners’ approval coming earlier this month.
Officials are still putting together a detailed budget, but Celich said the project cost will exceed $30 million.
The existing plant originally was built to provide 1.5 million gallons of water per day, but a major upgrade in the 1980s increased that capacity to four times that amount. However, Celich said the current plant’s “functional capacity” is more like 4 million gallons per day than 6 million.
The new plant will be more efficient and able to produce what Celich called a “true 6 million gallons” of treated water per day, with 2 million gallons per day of backup treatment capacity to ensure reliability during maintenance or emergencies.
O’Hare said excavation work related to the new plant is expected to begin late this year, and the goal is to complete the project by August 2028.
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