News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Less than a year away from its scheduled completion, upgrades to the Cookeville Water Treatment Plant remain on schedule.
The project will increase plant capacity some 50 percent to a total of 22.5 million gallons per day. Cookeville Water Quality Control Director Barry Turner said there were some roadblocks early with needed materials and equipment, but the contractor has kept the project from falling behind.
“He was able to do other things on the job and let those parts, which would ideally have been done first, and made a little more effort on his part to do stuff out of order, but he was able to do that and keep things going pretty good,” Turner said.
Turner said without the expansion of the water plant, the city would not be able to expand because it would not have the capacity to serve water to all of its customers. The project expected to be completed in September, 2024.
“It’s just going to take time for the contractor to finish,” Turner said. “He’s probably about a third of the way done, but he’s got crews working and continuing to work, so we’ll just have to take some time to get it done.”
Turner added that the pace of the project has been about what he had expected. The city funding the projects with the help of the state and some COVID money.
