The pump station at Wilson Sporting Goods in Sparta began service after some three months of manual pumping.
City Administrator Brad Hennessee said the contractor visited the site Tuesday to make final inspections.
“The expanded capacity and the improvements that pump station gives the Sparta sewer system long-term are… We’ll forget about having to pump it everyday pretty soon, but the long-term effect is certainly profound,” Hennessee said.
Hennessee said sewer site services the city’s Industrial Park and will allow for more connections. The $272,000 bid for work was originally approved in November of last year.
Hennessee said due to delays in equipment and materials, the city’s public works department has manually operated the station daily. When the Hormann manufacturing facility moved into the Industrial Park, the pump station was found to be undersized and aging.
An Appalachian Regional Commission grant awarded to the city in 2019 paid for the majority of the work. Hennessee said a few incidentals remain before the project official closes.