Early Tuesday morning, local dignitaries hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Mud Creek Water Pollution Control Plant on Statenville Highway to celebrate the completion of $36 million in state-of-the-art facility improvements.

Approved by Valdosta City Council in 2008, the updates to the facility will increase the average daily flow of water from 3.22 million gallons per day to 5.7 million gallons per day and with a peak flow of 17.1 MGD.

“This ribbon cutting is the culmination of several years of hard work and dedication,” said City Manager Larry Hanson. “It meets the more stringent environmental regulations of today and incorporates the latest proven technologies in the wastewater field to guarantee the safe, effective and efficient treatment of waste, as well as ensuring protection of the environment.”

Although technically located in Lowndes County, approximately one-third of Valdosta households and industrial customers in the southeastern portion of the city will be serviced by the updated facility, which is also designed to handle potential future growth.

City leaders touted the use of local contractors for the project including Ace Electric, Inc., The Scruggs Company, Scruggs Concrete and Valdosta Mechanical. Mayor John Gayle also pointed out that the project was finished 10 percent under budgeted costs, or about $4 million.

The project was funded entirely through low-interest loans through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. About $4 million was received as a forgivable loan from the ARRA.

 “Something like this takes hundreds of people working together doing different things, coming together almost like a symphony to make something like this to happen,” said Senior Vice President Kart Vaith of CDM Smith which handled design and project management. “We’re very proud to be a part of this. We consider it one of our flagship projects.”

Guests at the ceremony were invited to learn the complicated process behind a glass of clean water from Keith Martin, Superintendent of the Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. As he later explained, the entire facility constantly replicates the natural process found in a moving body of water. After removal of contaminants, a belt presser removes water from sludge which could be used as a fertilizer, but is currently disposed of at the local landfill.

Initial treatment consists of temporarily holding the sewage in basins where heavier solids can settle to the bottom while oil, grease and lighter solids float to the surface. The second portion of treatment involves water-borne micro-organisms to break down biological matter. Martin discussed how water, light and oxygen conditions have to be constantly regulated to keep the micro-organisms alive.

The list of improvements made to the facility are extensive and include a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system for fully automated operations, Disk Filtration Systems, High Efficiency Air Blower Systems and an Ultraviolet Light Disinfection System. In case of power failure, the facility is capable of running completely on emergency generators.

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