The Town of Chapin has started construction on a long-awaited wastewater project that will replace a system that is over 40 years old. Town officials expect the project to be completed in the next year. 

Construction began early this month, and the project is contracted at $1.6 million, according to Nicholle Burroughs, Chapin’s town administrator.

The original Chapin wastewater lagoon was initially built in the early 1980s and was a 4.5-acre oxidation pond that discharged nearly 1.2 million gallons per day into the Broad River.

“The project, the expansion always needed to happen,” Burroughs said. “The construction of the new plant made the new lagoon project necessary. 

The first phase of the project, finished in March 2020, saw construction on that water treatment plant completed, while the original lagoon was removed to adhere to EPA and state Department of Health and Environmental Health requirements. 

No new material is being processed using the lagoon as of right now, but once the construction is complete two processes will be utilized. 

The wastewater plant will operate under DHEC beneficial reuse regulations once the wastewater has been filtered. It will also dispose of wastewater using a landfill disposal method. 

“As the Town of Chapin service area continued to grow and the EPA created stricter discharge limits, the Town began an evaluation process to determine the appropriate investments that were needed to serve the community,” Burroughs said. 

But instead of demolishing the entire lagoon structure, Chapin chose to convert half of the space into a flow equalization basin that acts as a holding chamber to catch and store excess flow during rain events.

“Following the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s beneficial reuse regulations, the second half of the existing lagoon will be cleaned, the residual waste will be treated and disposed of using a land application process,” said Burroughs. 

The project also includes the removal of old treatment equipment and the installation of a new pump system that will transfer water between the equalization basin and the treatment plant.

And the upgrades won’t just be put into place to adhere to state and federal standards – city officials emphasized the improvements are there to benefit the system in a growing community.

“The growth in our area, increased customer demand and improved environmental standards made it imperative that Chapin invest in making the necessary upgrades in our process,” said Chapin Mayor Al Koon. “The town is looking forward to completing the lagoon project and we are grateful to our talented team for their efforts to complete this initiative.”

Town Council doesn’t expect a utility increase related to the project, Burroughs told the chronicle. However, council is meeting with financial advisors to prepare for future improvements to the system.