By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

NEW SARPY – A project to construct a new 6-million-gallon-per-day water treatment facility for the east bank of St. Charles Parish is about 80 percent complete, according to Parish Waterworks Director Robert Brou.

The parish broke ground on the $26 million project in November 2008, and the facility’s two new clarifiers and eight filters should be online by April or May 2011, pending any delays from Mississippi River water levels, said Renee Simpson, public information officer for the parish.

“We’re pleased with the progress on this project so far and look forward to the efficiency it will bring to our operations,” Brou said. “We pride ourselves on providing the best-tasting water in the state, and this improvement will help us be prepared for any contingency that may come our way.”

Simpson said the project’s contracting firm, M.R. Pittman, is currently completing final forming and pouring of concrete for the clarifier’s treatment area and running electrical conduit to the plant’s control panels. She said the plant will include a new chemical feed house that will provide a consolidated area for storage and management of needed substances, such as chlorine, ammonia and fluoride.

Brou said the footprint of the waterworks site in New Sarpy required engineers to build a new control building “up instead of out.” He said the room stands 57 feet above ground level.

Workers will man the plant 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will have new bunks, lockers and showers available for use during hurricanes and other emergencies.

Brou said the completion of the New Sarpy Plant, known as the “D-Plant,” will allow for refurbishment of the aging “C-Plant” close by. He said that plant has been the workhorse of water production on the east bank, producing up to 4 million gallons of potable water daily since its construction in 1980.

Simpson said after the refurbishment is complete, the New Sarpy site will be able to produce up to 13 million gallons of water per day. She said the oldest clarifier on site was constructed in 1950 and refurbished in 1979 and is still in service.

To see more photos of progress on this project, visit stcharles parish-la.gov/photos. Video of other upcoming parish infrastructure projects is available at youtube.com/ stcharlesgov.