WHITEFISH — Construction is underway in Whitefish to replace an outdated wastewater treatment plan.
The city recently received three state revolving fund loans totaling more than $20 million to help pay for the new facility.
Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith said utility rate increases over the past five years have partially funded the project. She added grant funding will also pay for a portion of the project.
Smith said the new wastewater plant is needed to stay on pace with mandatory state standards which have become increasingly stricter over the past few years.
“We’ve struggled over the past few years trying to meet the ammonia standards for treatment,” Smith said. “We also know that there are new more stringent standards that have come out that we will also have difficulty meeting, so we needed to do a complete upgrade to our wastewater treatment plant.”
Smith said construction on the new facility expects to last 18 months with a finish date planned for summer of 2021.
