A new City of Newcastle wastewater treatment plant, different than the one Newcastle just opened, is being planned to serve the south side of Newcastle and the State Highway 9 growth area.
City leaders have been planning for the building of an MBR plant to serve existing businesses and expected new businesses and residential areas near SH-9 and State Highway 62. Their timeline is to have it in service within three-and-a-half to four years.
Mayor Karl Nail said the City has purchased 14 acres of land for the facility at a cost of $100,000. It is located at approximately 1005 S.E. 44th Street in Newcastle — just east of SH-62 on the north side of SH-9.
City spokesperson Scott Hannan said there is a lot of growth being experienced all over town, and the south end would be better served by a new plant. Hannan said there’s a new Braums store along SH-9 and a new Taco Bell is also going in. He added
MBR PLANT on page 3 that the new Chickasaw Nation hospital will also be served by a new plant. As well, there are many residences in Newcastle that are on septic, or new residences that would have to be on septic, without the service of a new plant.
MBRPLANT: Money put back, engineering underway
A new MBR plant is a very clean operation which uses a bioreactor process of vacuuming through membranes to clean water. This type of facility and the required influent and effluent lines will cost the City about $20 million, according to City Manager Kevin Self.
Wall Engineering has been working with the City on a design and engineering for the plant, as well as the influent line, that would run from SH-62 and SH-9 down to Harvey Street and SH-9. Self said they will also be engineering a line that would go under SH-9 and flow down to the North Fork of Walnut Creek.
“The goal is that a new facility would serve the businesses or any type of redevelopment that may happen,” Self said. “That sewer would be there for those new businesses.”
Self said this is a huge deal, especially for commercial development. He said the City already has water service in the area, but not sewer. The City has been putting back money for this project, and is hoping to also obtain grant money for the project.
