Butler County community to get new water treatment plant
BOYERS, Pa. (KDKA) — A small Butler County community is days away from something it has wanted for decades: a functioning water treatment plant.
It may not look like much, but the two sewage treatment pits have people very happy in Boyers, Butler County. The pits are part of a federal- and state-funded sewage treatment system. Residents said it's long overdue.
"To make a long story short, we inherited a defunct system," said Jason McBride of the Boyers Township supervisors.
How bad was the system?
"The sewage would back up if we had heavy rains," one resident said.
"A couple of years ago, I had a major issue with my septic," another resident said.
"There was no treatment really for the sewage, so it would simply sit there and be discharged to the stream," project designer David Neil said.
The new system essentially takes gravity-fed wastewater from homes and businesses through new sewage lines in the town. It all filters into filter ponds, but that is just the beginning.
"Natural bacteria will treat the sewage and will take care of the organics and various chemicals in it," Neil said.
Michele Burd, a Marion Township supervisor, helped spearhead the $5.2 million project.
"For us to see this grant money come to our area, it's amazing for our community," Burd said.
Engineers for the project said they're going to do some testing over the next week and anticipate in the next few weeks that this facility will be up and operating.