Valley Center moving forward in planning for water treatment plant - KWCH

Valley Center moving forward in planning for water treatment plant

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The City of Valley Center is moving forward with developing plans to build its own water treatment plant. At its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Valley Center City Council didn’t take formal action connected with the project but did hear Mayor Lou Cicirello announce a public hearing planned for next Thursday, Oct. 12, regarding the plant and a proposed loan of up to $19 million to make it happen.

Last summer, the city council approved a request for proposal from companies interested in designing and building the plant. At that time, The Ark Valley News reported Valley Center, which buys potable water from the City of Wichita, “has for years discussed the possibility of having its own treatment plant,” and the goal with its own plant was “to supplement Wichita water during high-demand times so it can reduce water usage at expensive Tier 2 and 3 rates.” More than a year since the RFP, the newspaper said the city is looking beyond just a “supplemental” role for the plant as plans develop.

Tuesday, Valley Center City Administrator Brent Clark said the design for the plant includes a daily capacity of 1.4 million gallons with the possibility to expand that capacity to 2 million gallons per day “as the city grows and expands.”

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