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The improvements to the wastewater facility will change the facility from a lagoon system to a lagoon plus mechanical system and allow the system to run for the next 30 years without major improvements. Upgrades to the existing Coopersville Wastewater Treatment Facility will also include the following:

• Two new, fully enclosed clarifiers
• New flow control structures
• Two aerated ponds and associated blowers and equipment
• A new laboratory, office and equipment building
• Associated yard piping and electrical improvements
• Asphalt paving and landscaping

The original two-lagoon wastewater system was built in 1971 and has a capacity of treating 900,000 gallons per day. The current system is handling 450,000 gallons of waste a day. The expansion will allow the facility to handle up to 1.9 million gallons per day.

In addition to processing wastewater produced by 60,000 homes in the area, one of the main area users of the upgraded plant will be a new dairy processing facility. The milk processing plant will add an estimated 750,000 gallons a day of wastewater to the facility when both phases are finished.