Construction on the new Wastewater Treatment Plant “BC” and adjacent administrative building and laboratory, located at 1132 W. 18th Street, Lake Charles, began in April 2016. The project represents the largest single infrastructure investment ever undertaken by the City of Lake Charles.

Mayor Randy Roach explained that though the community will not notice any direct change in service, it is an extremely important project. “We must make improvements now, so that we don’t experience any unwanted problems down the road. With this new project, we are keeping up with evolving environmental regulations and new technology. The new plant will biologically produce a better, cleaner water effluent during operations and will help us meet the increasing needs of a growing region.” 

The treatment plant alone will cost roughly $42 million. The administrative building and laboratory, which were destroyed during Hurricane Rita, will add approximately $1.2 million more to the project cost. 

“The current wastewater plant was constructed in phases between 1954 and 1966,” stated Mister Edwards, Public Works Director. “The new plant will meet the latest requirements as established by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), as well as update outdated equipment that is undersized to handle current significant wet weather events.” 

The existing treatment plant has a combined permitted maximum discharge capacity of 6.2 million gallons per day (MGD). The new plant will be able to treat 8 MGD of average daily flow with a peak maximum daily flow of 35 MGD.

The City budget was recently amended to allocate an additional $15.7 million in reserves from the General Fund, Wastewater Fund, and Riverboat Gaming Fund to pay for the project. The City will use $14 million remaining from a 2011 DEQ Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan to pay for the plant. The City has also received approval for an additional $15 million loan from the same fund to help pay for this project or other needed improvements to the City’s wastewater system.

Other funding for the project includes $2 million in State Capital Outlay funds.

Construction is expected to last approximately 24 months.