The McBaine Water Treatment Plant, which provides water to Columbia, is currently undergoing a $37 million improvement project. The project is set to restore the facility to its full capacity of treating 32 million gallons of water per day and improve water quality.
While the project is ongoing, Columbia residents shouldn’t notice any difference in the water they receive from the city utility, said Kevin Wiggins, the city’s water production plant manager. The plant currently only has the capacity to process 24 million gallons per day due to equipment issues, said Matt Nestor, public information specialist for the Utilities Department. The construction is set to improve efficiency and extend the life of the McBaine facility, which was originally built in 1970.
“The equipment is at its life’s end, so it’s just time to upgrade and move forward,” Wiggins said.
Some of the facility’s equipment has been operating since the plant opened, which is part of what prompted the need for an upgrade. Projected population growth within the city was also a catalyst of the plan, Wiggins said.
Improvements are expected to be completed by June 2026, said Scott Carroll, a project manager at Bowen Engineering Corporation, the contractor completing the improvement project. He said one of the biggest challenges has been keeping the water plant functional while installing the upgrades.
“Making sure that we keep water flowing to the city of Columbia throughout the project limits the amount of equipment we can have offline at a time,” Carroll said. But construction has been progressing well, he said.
This week, Carroll’s team is laying the foundation for a new portion of the plant.
Wiggins said the renovations should cut down on lime usage in the water treatment process, which will reduce costs in operations and maintenance for the city.
Planning for the improvement project began in 2017, according to previous Missourian reporting, and work on the upgrades began this August, according to the city’s website.
Funding comes from a combination of bonds approved by voters in 2018, as well as enterprise revenue funds, said David Sorrell, director of the city’s utilities department. The project received a $10 million funding increase in April, following approval from the Columbia City Council.
If the project requires significant additional funding, the city will probably ask for another bond approval from voters, Sorrell said.
