A Chesco township plans to decommission an aging and costly wastewater treatment plant
The decades-old facility is slated for shutdown in favor of a cheaper alternative.
An aging Uwchlan Township wastewater plant that lacks the capacity to handle future growth is slated to be decommissioned, as the facility has grown costly and officials have struggled to offload it.
The board of supervisors is expected to vote next month to shut down the Eagleview Wastewater Treatment Plant, a roughly 30-year-old facility once privately owned by a developer. Approval of the plan would begin the approximately two-year process of diverting all flow to the Downingtown Area Regional Authority, where a majority of the township’s wastewater already goes.
The move will save the township about $4 per gallon, said Bobby Kagel, township manager. It currently costs Uwchlan $5.88 per gallon to treat wastewater at Eagleview; it will cost less than $1 per gallon at Downingtown.
The municipality will not have to increase rates or take out loans in the change, causing no long-term impacts on taxpayers, he said. A third-party contractor operates the facility, with someone at the facility part-time, seven days a week.
As Uwchlan expects continued residential development, the plant lacks the capacity needed for the future.
Costs for the aging facility have increased in recent years. Just two years ago, when Kagel joined the township, a structural repair for one of the treatment tanks “ballooned” in cost from the estimated $100,000 to more than $1 million, he said.
“It just underscores the importance and the need to decommission this treatment plant,” he said.
The Downingtown Area Regional Authority, which serves the borough and four other municipalities, already has the capacity to handle all of the flow, he said.
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With the supervisors’ approval, the plan will go to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for an OK to construct a pump station at the existing plant location to divert the flow, along with a 12-inch force main line. Once the new station is up and running, Eagleview will cease operations, but the township will hold off on demolition, in the event it is needed again.
The facility originated alongside the development of Eagleview, a mixed-used community in the township that sits on roughly 800 acres. Hankin Group, the developer, initially owned and operated the plant. A challenge ultimately led to the township taking over the plant, which it has maintained for roughly 20 years, Kagel said.
The township had looked to sell it previously but was unable to get the value it wanted, he said.
The estimated cost of the planned construction totals around $3.6 million; Hankin Group will foot a majority of the cost. A grant will cover $500,000 of the remaining $600,000. The township has existing revenue in its sewer fund — or will work with Hankin Group — to cover the rest.
Funding had once been a “big question mark” for the township, Kagel said, but “Hankin agreeing to work with us on funding this project certainly gave it the kick start that it needed to be able to advance a lot quicker than I think any of us had anticipated.”
“Ultimately, it helps Hankin and the Eagleview community in terms of making sure that there’s good, strong, reliable infrastructure available for their communities,” Kagel said. “It’s a win-win.”
With all necessary approvals, the project would be completed in 2028.
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