the facility is scheduled for Friday, March 9, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. with an official taste test by City officials. An open house for the general public will be announced for a later date after all construction is complete.

The new plant is located on a 10-acre site across the road from the existing plant that it replaces. The 40,600 square foot building has an exterior designed to resemble the local farm culture allowing it to blend with the surrounding community. Construction on the plant started in May 2005. Funded by water sales collections, it was built for $28 million which includes land acquisition, all architectural and engineering fees, preliminary pilot testing of filter systems, demolition of the old plant and new construction. Engineer for the project was Smith Seckman Reid Engineers of Nashville, TN and architects were Architect's International of Knoxville, TN. W. Rogers Co. of Lexington, KY was the contractor.

Water from the plant’s Little River source will be filtered utilizing GE/Zenon membrane technology manufactured by Zenon Corporation - Ontario, Canada. The membrane filters water through a nominal 0.04 micron pore size, maximum 0.1 micron pore, hollow fiber membrane. The membrane process allows the plant to exceed all current and pending EPA standards.

The plant, with integrated security features, is fully automated except for incremental adjustments by staff operators when needed. Chemicals used to treat the water will be fed at more efficient levels and safety enhanced by chemical production and handling improvements. The plant is designed to produce 16 million gallons of water per day while the building and other critical equipment are sized for future expansion to 24 million gallons per day (MGD).

The Alcoa Water Treatment Plant services the area generally north of Wildwood Road and east of Middlesettlements Road to the Blount-Knox County line excluding Louisville. Over 9900 metered customers, including the Tuckaleechee Utility District and a portion of the Knox Chapman Utility District, are served the by the plant.

Engineering and Public Works Director Kenny Wiggins noted “A lot of people have been involved in this project and deserve recognition – especially the employee team led by Ken Reynolds, Simon deVente, Paul Phillips, and Dorothy Rader. We appreciate the City Commission for their support of the project; the engineer & architect team for their design; and the contractor for his work. Last but certainly not least are the plant operators who have endured the construction and are operating the new plant, and our distribution crews that made critical repairs and tie-ins to the transmission lines feeding the water system.”