The bids for a new wastewater treatment plant in Sweetwater came in much lower than expected.
Sweetwater Utilities Board General Manager Robert Bettis said SUB was prepared for the project to cost up to $9 million, however the range for the 10 bids received was between $5.1 million and $6.1 million when opened last week.
"They were great bids," Bettis said.

According to Bettis, SUB's engineering firm, C2RL Engineering from Alcoa, is studying the bids and will make a recommendation to SUB's governing board on the best choice likely within the next month.

Two of the bids could possibly be rejected for not meeting specifications, Bettis said.
SUB hopes to get the project under way by early spring.
The new sewer plant will be built on the site of the current plant with the work expected to take 16 to 18 months depending on the weather, Bettis said.
The project has been in the planning stages for years, as SUB has prepared for toughening environmental regulations.

Scott Horne, director of operations for SUB's water plant and wastewater plant, said the new sewer plant will be sequencing batch reactor (SBR) plant, which uses a completely different treatment process than the current plant.
Horne said the new treatment process is a far more modern process than used at the current plant, which was built in 1959 and last updated in 1974.
The new plant will call for a large rectangular basin that will be more than 14,000 square feet in size and about 20 feet deep.

According to Horne the new plant will incorporate more computer technology.
One of the main advantages of the SBR plant is the ability to remove nutrients and meet increasingly tougher environmental regulations, Horne said.

tommy.millsaps@advocateanddemocrat.com | 337-7101