The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a $191 million loan to the City of Wichita for a program to improve wastewater treatment systems and get rid of the odor that has been an ongoing problem on the city’s south side.
The loan will help the city upgrade two critical wastewater facilities, advancing technologies for water reuse and reducing the nutrient loads in the Arkansas River and the Mississippi River Basin. The reduction of nutrient loads will help improve water quality for Wichita and many other communities in the region.
Mayor Brandon Whipple talked about the loan during his weekly news conference on Thursday. He said the approval by the EPA allows the city to take advantage of low interest rates that will save ratepayers $89 million. He said the construction and operations for the project will also create around 1,250 jobs.
The mayor said the city will be able to take away about 98 percent of the odor that south Wichita residents have experienced.
The loan is from the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), and it will allow the city to modernize its wastewater treatment facility and carry out a biological nutrient removal program that the city has been developing.
