STARKVILLE — Starkville will finally get new aerators to meet growing demands on wastewater infrastructure, though a lawsuit around 2020’s failed aerators is still waiting for its day in court.
Starkville Utilities announced the move Tuesday, with Hemphill Construction of Richland under contract to upgrade the Ernest E. Jones Wastewater Treatment Plant. The installation and accompanying electrical improvements will cost $8.9 million, a part of a broader $92 million effort over the next 20 years to modernize Starkville’s water infrastructure, the press release said.
“We already knew the aerators were an issue, because even as we were doing studies the existing aerators had failed,” General Manager Edward Kemp told The Dispatch Wednesday. “We were trying to stay in compliance for several years. This project is our highest need right now, both from an operational standpoint and a permanent compliance standpoint.”
The city has known it would need the improvements since a March wastewater study suggested Starkville’s growth would soon outpace its infrastructure. The treatment plant was built in 1979 to handle up to five million gallons per day, but the city’s population has since increased by 60%.
Starkville paid almost $8 million in 2020 for four companies — Volkert Inc., J&P Construction, Evoqua Water Technologies and Environmental Technical Sales — to design, build and install six new aerators. Those failed soon after installation, and repair efforts never got them running consistently at the level required.
The city filed a lawsuit against those companies later that year, with the case eventually landing in the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi. Judge Sharion Aycock is slated to begin hearing arguments June 2, 2025.
The city is now buying another set of aerators regardless, with installation scheduled to begin spring 2025. Kemp told The Dispatch the construction timeline is nine months to a year, putting the projected end date in winter or spring of 2026.
The project will fully remove and replace the nonfunctional set of aerators installed in 2020. The plant is currently using a set of temporary aerators that limit the system’s growth to no more than 100,000 additional gallons per day, about 1,000 people’s worth.
Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch Wednesday the aerators were paid for through an initial $7 million in bonds, with a further $8 million in bonds approved but not yet issued and $2 million more from the county.
The electrical component of the upgrade is also extensive, aiming to not just supply the new aerators but to future-proof the entire treatment plant for further changes, Kemp said.
“The electrical building is the nerve center for the entire plant,” said Kemp. “It runs all aspects, all treatment processes, the administrative building. Those upgrades are of critical nature as well. As this project’s coming along, over the next 40 years or so we want to make sure the plant’s electrical controls and capacity have the ability to meet that growing demand.”
Included in those upgrades are backup systems that will kick in if the treatment plant ever loses power.
“It provides us with some redundancy, we’re having a backup generator built as part of that electrical replacement, so in times of electrical outage we’ll still be able to maintain the plant in some fashion,” Kemp said.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
