Construction at Wichita’s Northwest Water Treatment Facility is on schedule

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Construction at Wichita’s Northwest Water Treatment Facility is on schedule.

The new $500 million plant, near 21st Street and Hoover, will replace the city’s 80-year-old water plant that is at risk of failing, and it will serve nearby communities.

Work by Wichita Water Partners began at the location back in October 2020.

On Wednesday, KSN News toured the site and was able to speak to those involved with the construction.

“The structures on site are essentially built, and we are in the process of putting all the equipment inside,” said John Smith, Wichita Water Partners construction manager. “We are in the process of getting all the underground infrastructure in place, and as we move towards the end of summer, we are going to have complete structures, complete buildings. As we move to the end of the year, we will begin functional testing.”

Photos above show construction at Wichita’s Northwest Water Treatment Facility.

Before that testing can begin, work to tie the existing water system into the new facility continues. Smith said the challenges are with existing aging infrastructure.

“Back when stuff was put in, we are not keeping the same records that you are keeping today, so we had to do a lot of preliminary investigations, go out, make some open holes and look at what it was.”

Even with all that planning, workers continue to troubleshoot.

“We are making adjustments, modifications to the existing system to accommodate the build that is happening here,” Smith said.

Recently workers at the site completed the one million-hour labor mark.

Construction on the new water plant is set to be completed by the end of September 2024.