Lee Co. plans upgrades to wastewater treatment plant at Kinchafoonee Creek

LEESBURG, Ga. – Lee county officials have been talking about updating their wastewater treatment plant that cycles water back into the Kinchafoonee Creek, behind me…

And, it’s from this small, innocuous creek along Route 19 that the idea of county growth is becoming a reality.

Lee County Chairman, Billy Mathis says the new wastewater treatment plant is a sign of major growth in Lee county.

And, with that continued growth comes the need for new infrastructure.

“Well, we have to have sewer for new commercial and some new residential development. We have some residential development that doesn’t require a sewer, but some smaller new lots does require sewers, so we have to have it for both commercial and residential growth,” said Billy Mathis, Chairman, Lee County Commission.

Since 2010, Lee county’s population has grown from just under 29 thousand people to over 33 thousand in 2020.

And, with a larger population comes the need to update the wastewater treatment plant to ensure the county’s infrastructure is up to EPA standards.

Mathis says that putting the taxpayers money into staying on top of infrastructure is crucial.

“We try very hard to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to infrastructure. Infrastructure construction is very very expensive. Both water and sewer infrastructure are very expensive, so we try to make sure we stay ahead of the curve with all the things we do in the county,” said Mathis.

As the county looks to make updating the plant to handle an average of 750 thousand gallons of water on a daily basis, Mathis says that even something like an update to the water treatment is a sign of bigger things to come.

“Lee county now, we used to be considered a veteran community, we’re no longer that. We are ‘the’ community in southwest Georgia…” said Mathis.

And, from what we were able to find, the upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant will feature new UV system aimed at killing harmful bacteria, and new travelling filters that will help make the very water behind me people have been rowing on to be just a little more clean.

Currently the Kinchafoonee Creek’s wastewater treatment plant handles around 600 thousand gallons of water a day.

Brian Roche reporting.

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