Leesburg breaks ground on wastewater facility expansion
Cindy Peterson
LEESBURG On Thursday, Leesburg city officials broke ground on the new expansion of the Turnpike Wastewater Treatment Facility which will upgrade the existing infrastructure at 1600 County Road 470 in Okahumpka, and add an additional facility that will increase the capacity from 3 million gallons per day to 4.5 million gallons per day.
The $21.6 million project is said to keep up with the growing population of South Leesburg as well as The Villages expansion.
“This plant provided opportunity because it was designed and built in 2000 to catch a bunch of growth happening but the plans sat on the table for 10 to 15 years,” City Manager Al Minner said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Not only were we able to help the economy, we designed the facility to improve the environment. We can have a strong, healthy, vibrant economy and create something that helps our rivers and lakes at the same time.”