LAWRENCE – After two years of construction, the City of Lawrence’s new Richardt Water Treatment Plant located at 5450 N. Richardt Ave. is serving residents. The new $4.3 million facility officially opened on Thursday, Sept. 5.
The new plant has the capacity to produce 4.32 million gallons of water per day. The Richardt plant, and the planned improvements to Lawrence’s two other water plants, storage tanks, well fields and water distribution system, are part of a project to ensure safe, clean water in the city.
The new plant replaced the older treatment facility that was built in 1958 and was expanded in 1971. Since that time, no improvements were made, and demand could not keep up with the 2 million gallons a day it produced.
The engineering firm, Wessler Engineering, was contracted to do a complete analysis of the Lawrence water system, and at the top of the list, was to replace Richardt WTP. Wessler was then selected as the general contractor for the project.