Main Street Sewage Plant Shuts Down, Sending Everything To Cantonment

April 28, 2011

Today is the last day for the old Main Street sewage plant in downtown Pensacola as all of ECUA’s wastewater will  finally be processed in Cantonment.

The 70-year old plant has been operating partially since ECUA opened the new $316-million Central Water Reclamation Facility15 miles north in Cantonment last August. But beginning Monday, ECUA plans to begin shutting down the old downtown plant that locals affectionately refer to as “Old Stinky”.

The new plant sits on 2,000 acres of land adjacent to Ascend Performance Materials (formerly Solutia) on Old Chemstrand Road near Cantonment. A full 15 miles north of the existing Main Street Treatment Plant, the facility is well above the flood plain and is built to resist hurricane-force winds. Redundant power and storage systems help to ensure that the facility can remain operational during conditions that crippled the Main Street plant during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Reclaimed water from the Cantonment facility is provided to Gulf Power and International Paper for use at their facilities.

Originally designed and constructed in 1937, the Main Street plant underwent numerous expansions in the 1970’s and mid-1990’s. According to projected plans, the anticipated time frame for dismantling  the old facility is about 9-12 months once the ECUA awards the contract to a bidder sometime this spring.

Pictured top: The Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

2 Responses to “Main Street Sewage Plant Shuts Down, Sending Everything To Cantonment”

  1. OMRBH on April 29th, 2011 2:01 am

    YES!!! Finally, it’s gone. The cess pool is GONE! The treatment plant should have been sent way out in the country a long time ago!

  2. Robyn on April 28th, 2011 9:53 am

    yes!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News