The city of Milton broke ground Feb. 13 on a new $28 million water treatment facility project that will more than triple the region’s wastewater treatment capacity, supporting growth in central Santa Rosa County for the next several decades.

DWRA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan program was leveraged, providing a $14 million low-interest loan (which includes a $4,022,475 Small Community Wastewater Facility Grant which will not have to be repaid) for the project. The new plant will discharge effluent entirely underground to protect the Blackwater River — the only river remaining in the U.S. with the designation as a pristine sand bottom river.

Once the plant is fully operational by 2025, it will also facilitate approximately 6,000 residential septic to sewer conversions.