Public invited to tour state-of-the-art plant

Forsyth County’s new Shakerag Water Reclamation Facility is complete and the public is invited to tour the facility during an open house scheduled for Friday, July 29, from 3 to 6 p.m. The new facility is located off of Kemp Road in southern Forsyth County.

“The Shakerag Water Reclamation Facility is a state-of-the art plant and we invite citizens to come tour it during the open house to see the technology that goes into treating wastewater to a very high standard,” Director of Water & Sewer Tim Perkins said.

The new facility will be Forsyth County’s seventh water reclamation facility.

“The Shakerag facility is unique in that it is the first of the county’s plants that is returning water to the Chattahoochee River,” said Perkins. “Forsyth County has always been a believer that the best stewardship of water is to treat it to a high standard which is safe to the environment and return it to the river for the benefit of downstream users.”

The property on which the facility is located was identified as the best location in the county for a water reclamation facility in the 1993 Forsyth County Sewerage System Master Plan. The property was acquired in 1996 and, over the course of the next 20 years, the county obtained a number of necessary permits with many opportunities for public comments and input.

“This project has been in the works since the early 1990s, so it is a great example of long-range planning by the county to prepare for future needs,” said Perkins. “Over the years, a lot of people have played a role in this facility and we appreciate all of their efforts – the new plant would not be possible without them.”

The plant will occupy approximately 12 acres of the property’s total 287 acres, leaving most of the property as an undisturbed buffer. Since 2004, more than 180 of those acres have been utilized as a land application system for treated wastewater from the Fowler and James Creek water reclamation facilities. The property is also the site of the South Forsyth Soccer Complex, which opened in 2003.

The Shakerag Water Reclamation Facility is located at 545 Kemp Road in southern Forsyth County. From Peachtree Parkway (Highway 141), travel east on McGinnis Ferry Road for approximately three and a half miles. Turn left onto Kemp Road. The entrance to the facility will be on your right.

CH2M HILL served as engineers for the project and PC Construction Company served as the contractor. The project was funded primarily through revenue generated from sewer tap fees, with a cost of approximately $38.5 million.

For more information about the open house, call Forsyth County Water & Sewer at (770) 781-2160.