News Update
EPA announces $40M water infrastructure loan to Toho Water Authority
Staff report
Enviro-Net
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $40 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to the Toho Water Authority in Kissimmee, FL. The loan will help finance projects to improve the efficiency of the city's wastewater management systems.
Toho Water Authority will repair, rehabilitate and replace sewer mains, sewer lines and manholes, including 65 wastewater pumping station basins and over 900,000 feet of gravity mains. The project will mitigate emergency failures such as sanitary sewer overflows that result from problems with the current infrastructure.
The effort will also reduce inflow and infiltration into the gravity sewer system. These improvements will benefit 300,000 people by effectively increasing treatment capacity while allowing further community growth without expanding the existing wastewater treatment facility.
The project, known as the Accelerated Gravity Sewer Assessment and Rehabilitation project, will cost $81.9 million. EPA’s WIFIA loan will finance nearly half of that figure, up to $40.1 million. The loan will save the authority an estimated $7.9 million compared to typical bond financing.