Hinesville has received a $10 million, low-interest loan to pay for upgrades to its sewage treatment plant on Fort Stewart, according the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
City Manager Billy Edwards said two loan applications were submitted to the city council in November and January to finance upgrades and modifications at the plant. The loan will be used to bring the plant in compliance with effluent permit limits and water reuse standards.
“GEFA’s Georgia Fund loan is something we presented to the council a couple times,” Edwards said. “The total amount approved represents two applications. The new ultraviolet system being purchased for the Hinesville-Fort Stewart wastewater treatment plant is part of that loan.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, effluent deals with the discharge of treated sewage water, which is regulated by the Clean Water Act of 1972. The ultraviolet system recently purchased by the city will not be in place for several months, according to the city engineer, P.C. Simonton. He said the new system is more efficient and more reliable than the system that’s been in place at the plant since the early 1990s.  
According to a GEFA press release, Hinesville will pay 1.4 percent on the 20-year loan. The Georgia fund is a state-funded program to assist communities with low-interest loans up to $10 million for water, wastewater, water conservation and solid waste infrastructure projects, the release said.