The upgrades to the water treatment facility in Byesville are nearly finished. 

According to Byesville Village Administrator Brennan Dudley, the project upgrades are at 99% completion with just some programming work to finish. 

The Wetzler Haynes Water Filtration Facility located at 59870 Vocational Road started production as the first microfiltration facility in Ohio in 2005. 

Prior to the upgrades which started in 2020, the plant the facility produced 2.25 million gallons per day.

The expansion and upgrades  included two additional ultrafiltration units designed to remove microbiological contaminants, bacteria and viruses down to 0.01 micron in size, and a conversion to fiberglass pressure filters. And the facility's production capability has been expanded to 3. million gallons per day.

The three steel aerolators were replaced by eight fiberglass pressure filters which filter out iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. Only six of the filters run at a time so if one were to go down there would be a backup. 

"Not only did we improve the treatment but we improved the overall aesthetics ... When people walk in I want them to know they're getting clean water from this facility," Dudley said. 

The project's $4.6 million price tag wasn't paid for by village taxpayers. It was financed through a loan with the Ohio Water Development Authority and will be repaid through user fees rather than tax dollars. 

The water treatment facility service area has a population of 5,000. The facility can produce up to 1,200 gallons of water per minute, and 5.3 million gallons per day.

The facility annual water distribution through 45 miles of waterline is 27% residential, 69% industrial/commercial including companies like Colgate/Palmolive and Kerry Foods, and 4% if the water is distributed to Cumberland. 

The plant operates 7,100 hours each year with eight full-time and two part-time employees and has an annual operating budget of $2.5 million.