MOUNT VERNON — The basic concept for the upgrade to the Little Jelloway wastewater treatment plant was approved Thursday afternoon in a meeting between the Knox County Board of Commissioners and representatives of ADR & Associates engineering firm. Incorporating sewer service to nearby Millwood, the plant will be reconstructed within the existing operation, gradually replacing it when new sections are ready to go online.

“You’ve gotten your money’s worth out of the current plant,” said ADR project manager Jeffery Carr. Carr’s hope is to replace the current plant with a modernized operation that will handle a greater volume of wastewater, while also cleaning and treating it to a higher environmental standard, all while ideally lasting the county a few decades or more.

The design, as currently proposed, will replace the current lagoons with treatment tanks which will separate the wastewater into sludge and effluent water. The effluent will be pumped to the current filter house, where it will undergo exposure to ultraviolet light to destroy harmful biotics.