Explosions rocked the Sanford Water Filtration Facility – but it was all part of the plan.
Construction crews set and detonated explosives to help break up solid rock that needed to be dug up as part of the ongoing expansion of the water plant.
Sanford Water Filtration Facility is undergoing a $390 million expansion that will create an added capacity of 18 million gallons per day. Construction began on the expansion project in October 2024.
The recent controlled explosions took place on the north side of the facility’s grounds. One explosion location will be where a new finished water pump station is built. The other location will be where the new granular activated (GAC) carbon filters will be located. Those filters remove unwanted contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (more commonly known as PFAS).
The GAC technology will be used in conjunction with advanced settling and filtration technology that will allow TriRiver Water to continue to provide high-quality drinking water that exceeds regulatory standards for many years to come.
In the first 8 months of construction, crews are making great progress. They have already built a 2 million gallon clearwell, adjacent to the existing clearwell. These two storage facilities are capable of holding nearly 4 million gallons of pristine drinking water.
What is a clearwell? Learn about the water filtration process
Of course, there is still a lot of work left to complete, but the project remains on schedule to finish in 2028.
When the facility’s upgrades are complete, the increased capacity and water quality will benefit more than just TriRiver Water customers. That’s because Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs signed on as partners in the expansion project. In return for helping offset the cost of the project, those towns respectively will be able to take 6 million gallons per day and 4 million gallons per day of the finished water from the facility.
While each partner will own a proportional stake in the expanded facility, Sanford will manage it, retain sole authority over its operation, and maintain an ownership stake.