Pierce County has flipped the switch on its $342 million expansion of the Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in the city of University Place. The project was finished last month and was $11 million under budget.

“This project will allow the county to grow while keeping our sewer rates as some of the lowest in the region,” said Pierce County Planning and Public Works Director Dennis Hanberg in a news release.

All components of the plant — some that date to the early 1980s — were enhanced or upgraded to increase capacity by 50 percent, to 44 million gallons per day. Users currently generate about 20 million gallons of wastewater daily.

To read more of the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce article click here.