Gatlinburg staff outline plan to boost water-plant output to 3 million gallons per day; pilots and permits in hand

City Manager Greg Patton and city utilities staff presented a proposed expansion of the Gatlinburg water-treatment plant designed to raise nominal production from about 2 million gallons per day (MGD) to roughly 3 MGD.

Dale (city utilities staff) told the board the plant, originally built in 1950 and upgraded in 1965, has been operating “very well” but is at or near maximum production much of the time. “We’re producing about 2,000,000 to 2,100,000 gallons a day,” Dale said, and the city supplements peak weekend demand by buying water from Pigeon Forge. Dale said increasing plant output by an additional 1,000,000 gallons a day would “greatly reduce what we’ll need to buy from Pigeon Forge.”

Engineers from LDA Engineering said the planned increase is achievable largely by replacing conventional rapid-sand filtration with newer ceramic-plate membrane filtration in the existing footprint. Corey Newman, principal engineering client-service lead, and Zach Daniel, president of LDA Engineering, said the city already ran two pilot membrane tests; one was “very successful” and the other “moderately successful,” and both demonstrated the technology’s feasibility in Gatlinburg’s footprint.

Nut graf: The expansion aims to meet growing peak demand driven by visitation, reduce purchased water from neighboring systems, and improve treatment reliability. Staff said they have obtained required permits and expect the project to move to detailed design and procurement within the year.

Staff said regulatory permitting for the increased river withdrawal has been secured. Dale reported the city had obtained “our TDEC permit for the inquiry increased withdrawal from the river” and a second permit described in the meeting transcript as a “TDA permit,” both of which staff said allow the larger withdrawal amount at the intake site on the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. LDA representatives and staff emphasized the engineers’ river-flow analysis, saying it shows “there is enough water through about 95% of the year” to support the larger withdrawal without harming downstream ecology; staff warned that very dry periods may require reduced withdrawal in accordance with regulatory limits.

LDA outlined a timeline that begins with a three-month evaluation phase, a detailed design phase through months 4–10, and bidding around months 11–12. The firm warned equipment lead times could drive the overall schedule; LDA and staff said manufacturing lead time for membrane and other treatment equipment can be about 12 months and that the construction phase itself could take roughly a year once major equipment is delivered. Zach Daniel said much of the work can be staged so the plant remains operational while filters are replaced.

On cost, Dale said earlier engineering work produced a tentative construction estimate “around $4,000,000 give or take,” plus roughly $300,000 for engineering and additional contingency; the city presented the item as a $5,000,000 umbrella estimate. Patton and finance staff said the water upgrade is part of the city’s multi-project financing plan: staff described issuing debt in 2025 and cited that the $5,000,000 water project is expected to be funded as part of the same general issuance that supports the public-services work.

Environmental questions drew engineer responses. Staff said they maintain a seven-year data set of stream-gauge readings showing sufficient flow for most of the year, and that regulatory requirements will govern operations during unusually dry periods. Dale said treated wastewater returns a portion of the withdrawn water to downstream flows.

Ending: Staff said they will proceed with detailed design and return with bid documents and a recommendation for contractor selection; no formal vote on water-plant financing or construction occurred at the meeting.