As of Wednesday, workers were halfway through the job of dredging the district’s three decommissioned lagoons. The lagoons have been replaced by a new $22.5 million wastewater treatment plant east of the dry lagoons. The district had to build the plant to meet federal standards for clean drinking water and to increase the district’s capacity to handle wastewater from a growing community. The sludge is being piled and spread out to dry on a 1.6-acre concrete pad. The district intends to use the sludge as compost to jump-start a nature preserve where the lagoons once where.

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