Sebring nabs $1.5 million loan for drinking water improvements

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week the Sebring, located in northeastern Ohio, will received a low-interest loan to improve its drinking water plant and provide purer drinking water to its residents.

The project is expected to take one year and the $1.46 million loan, provided through the Water Supply Revolving Loan Account (WSRLA), is expected to save the city $1.43 million in interest when compared to a conventional market rate loan.

Sebring will use the funds to install a new filter-to-waste system, including changing the filter backwash-to-waste piping system, which will create an air gap. The funding will also go toward protecting filters from microbial contamination, optimizing plan performance through the use of programmable filter controls and replacing two filter backwash waste pumps.

The WSRLA was created in 1998 and is partially funded by federal grants. It is designed to self-perpetuate through loan repayment and bond investments. Since its inception, it has provided loans for community water systems as well as non-community systems run as non-profits with below-market interest rates.

The account is run by the EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance and its Division of Drinking and Ground Waters, with financial management from the Ohio Water Development Authority.