Forsyth County completes Antioch plant expansion, boosting peak capacity to 40 million gallons a day

Forsyth County officials and project partners on Tuesday held a ribbon-cutting at the Antioch Water Treatment Plant to mark completion of a $20 million expansion that raises the plant’s peak treatment capacity from 33 million gallons per day to 40 million gallons per day, county officials said.

Steve Ratslaff, deputy director of water and wastewater operations for Forsyth County, summarized the technical upgrades that accompany the capacity increase. “This expansion project basically takes our peak treatment capacity from 33 million gallons per day up to 40 million gallons per day,” Ratslaff said, and added that the work included three new membrane filter trains (bringing the total to 11), a new 700-horsepower finished-water pump, new sludge-collection systems, a sodium hydroxide chemical storage tank and improvements to the large 20-million-gallon raw-water storage tank including a new baffle wall to improve water quality consistency.

The project was constructed by PC Construction and involved design and engineering support from Black & Veatch, Freese and Nichols and ESG Engineering; Inframark continued plant operations during construction, officials said. Mike Yesselonia, vice president of operations for PC Construction, highlighted the coordination required: “Upgrading a facility like this while keeping it fully operational is like replacing the engine on a race car without pulling it into the pits,” Yesselonia said, praising the multi-organizational teamwork.

David McKee, Forsyth County manager, noted the local demand pressures that motivated the work, saying the plant produced about 30 million gallons in a single high-demand day last year—about three million gallons short of the plant’s prior peak capacity—and observed that the county serves about 70,000 water customers. Commissioner Carrie Hill (District 1) framed the upgrade in the context of county growth, citing U.S. Census figures that Forsyth County’s population rose from about 98,400 in 2000 to about 285,000 today and arguing that investment ahead of demand helps protect public health and economic development.

Officials described the expansion as an investment in reliability and resilience rather than a discrete, one-time improvement. Scott Adams, director of Forsyth County Water and Sewer, thanked the Board of Commissioners, county staff and project partners and invited attendees to tours of the new facilities after the ribbon cutting.

A note on transcript wording: during the ceremony, a county speaker also referenced the “Lanier Water Treatment Plant” while discussing project equipment. The event and ribbon cutting were held at the Antioch Water Treatment Plant; the transcript contains both place names. Officials at the ceremony attributed the work, funding and operations to Forsyth County departments and to the named contractors. The county did not announce a public date for the plant to begin using the new peak capacity beyond the completion celebration.