The Downingtown Area Regional Authority (DARA) provides wastewater treatment for the Borough of Downingtown and Caln, East Caln, Uwchlan, and West Whiteland Townships. The Authority proposes expanding its treatment plant by 1.0 million gallons per day (MGD) and has requested that the contributing Municipalities update their Act 537 Plan to determine future capacity requirements in DARA’s Plant.
The capacity expansion of DARA’s Plant is part of a comprehensive renovation of the Plant. This Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan Study is to assist the Township in identifying future treatment capacity needs in the DARA drainage area. This report has been prepared in accordance with 25 PA Code, Chapter 71, “Administration of Sewage Facilities Planning Program.”
Examination of the projected wastewater flow indicates the need for additional wastewater treatment capacity for the DARA drainage area and the need for the Township to purchase additional treatment capacity from DARA. To properly meet existing wastewater needs and future growth in West Whiteland Township, this Act 537 Plan recommends the purchase of an additional 0.10 MGD per day to a total capacity of 2.023 MGD for the DARA service area of West Whiteland Township. The estimated cost for the 1.0 MGD expansion of DARA’s Plant is $14 million. The cost for an additional 0.10 MGD of capacity for West Whiteland Township is $1.4 million.
Funding for the purchase of additional capacity from DARA is from a combination of grants, existing capital accounts, tapping fees and rates. The costs will be recaptured from the Authority’s rates and tapping fees. A schedule for implementing these steps is provided in Section 5 of this report, and copies of the Adoption Resolution and supporting documentation have been attached as appendices to the report.