HWEA gearing up for expansion, renovation project

The Rotary Club of Hopkinsville heard an update from the Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority at Tuesday’s meeting.

President and CEO Derrick Watson says HWEA gets the majority of its water from Lake Barkley, which is extensively cleaned to drinking water standards, and they haven’t had any drinking water violations in many years.

He says he has an amazing team at HWEA that consistently rakes in awards each year, including prestigious awards, such as the Water Plant of the Year award and numerous others.

HWEA is set to renovate and expand the Hammond-Wood Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hopkinsville, with Watson saying they are still applying for grants for that project.

Hopkinsville City Council recently approved a rate increase with HWEA to help fund the project—it will reflect about a $2 increase to the standard customer, with customers in Pembroke seeing about a $3 increase. The increase is set to begin in 2022.