Wichita Takes Over Operations at Long-Delayed Water Plant
The City of Wichita has signed a certificate of occupancy for its new $573 million water treatment plant, a key milestone in a project that is nearly two years past its original completion date. The city announced Monday that it has taken over day-to-day operations of the facility from Wichita Water Partners, the joint venture between Burns & McDonnell and Alberici responsible for construction.
However, the plant is not yet delivering drinking water to customers. Director of Public Works and Utilities Gary Janzen said the facility won't be fully operational until late spring or early summer of 2027 — roughly three years after the project was originally scheduled to go online. "Signing the certificate of occupancy does not mean that we are accepting final delivery of the project," Janzen said. "The project is not complete, and the city will not accept final delivery until such time that we are complete with all of the work."
Six-Month Training Period Underway
With the certificate of occupancy in hand, the city has begun a six-month training and transition period for staff on operation and maintenance. Many employees were able to start training early during the delay caused by clarifier design flaws and mechanical issues, allowing the city to make progress even as repairs were underway. The clarifiers — parts of the plant that remove suspended solids from water — required full repairs and subsequent successful testing before the city could advance to this phase.
Janzen emphasized that the cost of those repairs will not fall to taxpayers. "I do want to highlight that the cost of repairs during the delay will not fall to the taxpayers," he said.
Regulatory Approval and Infrastructure Connections Remain
Even after the training period concludes, several steps remain before the plant can fully serve Wichita residents. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment must issue a final permit allowing the city to use the plant to provide drinking water directly to customers. The city anticipates working with KDHE to obtain that permit sometime in the second quarter of 2027, following the six months of staffing and operating the plant.
Additionally, construction is still needed to tie the new plant into the city's Hess Pump Station, which delivers finished drinking water to distribution lines. "When we get to a point that we are ready to start delivering water to the system, we've got to make all the connections at Hess Pump Station," Janzen said. "So that work has always been out there. We've always known that that's got to happen."
The project has faced obstacles since the summer of 2024, when a drought limited performance testing at the facility. Then, in late 2025, design flaws were identified in the clarifiers, pushing the completion target beyond 2025. Under the city's contract with Wichita Water Partners, the joint venture was supposed to maintain responsibility for day-to-day operations, protection of the work, and manufacturer-recommended maintenance until final delivery.
A Critical Upgrade for Aging Infrastructure
The new water treatment plant is the most expensive public-works project in Wichita's history, reflecting the scale of the challenge facing many American cities with aging water infrastructure. The current treatment plant has been in operation for nearly 90 years, and the new facility is designed to meet modern standards for water quality and reliability.
For Wichita residents, the prolonged timeline means continued reliance on the older plant, which has served the community for generations. While the new plant promises improved treatment capacity and resilience, its delayed activation underscores the complexities of large-scale infrastructure projects — from design and construction challenges to regulatory approvals and operational transition.
City officials remain optimistic. "You never know what might be around the corner, but based on what we're seeing so far, I think that we're very confident in where we are at moving forward," Janzen said. The city expects the plant to be fully online between April and June 2027, barring further unforeseen delays.
The milestone comes as other major projects and services face scrutiny nationwide, from technology outages to cultural events and political debates. For Wichita, the focus remains on delivering safe, reliable water to its residents — a goal that is now closer, but not yet fully realized.
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