The West Hickman Wastewater Treatment Plant began operating in 1972 on a 269-acre site located south of Fayette County.
As Lexington’s population increased, especially in Fayette County’s south end, so did the need for additional wastewater treatment. In the early 1980s, the plant was expanded to increase its capacity threefold, and ten years later, Lexington completed another expansion of the plant along West Hickman Creek, which increased its capacity to more than 22 million gallons a day.
The plant was upgraded and expanded again in 2001, to handle 33.8 million gallons daily with a peak capacity of 64 million gallons per day. Additional upgrades are being implemented at this plant as a part of Lexington’s Consent Decree obligations.
Current projects
- An 18 million gallon wet weather storage tank is currently under construction. This tank will hold untreated sewage and extra rainwater that leaks into the sewer during storms until the plant can treat it. West Hickman's first wet weather storage tank was completed in 2019.