Public Works

We are pleased to report to you that the drinking water supplied by the Cairo Public Works Department is safe. The City of Cairo regularly reports information about where the water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to standards set by regulatory agencies. Your water department is committed to providing clean, safe, and reliable drinking water for all to use.

The City of Cairo WPCP was built in 1938.  It was upgraded in 1954, 1972, and most recently in 2006. The plant was upgraded to three million gallons per day (MGD) plant with the capacity of up to five MGD.  The upgrades included new mechanical headworks, an Orbal system, redesigned existing clarifiers, disk filters, and a UV disinfection system.  The headworks, where the water enters the plant consists of a grinder and auger system for the removal of trash and rags from the water. The water is then pumped by three influent submersible pumps to the Orbal system. The Orbal consists of three channels for the treatment of wastewater; the water leaves the Orbal and travels to two secondary clarifiers where the water is separated from the solids, leaving just the clear water which is called effluent. The effluent leaves the clarifiers and travels to the disk filters for filtration and on to the UV disinfection system. The effluent leaves the disinfection process and travels on to the cascade which consists of concrete steps where the water passes over them. As the water passes over the steps, this incorporates more dissolved oxygen into the water before being discharged to Parker’s Mill Creek. The solids are removed through a sludge press.  The solids are then transported to the landfill for burial.