Solving Kentucky Wastewater Infrastructure Challenges in Bullitt County

Louisville, Kentucky’s Metropolitan Sewer District, MSD is in the process of improving troubled Kentucky wastewater infrastructure in nearby Bullitt County.

In 2021, MSD acquired the Bullitt County, Kentucky wastewater infrastructure and facilities previously operated by the Bullitt County Sanitation District. At the time, Bullitt County’s wastewater infrastructure was overcapacity, needed updating, and was at risk of leaking waste into public water.

The acquisition was possible under a 2018 State of Kentucky law that granted utilities the ability to own assets outside of their originally chartered borders. As the MSD observes, Kentucky waterways make their way to the Ohio River, “meandering over county lines.”  The flexibility to problem-solve regionally rather than jurisdictionally potentially eliminates the duplication of administrative and operational costs in multiple counties within the same watershed.

MSD Executive Director Tony Parrott describes bringing Bullitt County, Kentucky’s wastewater infrastructure under the “MSD umbrella” as a key step to “allowing us to take a more strategic and holistic view at managing a regional watershed that doesn’t necessarily heed jurisdictional boundaries.”

Visionary Plan for Kentucky Wastewater Infrastructure

Through a 2021 agreement between the Bullitt County Sanitation District (BCSD) and Bullitt County Fiscal Court, MSD took ownership of the Bullitt County facilities, which serve 4,200 residential customers via eight small “package” wastewater treatment facilities.

Director Parrott explained, “We are making improvements that immediately impact the health and safety of Bullitt County waterways while also benefiting the entire region, supporting community growth and economic development.”

The project benefits from MSD management and operations, a capital improvement plan, and federal grants that are collectively helping to drive the work forward.

Learn more about other ways wastewater systems are being improved in the Southeastern US:

• SediVision Helps Wastewater Utility Directors and Managers
• 350 Tons of Material Removed from Basins in Central Florida