PARIS – Though the Paris Utility District recently finished approximately $1.3 million in upgrades to part of its wastewater treatment plant, there is more work to come.

Steve Arnold, the district’s superintendent, said the first phase of the project focused on the headworks at the facility, which was built in 1975. The second phase will include upgrade work to the rest of the plant, including concrete work, piping, lighting, computer upgrades, heating system upgrades, and work on pump stations.

The town intends to submit an application on behalf of the district for a $500,000 community development grant to be used for the second phase of the project. A public hearing on the matter will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the town office.

In mid-November, the district completed work on the headworks, which remove debris from incoming wastewater so only organic material enters the treatment process. The upgrades included some structural work and painting as well as new equipment. In addition, a new computerized system was installed to regulate the machinery.

Arnold said the upgrades will lead to an electricity savings, because the equipment will no longer be run manually or when it is not necessary to do so.

“The units are not running half as much as they used to be,” he said.

Arnold said a computer system in the facility’s main building, which is used to gather information, will be updated to coordinate with the headworks system. In addition, the district is looking into installing a geothermal heating unit, utilizing the wastewater effluent, to reduce the facility’s fuel costs.

Arnold said the plant uses 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of heating oil annually, and a geothermal system may cut that amount by more than 80 percent.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to keep the rates where they are now,” said Arnold. “We want to keep costs down as low as we can.”

The majority of the district’s revenue comes from rate payers, of which there are approximately 1,217. In 2007, the district received $8 million toward the project from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, of which 45 percent is grant money and 55 percent is a loan.

Arnold estimated that the cost of the overall project will be $10 million to $10.5 million.

He said he hopes to go out to bid within the month and start interior work immediately, with exterior work to begin after the winter.

During the treatment process, organic materials are aerated to allow biological breakdown. Clarifiers settle out solid material, which is sent back through the system, while the water is disinfected with chlorine and discharged to the Little Androscoggin River.

Arnold said one portion of the plant was formerly used to treat waste from the A.C. Lawrence tannery. Part of the upgrade calls for bringing these areas back online for regular operations and converting the processing areas to stormwater overflow operations.