The City of Oak Ridge broke ground Wednesday on its new water treatment plant, which could cost $78.3 million.

The new plant will use a technology known as ultrafiltration membranes, a type of purification that uses very fine membranes. It will be along the Clinch River at the city’s water intake off Pumphouse Road south of Bethel Valley Road.

“This plant provides every drop of water to our 31,000 residents from Elza Gate on the east, to the Preserve on the west, and to all (U.S. Department of Energy) facilities, most notably Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, which will soon include the new Uranium Processing Facility,” said Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch. “Our new plant will produce high-quality drinking water and deliver it through new pipelines more reliably and efficiently than current operations.”