McCarthy Prioritizes Sustainability, Compliance, and Coordination on $70M Wastewater Project

McCarthy is leading a $70 million retrofit of the Kansas River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Lawrence, Kansas, the city’s largest and most critical treatment facility. The project focuses on sustainability, regulatory compliance, and long-term resilience by upgrading aging infrastructure, introducing advanced biological nutrient removal and UV disinfection systems, and enhancing monitoring with a new SCADA facility. Despite challenges of working in an active plant, McCarthy emphasizes careful coordination, modeling, and collaboration with the City of Lawrence and engineers. Delivered under the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) method, the project is on schedule, under budget, and positioned to extend the plant’s service life while improving efficiency and reducing chemical dependency.