Tellico Area Services System broke ground on a $27 million expansion of its water treatment facilities in Vonore, a project that will increase the utility's treatment capacity by about 45% and lean on a federal grant described as the largest in the agency's history. The new plant is designed to handle 10 million gallons of water a day, compared with the current facility's 6.9 million gallons per day, which already strains toward its limit several times a month.
According to The Daily Times, TASS says it began the expansion on Oct. 13, 2026, though WATE 6 On Your Side reports construction actually started Aug. 15 after the utility secured a $5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration — the two outlets differ on the start date. The grant, WATE reports, is the largest federal award the utility has ever received, and TASS plans to cover the rest of the cost through bonds, grant money, and cash reserves.
A Plant Built for Growth, Not Just Replacement
The new facility will use state-of-the-art ceramic membrane filtration and can be upgraded to 15 million gallons per day without additional construction as demand grows, per the seed reporting from The Daily Times. TASS Superintendent Mark Clinton said the utility tries to upgrade its equipment roughly every 20 years, and its last major overhaul came in the 2000s — the current plant, which opened in 1977, now treats about 4.75 million gallons on an average day while drawing surface water from Tellico Lake.
The timeline for finishing the work is also described differently across the available reporting. The Daily Times says TASS expects the work to finish sometime between April and June 2028, while WATE reports construction is expected to take about 600 days, putting completion around April 2028. Either way, the region's water needs aren't waiting: TASS operates across Blount, Monroe, and Loudon counties, serving roughly 6,000 retail customers directly while selling about 60 percent of its water production wholesale to utilities including Friendsville, Madisonville, and Sweetwater, running some 267 miles of water mains to get it there.
No Rate Hikes, Officials Say — For Now
Clinton said water rates will not increase this year or next year, attributing the funding breakthrough to Loudon County economic development representatives who helped the utility land the grant. Separately, the EDA has said the award supports business growth in the region following severe storms in 2024, with the money drawn from U.S. Department of Commerce funds set aside for disaster-impacted areas, according to the agency's own account cited in the seed reporting.
Loudon County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony alongside state Sen. Tom Hatcher and state Rep. Lowell Russell, told The Daily Times that infrastructure development like the new treatment plant is essential to meeting regional growth, noting that Loudon County has grown significantly in recent years. Bradshaw described TASS as a template for how intergovernmental agencies should work, a notable statement given that Loudon County government oversees the utility jointly with Monroe County. Representatives from the offices of Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Tim Burchett, and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann also attended the ceremony.
Hatcher praised the utility staff's ability to secure the EDA grant funding and said that kind of support helps avoid impact to local water rates. He added that the TASS board seeks utility upgrades that serve the community and ensure customers receive value for what they pay. Clinton, for his part, said the new plant will let the system serve the region with more advanced technology once it's online.
Part of a Statewide Push to Expand Capacity
The Vonore project isn't happening in isolation. Loudon County experienced a 24% population increase over the past decade, making it one of Tennessee's fastest-growing counties, according to the Loudon County Planning and Codes Enforcement office, and population projections point to continued growth. The TASS expansion has reportedly been in development for more than 18 months to meet rising water demand across Monroe and Loudon counties, per WATE's reporting.
Other Tennessee utilities have moved on similar timelines this year. Cookeville officials celebrated the ribbon cutting on a $25 million water plant expansion over the summer, according to the Herald-Citizen, while Gallatin Public Utilities began a $17 million water treatment upgrade in August, as reported by WSMV. For Vonore and the surrounding counties, the new ceramic-membrane plant represents the latest bet that the region's water infrastructure can keep pace with a population that shows no signs of slowing down.
