The estimated cost of replacing the damaged clarifier at the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant on Rifle Range Road is $1.95 million.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. released the estimate at Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said after the meeting the estimate is based on the city using the pilings that originally supported the clarifier, and does not include the engineering to install the new clarifier. Replacing the pilings, he said, would cost an additional estimated $65,000. A company has not been hired for the work.

The clarifier, which is used in the wastewater treatment process, was forced out of the ground Feb. 12 by water from an unknown source that pushed the 20-foot deep, 100-foot diameter pool from its pilings and burst several pipes under it, including a 30-inch water line.

The board Feb. 25 authorized contractor JS Haren, which was upgrading the clarifier when it popped up, to plug a ruptured 30-inch water line and repair other lines broken when the clarifier popped out the ground at a cost of $31,990 to remove water under the clarifier so it could be examined by engineers.

“We hope it will stay around $2 million,” Flaggs said. “It’s (the replacement) something we’ve got to do. It’s one of those items we don’t have any choice over if we are going to continue to provide services to the citizens of Vicksburg.”

He said City Attorney Nancy Thomas is examining potential sources of emergency grants and low-interest loans to fund replacing the clarifier.

“The last thing we want is a high ticket interest rate,” he said.