A $5 million project to revamp Coppell’s wastewater system will ensure the city is protected from future flooding events in years to come.

Coppell City Council approved a $645,538 design contract with Plummer Associates on Feb. 26 to design the updated lift station on Sandy Lake Road.

This station has serviced Coppell’s wastewater system since the 1970s and has “reached [the end of] its useful life,” according to the city.

The project’s scope will include adding new monitoring instruments, replacing odor control units, adding new flow meters and raising the lift station out of potential floodwater zones.

A 2015 flooding event threatened to compromise the station entirely, which would have made Coppell’s wastewater system inoperable until the floods subsided, according to the city.City staff expects the new lift station will take about 12 months to design and another 12 months to construct. Its lifespan will be between 30-40 years.