TUPPERS PLAINS — Tuppers Plains Regional Sewer District has received a grant through the federal economic stimulus program and loan funds to upgrade its 15 year-old sewer system.

The district will use the funds to install a new building to house its pumping system, new plumbing and a tractor and truck.

The local project is one of 41 to receive a portion of $51.8 million for water quality improvement announced Thursday by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Projects like the TPRSD project are funded through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act subsidies, matched with low-interest loans. Funding structures including the Water Supply Revolving Loan Account for drinking water projects and the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund for water pollution control projects, including the Tuppers Plains project.

The district will use a $150,278 ARRA subsidy and an interest-free loan of $50,278 to repair its sewer lagoons, replace a pump house with a new weather-proof building, install new valves, a primer and lagoon gauges, and purchase a new tractor and work truck for district use.

According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the WPCLF, from which the Tuppers Plains grant will be paid, will receive $220.6 million in ARRA funding and $730 million from other sources. The funding will provide more than $950 million for water quality improvement projects to stimulate the Ohio economy. When compared to market loan rates, the combination of stimulus grants and low-interest WPCLF loans are expected to save communities in Ohio $569 million in financing costs over 20 years.