A $14 million expansion of Lincoln’s longtime program of turning waste into biosolids sold to farmers to use as fertilizer will allow the city to increase production of the cake-like substance by 25%, officials said Thursday.

City officials recently completed a three-year process to install equipment at the Northeast Water Recovery Facility, 7000 N. 70th St., that will allow it to convert Lincoln’s waste into the dry, nutrient-rich, soil-like fertilizer for crops.

The city has been doing that at the Theresa Street plant since 1992, a program that began as a cooperative venture between the city, county and University of Nebraska Extension.