Lake Michigan water project for Volo, Wauconda on schedule
Wet weather has been a nuisance, but the installation of 9 miles of pipes to bring Lake Michigan water to Wauconda and Volo is on schedule.
Work in recent months steadily has moved west along Peterson Road and crossed to the west side of Route 60 in Fremont Township. The segment is one of five to build the system that will bring Lake Michigan water from the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency to the two villages, known as the West Group.
A specific date for the arrival of Lake Michigan water in those towns has not been set, but it is expected to be flowing sometime in the fall.
More than $30 million has been budgeted for the project, although the actual cost could be about $25 million, according to Jeff White, project manager for the Lake Bluff-based water agency. That does not including millions in work the villages are undertaking to modify their systems to accept Lake Michigan water.
Getting the 24-inch-diameter pipe to nearby Chardon Road will complete another section of the project, White said.
"The line that is feeding Wauconda and Volo is branched off our booster pump station site in Libertyville," he said. The site is distinguished by three white standpipes off Route 45 near the Libertyville Sports Complex.
The next step will be extending pipe along Chardon Road to a point west of Fairfield Road, through a neighborhood and eventually to Gilmer Road, which will be Wauconda's water distribution point.
From there, a system of smaller-diameter pipes will feed water to Volo. The piping to carry water from Gilmer Road along Fish Lake Road to customers in Volo is complete.
The entire project is "pretty far along at this point," said Jonathan Meyer, Volo's director of operations. Last week, the village board approved a bid of $61,480 for a system to allow remote monitoring and control of its water distribution system.
Three methods of construction have been used, White said: open cut where the pipe is laid in a trench; jack and bore in which pits are dug on either side of a road, for example, and a hydraulic ram is used to auger the pipe through; and horizontal directional drilling for wetland or difficult areas in which a long, seamless segment of pipe is pulled through from one side to another.
"Part of the biggest hurdle was easement acquisitions, standardizing the route and finding the path of least resistance," White said. "It's been kind of an orchestrated effort so when water is available, these systems are ready" to handle it, he added.
This project - as well as extending Lake Michigan water to what is known as the North Group composed of Lake Villa, Lindenhurst and county systems in Fox Lake Hills and Grandwood Park - is the first major expansion for the water agency since it was formed in 1986 with nine members, including Lake County, to service 12 communities.
Grandwood Park and Lindenhurst connected in late 2017 and Lake Villa and Fox Lake Hills went online in February.
When complete, the expansions will add 22 miles to the original 32-mile distribution system, White said. Communities have sought the water as a better and more reliable source, as well supplies diminish or require additional treatment.