Funded in part by bigger sewer bills, DuPage to improve wastewater treatment plants
DuPage County's public works department is moving ahead with a plan to spend $118.5 million during the next two decades on capital improvements, mostly projects to upgrade three water treatment facilities and keep them in compliance with state and federal regulations.
The department will use reserve cash and low-interest loans from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to pay for the initial projects. Meanwhile, a series of sewer rate increases in each of the next four years will generate enough revenue to repay the loans and fund future work.
"We're planning for the future so we can be proactive instead of reactive," said county board member Jim Healy, who serves as chairman of DuPage's public works committee.
DuPage's three wastewater treatment facilities - Woodridge-Greene Valley near Woodridge, Knollwood near Burr Ridge, and Nordic near Itasca - are decades old. For example, the current Woodridge-Greene Valley plant was constructed in 1983 and expanded in 1986.
While the facilities are well-maintained and in full compliance with regulations, Healy said, the county hired a consultant two years ago to evaluate the plants. The capital improvement plan is the result of that assessment.
"This is a 20-year look ahead," Healy said of the plan. "We are taking action to keep the plants up and running - and meet the new EPA requirements for the future.
"We pretty much know what's coming. So by acting now, we don't have to react later when they (EPA officials) say we need to make these changes."
Each individual project in the plan must be approved by the county board before work can start.
The first project that's expected to happen is a reconstruction of the Nordic plant, which was last upgraded in the 1980s. The work is anticipated to start in 2020 and cost an estimated $8.5 million.
Then in 2021, officials plan to spend an estimated $10 million to $12 million to improve the electrical system at Woodridge-Greene Valley. The goal of the project will be to increase the reliability of the electrical system so it can support future upgrades at the plant.
Last week, DuPage board members authorized the county to seek up to $40 million in low-interest loans from the IEPA to help pay for the treatment plant upgrades and other improvements. Annual sewer rate increases between now and 2022 will generate enough money to repay the loans and fund future projects.
The county provides sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment services to roughly 38,000 houses and businesses in or near Burr Ridge, Darien, Glendale Heights, Itasca, Lisle, Naperville, Wheaton, Willowbrook and Woodridge.
Because of the rate hikes, the average user's sewer bill will increase by about 6 percent per year over the next four years, officials said. The first increase is slated to take effect March 1.
Currently, the average sewer customer pays the county $69.46 every two months. By 2022, that customer is expected to pay $87.76 every two months for sewer service.
"Once this project is over," Healy said, "they will still be paying some of the lowest sewer rates in the metropolitan area."