Sanitary Sewer Utility

The first sewers and a basic wastewater treatment plant was first installed in 1921. The treatment plant was later upgraded and expanded in 1951 to handle meet the needs of the growing community. The plant was rebuilt in 1981, providing the Village with then state-of-the-art treatment and expanded capacity. Since then, additional upgrades allowed the facility to meet additional treatment requirements. Today, the treatment plant can treat an average flow of 1.5 million gallons per day, with a peak flow of 3.75 million gallons per day. The treatment plant continues to be improved, for better efficiency and control the long-term wastewater treatment costs. The initial plan was to perform another major upgrade in 2010. However, the strained economy made this an unacceptable option. Under the new utility organization, the staff has replaced inefficient equipment as it fails. The Village can buy the equipment at a lower cost and use existing staff whenever possible to install it.

Sanitary Sewer System

The wastewater flows from homes, businesses, and industries through a series of sewers located throughout the Village. The sewers are designed to carry the wastewater from all of these places to the Village’s wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater generally flows through the sewers by gravity. The slope of the pipes allows this efficient process to convey the wastewater to the treatment plant. When gravity flow will not work, the Village has lift stations that pump the wastewater to a point in the gravity sewers where the wastewater will flow by gravity again. The Village’s utility staff began to clean the sanitary sewers in 2010, as part of the effort to control utility costs. Prior to that time, contractors had been used to perform the sewer cleaning. The sewers are sized to carry the wastewater, not rain water or ground water. The “clear water” can come from building drain tiles, sump pumps discharging to the sewer, or even some roof drains that might be connected to the sewer.

Clear Water Control

The Village residents can help to control a major element of rising utility costs. The clear water flowing into the sewers can cause sewer back-ups and/or flows that would exceed the treatment plant’s capacity. Those conditions could lead the the State mandating plant upgrades or sewer upgrades to prevent those problems. Those upgrades are expensive and preventable. You can help:

  • Make sure that your sump pump discharges outside, rather than into your basement sewer drain.
  • Turn-off the water in your house, when you don’t need it running. This saves you money AND helps to control flow to the treatment plant.