As finishing touches are completed on the modernization of Waukegan’s nearly century-old water plant early next year, upping potential output nearly 150%, Mayor Sam Cunningham’s goal of generating additional revenue through the sale of water to more nearby communities is closer to reality.
Now pumping 10 million gallons of water daily, Antonio Dominguez, the city’s director of water utility, said capacity will grow to 24 million gallons a day. Cunningham said work will soon begin upgrading the infrastructure to deliver the increased amount.
Though it may still be two to three years before residents of places like Antioch are able to drink Lake Michigan water pumped through Waukegan from their faucets, the necessary capacity will soon be added.
“People in communities to the west will be able to have Great Lakes water from Lake Michigan pumped from Waukegan,” Cunningham said. “This process was started in 2017 to send water out west at a reasonable rate per gallon.”
Dominguez gave a report on the most recent improvements to the water plant to members of the Waukegan City Council on Oct. 20 at City Hall, letting them know about the filtration and other work done to make the increased capacity possible.
First started six years ago, Dominguez said between $25 million and $30 million has been spent so far on modernizing and upgrading the plant. The current effort over the past two years to improve filtration is approximately $3.9 million. It was a key component.
“The filtration is what enables us to pump the 24 million gallons a day,” Dominguez said Thursday. “We had to get the approval of the IEPA to increase our rate to 24 million,” he added, referring to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Along with the filtration, Dominguez said an emergency interconnect with North Chicago was installed. If one of the cities has a problem with its plant or delivering water to residents, the other municipality will be able to provide it. All the work should be done by the end of March.
“Some minor equipment still needs to be installed,” he said, referring to the necessary finishing touches.
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Currently serving 22,000 customers as well as the city’s needs, Cunningham said current revenue from sales is approximately $17 million a year. Along with Waukegan, the city sells water to Park City, Green Oaks, Beach Park and a nearby subdivision.
Before water can be sold to additional communities, he said, the infrastructure must be built to handle the distribution. Water flow must be continuous, rather than going from point to point. It is called looping. An additional substation is needed, as well as a new water tower.
“We’re about to get started on the engineering and design work,” Cunningham said, “We’ll need about two to three years before it’s complete. To sell water to (places to the) west like Antioch, we’ll have to add lines which means cooperation and collaboration with a lot of communities.”
Once water is pumped out of Lake Michigan, Dominguez said, it goes into a container on the grounds of the plant and then into the plant itself, where it goes through the filters and is purified for drinking.
From inside the plant, Dominguez said the water goes into a reservoir on the grounds of the facility and then into storage tanks before it goes into the pipes which bring it to homes, businesses and other customers.