Illinois awards $21M for new wastewater collection, treatment systems

Illinois officials announced $21,046,025 in grants for six communities’ wastewater infrastructure Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA’s) Unsewered Communities Construction Grant Program (UCCGP).

The grants will allow underserved communities to construct dependable wastewater collection and treatment systems.

This is the second of five planned funding rounds for the UCCGP, which provides funding to areas where there are currently no wastewater collection and/or treatment facilities. Under the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, IEPA is making $100 million available over five years through grants for the construction of wastewater collection and/or treatment facilities for such communities.

Additionally, the UCCGP provides up to $1M annually in smaller scale grants to help communities develop construction plans for these types of projects. Recipients for 2021 and 2022 planning grants were previously announced.

"These grants will provide vital funding to communities that currently do not have the ability to properly and adequately collect and treat wastewater, which can result in negative impacts on the surrounding environment, public health concerns for residents, and a barrier for economic development," said IEPA Director John J. Kim. "These projects demonstrate what is possible when a community has the financial resources needed to address basic human-health needs."

Communities that are receiving UCCGP Grants include:

• The Village of Braceville will receive $4 million. With this grant, the village, a completely unsewered community, will be abandoning approximately 315 septic tanks. A low-pressure sanitary sewer collection system will be installed that will pump sewage to the wastewater treatment plant located in nearby Diamond.
• The Village of Buckley will receive $5 million. Another completely unsewered community, the Village of Buckley will be constructing a new sanitary sewer system that will include sanitary sewer, two pump stations, and sanitary sewer force main. All septic tanks will be abandoned as part of this project.
• The City of Grand Tower will receive $1,091,500. The city will be providing service to a currently unsewered area within the community. The project will install sanitary sewers, sanitary sewer force main, 16 utility maintenance holes, 15 service connections, and a pump station along Grand Tower Road and Route 3. This project will also include abandonment of existing septic tanks located at this location.
• The Village of Lisbon will receive $5 million. The village will extend sewer service to all 103 residences. The project will also include gravity sanitary sewer along with seven lift stations and force main. In addition, there will be two additional primary settling tanks and a tertiary treatment system constructed at the wastewater treatment plant.
• The Village of Rutland will receive $5 million. As another completely unsewered community, this project will connect 143 customers to the new collection system and treatment plant. The new sanitary sewer collection system will include two lift stations with stand-by power generators. The new treatment system will include an aerated lagoon with a third stage filter.
• The City of Streator will receive $954,525. The city will extend sewer service to the Liz Mar East Addition subdivision. This subdivision includes 16 residential homes. Due to a high-water table and pooling in many of the homeowners' yards, the septic tanks and leach fields are not able to operate properly. The project will extend sanitary sewer from an existing sanitary sewer main located on Main Street. The project will consist of sanitary sewer and eight sanitary utility maintenance holes. Connection of the service lines for each homeowner will also be covered by this grant.