EEI Recognized with Awards for Elburn's Wastewater Treatment Facility Modernization Improvements

The Village of Elburn and Engineering Enterprises, Inc. (EEI) accepted the American Public Works Association (APWA), Fox Valley Branch (FVB) Project of the Year Award in the Environmental category for $5 million but less than $25 million. The award was accepted at a luncheon held on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at Two Brothers Brewing Company in Aurora, Illinois. (APWA FVB Awards 1-10-17 Picture Attached: Left to Right Front Row – David Burroughs, EEI; Bob Mitchard, APWA; John Nevenhoven, Village of Elburn; David Anderson, Village of Elburn; John Wartenbe, Village of Elburn; Chris Walton, EEI; Steve Dennison, EEI; Jeff Freeman, EEI; Left to Right Back Row – Dave Stewart, EEI; Tracy Knapp, Whittaker Construction and Excavating; Kevin Bomstad, Whittaker Construction and Excavating). The project was also awarded the Chicago Metro Chapter (CMC) Project of the Year Award on Friday, March 17, 2017 at the Medinah Shriners Facility in Addison, Illinois.

After 30+ years of service with only minimal improvements to the facility, it was time for the Village of Elburn Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) to be modernized. Not only were some components beyond their useful life, the Village’s headworks and raw sewage pump station were wholly inadequate. Due to undersized secondary clarifiers, the Village had exceeded their total suspended solids effluent limit eleven times in four years. A combination of installing a new Headworks and Raw Sewage Pump Station and expanding secondary clarification and aerobic digestion, along with repurposing some structures and upgrading others, allowed for a cost-effective modernization.

Proactive planning by the Village allowed them to be one of the first WWTF’s in Illinois to meet newly adopted nutrient reporting standards. A strong partnership between the Village, Engineer and Contractor made for an efficient construction project that included 25,000 hours of labor with zero lost time incidents.