EPA orders big Chicago River cleanup
May 12, 2011

The EPA has ordered the state of Illinois to either upgrade water-quality standards for portions of the Chicago River in metropolitan Chicago, or stand aside as the agency imposes them under Federal Clean Water Act authority. The EPA indicates that it's going to expect the Chicago wastewater-treatment authority to start disinfecting the wastewater it discharges into the river, which is a step the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District has strongly opposed in the past, arguing that taxes would have to rise by about 15% in order to accommodate new treatment expectations. The EPA wants the river to be swimmable, and the MWRD says that's not the purpose of the river. Chicago is the only major metropolitan area where wastewater effluent isn't disinfected before discharge.

Though most communities have nothing close to the flows or treatment issues faced by Chicago, we can with a wide range of treatment and disinfection options, including chlorination tablets, gaseous chlorine, and ultraviolet disinfection. Please feel free to contact us with your questions.

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last revised May 2011