ROCHELLE — Rochelle Municipal Utilities officials announced Thursday that the new radium removal treatment plant on Hayes Road is now officially online.   

  The $3 million project was designed, permitted and constructed over a period of two years. This project also included 3,500 feet of 21” sewer line extension along Steward Road. Funding was possible thanks to the IEPA’s low interest loan program. Water revenues will be used to pay back the 20 year loan.  

In the past four years the city has made significant investments in our water system to stay in compliance with state statutes and the potable water guidelines. This is the second radium removal plant in town since radium was detected on these two wells.  

In the Spring of 2018, RMU received notice that Well 12, located near Steward Road, had exceeded allowable contaminant levels of radium.  Additional testing was completed on the well and ultimately it was taken offline until a radium removal facility could be built at that location.   

This radium removal treatment plant will treat the water supply from well 12 which pumps 1,400 gallons of water per minute and a total of 2 million gallons per day which is vital for the industries in the area. This new plant switched the existing well from chlorine gas to liquid chlorine making it safer for the employees and surrounding area.

It also uses an advanced instrumentation to continuously monitor water quality. In addition to removing radium, it is also designed to remove iron from the water supply.