New Wastewater Treatment Plant
Lasalle, Illinois
The City of LaSalle needed a new wastewater treatment plant to serve an area poised for future residential and commercial growth, and selected CMT to provide project management and design services. A unique set of circumstances resulted in the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly solution also being the most cost-effective. By implementing technologies new to Illinois - such as a Vertical Loop Reactor®, a Membrane Bioreactor system and a Cannibal® Biosolids Destruction System - the plant produces the high quality effluent necessary to discharge into an adjacent protected 303(d) listed stream and avoided a costly 1.5-mile outfall pipe to a larger river. The project team worked with environmental groups to achieve a level of understanding that ultimately led them to endorse the project, even going so far as to write a letter to the Illinois EPA in support of a new NDPES permit.
A three-dimensional model using building information modeling (BIM) technology was created to help better visualize the design and how benefits would be realized. In comparison to traditional, two-dimensional drawings, it also facilitated a more efficient design and review process. This LEED-certified project was successful in fulfilling the client’s three goals of reducing costs, meeting future treatment needs, and being environmentally friendly.
