Mokena Board Approves Bid, Contracts For Wastewater Upgrades

Press release from the Village of Mokena:

Thanks to sound fiscal policy and long-term planning, necessary improvements to Mokena’s wastewater treatment plant located at 11400 W. 191st Street will soon be getting underway.

The plant, which has served the community well over the years, was constructed in 1987 and last received significant upgrades roughly twenty years ago.

At its February 22 meeting, the Mokena Village Board approved the low bid of Williams Brothers Construction, Inc., of Peoria in the amount of $9,280,000 to construct the improvements, which include updating and replacement of the treatment plant’s bar screen and grit chambers and retrofitting of the plant’s existing aeration basins to a biological phosphorus removal activated sludge process. A chemical phosphorus removal system will further be added to serve as a back-up to the biological process. Moreover, the plant’s four existing sand filters will be demolished (due to age and inefficiency) and replaced with cloth disc filters, and a new building will be constructed to provide sixty days of dewatered bio-solids storage on-site.

The modernizations are needed as part of a process to upgrade the plant’s current 2.5 million gallon per day capacity and comply with continuously evolving State environmental regulations. They will additionally permit the plant to be expanded in the future as may be necessitated by increasing wastewater volumes.

In conjunction with the Williams Brothers bid award, the Board additionally approved a contract Monday evening with Strand Associates of Joliet in the amount of $875,000 to provide construction-related services and an agreement with SEECO Construction Services, Inc. of Tinley Park in the sum of $24,807 to provide construction materials testing for the project.

Because Mokena elected officials and staff—past as well as present—have, over the years, planned for and set aside money for these upgrades, no increases in water or sewer rates will be required to pay for them.

This press release was produced by the Village of Mokena. The views expressed are the author's own.