Belleville aldermen approve $21 million sewer project

The Belleville City Council on Monday approved a $21.89 million contract as part of the ongoing project to upgrade the city’s sewer system.

The main item

Haier Plumbing and Heating of Okawville was the low bidder for phase 3 of the overhaul of the city’s sewer system.

The upgrades have been deemed necessary to meet federal Environmental Protection Agency requirements to modernize the sewer system and prevent waste water from entering area creeks. The city reached an agreement with environmental authorities in 2007 and the work will take longer than the original deadline of 2024.

In December 2013, the city raised sewer rates to pay for the improvements, which will cost an estimated $127 million in eight phases.

Royce Carlisle, director of waste water plants and sewer lines for the city, said Haier will construct a large pump station that can handle up to 100 million gallons a day.

A “ combined sewer” is a pipe that handles street runoff and sanitary flow during heavy rainstorms and it has an “overflow” that discharges the excess storm water and waste water into creeks. Carlisle said this project will take four combined sewer overflows off the city’s system and direct the overflow to the city’s treatment plants off Illinois 15.

They said it

“It’s no secret. We’re a 200-year-old city, we’ve got old sewers,” Mayor Mark Eckert said. “We’ve made some tough decisions on this council over the years. We increased rates for a number of years to come.”

“It’s tough. I hate it but I also hate the fact” that residents have sewer backups into their homes, Eckert said. “I knew that we were doing the right thing, people don’t deserve this.”

The next meeting

When: 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3

Where: Belleville City Hall, 101 S. Illinois St.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 7:14 AM with the headline "Belleville aldermen approve $21 million sewer project."