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Wheaton Sanitary District

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Wheaton Sanitary District’s Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) capacity is measured in millions of gallons per day (MGD). Wheaton states in their Virtual Plant Tour that the WWTP is designed to treat a dry weather flow of 8.9 MGD, a design maximum flow of 19.1 MGD and a peak wet weather flow of 45 MGD (WSD, 2015).
Wheaton Sanitary District meets its peak demand through the use of four "Archimedes type" screw pumps. Each pump lifts the wastewater up from the main interceptor sewers into the plant. Each screw pump is 6 feet in diameter and 40 feet long. They are driven by a 100 horsepower motor and have a capacity of 15 MGD. Normally demand flows can be maintained with only one screw pump in in operation for wastewater treatment. During …show more content…

For the first three months of 2015, the average MGD treated is almost on track with the overall average for 2012. The data increases may be attributed to population increases in the water district area along with increases in local precipitation.
With the WWTP being originally constructed in 1925, Wheaton Sanitary District has become surrounded by single family homes, so moving is no longer an option for the District. With the encroaching homes the need to keep odors and noise in control has remained a concern so Wheaton utilizes methane gas burners and bio-filters to remove odors prior to releasing to the environment. Wheaton is also concerned about any environmental impact that could occur so monitoring the effluent discharges and reclaimed water are tracked and reported to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency along with other environmental interest groups.
Equipment age is a constraint Wheaton’s is faced with and in 2014 increased user rates to offset the cost for replacing the Northside Interceptor, estimated at about $40 million dollars, along with some smaller capital improvement projects. Replacement of the Interceptor is necessary because portions were built in 1926 and 1963, and it is near the end of its useful life (WSD, 2015).
Another constraint noted is most of the lines are small with about 70% of the lines being less than 12 inches in diameter. Relative to age, about 45% of the lines are less

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