BARTLETT, IL — The Bittersweet Water Reclamation Facility Improvements project received a Public Works Project of the Year Award in the Environmental category from the American Public Works Association (APWA) Chicago Metro Chapter - Suburban Branch.
The facility, located in the Village of Bartlett, Illinois, was built in 1971. It required significant upgrades to address aging infrastructure, convoluted processes, and maintenance issues. With an average capacity of 3.7 million gallons per day (MGD) and a peak capacity of 15 MGD, the facility aimed to improve environmental sustainability, enhance effluent quality, increase wet-weather capacity to 20.5 MGD, and reduce energy use through automation and efficiency.
Key upgrades included replacing outdated grit removal and tertiary sand filters with advanced systems, converting aeration tanks for biological nutrient removal, and introducing ultraviolet light disinfection for forward and excess flow discharges. Aging second-stage treatment components were demolished, and existing structures were repurposed to optimize operations and reduce costs. To improve public perception, a native prairie mix was spread on newly graded areas to produce a neighborhood-friendly site.
The $35 million project, financed through low-interest loans and grants, reduced process complexity by 40 percent, making it a model for nutrient removal using sidestream-enhanced biological phosphorus removal/return activated sludge fermentation technology — one of Illinois’ first implementations.
