ILLINOIS POLLUTION

CONTROL BOARD

August 15,

1972

)

CITY OF

EVANSTON

)

)

v.

)

P~B72-108

)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

)

VILLAGE OF

KENILWORTH

)

)

v.

)

PCB 72-82

)

ENVmONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY

)

)

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr.

Dumelle)

These

two petitions

embrace

a common topic and request

variances

from

the flhinois

Sanitary

Water Board Water

Quality

Standards

SWB-7

and more

recently under

the Water

Pollution

Control Regulations

effective April

18,

1972.

Under those

regulations

the petitioners

were

required to discontinue their

dis-

charges

of water plant

wastes

Into

Lake

Michigan by

July,

1972.

CITY OF

EVANSTON

The Evanston water treatment

plant

is located on the shore of Lake

Michigan

near the northeast

corner of the City and processes

lake water for the

consumption

of approximately

150, 000 residents

in Evanston

and Skokie,

minois.

Total water

treated

by the plant

is

approximately

9.4 billion

gallons per year with an

average

of about

25

million gallons per

day being processed.

As a part of normal plant

operation the rapid

sand filters

must periodically

be back-washed

to remove accumulated

solids

from the filter

surfaces

and this

waste water historically

has been discharged

to the Lake.

It is

also necessary

to wash accumulated

sludge

from the four water plant

settling basins

In the

spring

and fall of each year

and this

material

has also

been discharged to the Lake.

The City proposes that

it plug the

existing outfall

pipes

and divert the flow

of filter back-wash

water

to a new concrete balancing tank.

This

water will then

be pumped at a uniform rate back into the plant

for re-processing

along with

‘45

---

~ning

raw water,

Sludge

washed from the settling

basins will

be pumped

tt~

~i

a

new

connection to

the Evanston

sewer

system

and will

then

be

processed

b~the

lVletropolitan

Sanitary

District

of Greater

Chicago

(MSDGC)

treatment

facilities.

The

expected

completion

date for

the

new facilities

is

December

31,

1972,

VILLAGE

OF KENILWORTH

The Keniiworth

water plant

also

discharges

its

filter

wash water

and

settling

basin

sludge

into

Lake

Michigan,

The Village

proposes

to

divert

those

wastes

to

the

Metropolitan

Sanitary District

system by

December

31,

1972,

The

filter

wash water

amounts

to

about

5, 000, 000

gallons per

year

and the semi-

annual

cleaning of

the

sedimentation

basin

causes

around 400,

000

gallons of

waste

water per

year.

The total

quantity of solids,

on

a

dry basis,

is

about

20,

000

pounds

per year,

The

concentration

of

solids

in

the wash water

is

low

and

it

is anticipated

that

this water

can be

recirculated

to

the

sedimenta-

tion basins,

leaving

only

the

wastewater

associated with

basin

cleaning

of which

to

be

disposed.

DISCUSSION

The

Agency has

recommended that

both requests

for variance

be granted.

The Agency notes that

both projects

could

have been

completed

earlier

but indicates

that

to

deny relief

at this

point

would

not be

a

satisfactory

solution to either pro-

blem

since

the delay in compliance

was

not intentional

but

rather

was

caused by

the

petitioners~good faith belief

that further

progress

could

not

be accomplished

without

a

reaction

and

response from

MSDGC on the proposals~

We

agree with the

Agency

recommendation

and will

grant

the

variances

to

December

31,

1972,

According

to

the

reported effluent

levels,

these

two

projects

will

eliminate

a total

of around

181

million

gallons

of wastewater

and

923 tons

of

solids

from

the

Lake

annually.

We

encourage this

progress,

This opinion

con~titutesthe

Board~sfindings

of fact

and

conclusions

of law,

ORDER

The variances

are hereby

granted until

December

31,

1972,

upon the

following

conditions:

1,

The

City of Evanston

shall

post

an

individual

performance

bond

---

—3—

in

the

amount

of

$10, 000.

2,

The

Village

of

Kenilworth

shall

post

an

individual

performance

bond

in

the

amount

of

$3, 000.

3,

Both

petitioners

shall

submit

monthly

progress

reports

to

the

Agency

setting

forth

the

stages

of

completion

of their

respective

projects.

I,

Christan

L.

Moffett,

Clerk

of

the

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board,

hereby

certify

the

above

Opinion

and Order

was

adopted

on

the

/~

~1ay

of

August,

1972

by

a vote

of

~

_____

Christan

L.

Moffett,

rk

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

5

—

147