O'Fallon details $10 million RO upgrade, sludge changes and lift-station plans
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Summary
Public works staff reported on a $10 million reverse-osmosis upgrade (about 15% complete), multiple distribution and lift-station projects, sludge-dewatering improvements and a switch to landfill disposal that reduced costs compared with a $17 million RDP upgrade.
Sean, water and sewer project staff, briefed the board on a slate of water- and wastewater-projects including a major reverse-osmosis (RO) plant upgrade, distribution improvements and several sewer-plant rehabilitation efforts.
Sean said the RO reverse-osmosis project is the main water-plant upgrade under contract with CAMEX Construction, that the city preselected the RO vendor ByWater to allow tailored design, and that the project is roughly 15% complete with equipment deliveries expected later in the year. Sean described the RO upgrade as approximately a $10,000,000 project and said related pre-oxidation design work is beginning to address iron and manganese before filtration.
On distribution and wells, Sean said preconstruction has started for chemical-feed improvements at Wells 3 and 4 and that the Brookside Forest Water Main Extension is about 30% through design and budgeted for construction in 2027.
Wastewater updates included solids-handling and sludge-dewatering improvements, grit-system upgrades, odor-control replacement and clarifier rehabs planned on a two-year-per-clarifier cycle. Sean said the odor-control biosystem was bid and equipment is expected in mid-to-late summer; clarifier rehabs are budgeted for 2027.
On sludge management, Sean explained the city received DNR approval to move away from an RDP lime-pasteurization approach (a previously estimated $17,000,000 upgrade) and now sends dewatered sludge to Champ Landfill under contract. He said the change significantly reduced costs (lime purchases previously cost about $300,000 per year) and that dewatered cake moisture averages around 18–22% (roughly 20%). The city recently moved hauling in-house with a tractor-trailer system and plans to add a second tractor for redundancy.
Sean also noted several collection-system upgrades, lift-station actuator replacements and the need to upgrade the North Lift Station (originally built in 1970) since one pump has failed. He said work timing is coordinated so wells and plant downtimes allow RO installation.
No formal votes were taken on project approvals during the update; staff will continue procurement and construction activities per the project schedules.
