
Rochelle Municipal Utilities is pleased to announce that the newest tool in removing radium from Rochelle water is now officially online.
In the Spring of 2016, RMU received notice that Well 11, located near RTHS, had exceeded allowable contaminant levels of radium. To stay within the state statutes, the City subsequently entered into a compliance commitment agreement with the IEPA and adopted a timeline of events to return the well to compliance. Additional testing was completed on the well and ultimately it was taken offline until a radium removal facility could be built at that location.
This $3.23million project was over two years in the making. Thanks to the IEPA’s low interest loan program, the Utility’s obligation to pay back the funds borrowed for the project will be derived from water revenues.
“This filter plant going online demonstrates Rochelle’s commitment to providing the highest quality water to our customers at an affordable cost,” said Adam Lanning, RMU Superintendent of Water and Water Reclamation.
Radium is an ongoing issue in Rochelle. In the past year, the Utility has also dealt with radium in Well 12 on Hayes Road. Bringing Well 11 back online gave us the capacity to take Well 12 offline. Earlier this year, the City of Rochelle contracted with Illinois State University to conduct a research study to evaluate the groundwater in our area.
“I commend Adam Lanning and his staff for taking swift action to correct the radium issue at Well 11 and for going a step further in researching the problem as a whole in our area,” said Jeff Fiegenschuh, Rochelle City Manager.