Biosolids-To-Fertilizer Plant Planned for Cicero, Illinois

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Metropolitan Biosolids Management, LLC (Lyons, Illinois) plans a biosolids-to-fertilizer plant for Cicero, Illinois. Construction is estimated to begin March 2004 once final permits are obtained and should be completed early 2005.

The new plant will be constructed adjacent to the Stickney Water Works water treatment plant and will process over 200 tons per day of wet biosolids produced by the plant. Stickney Water Works is one of the largest water treatment plants in the world with a production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons per day. As part of the districts commitment to beneficially reuse biosolids, their dewatering capacities have been expanded to increase biosolids capacity from 300 dry tons per day to 450 dry tons per day.

After the biosolids have been converted into the end product (Exceptional Quality Class A biosolids) in the form of pellets, over 95% of the pellet's end products will be beneficially recycled. Biosolids are usually recycled as soil amendments and fertilizers and provides an economic advantage by avoiding costs for municipal generators as well as producing an environmentally friendly product.

Metropolitan Biosolids Management has signed a twenty-year O&M contract with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) (Chicago, Illinois) and private partner US Filter (Palm Desert, California), North America's largest water company. Total investment is estimated at $217 million to include $54.5 million for design-build and $6.4 million for annual O&M costs. This project will save the MWRD $77 million dollars over the next 20 years. $61 million of the savings will be derived from operational improvements and avoiding land disposal costs.