Committing to Environmental Stewardship

At the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District, we consider ourselves environmental stewards.

We have a responsibility to keep the Kishwaukee River and surrounding environment clean, and we take that responsibility seriously. But that is just the start. The District is actively pursuing green initiatives as part of our commitment to being responsible global citizens.

Energy Neutrality

Energy is a major consideration for wastewater treatment plants. It takes a lot of electricity to keep all our equipment operating 24/7, making energy consumption our second-largest expense after payroll. We've made energy efficiency a key component of the way we do business.

Now the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District is going beyond energy efficiency. We're striving to be energy neutral. We're already on our way, with most of our plant's electricity provided by generators that are fueled by the wastewater treatment process. READ MORE ABOUT OUR ENERGY INITIATIVES

Watershed Stewardship

A watershed is a geographic area in which all surface and groundwater collects into a common drainage point. Essentially, a watershed is like a funnel, channeling all the water from the area into a specific lake, river, or other body of water. Watersheds are critical to the health of the environment. They impact vegetation, wildlife, climate, the water table, and groundwater recharge.

KWRD is proud to partner with others in the community to take part in the Upper South Branch Kishwaukee River Watershed Improvements Plan developed by the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District. Through this plan, we will teach people about watershed issues, protect and manage our watershed, improve habitats for fish and wildlife, improve the quality of surface water, encourage soil conservation and responsible agriculture, protect groundwater, and manage and mitigate flooding. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WATERSHED

Pollution Prevention

The purpose of the KWRD is to prevent the discharge of sewage, chemicals, and other dangerous pollutants into the environment.

We monitor the quality of the wastewater coming into our plant. Our treatment processes clean the water until it is safe to be discharged into the Kishwaukee River. We follow rigorous treatment and testing procedures to make sure only clean, safe water is discharged from our plant. Some of the materials our process removes include plastic, wood, paper, grease, suspended solids, biowaste, dissolved pollutants from decomposing matter, phosphorus, nitrogen, ammonia, heavy metals, organic chemicals, and disease-causing microorganisms.

We also protect the river from industrial chemicals, monitoring the discharge from local industries and requiring pretreatment if their effluent contains higher levels of pollutants than permitted.