ROCHELLE – Rochelle City officials gathered Tuesday morning at the wastewater treatment plant to mark the completion of a nearly $12 million phase of upgrades aimed at improving treatment capacity and preparing for future state environmental rules. The project, which began in 2024, included conversion to biological phosphorus removal, upgrades to filtration systems, and improvements to lagoons used during heavy rain and high flow events, increasing capacity by about 1 million gallons per day. Rochelle Municipal Utilities Superintendent of Water and Water Reclamation Adam Lanning said the work is part of a larger upgrade plan
“So in total, this 2nd phase was around $12 million with design. The 3rd phase, which is more the final phase of our upgrades, is to add chemical phosphorus removal. It’s only projected at around $2 million total project. But that should conclude the upgrades we need to meet the regulations that we need to maintain in the next 10 years,” Lanning said Tuesday.
The event concluded with a ribbon cutting.