In service since 1963, the Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) was the nation's first major tertiary wastewater treatment facility. It cleans an average of 12 million gallons of water per day (mgd) with a design capacity of 22 mgd and removes 98 percent of the contaminants. The plant’s outstanding performance has been recognized for several achievements, including as the "Best Operated Plant of the Year" in the state of Illinois, presented by the Illinois Association of Water Pollution Control Operators and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Water entering Hanover Park WRP passes through coarse screens to filter out large debris, followed by pumping and primary settling, which includes further screening, grit removal and separation of solids from the water in which aerated grit tanks and settling tanks remove fats and oils. In secondary treatment, microorganisms remove organic material from the water as oxygen is pumped into aeration tanks. Solids then settle at the bottom and clean water flows out the top of additional settling tanks.

After passing through primary and secondary treatment, the treated water at Hanover Park passes through sand filters and is then disinfected using chlorination and de-chlorination. Clean water that has passed through the Hanover Park WRP treatment processes is released from the Hanover Park WRP into the DuPage River. It only takes 12 hours for wastewater to be converted from raw sewage to clean water. The same transformation would require several weeks in a natural waterway.

The Hanover Park WRP serves more than 56,000 residents within an 11.2 mile area covering northwestern Cook County communities, including Hanover Park, Bartlett, Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates. In 1969, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago purchased the Fischer Farm (200 acres adjacent to the Hanover Park WRP) and built the Upper DuPage reservoir which holds approximately 75 million gallons of stormwater overflow.

The farmland also includes 100 usable acres for growing corn, oats and soybeans. Solids produced at the Hanover Park WRP are recycled as soil conditioner for the farm fields. The harvested corn and soybeans are used for feedstock, ethanol and biodiesel. The MWRD is planning to develop part of the site at Fischer Farm for additional native plant production and implementing a Native Prairie Landscape by utilizing existing growing media currently produced as a composted byproduct of the water treatment process from the MWRD’s Lawndale Avenue Solids Management Area in Willow Springs. Plans also call for eight-acres to be developed into a tree nursery, new facilities such as a greenhouse, an outdoor gathering space, educational opportunities, trails through restored areas and streambank restoration among other elements. Approximately 2,200 native trees, shrubs and plants grown at the new tree nursery are sought to replenish the canopy that over the last few years was lost due to the emerald ash borer and other pests.

The resulting biosolids that are recovered from the water treatment process are a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers containing essential plant nutrients that stimulate plant growth and improve soil tilth. The Hanover WRP produces 1,000 dry tons of biosolids each year. In 2014, the MWRD began a biosolids composting program where processed biosolids are mixed with wood chips to produce a high quality compost product. New legislation signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2015 amended the Environmental Protection Act to recognize the exceptional quality biosolids that the MWRD produces as a resource and not a waste, making this recovered resource more accessible to the public. The law helps cement the MWRD’s biosolids program, which has received acclaim from farmers, golf course managers, landscapers, municipalities, park districts and homeowners who use them. It also gives additional traction to the MWRD’s Hanover Park WRP Fischer Farm site, as a potentially excellent home to a future tree nursery.

To learn more about Hanover Park WRP, visit here.

Fischer Farm site at Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant

National Association of Clean Water Agencies
2018	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2017	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2016	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2015	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2014	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2013	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2012	Platinum Award for 100% Compliance for more than 5 years with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2011	Gold Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2010	Gold Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2009	Gold Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2008	Gold Award for 100% Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.
2007	Silver Award for 99.9% with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Effluent Standards.