The Waukegan Water Plant, situated along the shore of Lake Michigan, first opened in 1928 when Waukegan, IL, was home to around 25,000 residents. Since then, the exterior has provided a sense of history to the community, displaying the then emerging Art Deco movement through its architectural elements.

However, as the City’s population has grown to almost 90,000, the plant’s inner workings desperately needed modernization in order to maintain its viability. CMT responded with an innovative, holistic approach that included the use of a hydraulic model of the City’s water system to optimally size the high service pumps to serve the needs of the community.

A typical approach to improving pump stations is to replace the aging pumps with more efficient pumps of similar size. After studying the unique conditions at the Waukegan plant and the water system, the engineers determined that even greater efficiency could be achieved by replacing the two existing large pumps with six smaller pumps that operate more efficiently. This solution allows the City more operational flexibility, while also simplifying the process of making repairs and implementing upgrades in the future.

With these improvements, the City of Waukegan was able to demonstrate its continued commitment to providing its residents with a reliable source of quality drinking water.