Lockport Well No. 14 Drilling & Iron Filtration Facility project received the American Public Works Association Public Works Project of the Year Award for the environment category, less than $5 million, for the Southwest Branch in Illinois.

About the Project:

This project included the design of a new iron filtration water treatment facility that began in response to high concentrations of iron found in the City of Lockport’s Well No. 9. A month prior to advertisement of the Well No. 9 project, infiltration of sand and gravel into the well through the bottom of the well casing caused the well pump to fail. After bids for the filtration facility were received, it was confirmed that it would be uneconomical to salvage the well casing and, thus, Well No. 9 was abandoned. Concurrently, environmental research done for a Tollway project through the city indicated that groundwater was critical to the survival of several local endangered insect and plant species and, thus, much of the city was restricted from the introduction of any new water supply wells. The City had now lost the use of almost half of its water supply; it had to act fast, and in an environmentally conscious way. It was decided that a new well, Well No. 14, would be constructed on the site of Well No. 9. Well No. 14 was completed on time and within budget, and is providing the City with the desperately needed clean water supply to meet the demands of a growing city.