MWRD to host groundbreaking ceremony at Skokie water reclamation plant

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WHO: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) commissioners and staff and local leaders

WHAT: MWRD will start construction on new infrastructure to improve water quality

WHERE: Terrence J. O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant, 3500 W. Howard St., Skokie, Ill.

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at 11 a.m.

The MWRD will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the Battery E project at the O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8. As the O'Brien WRP approaches its 100th anniversary in 2028, the project will address aging infrastructure while helping the MWRD meet increasingly stringent water quality requirements.

Known as Battery E, the nearly $400 million investment will include new tanks, infrastructure, equipment and other process improvements to be constructed over four years. The project will allow the MWRD to remove phosphorus through a biological process that helps protect downstream water quality and meets stringent permits for phosphorus. Adding this fifth battery will also allow the MWRD to complete extensive upgrades throughout the plant's other four batteries.

Excess phosphorus discharged to waterways can cause algae to grow and bloom, creating harmful conditions that deplete oxygen in the water, threaten aquatic life and limit recreational enjoyment of water bodies.

Among those expected to attend are MWRD President Kari K. Steele, state and local leaders from Skokie and Evanston and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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