The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a one-time $485,000 Special Appropriation Act Program grant to the Village of Bartlett, Illinois, to help build a new pump station for connection to the DuPage Water Commission in order to purchase Lake Michigan drinking water.
Bartlett currently purchases sixty percent of its drinking water from the city of Elgin and the remainder from local wells, but in 2016 decided to purchase all of its future drinking water from DuPage County, ending the decades-long arrangement with Elgin. The contract with Elgin is set to expire in May 2019, after which Bartlett will become the 29th member of the DuPage Water Commission- the second largest water system in the state. The new arrangement will cost Bartlett roughly $43.3 million in infrastructure cost, and although residents’ monthly water bills will increase, village officials say joining the DuPage Water Commission brings about the reliability of Lake Michigan water. “The DuPage Water Commission has provided its members with a reliable water supply for many years,” said Village of Bartlett President Kevin Wallace. “This is a huge and much anticipated infrastructure improvement for the Village of Bartlett, and we look forward to being commission members and soon being able to deliver high quality, softened Lake Michigan water to all of our residents.”
““EPA is pleased to be able to fund this project to bring Lake Michigan water to Bartlett residents,” said Regional EPA Administrator Cathy Stepp. “Investments in water infrastructure are critical to ensuring safe drinking water for communities.”
The EPA grant was made available through the annual appropriations process, through which EPA is occasionally directed to provide funding to a specific entity for a particular study, purpose, or activity. In this case, funding was designated in 2009 for projects to improve drinking water infrastructure.
“President Trump has made updating our nation’s infrastructure a top priority, and this grant demonstrates EPA’s commitment to carrying out improvements,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These types of investments help grow the economy while solving real environmental problems in local communities.”
