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Water Pollution Control
Division
Contact Us
As population expands and becomes more
condensed, our quality of water becomes more threatened.
The rivers and lakes are exposed to pollutants, such as
human waste, faster than they could be cleaned through
natural means. To protect the environment, animal life,
and human health and lifestyles, a system was developed
and is constantly refined to assist the natural process to
reduce the strain on the earth's natural resources.
Moline’s Water Pollution Control Division
is dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of our
environment through continuing water improvement.
Efficient operation, excellent service, and compliance
with environmental standards are the measure of the
Division’s performance.
FAQs
Where does wastewater come from?
Wastewater comes from homes, and includes
human and household wastes from toilets, sinks, baths and
drains. It also comes from industries, schools and
business. This wastewater is collected in a sanitary sewer
system and conveyed to the wastewater treatment plant for
treatment. Water that collects in street drains during a
rainstorm is not considered wastewater but rather storm
water. This water is collected in a network of storm
sewers and conveyed to the local rivers with no treatment.
Why is it necessary to treat wastewater?
The City's wastewater system
provides essential public health protection for the
people of Moline. The federal
Clean Water Act requires municipalities like the City of
Moline to treat its wastewater. In Moline, treated
wastewater is discharged to either the Mississippi or Rock
Rivers.
Treatment helps protect aquatic life as well as keep
waters safe for fishing and recreational uses. Our
wastewater treatment plants remove suspended and dissolved
solids from water, and reduce organic matter and
pollutants. They also disinfect the wastewater to ensure
that discharged water does not contain pathogenic bacteria
life.
How does a wastewater treatment plant work?
There are two steps to treating wastewater
at either of the City of Moline plants. The first step,
called primary treatment, removes about half of the solids
from wastewater. Primary treatment first involves screens
to collect trash as water passes. Next water flow is
slowed to allow heavy solids to settle and lighter greases
too rise where each can be removed.
In the second stage, or secondary
treatment, 85 - 95% of pollutants are removed. Air is
mixed with wastewater, along with bacteria and other
microorganisms that are grown and maintained at the
treatment plant. These organisms consume harmful organic
matter. A sedimentation tank allows the microorganisms
and the solid wastes, which they have converted to, settle
and separate from wastewater. Chlorine is added to
wastewater as a disinfectant before it is discharged.
The solids that were removed from both
primary and secondary treatment are sent for further
processing in digestion tanks where they decompose. When
stabilized, these bio-solids meet all local, state and
federal regulations for utilization for beneficial land
application reuse as fertilizer.
What are the by-products of wastewater
treatment?
Three main by-products are created by
wastewater treatment: bio-solids, methane gas, and water.
Bio-solids can be used to fertilize land, as discussed
below. As solids decompose in the digestion process, they
produce methane gas. Methane gas is now used to heat
process tanks at the treatment plant. It will eventually
be utilized to produce a portion of the electrical and
heating energy needs of the plant.
Why
do I keep hearing about bio-solids?
Bio-solids are the treated solid material
left over from the wastewater treatment process.
Currently, Moline’s South Plant bio-solids are applied to
farmland as fertilizer. The solids from the North Plant
are taken to the landfill, as they are not reducible by
digestion and contain a low percentage of organic
material, making them less beneficial for land
application.
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PRETREATMENT
The Pretreatment Program is designed to
control discharge of toxic, harmful or untreatable wastes
to the sewer system. The goal of the program is to
protect the sewer system, treatment plants and environment
from pollutants that are harmful to the system or that may
pass through the system directly into the environment.
The City of Moline maintains an active Industrial
Pretreatment Program mandated by the USEPA with
enforcement delegated by the IEPA. Several aspects of
these programs are innovative and significantly help
maintain Moline’s high quality effluent and bio-solids.
Who is
affected by the Pretreatment Program?
To begin, Moline applies their Pretreatment
Programs not only to Significant Industrial Users (SIU's),
but also to all commercial dischargers. While major
industries can have a major impact on a wastewater
treatment plant, they are also generally very visible,
stable, and easy to control with a strong pretreatment
ordinance. Moline has only one major or categorical
industry discharging to the treatment plant, but it has
many commercial facilities such as photo shops, medical
facilities, auto body shops, dry cleaners, lawn services,
and even restaurants, which when combined, can have a
significant impact on the sewer system.
Staff routinely inspects all major and
minor commercial facilities with potential to impact the
sewer, and they track all commercial dischargers on a
comprehensive database. Most inspections are used as an
educational opportunity for the business owner.
Pretreatment helps businesses identify hazardous
components of their waste streams, and then helps them to
find appropriate means for handling them. For example,
businesses with photographic processes, including x-ray
development units, will be educated on acceptable silver
recovery options, ranging from on-site treatment units to
simply having silver wastes hauled away by a reputable
company. In follow-up inspections, staff will expect to
see records of treatment unit maintenance, or receipts
from hauled wastes. Pretreatment staff also works closely
with businesses in eliminating spill pathways. Businesses
are strongly encouraged to permanently seal all floor
drains, and to utilize appropriate spill containment
systems.
Pretreatment and the Permitting Process - Doing Business
with Business
A
second innovative program conducted by the Engineering
staff involves careful review of all building permits
issued to customers in the sewer service area. In many
sewer systems, the pretreatment staff is the last to know
when new facilities connect to the system. The City wants
facilities to meet requirements of the pretreatment
program before they are built or remodeled. When a
customer takes out a building permit, they are asked to
complete a pretreatment review form to identify potential
pretreatment or spill prevention concerns. Permit
applications with potential adverse impacts to the sewer
system are routed to pretreatment staff that review them
and impose additional requirements if necessary. This
program prevents the situation in which a customer builds
a facility, only to have pretreatment staff tell them to
modify it upon the first inspection. The engineers also
require and review engineering reports for all wastewater
pretreatment systems connected to the sewer.
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RATES
Accounts & Finance Water/Sewer Rates
(PDF)
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TREATMENT
PLANTS
The City of Moline has two wastewater
treatment plants. The South Slope Wastewater Treatment
Plant handles all sanitary sewer flow south of Avenue of the
Cities, from the Village of Coal Valley, a small section
of East Moline, and the Quad City International Airport. South Slope is located at 2800 48th Avenue and discharges
to the Rock River. The North Slope Wastewater Treatment
Plant handles all sanitary sewer flow from north of Avenue
of the Cities. The facility is located at 007 1st Avenue
and discharges to the Mississippi River.
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TOURS & INFORMATION
Online Service Request
For tours of the Wastewater Treatment
Plants, please call Rob Barnard at 524-2326.
SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT
(SEP)
The Cities of Rock Island
and Moline, Illinois (Cities) are bounded on the north
and or east by the Mississippi River and on the south by
the Rock River. For both communities, these Rivers
are critical environmental resources for their economic
and recreational life and define the aesthetic
characteristics of the communities. Pool 15 of the
Mississippi River is also the water supply for both
Cities.
In March 2005, the Cities
began a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) to
benchmark water quality conditions at various locations
in the Mississippi and Rock Rivers for 9 months of the
year (March - November) during a 2-year period
(2005-2006). The SEP was developed to document
water quality conditions present in Pool 16 of the
Mississippi River and the Rock River adjacent to the
Cities of Rock Island and Moline and the subsequent
changes in water quality that occur as the rivers flow
through these urbanized areas. The goal of this
study was to address the following:
1. Does water from the Mississippi and Rock River
meet appropriate Illinois State Water Quality Standards?
2. Is water quality on
the Illinois side of the Mississippi River significantly
different than water quality on the Iowa side of the
Mississippi River?
3. Does water quality
in the Mississippi and Rock Rivers degrade significantly
as the rivers flow through the Cities?
4. Is the variability
in constituent loads upstream and downstream of the
Cities on the Mississippi and Rock Rivers significantly
different?
The results of this SEP will
supplement and enhance the findings of the previous
studies conducted in this area. The Cities are the
largest urbanized area on the Mississippi River between
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Louis,
Missouri. This water quality monitoring program
could ultimately serve as the foundation to develop a
comprehensive regional water quality monitoring program.
To see this study in its
entirety, please
click here.
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SEWER
MAINTENANCE
The City maintains 200 miles of sanitary
sewer lines and 14 pumping stations that transport
approximately 9 million gallons of wastewater daily to the
two treatment plants.
Wastewater leaves residences and businesses
in 4-6 inch diameter sewer services that, in turn, empty
into 8-12 inch diameter sewer mains and branch lines.
Next, the wastewater flows into 15 inch or greater
diameter trunk lines, which, in turn, empty into 30 inch
diameter interceptors that lead directly to the wastewater
treatment plant. With the many hills and valleys in the
Moline area, sewer lift stations or pumping stations must
be employed to carry the sewage from a low point. 
These lines and pump stations must be
cleaned and maintained on a regular schedule and repaired
or replaced when necessary. In an effort to keep
costs to a minimum, the City of Moline practices
proactive infrastructure maintenance and replacement
to stay ahead of the aging sewer system. Planned replacements and repairs are
far less costly than emergency repairs. Property owners are responsible for
maintenance of the sewer service line from the house to
the City main sewer line.
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BASEMENT BACKUPS AND SEWER
OVERFLOWS
Online Service Request
The City can provide assistance when sewer back-ups and
overflows occur. Call the numbers indicated below, and a
crew will respond and determine whether the problem is
related to the City's sewer main and the property
owner's private sewer lateral.
For storm water and/or sanitary sewer
issues during business hours, call 524-2325.
For sewer emergencies that occur after 3:30 pm Monday
through Friday or on weekends, call 524-2300.
Online Service Request
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