City officials and local news media were invited to the Charleston Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday to view the newly added upgrades.

David Collard, the wastewater treatment plant superintendent, lead the tour through the additions that cost over $6 million.

The funding for the project was provided by loans from Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. It is estimated to take over 20 years to pay off the loans from the revenue that is collected from the water and sewer fund.

With the new facility, Collard stated that he has seen a drastic reduction in the flu outbreak because the influenza virus is reduced in the city’s water.

Parts that were installed included a giant pump that replaced the one first installed roughly 40 years ago when the plant was constructed.

Collard said certain parts to fix the pump are no longer made, requiring the entire pump to be replaced.

The replacement will save the town approximately $65,000 a year along with bringing a much quieter performance and less wear and tear on the existing parts.

“Its like adding on an extra lifetime to the plant,” said Collard.

Also replaced at the plant, located on West Madison Avenue, were many of the controls that operate the plant.

Today, certain functions can be done and information can be gathered from Collard’s personal Blackberry cell phone.

In the past, the generators could only power three pumps at one time. After the upgrade the generator is capable of powering six.

The pumps are able to pump water at the force of 200-horse power, equaling 3,500 gallons a minute into lagoons located at a higher elevation.

Sludge, a black tar that is discharged is removed from the water during this process.

“Farmers love it,” said Collard.

Farmers use the dried out sludge like they would fertilizer. The only expense to them is the transport of it.

Future replacements involve the office and laboratory building, which has an outdated interior and roof.

The entire project will be completed by May of 2011.

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