Metropolitan Water Reclamation
400 East 130th Street, Chicago, IL 60628 · Cook County · Publicly Owned Treatment Works
- Average flow
- 155 MGD
- Design flow
- —
- NPDES permit
- ILL028061
- Effective
- Permit expires
- December 2030
- Population served
- 1,346,237
- CWNS 2022
Metropolitan Water Reclamation is a publicly owned wastewater treatment works in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois treating an average of 155 million gallons per day, serving about 1,346,237 residents. It discharges under NPDES permit ILL028061 (effective), which expires in December 2030, with 11 recorded violations in the last three years. EPA has recorded 1 formal enforcement action naming the plant, the latest in January 2014.
Treatment technology
3 treatment structures and unit processes identified at Metropolitan Water Reclamation.
Available with a free Klarifi account
See the full treatment train at Metropolitan Water Reclamation: structures, unit processes and planned upgrades, with exact unit counts.
Compliance snapshot (last 3 years)
- Total violations
- 11
- Effluent violations
- 0
Based on NPDES Discharge Monitoring Reports. Full violation history, parameters and discharge data available in the Klarifi platform.
EPA enforcement history
Federal civil enforcement cases, compliance inspections and informal actions recorded for Metropolitan Water Reclamation in EPA's ICIS system.
- Formal actions
- 1
- 0 since FY2020
- Penalties assessed
- $675,000
- all cases
- Compliance actions
- $1,770M
- required by EPA orders
- EPA inspections
- 1
- latest Mar 2021
Latest case · Jan 2014
METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT
Judicial case · CWA, NPDES Discharge without a Permit · Final Order Entered · Penalty $675,000 · Compliance actions $1,770M
EPA's description of the case:
“MWRDGC owns and operates 7 WWTPs in the Chicago Area”
Source: EPA ECHO, civil enforcement case 05-2001-0642.
Full case history with a free Klarifi account
Every action against Metropolitan Water Reclamation with dates, milestones, violation types and EPA's complete case summaries, plus inspections and informal actions.
Capital improvement projects in Chicago
Chicago's capital improvement plan lists 80 water, sewer and wastewater line items worth $4.7B starting 2024–2028. The largest budgeted items are shown here.
All water and sewer capital projects in Chicago →
| Project | Budget | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Water Main CIP w/ LSLR | $772,202,000 | 2025–2028 |
| Leaks & Breaks LSLR | $445,748,000 | 2025–2028 |
| Sewer Construction w/ LSLR | $404,062,197 | 2024–2028 |
| Regional Solution - Area 4 | $319,252,350 | 2024–2028 |
| JWPP - Filter Underdrain Replacement | $306,000,000 | 2028–2035 |
Full project details — scope, funding source, engineering consultant and the decision-makers behind each project — are available in Klarifi, along with similar wastewater capital projects in other cities.
Key contacts
10 verified contacts for Metropolitan Water Reclamation, with validated emails and direct phone numbers.
Unlock 10 verified contacts (7 more than shown)
Names, validated emails and direct phone numbers for decision-makers at Metropolitan Water Reclamation, plus the full compliance history and discharge data.
Nearby wastewater treatment plants in Illinois
Park Forest · 12 mi away
—
Frankfort · 16 mi away
3.32 MGD
Burr Ridge · 17 mi away
8.31 MGD
Mokena · 17 mi away
1.84 MGD
Lemont · 20 mi away
2 MGD
New Lenox · 21 mi away
0.15 MGD
New Lenox · 21 mi away
1.46 MGD
Beecher · 23 mi away
0.56 MGD
Metropolitan Water Reclamation: frequently asked questions
Sources and methodology
Flow, permit and violation figures come from the EPA's ICIS-NPDES discharge monitoring records. Population served comes from the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2022. Treatment structures are identified by Klarifi's review of aerial imagery, and capital improvement projects are extracted from published municipal budget documents. Violations are counted over the last three years of monitoring reports.
Data refreshed September 14, 2026; facility record last updated March 29, 2025.