CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Last week, the Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District announced they would be making upgrades to both their northeast and southwest plants. On Wednesday, crews officially broke ground on that work which they say will bring some big benefits.

Officials said this plan will better protect public health and the local environment. Improvements will help the wastewater treatment plant utilize reliable, affordable energy. The Executive Director said the southwest plant will get an expansion on the water flow capacity. The northeast plant will see technology upgrades to help with efficiency.

Officials said it’s all about preparing for future growth as the population expands.

“It’s really quite fulfilling and rewarding to see this work getting started. It’s important work and it’s need infrastructure work,” said UCSD Executive Director Rick Manner. “It’s something that I get excited about, but the average person may not get very excited about it, but I think they do benefit from us doing this and doing it right. And the way they’ll mainly see that is the rates will stay under control as best we can.”

He also said the money for the project is coming from a loan through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Right now, the project is estimated to cost about $40 million dollars.

The southwest plant is scheduled to be finished by the end of next year or early 2027. The northeast plant will go through three different phases and finish up in the next five to 10 years.