The North Shore Water Reclamation District (NSWRD) is a municipal body which was organized in 1914 under the North Shore Sanitary District Act of 1911. The NSWRD owns and operates more than 100 miles of intercepting sewer lines and 10 pumping stations which collect and convey wastewater from local sewer systems to Water Reclamation Facilities (WRFs) in Gurnee, Waukegan, and Highland Park, Illinois. Additional NSWRD facilities include the NSWRD Biosolids Recycling Facility in Zion, the Administration Building and Laboratory in Gurnee, and the Maintenance Building in Waukegan. The NSWRD is governed by an elected Board of Trustees and vested with full powers to tax and enact all necessary rules within district boundaries.
Normal Office Hours: M-F 8am-4:30pm Central
Office is closed Weekends and the following Holidays:
Good Friday – April 18, 2025
Memorial Day – May 26, 2025
Independence Day – July 4, 2025
Labor Day – Sept 1, 2025
Veteran’s Day – Nov 11, 2025
Thanksgiving – Nov 27-28, 2025
Christmas – Dec 25-26, 2025
New Years Day – Jan 1, 2026
In the early years of the 20th Century, Lake County, especially the communities along Lake Michigan, was a booming place. Highland Park and Lake Forest were prosperous, fast-growing suburbs. Waukegan and North Chicago had developed into major manufacturing and commercial centers. And Fort Sheridan and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center were bustling military bases, gearing up for action as World War I loomed.
For the most part, infrastructure improvements kept pace with the growth of these lakefront communities, except in one critical area – wastewater treatment. Most of the towns along Lake Michigan discharged partially treated or untreated sewage and industrial waste directly into the lake, which, of course, was also the main source of drinking water for those same communities.
Wastewater (or sewage) originates from many sources, including homes, businesses, schools and industries, and includes water from showers, sinks, dishwashers, laundries, car washes, hospitals and food processing operations. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces 100 gallons of wastewater each day.
Most homes, businesses, and institutions are connected to a sewer system that conveys their wastewater to a public wastewater treatment plant, also known as a water reclamation facility to emphasize the beneficial reuse potential of the treated wastewater. Sanitary sewer systems carry only domestic and industrial wastewater, while combined sewer systems also carry storm water runoff. At the treatment plants, the wastewater is purified and returned to the environment to be reused.
The North Shore Water Reclamation District (District) provides wastewater treatment for the eastern part of Lake County, Illinois. The District serves over 300,000 residents within its Service Area. The District owns and operates three advanced water reclamation facilities with a combined average design capacity of 63.4 million gallons a day and over 100 miles of interceptor sewers. The local collector sewers within incorporated areas of the District’s Service Area are owned by the local municipality. The sanitary and storm water sewers within the District’s Service Area are separate systems; therefore, there are no combined sewer systems.
The wastewater treated at the District’s water reclamation facilities passes through a series of five major treatment processes. In addition, the solids produced by the wastewater treatment processes are treated and disposed of separately. Wastewater treatment requires an intricate balance of physical, biological, and chemical processes which are described below: