A Look Inside the Reverse Osmosis Plant Construction

The construction of the reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant at 614 Hillgrove Avenue is underway—although to build something new, one has to start by tearing down the old.

Contractors Joseph J. Henderson & Son are currently in the early stages of Phase Two of their five-phase process, scheduled to be completed on February 2 (Groundhog Day!), 2013. For right now, that means demolishing the raw-water treatment room, the clarifier, a filter room, the concrete fillets (joint-strengtheners) and parts of the roof, as well as installing some of the new steel and concrete structure and the new iron-removal equipment.

We couldn’t get inside the construction site ourselves—liability issues plus design protection forbid it—but the photos above, courtesy of the JJH&S and the Village of Western Springs, show what a portion of the plant looks like as the old filtering equipment is being torn to shreds and pulled from the site. The answer: pretty messy (you could almost picture Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe messing around in the rubble.)

In any case, later this week we’ll be bringing you an in-depth look at exactly how the new reverse-osmosis will work, and why one

For now, click through the photo gallery above for a look at what used to be your water-treatment plant, and what will hopefully soon be so again, in an all-new and better form!