Quincy getting $4 million state loan for wastewater treatment

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the City of Quincy has received a $4 million loan for wastewater treatment to reduce sewer overflows being discharged into the Mississippi River.

Quincy will use the funding for the second phase of a three-phase project. The project will consist of improvements to increase excess flow treatment of the wastewater treatment plant and installation of a back-up generator for the main pump station. The project will convey more flow though the wastewater treatment system and to the WWTP for treatment, reducing combined sewer overflows being discharged to the Mississippi River.

Quincy’s loan is part of nearly $76 million in water infrastructure loans to local governments and water districts. The Illinois EPA State Revolving Fund Program provides low-interest loans which fund wastewater, stormwater and drinking water projects. The majority of the loans qualified for a total of $13,160,681 in loan forgiveness, providing additional benefits to those recipients meeting the loan rules for either the Small Community Rate or Hardship Rate.

Quincy will pay 1.24 percent interest on the loan.

“In the first half of fiscal year 2023, Illinois EPA has already invested nearly $146 million in our state’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure,” IEPA Director John Kim said. “These projects represent our ongoing commitment to provide the essential funding needed for infrastructure improvements that are crucial for safe and reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment for Illinois residents.”

Illinois EPA’s State Revolving Fund Program has two loan programs — the Water Pollution Control Loan Program, which funds both wastewater and stormwater projects, and the Public Water Supply Loan Program for drinking water projects. The programs receive federal capitalization funding annually, which is combined with state matching funds, interest earnings, repayment money, and the sale of bonds, to form the source of financing for these infrastructure projects.