This project involved a high school expansion wastewater lift station, as a new building was made to make room for the combining of the middle school in Sullivan, Illinois. This was a unique project because the school expansion replaced the wastewater lift station, but the old system was still active and in the footprint of the new building. It was not able to be decommissioned before the new lift station was installed. Therefore, we had to work closely with the general contractor and installer on the delivery dates of the system to ensure it arrived on schedule for the changeover of the systems. We have delivered many wastewater lift stations for schools that are going through renovations, expansions, or complete rebuilds. This provides experience and insight into how to design the system best for construction but also the flows and pumping environment. Romtec Utilities also prefabricates a large portion of the system at our facility, which cuts down on installation time.

Sullivan, Illinois is a city and the county seat of Moultrie County. The population was 4,413 at the time of the 2020 census.

The city got its name after Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina where Fort Moultrie is located.

The city was founded in 1845 and located in the central part of Illinois. It’s about 65 miles east of Springfield, Illinois. State Routes 32 and 121 run through Sullivan which is in a rural area.

The Shelbyville State Fish and Wildlife Area are a large nature reserve sitting just outside of Sullivan proper. Attractions in the area include Bo Wood Campground, Johnson Point and Wyman Park.

The future of the century-old middle school building in Sullivan had been discussed for years. After recommended architectural repairs were estimated at $10 million in November of 2021, community forums were scheduled to discuss all options. Through the input of many community members, the preference for a new high school with the middle school students moving into the existing high school was determined as the best plan of action.

By the time Romtec Utilities became involved, the demolition of the middle school had already been completed. The district was building a new school building and had to replace the sewer lift station.

The new school building wastewater lift station provided the pumping capacity increase necessary for bringing both the high school and middle school to the same location.

The project included the construction of an approximately 75,000 square-foot building, containing 21 classrooms, and a gymnasium at Sullivan High School.

Civil Design was the civil engineer on this project who reached out to Romtec Utilities for help with the design of the new wastewater lift station. Sullivan School District is the owner of the public project. Civil Design is based in St. Louis, Missouri providing civil engineering services across a wide variety of projects.

The old lift station was still active but in the footprint of the new building. It couldn’t be decommissioned before the new lift station was installed. Romtec Utilities had to coordinate closely with general contractor (Grunloh Construction) and installer (Ezell Excavating) to meet delivery dates based on this criteria.

Grunloh Construction is trusted by the region’s most prestigious organizations for delivering landmark results with exceptional building experiences based in Effingham, Illinois. Ezell Excavating has been family-owned and family-operated since 1994 providing excavating contractor services in Villa Grove, Illinois.

Romtec Utilities was able to work with the various contractors to bring to life this new wastewater lift station for the upgraded building at Sullivan High School in Sullivan, Illinois. We have worked on various school projects designing pump stations that meet the pumping requirements of schools. This was a unique project, but Romtec Utilities was able to design, manufacture, and supply this school expansion wastewater lift station to meet the needs of the upgrades and new construction at Sullivan High School.

The lift station utilizes Keen pumps in a duplex configuration with a precast wet well, and a PC3000XC primary controller. There are SCADA telemetry contacts which were utilized on the pump system.

If you are in the design or planning phase of a public project on a school or government building, then contact us to handle the complete scope of work from start to finish seamlessly. Our team will design, manufacture, and supply the complete pump station for the specific water type and pumping environment. We provide a construction advisor to ensure it is installed per the design and someone who helps commission the system along with providing training for the maintenance team.

This Illinois High school expansion wastewater lift station was a successful project. If you have a school expansion in development, contact us today to design, manufacture, and supply a wastewater lift station and bring your project to completion.