Contractors are drilling a new well in Sycamore and will install equipment to remove radium to improve city water quality.

Drilling began three weeks ago and should be completed by March 10, Sycamore Water Superintendent Ebe Smith said.

The city chose the location, three-eighths of a mile south of Route 64, to maximize benefits for the city’s underserved east side, Smith said. Having a well on the east side will help overall water quality by increasing circulation, he said.

The $2.5 million facility will be functional in one year, Sycamore City Engineer John Brady said.

“We had one that was downtown, but we don’t use it that much because of high iron content,” Brady said.

“The people in the southeast part of town have had very malodorous water for a long time and very much look forward to improved water quality,” said Alan Bauer, Sycamore’s 1st Ward alderman.

Serving all of Sycamore, the well will run 1,300 to 1,400 feet deep and yield 1,000 to 1,400 gallons per minute, Smith said. Sycamore residents use an average of 1.75 million gallons per day, and summer usage can reach 2.5 million gallons per day.

The well and accompanying facility will address radium contamination. The well’s building will house radium removal equipment that will work in a manner similar to a water softener, Brady said. Sycamore will lease the removal equipment from Water Remediation Technologies of Colorado.

The radium collection equipment has to be cleaned every four to five years, Brady said. Water Remediation Technologies will clean and haul away the collected radium .

D.R. Gilbert and Sons of Rochelle completed water and sewer extensions before the start of drilling, Brady said. Lane Western of Aurora has the contract for building the well equipment and will start in August.

Sycamore secured funding for the project through a low-interest revolving loan from the state of Illinois, Brady said. City water fees will be used to repay the loans.