Results-driven recognition received with honor at SDD
Results-driven recognition received with honor at SDD
Feb 2026
Strong infrastructure and environmental stewardship don’t happen by accident — they are the result of disciplined operations and smart long-term investment.
The Sanitary District of Decatur is being recognized at both the national and state levels for exactly that approach, earning two prestigious honors that reflect operational excellence and forward-thinking engineering.
Nationally, the District has met the requirements for the 2025 Peak Performance – Gold Award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). The Peak Performance Awards recognize publicly owned treatment works that demonstrate outstanding compliance with their NPDES discharge permits. The Gold Award — the program’s highest distinction — is reserved for facilities that record zero permit exceedances for the entire calendar year.
For the District, that means maintaining perfect compliance across more than 1,000 individual permit quality control results in 2025. Each result represents careful monitoring, testing, and operational precision to ensure treated water meets strict environmental standards before being returned to local waterways. Earning Gold-level status places the District among an elite group of utilities nationwide and underscores its daily commitment to protecting the Sangamon River and downstream water resources. The 2025 award recipients are expected to be announced this summer.
At the state level, the District is also being honored for a major infrastructure improvement project beneath Lake Decatur. The American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois (ACEC Illinois) selected the Lost Bridge Force Main Project to receive a Special Achievement Award and the Judges Choice Award as part of its 2026 Engineering Excellence Awards. These awards recognize projects that exemplify innovation, technical complexity, and strong collaboration between engineers and owners.
The project replaced a 10-inch cast iron force main installed in the 1950s with a larger 14-inch PVC force main, improving reliability, redundancy, and conveyance capacity for flows from southeast Decatur and Mt. Zion. The new quarter mile section was installed using horizontal directional drilling, a trenchless method that allows the pipe to be placed 25 feet beneath Lake Decatur without disturbing the lake itself.
The $2.9 million project was awarded to Burdick Plumbing and Heating of Decatur and was funded through the District’s existing infrastructure Renewal Fund, meaning no additional costs to residents through taxes or fees. Engineering firm Clark Dietz led the design, with Andrea W. Bretl, PE, serving as lead engineer. The District formally received the ACEC Illinois award on February 18.
Together, these recognitions reflect more than individual accomplishments. They highlight a consistent philosophy: operate with precision, invest before problems arise, and protect the community’s most essential resource. Through disciplined compliance and strategic infrastructure upgrades, the Sanitary District of Decatur continues to strengthen the reliability and sustainability of the system that serves the region every day.