The Village of Fox Lake wins the APWA Lake Branch 2023 Project of the Year Awards for Environmental $5 to $25 Million.

Since the Village of Fox Lake was incorporated on the east shores of Pistakee Lake in 1907, the municipality has grown to the north. With this expansion to the north, the Village became bisected by the Chain O’ Lakes, creating two separate utility service areas. The north service utilities were initially owned and operated by a private utility, which the Village acquired with the north expansion. This included the Tall Oaks water and wastewater facility, which was constructed in the early 70’s.

The Tall Oaks water system was only serviced by two wells, lacked elevated and ground storage and utilized booster pumps to maintain the system. This lack of redundancy and elevated storage was a strain on the system when a well was out of service or during a fire flow event. In addition, the wastewater treatment system at Tall Oaks was a packaged plant discharged to Dunn’s Lake, a tributary to Chain O’ Lakes. This plant was near the end of its service life. Therefore, it would not be able to meet the anticipated regulatory requirements in the coming years.

In 2014, Trotter and Associates was retained by the Village to prepare master plans for both the water and wastewater systems. The master plan included an evaluation of the feasibility and costs of interconnecting the north and south systems vs. maintaining two separate utility systems. With the interconnection of the systems being the most cost-effective, reliable, and flexible option, the Village moved forward with design in the summer of 2017, which Trotter and Associates completed in the spring of 2019. 

TAI worked with the Village to manage Phase 1 of the Water and Sewer Interconnect Project, which started in the fall of 2019. Bridge Lift Station, which can pump 2,100 GPM, was constructed on the west shore of Pistakee lake to pump flows from the north system under Pistakee Lake. The force main from this lift station was directionally drilled under Pistakee Lake. It included a curvilinear alignment, horizontally and vertically, for the last 800 feet east of Trinski’s Island. In all 5,600 linear feet of 12” force main was installed to convey flows from the north under the lake to the receiving sewer in the south service area. In addition, the existing Main Lift Station that pumps flow from the south service area collection system to the Northwest Regional WRF was upgraded to accommodate the current north and south system flows and future needs.

TAI also worked with the Village on Phase 2 of the Water and Sewer Interconnect Project, which started in the spring of 2021. Tall Oaks Lift Station, which can pump 1,400 GPM, was constructed at the Tall Oaks Facility to pump flows from the original plant influent sewer to the new interconnect sewer in the north. In all 2,100 linear feet of 10” force main and 9,000 linear feet of 24” sanitary sewer was installed to convey flows in the north to Bridge Lift Station. 

The successful completion of the Water and Sewer Interconnect Project in the spring of 2022 allows the Village to meet the goals of its dynamic long-term plans by improving its infrastructure, processes, staffing, and financial sustainability.



The project’s success was obtained by the construction teams’ emphasis on schedule, effective management, safety, communication, and ability to adapt to adverse conditions while maintaining the protection of the environment.