The village of Homer Glen will contribute up to $23,500 to help fund a Lockport study to improve area wastewater treatment plants.

The city of Lockport owns and operates two wastewater treatment plants — the Division Street and the Bonnie Brae plants — and plans to conduct a study to determine their current and future needs.

Homer Glen officials made the decision on the study Wednesday night at their village board meeting.

The study would help provide information as to the maximum capacity of the Division Street plant and whether it can be expanded to meet future growth, according to Homer Glen officials.

A second study would determine whether a new regional wastewater treatment plant should be built, and if so, the older Bonnie Brae plant could be decommissioned.

Four Homer Glen subdivisions are treated by Lockport's Division Street plant, and the plant also is expected to serve the future 159th Street sanitary sewer, village officials said.

The city of Lockport, which has entered into a contract with engineering firm Strand Associates for a wastewater treatment plant study, also has asked the village of Romeoville to contribute up to $23,500 toward the cost of the study.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.