The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District has been a pioneer in developing beneficial ways to use the biosolids produced by the sewage treatment process. These biosolids, sometimes called sludge or residuals, are stabilized in large digestion tanks, dewatered with a centrifuge, air dried and aged on large outdoor drying beds. After the solids have been dried, they are hauled by truck or barge to various locations where they are put back into the soil.

Many area golf courses, sod farms, tollway banks and parks are green and fertile because of the rich mixture of sludge and soil. In Fulton County, Illinois, the District is reclaiming 15,000 acres of land which were left barren and ugly from years of strip mining for coal. By leveling the land and enriching the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients in the sludge, wasteland has been converted to fertile ground for agricultural uses. This program is called the Prairie Plan.

During 1994, the majority of the biosolids production was utilized in the construction of a golf course located on the site of a former landfill at 103rd & Doty on the Southeast Side of Chicago.

2010 Biosolids Utilization and Farming Table