MCLEAN COUNTY (25News Now) – Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law that allows the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District to help better protect the water supply and expand its economic reach.

The law allows the district to sell treated wastewater and receive waste within a 50-mile radius. This, in turn, helps companies that want to use treated wastewater as an alternative to drinking water to help power and cool their data centers and processes.

District Executive Director Timothy Ervin said this will create a long-term way to save drinking water for consumption, rather than businesses using it for other reasons.

“Let’s say that we have a data center that’s built downstream from us. We can use some of that water for their cooling center, or let’s say we have a new factory come to town, and they want to use a cooling system or water for their cooling systems. This gives us permission to sell our treated effluent,” said Ervin.

He added he does not see this coming out of taxpayer dollars.

The new law will take effect immediately.

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