Sustainability is not just a buzz word. The City of Decatur has been working for many years on a greener approach.
Energy Efficiency
The City has taken many measures to reduce its energy usage and invest in more efficient energy options, with many more plans in the works. Some of our efforts include:
- Partnering with energy companies:
- Ameren and the City of Decatur have partnered for many years. Since 2017, Ameren has partnered with the City to upgrade neighborhood streetlights with more energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) streetlights. During the summer of 2022, Ameren replaced approximately 2,400 existing sodium vapor, mercury vapor, and metal halide streetlights with LEDs to help the City save energy. LED streetlights last 3 times longer, use 55-65% less energy, and reduces maintenance and operational costs compared to older technology.
- The City and Johnson Controls have worked together on a number of projects since 2014.
- Projects in 2014 included water meter replacement, lighting upgrades at fire stations, along with HVAC and lighting improvements at the Decatur Public Transit System (DPTS), Municipal Services Center, and South Water Treatment Plant. These improvements saved a total of 4,382,055 kWh which equates to 3,105 metric tons of CO2 emissions removed.
- Electrifying our fleet
- The City of Decatur strives to maintain a zero-emissions fleet for the Decatur Public Transit System by 2035. See the full plan
Water Stewardship
Our Water Department routinely makes upgrades to our delivery systems to improve water quality for citizens. A lot of projects are small and can go unnoticed, but recent American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds have allowed us to undertake major capital projects.
- South Water Treatment Plant (SWTP) Claricones – We are replacing deteriorated east clarifiers with state-of-the-art claricones. The new technology is much simpler to operate, requires less electricity, and treats more water than the old system. This $14.1-million project was completed in 2023.
- DeWitt County Wellfield – The City will make improvements and repairs to wells and water pumps at the Wellfield. This helps with water supply should the City experience a serious drought.
- Upgrades to Chemical Systems – This project upgrades the chemical delivery systems used to treat the raw lake water. We are consistently upgrading technology to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our water production.
Recycling
The City of Decatur is committed to providing recycling services to its citizens. We also recycle at all City facilities as much as possible.
- Learn more about recycling services for citizens on our garbage & recycling webpage
- Community recycling: Midwest Fiber reported that over 3,363 tons of materials from Decatur were diverted from our landfills and recycled in 2023. Since the recycling program started in 2012, over 94.84 million pounds of materials have been recycled. Great job to our community!
Alternative Transportation
City staff is working diligently to provide citizens with alternative transportation options for commuting. We have a well-established and improving Transit System, and we have plans for many more bike lanes to allow citizens to cycle around our community.
- Decatur Public Transit micro-transit: DPTS has plans to introduce micro-transit options for the community in early 2025. This involves smaller vehicles that would operate similar to rideshare services like Uber or Lyft.
- Cycling: As part of the Decatur Urbanized Area Transportation Study (DUATS), the City completed its Regional Bicycle Master Plan in July 2021. We are working on implementing this plan to create more bike/hike paths in our community to support alternative transportation and recreation.
