EAST CHICAGO | The city could take its plans for a new $51 million waterworks to downstate regulators as soon as next week.

By replacing the current 43-year-old filtration plant with a new state-of-the-art facility, officials hope to be prepared for future population growth and to free up 10 acres of lakefront property for economic development.

Though not a single member of the public attended Wednesday night's final public hearing on the project, every resident is already paying for the new plant through water rate increases which raised the cost of 5,000 gallons from $8.89 to $12.60 over the past year.

The new facility would take about a year and a half to build, said Harold Voth, from HDR Engineering of Omaha, Neb., which is partnering with Minneapolis-based Lemna International for design and management of the project.

With another six months to work the bugs out of the system, the new filtration could go online by the end of 2010, he said.

A state program which provides low-interest loans for municipal infrastructure projects approved the city's borrowing $16.6 million for the project last year. The City Council has pledged $3 million in annual casino tax receipts over the next 11 years to pay for the rest.

East Chicago currently uses around 12 million gallons of water a day, but the planned new waterworks can provide 24 million gallons per day.

Utilities Director Adolfo Velez said the increase will maintain supplies for firefighting, allow for growth in the city, and provide for possible water sales to other communities.

Initial surveying at the proposed site for the new high-tech plant -- 3333 Michigan Ave., now known as Indiana Harbor Drive -- is under way, Velez said, though the former Inland Steel JobLink 2000 Learning Center property is still officially owned by Mittal Steel Co.

State loan officials will review plans for the facility. Their approval is required before any actual construction can begin.