Aqua Illinois officials, who warned customers in eastern Will County against consuming tap water because of its elevated lead levels, lifted the advisory for some of their customers.
Company officials said in a statement Monday that customers could now safely consume water at Governors State University, Arbors at Hickory Creek, Fairway Clubs, Pine Woods Court and areas west of Interstate 57, including all of Green Garden Township.
Company officials said customers in University Park and Monee Township who are outside those areas should continue to avoid drinking tap water and using it to prepare baby formula, make ice cubes, cook or brush teeth.
They recommended that residents in areas that already have been cleared continue to “flush their systems for two minutes or until their water runs clear before consuming water.”
University Park Mayor Joseph Roudez said that, as of 4:30 p.m. Monday, the majority of his community still remained under a “do not consume” order from Aqua.
“We’re on hold like everybody else,” he said of his own family. “And that’s frustrating because humans are people who do things by habit, so it’s natural to go and turn on the faucet. But you gotta catch yourself.”
Roudez said he had been in constant communication with Aqua since the “do not consume” advisory was issued and had met with executives from the company Monday.
He said in the near future the company would be setting up a communications center at 90 Town Center Drive, where residents can pick up water testing kits and learn more about test results as they become available.
Roudez said Aqua’s communications center would operate out of that location to ensure residents have “good, safe and clean water.”
“We want to know what caused the test (showing elevated lead levels), what will be put in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again and how can you give us peace and comfort that when young people drink the water that it’s clean and safe,” he said.
As of Monday, Aqua said it had delivered 6,000 cases of bottled water to residents and visited every residence in the impacted area at least three times.
It also has launched a website, WaterFactsIL.com, with information for customers and as a way of soliciting feedback from customers in this service area.
Roudez commended Aqua for delivering bottled water to residents throughout his community and operating a call center to answer residents’ questions, but said he is anxiously waiting for the company to lift the advisory for all customers and provide him some information about their findings.
Officials said Monday that company technicians were in the area flushing hydrants as part of their treatment protocol and informed residents that they may notice water discoloration, which should not be considered a concern.
“We are actively analyzing water quality results in other areas and will release additional information as it becomes available,” Aqua Illinois president Craig Blanchette said in a statement. “While this is a positive step, we realize the inconvenience for our customers and we will remain on the ground working with these communities to minimize the impact as much as possible.”
The company, which detected elevated lead levels in 15 University Park properties last week during the course of regularly scheduled testing, on Friday issued a “do not consume” advisory to all customers in the service area “out of an abundance of caution,” an Aqua spokesperson said.
Aqua said it was still working to identify the source of the lead, but did not believe its water mains or service lines were to blame.
“At this time, it’s too early to say,” a company spokesperson said of the reason for the test results. “We have an environmental expert on site who has sent samples to independent laboratories and a certified lab, and as soon as we have more information, we will share that.”
